April 2022 “Medicine Cat Meeting”

A soft rush of wind stirred Cloverheart's fur, ruffling the down of her chest and making her shiver away from it. Despite the warmer air, everything still felt cold. Or maybe that had less to do with the turning season, and more to do with the creatures that haunted them. They had made themselves perfectly at home in RiverClan's territory, in their camp, creeping into every spot that was supposed to be safe and sacred. The sight of them made the medicine cat's skin crawl, eyes darting this way and that as she watched their unshapely figures prowl across the fringes of camp. She could have watched them all night, sat there with her paws itching to run, or sink into something warm and soft, or just to collapse onto a heap in the dirt and scream and scream until they were gone. But, she did none of those things: instead, she bid the moon a polite nod, and ducked inside her den. It was another night that Ebonyhaze wasn't there; another night that she could have forgotten he'd ever been her apprentice at all. That her den was cold and lonely, and that was all it would ever be as she shivered her way into her nest. "If you'd like to say anything, now would be the time," Cloverheart mewed callously as she settled down, curling her tail up against her flank. "I hate to rush your all-knowingness, but I would love to hear from you. It's been a while." A spit like she was cleaning her teeth from the distaste of her words, then the small she-cat lowered her head to rest her chin atop her paws. She grumbled something about how this was just like them, but she was already halfway to sleep. It was never hard for her to fall asleep; exhaustion tugged constantly at her body, and a moment spent laying down was enough for her to nod off. Staying asleep, though... well, it was certainly easier when someone wanted to invade her resting hours and chatter at her all night. With a final yawn, she curled her body tighter and let herself drift off into a light sleep.

An endless wandering was all that had greeted her for the afterlife. Steps carried her in ways that seemed to never end, nothing but an abyss of darkness. She longed to scream, to find Otterdance or her kits, but it seemed she never would. Time would pass in an agonizing fashion, but... it would pass. As that time went on, the darkness that had enveloped her in her afterlife faded away, and the world she once walked seemed to come to her gaze once more. She had thought that it was Starclan finally greeting her, that she would find her ancestors and the rest that death brought. But it seemed that fate would doom her to another StarClan forgive us moment. It was the world she had left, forced to see it, but not to be able to leave or talk. The she-cat glued herself to the nursery, desperately yearning for any hint of her kits or new life that existed. She couldn't see them, it all was simple forms of shadows.

With a drooped head, she found herself wandering for yet another night. But something was different. Her paws were charged with a purpopse, a feeling she hadn't felt for years. She was carried to the medicine den, and a glance at the sky told her that it was the half-moon. Things felt... different. She couldn't name what it was, but the shape of the medicine cat before her brought a long-forgotten smile to her maw. A fleeting feeling of exhaustion both did and didn't sit on her frame, and should Cloverheart take the time to study her apperance, she would look... hollow. But a small twinkle hid behind Mallowmist's gaze. "Cloverheart. Can you see me?" She asked, her voice sounding no longer as if it was screaming into an abyss. Surely, she could be seen and heard?

She was about to say more, but there was a force that she couldn't quite name keeping her from saying what she wished. There was a message that she had to say, and as she parted her maw to speak, the words found themselves coming forth. "The walls are crumbling, hope peeking through the cracks. Five cats of strong faith and determination, one from each corner of the clans, is needed to break the shackles that bind them. Choose wisely, for this is our final stand."