When cedar trees fall [closed]

Walking across the WindClan territory, Cedarfur let out a sigh. Icestorm was gone, Ashstar was in state to patrol, and with Smokepelt being deputy and caring for his kits and apprentices, life at the moment was a bit of a drag. He didn't want to be a bother to anyone or just sit around camp doing nothing and so he decided he might as well hunt some prey. So far, the tom hadn't scented anything that was worth bringing back to the clan and felt a bit discouraged. He kept a steady pace as he padded through the tall grass and after a few moments, he made his way to the bottom of a small hill that sat near the center of WindClan's Territory. Looking to the sky, Cedarfur was lost in thought. Icestorm, are you really up there? he wondered, stopping where he stood and closing his eyes as he kept his head facing the sky. The cool evening breeze ruffled his fur and for a few moments, the warm rays of sun were covered by a sea of clouds. He had no idea if his mother, Icestorm or anyone else was really up there, and for the first time in his life, he had doubts if StarClan was real. Of course there were stories about them, but did anyone really know?

Before his thoughts could get any deeper, the fresh scent of prey wafted against his nose and looking from the sky to the territory, the tom could just barely see a rabbit nibbling on a patch of greens on the top of the hill. Not wasting any time, Cedarfur crouched down and stalked towards the rabbit. With his position at the bottom of the hill, the rabbit wasn't able to see him and it was perfect. After a few moments, he decided that he was in a good enough position and bunched up his legs, readying himself. Sprinting towards the rabbit, Cedarfur was confident that he'd be able to catch it. Closing in on the prey, it finally spotted him and made a run for it. Disappearing behind the top of the hill, the tom gave a burst of energy. Unfortunately for him, the adrenaline of hunting made him forget about the clump of dead branches on the top.

Coming up on the top of hill too fast and not seeing the hazard that sat in his way, the tall tom tripped over a branch, letting out a yowl of surprise and pain as his paw twisted in an awkward way and he started tumbling down the hill. For what seemed like forever, Cedarfur couldn't stop himself from falling with his injured paw and when he tried to get on his paws, he heard a cringe worthy pop from his spine and he let out another yowl of pain as he fell back down to his paws and finally skidded to a halt at the bottom of the hill. Lying on his side, Cedarfur tried to get up but any movement sent pain shooting up his back. Wincing at the unbearable pain, he laid a the bottom of the small hill, alone and genuinely afraid. Forgetting about the rabbit, the only thing he was worried about was if no one would find him and he'd die a slow and lonely death, alone.

Nightheart was on one of her lone hunting patrols, carrying a dead rabbit on her jaws when out of nowhere another rabbit passed running at full speed right in front of her, causing her to jump backwards, letting out a surprised meow that was successfully muffled by the prey she was carrying. She wasn’t stupid, she knew that for a rabbit to get so close to a cat like her it would need to be running away from something else.

The dark warrior lifted her head and sniffed the air and trying to ignore the scent of the rabbit she was carrying, muscles tense. She, however, let out a relieved sigh as the smell of another WindClan cat reached her nose, instead of the smell of a badger or a fox. She couldn’t help but wonder how the rabbit had escaped from her clanmate, they were fast, but so were they after all. Maybe it caught the other cat off-guard for whatever reason or it was an apprentice practicing? She just shrugged it off, starting to walk once more, not wanting to interrupt the other cat’s hunting when she heard the pained yowl, it only took her a second to recognize the voice of her father.

Dropping the prey, she turned around and ran towards a nearby hill at full speed, not caring about the moderate pain caused by the tall grass that hit her on the face thanks to how fast she was running, sure that the sound came from that direction. As soon as she made it out of the tall grass she was received by the sight of Cedarfur at the base of the hill “Dad!” Without thinking it twice, Nightheart rushed to his side, worried for his lack of movement and praying to Starclan that he wasn’t between them just yet. She had lost her mother and her sister already, she didn’t know if she would be able to handle losing her dad when the wounds were barely starting to heal.

Another day poking about the territory. Spiderfur had been patrolling around the territory, searching for any signs of danger, when a loud yowl nearly scared her out of her fur. However, when she recognized the voice, she could barely move. 'Not him too.' The little she-cat then bolted in the direction of her father, nearly tripping over the branches as he had, practically stumbling down the hill to reach him. She saw Nightheart first and rushed to her half-sister, then spotted Cedarfur's motionless form and froze. Then his side rose and fell, and her fear was relieved slightly. "W-We need to b-bring him t-to camp!" She couldn't stand still anymore, and her head automatically moved to face the sky, her tail tip twitching incessantly.

Ashstar meandered aimlessly about the grassy moors, relishing the air's chill. Leaf-fall was upon the territory, bringing with it plenty of rain- but mostly just cloudy, gray skies that reflected the leader's mood. She wasn't drowning in grief any longer, no, but she wasn't happy as she had been. She was in a sort of limbo between the two states, not really feeling a strong glow of either emotion. A drop of sadness or a tinge of happiness would break through the cloud cover occasionally, but for the most part, the she-cat's emotions were neutral ones. She let a rabbit race by her- she wasn't hungry. She hadn't been lately. Her heart was carefully guarded by a shield of memories of her friends telling her to be strong; she had to be a strong leader! She couldn't be weak.

As WindClan's leader padded around the territory, she was interrupted by a yowl of pain that almost split her ears in two. She recognized the voice, and her recently repaired heart plummeted. No, Cedarfur, not you too! Why, StarClan? She raced towards the direction the noise had come from. Sure enough, Cedarfur lay prone on the grassy plain, paw twisted unnaturally. She rushed over to him, noting Nightheart and Spiderfur nearby. "Are you all right?"

Lying down on the ground, he couldn't tell how long he'd been laying in silence but soon enough, the sound of paw steps running across the moor. Getting anxious, he tried to get up but fell back down in defeat. Please notice me! Don't go! Cedarfur wanted to cry out but stayed silent. For some reason his body was exhausted and the tom's breathing became heavy even as he laid still.

The sound of his daughter made his ears perked and opening his eyes, he looked up to see Nightheart. Thank StarClan! Letting out a soft mew, the tom tried to lift his head but winced at the pain. What had happened to him? First, he was hunting a rabbit and next, he was laying on the ground and couldn't move with out wanting to yowl from the pain. Directing his gaze beyond Nightheart, he spotted Spiderfur and soon, he was surrounded by his three favorite she-cats.

Trying not to move, Cedarfur looked to each cat. "I'll be fine, really," he meowed, which was complete lie. He had no idea what would happen and all he could do at this point was hope for the best.

Nightheart raised her head as soon as she heard Spiderfur’s rushed steps, though she only looked at her half-sister for a couple seconds before her attention returned to Cedarfur “But…how can we move him without doing more damage?” Nightheart wasn’t sure if there were any other injuries besides the clearly twisted paw that their father had, and if there were and they moved him they may only end up hurting him even more.

She was thinking about that when Ashstar’s voice reached her ears. She looked at her and shook her head “Spiderfur and I are fine, but he isn’t…” She pointed at Cedarfur with her tail. She wasn’t sure if the clan leader had listened to her worry before, but maybe she would be able to help them come with a solution. None of them needed to be a medicine cat to know that he was way worse than he was letting them know.