What is happening? [Trial by Fire prt. 1 OPEN]

After he had appointed the new deputy, Skyclan seemed to be in a joyous time. Crowstar was glad that his clan was happy with his choice, but this pain that he was feeling wouldn't go away. After everyone's attention was turned to the new deputy the leader jumped off his branch and stumbled slightly when he landed, coughing soon after he did so. Some blood landing on the ground without the fluffy leader's knowledge.

He quickly retreated into his den which sat in a hallow under the tree which he called ceremonies from. He welcomed the darkness of his den, and quickly settled into his nest, but the pain still wouldn't go away. He quickly turned to his side his legs sitting in the nest, his head resting on a squishy part of his nest. His chest heaved greatly as he found it hard to breathe and the pain was only getting worse. He let out another set of coughs spitting up a decent amount of blood as he did so. What was causing this? Why was he in so much pain? The leader's eyes were half closed as he continued to sit there and suffer. His yellow eyes staring at the wall of his den, unsure of what to do. He didn't even know if he could move anymore from how much pain he was in.

After the clan was dismissed Moonlight started to wander around the place, still wondering if she should talk to Antdrop, sincerely worried after seeing him so upset. Her train of thought was suddenly stopped when she stepped on something wet, making her look down and rise her paw, her eyes widening as soon as she saw the crimson spots on the grass and now on her paw pads.

She quickly looked around the camp, nobody seemed to be injured, so who the blood belonged to?

She immediately sniffed the air carefully, still not saying a thing, she didn’t want to alarm the whole clan just for what could be a couple drops of blood from a scratch or something. Her nose led her to…Crowstar’s den? Weren’t his injuries treated by the medicine cat already? Then why was he bleeding?

She politely looked inside the den, hearing Crowstar’s cough “Crowstar? I found some blood and followed the scent here, are y-” She was cut midsentence by the sight of blood on his mouth and floor, she didn’t need to be a medicine cat to know that something was wrong “Oh dear StarClan…I…I’ll bring Ocenalight!” The young warrior immediately rushed to the Medicine Cat den, not caring if she dragged the attention of other cats “Oceanlight! Are you here? Crowstar is coughing blood!”.

Oceanlight ears perked. She ran over to Crowstar. She checked him, no wounds, there isn't a smell of sickness. It must be internal bleeding. Her ears flattened. "I'm sorry. There is nothing I can do. He has internal bleeding. There is not a single herb that can fix that." she said, her voice dry and sad.

Ravenfeather had kept to the outskirts of SkyClan camp ever since they had returned from the battle at Fourtrees. When she came in to eat fresh kill, she scarcely spoke to anyone, and often too her meal to the edge of the camp to be by herself. When she came into the warriors' den at night to go to sleep, she made sure everyone else present was already asleep before she curled up and nodded off. Often times, she had trouble getting to sleep at all, so she'd frequently just lie there, watching the grass sway in front of her, or take nighttime watch duties at the camp entrance.

She'd wronged StarClan. She'd wronged her own Clan. Now that StarClan was in charge of the skies once more, and things were as they'd been before the Dark Forest's intrusion, she could see that she'd been gravely mistaken to follow Morningstar. The young black she-cat didn't feel worthy enough to speak to any of the Clanmates she'd betrayed. The guilt was eating away at her every moment she was awake, and when she slept, she had nightmares about it. Being away from the Clan, on patrols and hunts, was the only time she didn't feel the crushing shame of her actions.

Currently, as she stepped back into camp with a sizeable bird in her jaw, the guilt returned, and she cast her eyes downwards, as not to catch anyone's gaze. Upon placing her prey down, however, Ravenfeather's ears twitched as she picked up on some commotion happening over at her father's den. She furrowed her brow. What..?

Cautiously, she crept over, still trying her best not to look anyone in the eye, and peered into Crowstar's den from behind Oceanlight's form. Immediately, a metallic tang hit her nose, and then she saw it. Blood was trickling out of her father's mouth and down onto the floor of his den. The fur on Ravenfeather's neck stood up in alarm. ".. Father? What's going on?"

Vixenheart had been heading straight towards the camp exit right after the ceremony had been finished, but she froze to look back one more time. When she did, she saw Moonlight rushing out of Crowstar's den and right towards the medicine den. She blinked, wondering what all that was about. When she saw Oceanlight and Moonlight reemerged from the medicine den and headed to Crowstar's den, she was then instantly concerned. She raced to the leader's den before looking inside to see Moonlight, Oceanlight, and Ravenfeather. She slowly padded in, staying close to the sides but she was still concerned. She could see already that Crowstar was coughing up blood, and that was already bad enough.
Her ears flattened against her head. She said nothing, but she looked back and forth from Oceanlight to Crowstar with worry glittering in her amber eyes.

Worry covered Poppysong's face as soon as the leader landed with a cough. Her ears folded back on her head and she stood as he padded past and into his den. There was a small blood splatter on the ground from where the tom had walked. The warrior inhaled sharply and opted to stand quietly outside of his den. Her tail lashed around anxiously as she waited and her ears flicked around every time she heard the tom cough.

She nodded to Moonlight as she went to speak to Crowstar, and prepared herself to rest on the ground. Just before she could tuck her paws away, Moonlight's voice increased in volume and panic. Shooting up, she rushed in after every cat and stared at Crowstar.

The tri-coloured she-cat's breath hitched and a lump rose in her throat. The black tom was suddenly looking raged, breathless, and like he was on the verge of death. Blood was beginning to pool near his face in the mossy nest, and the slow trickle that came from his mouth and coated his teeth told her it wasn't a cut. Horrified and troubled, she pushed past her clanmates to sit beside him. The air was beginning to become stuffy, and the den crowded, but she didn't care. Right now, all she wanted to do was be beside him.

She froze at Oceanlight's words. 'There is nothing I can do.' That would mean he would die. He couldn't just die here, right? He was a leader after all. Surely he would come right back, healthier than ever... Right? "Crowstar? A-Are you okay? You'll be fine, right? What's one life?" she meowed with a nervous laugh.

Crowstar's chest heaved as he breathed in and out trying to get air to fill his lungs fully but it was hard, and it hurt a ton. Was this Starclan's punishment for him? To let him lose his first life very slowly and very painfully? Were they that mad at him even if he realized his mistakes and asked for forgiveness? His yellow eyes looked towards the cats that came into his den. Moonlight, Oceanlight, Ravenfeather, Vixenheart, and Poppysong.. He was glad they were here but he didn't want them to see him suffering but it seemed they were going to anyway.

He wanted to sit up and tell them he was fine, but as soon as the idea came into his mind, he broke into another coughing fit. A few of them were sharp as blood splattered on the ground in front of him from his internal bleeding. Soon enough blood would fill his lungs, and mess up his internal systems. His breathing was becoming more ragged, more like a wheezing instead of a proper breathing. He wanted to talk to them, he wanted to say he was going to be fine, but they all were going to watch him die. Would he even come back? If this was Starclan's wrath would they even allow him to return?

His yellow eyes looked to Ravenfeather for a moment. "Ravenfeather..." He wheezed out. "My.. beautiful daughter.." His gaze turned back to staring at the wall for a moment. "My clan.." His mind finally registered Poppysong's voice and he moved his head to look at his former apprentice. His head sliding against the moss nest. "Poppysong.. my-" The leader was cut short as he broke into another coughing fit more blood coming up this time as he fought to keep his lungs and airway open, but they were just slowly filling.

He was in so much pain. His eyes slowly moved from the individual cats. He was glad they were here, he was glad they still cared after what he had done. His wheezing turned into short exasperated breaths. and the coughing became more frequent. Causing an extreme amount of pain for the Skyclan leader. It slowly got worse, until everything ceased. The movement from the leader's chest stopped. There was no more wheezing, no more coughing. His eyes grew blank and there was no more flick of his tail. The leader was dead.

Oceanlight's eyes widened as Crowstar slowly died. Hopefully, StarClan can and will heal him. If there was something that could help him, she would use it in a heartbeat. "W-well. At least he isn't in p-pain anymore." she stammered.

Snowstorm just stood outside his den. She stared into the den. When his eyes grew blank, her ears flattened, and she turned and walked away. She didn't want to add to the crowd. She didn't say anything. She just went into the warriors den.

Moonlight looked at the cats that rushed in with Oceanlight and herself, but didn’t pay any real attention to them, wanting to know about her leader’s condition. As soon as she admitted that there was nothing to be done to help him she was left speechless, frozen in her place for several seconds. The battle had been though, but she never expected it to take away one of Crowstar’s lives.

Tears pooled in her eyes as soon as she heard the black tom’s attempts to talk to them through what was obviously a terribly painful experience, but refusing to let them fall to avoid making the other cats feel even worse. She wanted so badly to say something, ask the leader to not talk, let him know that he didn’t need to say anything and drag even more pain upon himself for them to understand how much he cared for them, but no words made it past her muzzle, and if any would’ve managed to do so it probably would had been enough for her to break into tears.

As soon as Crowstar’s movements came to a complete stop she lowered her head and closed her eyes tightly. Oceanlight was right, at least he wasn’t suffering anymore, plus, he still had more lives, didn’t he?

She could feel her heart beating faster when that question echoed in her head. Crowstar had sided with the Dark Forest, yes, but he had repented at the gathering, understanding that what he had done was wrong and even for the start was fooled by those he thought his allies to take such decisions. They had to forgive him, not take away the lives they had given to him when they accepted him as the clan’s leader…

Vixenheart blinked sadly as she heard Crowstar struggling to speak and breath. It pained her to see anyone suffering or in pain like this, especially her own leader. She decided to say nothing, as to avoid saying the wrong thing or something foolish. She trusted Oceanlight to know what to do. She did know what do right? And now...Vixenheart's worry was making her doubtful. She glanced at Moonlight, seeing her tears, and she took a small step closer to the warrior, placing her tail on Moonlight's back in comfort, and yet her eyes were still focused on Crowstar.

Then, he was dead. She sighed, her expression grave. StarClan would bring him back wouldn't they? They had to! Her ginger tail drooped and her dates flattened against her head. She nodded at Oceanlight's words. If he awoke, there would be no more pain and suffering for him. It's always hard and saddening to watch someone die right in front of your own eyes, and that's how Vixenheart felt at the moment. She lowered her head in silent respect, waiting for the moment when he would come back to life.

She was deciding to stay optimistic this time around...

Poppysong smiled at the tom. She nodded at him to continue speaking, but his breaths cut even more short and his body shook from his wheezes. Worry clouded her hazel eyes once more. It became more and more violent until finally, his body lay flat and did not move any more. There was no sign of breathing from his sides, and his eyes stared forward without seeming to have any focus.

The warrior found herself holding her breath in anticipation as she stared at the black leader. H-He would come back soon, right? All he needed to do was meet with StarClan and return with one life lost. This was all part of the process.

She felt her anxiety would overflow at any moment. Fearing she couldn't contain herself, the tri-coloured she-cat buried her face into his dark fluffy fur.

When Crowstar opened his eyes again or at least seemed like he did, he was sitting in a grassy plain. Trees where surrounding the area. The stars where shining brightly above. It looked like Starclan but no one was showing up. He looked around trying to see if he could see anyone but there was no one not even his parents. Where they all disappointed in him? They probably were.. They were probably disgusted with him. Was he really dead? He didn't expect it to take this long.. Maybe they took away all of his lives and killed him for good. He would be a bit mad if they did that but he would understand.. He did betray them after all..

The black fluffy leader sat in silence in the starry plane. Nothing was happening. How long did this take? Wasn't it usually immediate? That was what happened with Thrushstar... Was he fully dead? No lives to his name? Was this where they sent cats who didn't have a place in Starclan or the Dark Forest. He sat there for what felt like ages waiting on something to happen, waiting to return to his clan. He needed to go back, he wanted to go back. He wanted to be with Poppysong again. After a little while a longer he finally gave up. Accepting that he wasn't returning. Though as soon as he did everything started to move. Everything swirled and spun and then eventually faded..

Crowstar took in a sharp breath as he returned to his body, his chest heaving once again like he had run as much as a windclan cat, but there was no coughing this time. Nothing blocking his airway or was sitting in his lungs. He tried to move but still found it hard to do so. He was still very weak. He couldn't even lift his head. Weren't leaders supposed to come back strong? Was this due to his lack of faith for the last while? He wasn't sure.

His eyes regained their usual shine as he blinked a few times, and his yellow eyes looked around his den to see everyone still there. He opened his mouth, and spoke his voice still weak and rough. "I'm... back..." He said slowly and softly as he tried to speak. It wasn't going well but he had to say something.

Moonlight raised her ears and looked at Vixenheart as soon as she felt her tail on her back, trying to smile at her to convince her that she was fine without much success. Moonlight wanted to try to support the cats around her like Vixenheart was doing with her, to say some words to relieve some of the tension on the air, anything. But it was like if she had become a statue, unable to move or talk.

The whole place seemed to be frozen in time, the silence being so dense that it felt that any of the cats would be able to slash it if they tried. Nobody dared to say a word as they waited, even the forest outside appeared to have gone dead quiet, waiting for the verdict of the cats that roamed the skies on the black leader that had decided to walk the wrong path. It could’ve been just her though, but she really didn’t care.

Then Crowstar’s weak voice reached her ears.

It was like if a massive weight had been suddenly lifted from the she-cat’s shoulders, her paws reacting before her mind could still fully process the information that had been revealed to her, getting closer to the black tom in a hurry as she made sure that what she heard had been real and not just her imagination triggered by her emotions.

Featherpaw heard everything and was outside, pacing wondering if Crowstar was going to be ok. The silver apprentice thought of Crowstar as her father, since she never knew her parents. She decided she couldn't take it any longer so she ran in her green eyes clouded with worry. "How's Crowstar?!?!?" She meowed exasperated.

Sunkit was unaware of what had happened he had been sleeping in the nursery...