The Winds of Winter [PLOT FINALE]

Spiderfur found herself staring around in stunned silence as the battle came to an end as fierce as its beginning. More than a dozen cats lay dead, most of them Exiles, but several from RiverClan also grew cold in the Leaffall air. The mournful cries of a RiverClan she-cat - her young kit slain - jolted her out of her panic-induced daze. The old warrior's head twisted around until she found her son, beaten up, but still alive and conscious. She let out an involuntary sigh of relief. He was still here. They didn't take him away. Her soft brown gaze moved across the battlefield until it came upon the bloodied corpse of her opponent. Little steps carried her towards him, Brindlestar's orders ringing in her head. 'Bury them on WindClan land? After everything they've done? After they promised to end us for something we could barely control?' Her mind drifted to thoughts of Wildfang, but she shook her head to dispel them. Orders were orders. 'Brindlestar would exile anyone in a heartbeat if we showed any disloyalty now.' She took Rockjaw by his scruff, picking him up with much difficulty thanks to her tiny form and weary muscles, trying her best to push the images she'd just encountered tonight to the back of her mind.


Firflower's eyes were as unseeing as her mate's, her pale blue gaze fixed straight into the ground. What just happened? Though much of her was free of blood, every time she blinked she could see herself stained red from what she'd done. She killed a queen. She barely registered Nightstorm's presence as he led her away from the scene. Time felt thicker and slower than tree sap during a Leafbare night. Not even when she'd left the clearing did her mind stir beyond that dreadful vision. Nor did the cracks of thunder that shook the earth, or the WHAM that came as a great branch obliterated the Exile's StarClan-sent leader. It was only when faint light from the horizon, something she hadn't witnessed in over a moon did she realize where she stood. Alone and facing away from Fourtrees, another wave of shock ran trough her, manifesting itself in a hurl of bile and tear-pricked eyes. She could smell the blood scent floating in the humid air, though the coming of rain through the treetops dampened it. Slightly.

The pale she-cat took a deep breath, trying not to smell the blood and death any more for fear of throwing up again, then turned to re-enter the clearing with unbridled despair upon her face. Unluckily, her gaze first fell upon the body of Snowdrop once more. She approached with a bowed head, shakily placing her nose on the dead ThunderClanner's forehead. 'I'm sorry. I'm so, so sorry.' Her claws dug into the blood-splattered dirt with near enough force to tear them out. While she may have been a traitor, she didn't have to die. Not like this.

Stepping back with a lowered head and shaky breath, she looked about, desperate to find something she could do. A familiar pelt in the maw of Elmcloud drew her closer. Her heart hurt both to see the corpse of her former apprentice Falcongaze, and the wounds he'd drawn on her fellow Clanmate. Warily she moved to the tom's side and helped to lift the deceased Exile via a grip on his lower back, shooting Elmcloud an apologetic look. She easily felt the chill from the corpse; it sending a surge of nausea and guilt throughout her unmarred body. This was an absolute bloodbath.

Though she knew Tinystar had spoken, she was unclear as to what he said and paused for a moment in confusion.

Leopardstar, for a long moment, contemplated questioning the leader of WindClan further, her vague answer doing nothing to quell the persistent worry that had begun to squirm inside his chest; had she lost a life as well?  On his behalf?  As his jaw hung open though, one of WindClan's apprentices approached them and rested his head on Brindlestar in a way that yearned for comfort and safety, as if he were still being sheltered in the nursery.  Did his young cats look the same?  This realization hit him at the same time that Brindlestar spoke once again, and he lowered his head in a brief nod.  "Yes...may the goodwill of ThunderClan go with you."  His return to brisk formality was sudden but not unexpected, as he turned away from his ally and looked towards where the rest of his clan was gathered, waiting for his instruction.  "ThunderClan, it is time to return home.  We all need to rest and patch up our wounds the best we are able...as for Snowdrop and Beetlemask, they will be left here overnight and buried tomorrow.  The living need to be carried before we can transport the dead."  He did not declare where they were to be buried; if it were up to him, their bodies would be unceremoniously put to rest just as many other tyrannous cats had been, but he knew that there may be cats within his clan that would want to remember the couple for how they used to be, and he would not deny them that if they wished.  With a brief look back at Tinystar, he allowed his eyes to sweep the bloodwashed clearing one last time before begining the trek back to camp.

---

Nightstorm blinked approvingly as Elmcloud also took up the burden of Falcongaze's body, the tom's question once again causing a deep ache to resound in his heart.  "They couldn't see beyond their own corrupted dreams until it was too late...in their eyes, this was the right path to follow, but even if they had seen the error of their ways, death still laid in wait.  Lichenmask wouldn't have let them walk away alive...in a way, this was a mercy of the worst kind."  Jaysong had realized the truth though; he had sent her to the stars, to a place where she could finally be free, to live.  It was that only hope that fueled his paws forward to take his beloved daughter back to camp, catching sight of Tinystar within the crowd.  The leader's words though, made a sharp chill shoot down the night-black tom's spine.  Gently placing Jaysong's body down, he trotted forward to face the short-legged tom, his face calm but with a hit of desperation hidden within the vivid green depths of his eyes.  "Tinystar, I respect your authority as my leader, but I must inquire of you to rethink your decision.  These cats aren't faceless enemies that we should take victory in having struck down; they were our kin, clanmates...sons and daughters, brothers and sisters that went astray!  They were lured by Lichenmask because they were young and naive...but in the end, I think at least a few of them realized that they were on the wrong side...I know Jaysong did."  The taller tom bend his head in a deep bow, so that his head came to rest lower than Tinystar's, to hopefully express that his loyalty to the clan was not in question.  Underneath this peaceful facade though, his heart raced.  "Please Tinystar...I had to take my own daughter's life tonight...allow me the chance to lay her to rest alongside her sisters."

Scorchfang stood still in the center of the clearing, his mind still trying to register all that had happened. Lichenmask had finally been defeated... by nature. No... by StarClan themselves. But why would they save the Clans when they had chosen the tom to eradicate them in the first place?

...What did it matter? The battle was finished. The flames were sizzling in the rainfall around the clearing, growing smaller and smaller until they were completely snuffed out. He couldn't even begin to count all the lifeless bodies that littered Fourtrees. Most of them belonged to the exiles. Including Brushgaze. Oh, great StarClan, Cedarstorm was not going to be happy about this...

Another thought quickly struck him. Orchidpaw had chosen to follow him into battle. Was his son safe? Was he still alive? Trotting around the battle-worn cats, dead and alive, he was able to spot Orchidpaw's body hunched over the badly singed and lifeless body of Sparkpaw. His heart seemed to skip a beat. Great StarClan, no... Not Sparkpaw. Orchidpaw's best friend and crush, the cat whom his son had confessed his love to just mere days before the battle, was dead. And Orchidpaw looked completely shattered.

He slowly approached the bluish-gray apprentice and briefly nuzzled his shoulder with a soft, "I'm sorry, Orchidpaw..." He couldn't comfort him for too long, though. He was still Clan leader, and he could see what remained of his Clanmates looking to him for further directions. Listening to the other leaders' commands given to their own Clanmates, he agreed that leaving the bodies of their own former Clanmates until the next morning was for the best. He was certain that the stench of wet ashes would ward off any hungry predators. "Cats of ShadowClan, it is time for us to return home as well. We will leave what remains of our former Clanmates here until the following morning, in which I will lead a patrol to gather their bodies so we may offer them a proper burial." Even if they had been their enemies until the very end, they still carried a piece of ShadowClan with them. "Froststone," he mewed to his deputy, sweeping his tail towards Sparkpaw's limp body, "please bring Sparkpaw back to camp with us. Let Orchidpaw assist you if he wishes."

Waiting a bit longer for his clanmates to gather, Tinystar's attention turned towards Nightstorm, who had approached him through the crowd. Looking up to the warrior as he spoke, the small leader's heart ached at his words of desperation, and he swallowed a lump in his throat as Nightstorm knelt down. This tom, his friend and follower, bowing beneath him as to somehow show or prove his respect... it was almost too much for him to process. Never in his life had he looked down to a cat, and trying to hide his surprise at the sudden predicament, Tinystar's heart raced.

While what the warrior said might've been true, he couldn't possibly be a push over and go against what he'd originally said, but at the same time, how could he say no to such a request? Nightstorm had every right to want to bury his daughter in her place of origin, so how was he supposed to deny such a request without looking heartless? Him of all cats cared deeply about family, but even so, betrayal was betrayal. Jaysong had chosen her own path and her demise was surely her own fault, right? Well, maybe he could make a compromise of sorts, but even so, he still needed to keep his authority and hold his ground, at least somewhat...

Taking a few moments to collect his scrambled thoughts, Tinystar let out a soft sigh, his eyes soft and full of grief. "Stand up, Nightstorm," he spoke softly, not bearing to watch the warrior act so humbled any longer. "I'm sorry for your loss, I truly am. Please understand that I must keep to at least part of my word, but I've decided that they will still not be buried next to the rest of SkyClan, yet I suppose it's only fair to at least put them to rest on SkyClan land. Tomorrow, you and a small group of your choosing will bury the exiles next to the River, is that understood?" he mewed, meeting Nightstorm's gaze and praying to StarClan that the warrior accepted his new settlement of sorts. The last thing he wanted to do was turn his clanmates against him, and tt of course hurt him to split apart families in such a way, but at the same time, he didn't want such traitors buried next to his beloved kin, which made his final decision even more difficult.

Nightstorm lifted his head upon Tinystar's request, the tom's glassy green eyes shining hopefully in the beautiful dawn light, but as the older short-legged tom-cat explained his compromise they quickly dimmed back to their muted call of desperation; the river?  Laid to rest so close to the homeland of their tormentor?  Why...why can he not see that my daughter chose death over having to keep living for that fascist tyrant?!  Please let me bury her with the respect she deserves, I beg of you!  The calm and composed tom, at that moment, wanted to scream to any star that would listen, but instead, he turned his face downcast, his passionate emotions hidden in shadow.  What was he going to do, he wondered.  Cry like a kit?  Surely not.  Threaten and disobey the cat who had succeeded Crowstar, the merciful tom who had let him and his mate stay in SkyClan even after Swoop's betrayal?  The thought didn't appeal to him.  What would he say to Frostwing if he returned without her body?  What would Featherpaw and Forestpaw think of him when he told them that he had killed their sister to save her from a fate worse than death, yet they had no warrior's grave to mourn?  Just a mound of earth cast off to the edges of the territory, like a shameful secret that needed to be hidden.

"I understand, Tinystar."  His already deep voice was much more husky than usual as his dark head lifted, revealing the hardened face of a determined father.  "I accept your conditions, with one exception.  I will bury Jaysong now, as the sun returns to the sky.  She surrendered her life to see the dawn once again rise for SkyClan; I will see to it that she is laid to rest shrouded in its warm embrace...a comfort that it seems her spirit will not be able to find within the confines of SkyClan's borders."  He allowed his words to sink in, the last passage coated with poisonous barbs disguised like rose petals.  His voice never rose or fell, his demeanor remained even as he gazed down at his leader, though he knew that something inside of him seemed to be trickling away, drop by drop.  An adoration and devotion long-held inside the tom's grateful soul had begun to show its cracks.

"My battle wounds were treated by dear Amberpaw earlier in the fight, there would not be much more Mintwhisker could do to soothe them.  I will return by sun-high."  Padding a few paces away back to where he had rested Jaysong's calico form, he gently picked up her scruff once again.  His eyes darted back to Elmcloud, who was still holding Falcongaze in a similar manner.  "I can bury my son-in-law as well...unless you'd like to wait until tomorrow, and lay him to rest yourself."

Listening to Nightstorm once more, his heart felt as if it was being ripped out of his chest. Of course the warrior was still disappointed at his "compromise," who wouldn't be. It pained him to see a clanmate of his so downcast, but what was done was done and he couldn't be wishy-washy about his words. Giving a soft sigh, he gave Nightstorm a curt nod. "Very well, you may bury her now," the small tom mewed simply as the warrior walked away. Hopefully, no ill feelings would fester towards him after this... predicament, of sorts.

Straining his short neck to scan the crowd of SkyClan cats, it looked as though everyone was present and accounted for, which meant that they could return home. "SkyClan!" he called over the crowds chatter. "roll out Let's head home," Tinystar finished. With that, he turned towards the direction of his territory and began leading his clan back to the peace and safety of their camp.