A Cry For Help [Closed]

Through the snow that covered the moors, a cat that if it wasn’t for the big red frozen spots on her fur would’ve been nearly impossible to see, thanks to her rosette white pelt that allowed her to blend almost perfectly with the white powdery substance, walked without rest. Usually kind and warm eyes had turned as cold as the ice they shared their color with and an unusual gleam was clearly evident in them. The gleam of pure rage.

Blizzardstar hadn’t waited at all once she had brought her clan to safety, the sting of the many wounds that coated her body numbed by her great anger, the discomfort of the huge red frozen spot that covered most of her neck, flank and side of her face not able to be processed by her brain in her current state. All she could think was to reach WindClan’s camp, remembering the instructions of looking for a hill along these moors to find it. She had even refused to wait until she got her wounds healed. While she trusted on young Maplepaw, the poor apprentice had to deal with her own injuries on top of the whole clan’s after Honeyspark had been taken hostage by Ivystar and her band of fox-hearted murderers.

Oh, how bad she wanted to rescue her hostage clanmates, to avenge poor young Thistlepaw who had been forced to join StarClan way too early without any kind of reason behind it. Defeating an opponent in battle was one thing, but having your warrior kill an apprentice and on top of that gloat over such monstrosity…at the thought she let out a loud hiss, throwing some fresh blood on the snow as she did. She had never felt like this, this anger that boiled deep within her chest was previously unknown to the kindhearted leader, for the first time in her whole life…she could almost confirm she felt hatred against someone.

She stopped walking to look around, she had been looking for some time by now, but she didn’t care. She, however, finally felt her efforts pay off when she saw the hill. Her pace quickened, her brain not receiving the signals of pain and fatigue her injured limbs were sending to her. She could only think on how bad she needed WindClan’s help if she wanted to rescue her clanmates, help them come back home alive. As much as she hated to admit it, her clan was way too weakened after the battle at Sunningrocks to do this alone.

WindClan camp was peaceful and quiet- temporarily. Despite leaf-bare's hardships, the Clan had been doing well, with enough prey to get by on and no battles as of yet. As far as Ashstar knew, the forest was at peace. That was all about to change. As the fluffy gray she-cat lay lazily in the small cave under the Tallrock where she slept, where all the warmth eddied in and she could curl up comfortably, two scents found her nose that made her stand up immediately. One was the smell of ThunderClan- could it be Blizzardstar again? Or perhaps a wayward patrol? But no, no other cats knew how to get to camp- they were rather well hidden out here on the open moor, the last place someone would expect them to hide. The second smell was far more disturbing: the smell of blood. Panicking slightly, the leader scampered out of her den, dashing across the powdery white snowfall and leaving barely a footprint. She didn't have to go far to see both her suspicions confirmed- it was Blizzardstar, and she was hurt. The she-cat's motherly instincts took over almost immediately, and she ran over to her ally, supporting her. "You look dead on your feet, Blizzardstar. Oh StarClan, these are some bad wounds...." Ashstar grimaced as she saw the spots of blood. "Why didn't you have Honeyspark treat these? And how did you get hurt in the first place? StarClan, Blizzardstar, what happened?!" The older she-cat began leading her friend to the medicine cat den, trying to squash down the panic she felt. Though she didn't know the other she-cat very well, she still had a powerful urge to help her out.

Blizzardstar’s cold killer glare softened lightly at the sight of Ashstar as she rushed to help her, a small smile making her way to her muzzle. However, she was still too angry, too tense…this definitely not the gentle leader Ashstar was used to see at the gatherings “RiverClan…” Her voice came out raspy and low, StarClan had healed her neck after Ivystar took away her first life, but it still was sore and the blood still came out from it in small amounts. She guessed it was nothing too serious or that couldn’t be treated by a medicine cat as StarClan hadn’t bothered with it, but it was still annoying to have droplets of blood run down your chin each time she tried to speak and the constant metallic taste on her mouth.

That was the only answer she gave to the grey leader until they reached the medicine cat’s den, but it was clear that she flinched badly when Ashstar mentioned Honeyspark. It wasn’t until then that she started to feel the pain of her wounds “My clan is starving, Ashstar. Do you know how it feels? To see your clan grow thinner and thinner each day and you can’t do anything about it? Plus…Flameclaw, the deputy of StarClan requested me to do it…it’s not like I had much of a choice anyways…” Her words were enigmatic, like if her mind couldn’t truly focus in anything in her current state “We…we need Sunningrocks…I tried to negotiate, I swear I did. I wanted no war, I only wanted to feed my clan, to give herbs to the ones that are ill. But Ivystar listens to none…”.

Not with some difficulty she finally laid down on the cold snow, her movements slow as some wound reopened with the effort “There was a battle. My clan was weak, but you should’ve seen them, they fought like LionClan themselves…but in the end their efforts were in vain. But the loss isn’t what stings the most…Thistlepaw…oh, poor Thistlepaw” Tears started to pool on the leader’s eyes and she started to shake, it was like if she was about to have a mental breakdown just then and there “He didn’t deserve it…he was too young, and the warrior had no motive nor right…he could’ve just defeated him, he wasn’t even strong enough to fight anymore…he…he hunts with StarClan now…but it was too soon. And Ivystar, the fox-heart! She saw her warrior do it, she was fighting Thistlepaw with him, and did NOTHING…but when the battle was over she still had the guts to rub his murder on my face as if it was something to be proud of!” The feelings Blizzardstar had bottled had finally broken out and were overwhelming her. Grief, anger, indignation, impotence…everything all at once. It was clear that the shaky she-cat wasn’t done with her tale, but words were having trouble to leave her muzzle at this point.

The panic invading Ashstar's senses was soon joined by horror, anger and fear, as well as worry and grief- a mess of emotions, which just so happened to be typical for the WindClan leader. But it didn't stop the feelings from being any less potent as she listened to Blizzardstar's story. Oh StarClan... I was not prepared for this. ThunderClan, weak and starving, had tried to take back Sunningrocks from RiverClan... they had lost... an innocent apprentice had been murdered. Somehow, of all the things that the ThunderClan leader told her, this awoke the most potent emotions inside the gray she-cat: fury. Ivystar, Fishstar's protegee and follower, had been one of the most vocal to criticize Smokepelt back when RiverClan had presumed to get "justice" on WindClan for injuring two apprentices in isolated incidents, and accepting no less than exile to appease them, other than a battle. Remembering the unnecessary fight brought Ashstar's blood to a boil, but not as much as what Blizzardstar was saying. Ivystar- the leader of the Clan who had driven them into the ground for refusing to exile two warriors in the heart of leaf-bare for hurting apprentices- had been party to, had sanctioned, had allowed the killing of an innocent apprentice- and gloated. The fluffy WindClan she-cat shook with rage as she digested the information. Blizzardstar's tale of trying and failing to negotiate with the RiverClan leader resonated with her as well. This was the RiverClan and WindClan war all over again... only this time, with far, far more at stake. As all the emotions made headway in her brain, Ashstar resolved that the outcome of her battle would not be ThunderClan's. She was going to help Blizzardstar, whatever it took. But in the meantime... "First things first, Blizzardstar, you need healing," the she-cat got out shortly, forcing herself to speak calmly. "You need food and a good rest. Then, you are going to tell me everything- and I am going to help you. Okay?"

Blizzardstar shook her head immediately after Ashstar’s words, growing notably more anxious “No, no, you don’t understand, my clan...” She tried to get up as she spoke, but she only managed to fall back on the snow as her legs gave in under her weight, the exhaustion and her injuries finally catching up with the with leader “They…they need help more than I do, Ashstar. Ivystar might had complied with her threats during the battle, but even after fighting her I still have more lives to spend if needed…my clanmates aren’t so lucky…” She had to take a small break before continue talking, having to catch her breath again “She…she took a warrior as hostage…as well as Honeyspark…” Whatever rage that was left inside her was instantly replaced with the purest worry and fear.

“We have no medicine cat, Ashstar…and Maplepaw was only apprenticed a couple sunrises ago. She hadn’t even finished learning which herb is which when her mentor was taken from us, and now she has to tend to her own wounds as well as those of a whole clan…we have broken bones, deep slashes, an apprentice even lost her tail…and she has to deal with that on her own with the extremely low knowledge she holds…” The urgency in her voice raised with each word, and if her body wasn’t reacting to this like it would be expected it was purely due to fatigue “They promised to return them after Leafbare if we promised to never try to take Sunningrocks back, but I doubt my clanmates have that much time with the wounds they hold…and after what RiverClan did with Thistlepaw I’m terrified to even think what they could do to Lionspark and Honeyspark…if we will ever will see them alive again or if we’ll forced to receive and bury corpses even if we follow their instructions in the end” Blizzardstar had been clearly touched by the murder of the apprentice, to the point of losing all trust in Ivystar’s words and even start falling in paranoia about the possible fates of their clanmates.

Ashstar tried as hard as she could to keep her emotions in check, to keep the rage and disbelief, the need to do something, under control- but it grew increasingly more difficult. Each word out of Blizzardstar's mouth was further evidence against the RiverClan leader, whom Ashstar had been slowly growing to respect. But no longer. Taking a medicine cat from a beaten, wounded Clan so they couldn't heal? That was just wrong. If Fishstar had taken Cindercloud from them after the battle of "justice", WindClan would have likely taken moons and moons to recover, or even to survive. ThunderClan needed help. However, she forced herself to remember that there was nothing she could do right that moment. Right now, the best thing for both of them was to get the fluffy white she-cat to sleep and heal, so that she could function normally again, and then to make plans to get poor Honeyspark and the warrior back. "Don't worry, Blizzardstar," she made herself say, attempting to guide the ThunderClan cat towards their medicine den. "Ivystar won't get away with this, I promise. I'll help you get your Clanmates back, safe and unharmed... and I'll help you get Sunningrocks. We'll teach those fox-hearts a lesson. But first, Blizzardstar, you need to rest. Trust me, you can't help your Clan barely functioning like this."