The Sky is Falling: Part Two

Lichencloud had packed a small wrap of offering to the three cats. It wasn't much; just a small, dying rose, a leaf of catmint, and a small fish. Picking up the bulging wrap in his jaws, he squared his shoulders, took a deep breath, and slinked out of his den. He joined Silvercloud by the entrance, nodded to her, and silently set out into the night. The meeting spot wasn't too far from the camp, but it was well hidden by reeds.

The three Ground Walkers were ready for the RiverClan cats. They had pasted on their oh-woe-is-me faces and were ready to persuade. They were seated what looked like a comfortable position in a semi-circle. Kestrelflight was in the center, with Coldheart on the left, and Larchcloud was on the right. "Where are they?" Larchcloud murmured to herself.

Her question was rewarded with a response. Lichencloud and Silvercloud had appeared in front of them, almost as quiet as the Ground Walkers themselves. That was impressive feat for such a large tom like Lichencloud. The tom padded up to the dead medicine cat and placed the offerings at her feet. "It isn't much, but it is our gift from us to you." The packaged flopped open, displaying the three things. Kestrelflight looked down, and the three others crowded around to look.

"Wow, this is really kind of you, Lichencloud." Coldheart said, looking up at the tom. It almost made her feel bad about lying to him. Almost.

Lichencloud's eyes beamed with pride from the praise of the Ground Walker and dipped his head.

Silvercloud sat down beside Lichencloud, blinking happily. "We wanted to give you all something." She said, her voice cracking nervously. But her green eyes expressed sincerity and kindness, as to keep the Ground Walkers feeling comforted. 


This was returned with a small bow from Kestrelflight. "We are very grateful, thank you."
The tabby responded, her voice stern, but it was welcoming, kinda. She touched the rose, but the object did nothing, as the spirit of the tabby had no effect on actual objects, which disappointed the three.

Larchcloud nodded in response, staying silent as she twitched her brightly outlined tail, motioning for Coldheart to begin speaking. Which was ignored, because the former deputy had been staring at the catmint, an herb she knew of from her times as a living member of Skyclan. "Er... yes. We thank you, for your sincerity." Larchcloud stammered before staring at Coldheart impatiently.


Coldheart snapped from her memories, and cleared her throat. "We need a favor, and it has been our agreement to choose you both." The almost-black tabby said, a serious voice was with it. She then turned to Kestrelflight, for her turn to speak.

Silvercloud was still nervously burrowing into her best friend's fur, but she was happy they liked the gift. But she was puzzled with Larchcloud's agitation,  as if something needed to be said, and it was the only thing on her mind.

Lichencloud's eyes widened. A favor? For favor StarClan members? He nodded eagerly. "We can do anything! Anything, Kestrelflight." he said to the brown tabby who was clearly the leader. "What is it?" Kestrelflight stood up and started circling the two RiverClan cats. The scenery on the other side could clearly be seen through the hazy shimmer.

"Since we are no longer StarClan cats and we are Ground Walkers," she began. "We need energy to keep living. Energy from..." she paused, her face twisting into one of mourning. "Live cats. This means we kind of... slip inside them... It's not painful, really. We can control you, sorta. It's more like speaking in your mind." Kestrelflight paused next to Lichencloud, looking up at the larger tom with sparkly green eyes. Almost... flirtatiously. "And you're such a lively cat, Lichencloud. I could live for so long off your energy..." She gave a soft purr, brushing against his shoulder as she returned to the other two cats who were nodding with agreement.

"So what do you say, Silvercloud? Lichencloud? All we would need is one more trusted cat." Coldheart added evenly, her gaze hungrily staring at the other silver tabby.

Silvercloud looked at Kestrelflight when she had affection towards him, and hissed threateningly. "I would happily do your favor, but Kestrelflight, just because you and Lichencloud are medicine cats, doesn't mean you can choose him. I see you as the leader, but the Clan needs him most. I still have faith in all of you that your correct, but I would prefer to have one of the others recieve his energy." Silvercloud retorted, only currently worried about her beloved. But when she looked at Coldheart, she hissed with a similar reply, circling out her opinion to let the youngest thrive from her love.


Kestrelflight disliked this response, and flicked her tail in annoyance. "I don't think you get to choose, dear." Her stare was menacing, and Silvercloud stayed within Lichencloud's safety. She was burrowed by the tall tom to the point where she was small enough to hide half of her body underneath him if she laid down, but stayed sitting.

Larchcloud however, quietly took her time to fantasize living from Lichencloud. Her lips were being licked often, and she was in a slight daze, only to be snapped out of it by the brown tabby.

Coldheart took the tabby's reply as a yes, and couldn't wait to see who they would persuade as the third cat to... feed live off of.

Lichencloud was honnored further. An ancient medicine cat wanted to use his energy. "I would love to help you live, Kestrelflight. Who would be in Silvercloud?" he was completely oblivious to Silvercloud's jealousy. His pride in being selected was too great. Kestrelflight took her time to answer.

"I suppose Coldheart will. Silver tabby with silver tabby. I guess." Kestrelflight shrugged. She got who she wanted; the one she could feel the energy coming off in waves. Her stomach growled in anticipation. Larchcloud's fur bristled, angry. Why did she get last choice?! She would have to wait for her energy?

"What about me?" she asked with a hiss, her claws sliding out but making no mark. "Who will I get?"

OOC: Cue Silvershade

Silvercloud only sat there, a highly agitated look on her. "Good luck then, Lichencloud, Kestrelflight." She growled and etched away from the tom, missing his warmth but her eyes saw the future ahead. The leader would make Sorrelpaw, Lichencloud's apprentice, tire from using the medicine cats' energy. Her stomach turned at the thought of such a young cat so exhausted, but she made up her mind. Yet when she turned out to be paired with Coldheart, Silvercloud felt sympathy for the ginger cat. Her jealousy churned inside her heart, and it made Silvercloud lea  towards regretting her decision.


Kestrelflight was still very pleased at having Lichencloud at her claws, and only returned Larchcloud a bitter retort. "Sorry if you have to, your just not lucky enough for these two." The brown tabby spat, but was ready to leap inside of Lichencloud at any moment. All that precious lively energy was hers.

Coldheart felt no different. Her face was so pleased with her match she looked even more cheerful. But at the s,all fight between her daughters, she flicked her tail before rising. "For us to recieve your energy, however, it's a very... unhappy process for us she-cats. Lichencloud, you may be weaker to disease, but you will be fine." Her lie was very believable,  because the truth was, is that they would be killing them one by one, to stay longer and live off of more cats.


Larchcloud however, was ready to pounce at the nearest thing. But her well-groomed pelt showed no sign of further anger, as she needed to calm down if she could stay longer before disappearing while the others could stay around.

Suddenly, a thought crossed Lichencloud's mind. Silvercloud wasn't acting like her normal self. Tilting his head, he took a discrete side step towards the living female and looked carefully at the three dead cats. He sincerely hoped they weren't lying. He would never forgive himself if they were, and they harmed Silvercloud. "I just have a few questions." he asked, settling down on his stomach. "How will this happen? How do we get you out if we want you to? What will we feel?" he asked slowly, pausing between questions. He knew the time was ticking, but he wanted to know what they were getting in to. Kestrelflight nodded, just like she knew he would ask these questions. She probably did.

"Simple, you just stand there, and we kind of mold to you." he paused, flicking her tail in slight impatience. "You simply tell us you want us to leave." She continued. Coldheart kneaded her paws impatiently. She was hungry. "And you may feel like your fur is crawling with ants, but it's no big deal. Also, we can talk to you through your mind. It would kind of be like a voice in your head; almost as if you're talking to yourself." Kestrelflight looked up to the sky. "We don't have much time." Lichencloud stood, looking down at Silvercloud with worried eyes.

"Are you sure you're alright with this?" the tom asked softly, trailing his tail down her shoulder.

Silvercloud felt a deep pain inside her heart and stomach, as Larchcloud unknowingly slipped inside the young tabby to feed, as the hunger had been too much. Her beautiful green eyes went from thought to pain as the effects of having someone living off of her began. She cringed at the pain, but looked up at Lichencloud at his question. "Yes, but at the first sign of sickness or something bad on you, I would like to know I am going to be able to talk to you all about why." She said, and with that, Coldheart morphed inside of Silvercloud as well, with the go ahead from Kestrelflight. But this, however, worsened her pain greatly, and she was noticeably ready to yowl in pain, as her heart felt broken, but her stomach felt like she was inside a raging flame. Silvercloud then did her best to quickly hide it before Lichencloud would stop and not let her join him, which would only start a raging argument with her messed up emotions. She silently worked on trying to stop it, but a voice in her mind spoke softly. "My dear, this will get better, do not worry." It was Coldheart, trying to calm her food source.

The pain Lichencloud felt as Kestrelflight morphed into his body was worse than he expected. He ground his teeth, and his knees buckled. The pain stopped within a few seconds, however, and he straightened up. Spinning around, he saw Silvercloud withering in pain. Panic surged through him. What had he done? "Get out of her! Get out of her Larchcloud!" he yowled. He was rewarded a few seconds later with a Larchcloud standing next to the silver tabby. Even just that few heartbeats of energy sucking made her seem to shine. She gave Lichencloud, and er, Kestrelflight a look.

"I'll go hungry if you don't feed me soon." Larchcloud warned as the sun began to peak over the trees. She was starting to fade, her angry look not leaving from Lichencloud's pale green orbs.

"Don't worry about her, I'll help you find a good cat for her." Kestrelflight cooed in her head.

Withering in pain again before feeling fine enough to stand up, Silvercloud's eyes flashed in panic. If this is how she would constantly feel, then she may have to say no. Her relief was seen at how Lichencloud's pain subsided, but her pain gnawed at her stomach and heart consistently. "I will- be fine. Coldheart wasn't kidding about things being worse, you seem just fine Lich-encloud." She paused for a brief amount of time in her speech as the pain from having two things eating away at her seemed to subside, but she still was jn pain- a matter needing to be addressed in another's eyes. Sitting down, she flashed an angry look at Larchcloud before looking at her paws.


Larchcloud, however, simply hissed in frustration as she faded even moreso. She had to do something, and until then growled before morphing to a fish to save from the black feeling at day. The fish was pretty much shocked, and burrowed away before noticeably dying, as the little energy provided the ginger cat more time in the day.

Lichencloud leaned down and nuzzled her shoulder softly. "Come, love. You can stay in my den. I'll tell them you're not feeling well and I need to watch you." he purred softly in her ear. He gave a comforting lick to her cheek. "I'll take care of you." He assured.

"Why, Lichencloud? You're better than her." Kestrelflight whispered in her host's head. "You deserve greater. Better." Lichencloud ignored the other medicine cat. Right now, his only concern was Silvercloud. Nudging her shoulder again, he helped her up. Leaning her on his shoulder, he took a deep sigh.

"I'm so sorry, Silvercloud." he murmured so low Silvercloud could almost not here it. The sun was bright by now, and the birds were chirping with glee. It angered him slightly; the birds chirping while his love was in pain.