This is the only way I can protect my legacy... (Open to all StarClan Cats)

Nettlesting woke with a start. His throat and stomach ached like fire. His muscles were sore like he had fought for a whole moon straight. Blinking his eyes, the ginger tabby awoke to a group of cats crowded around him. Stars were in his pelt, and many were familiar. Suddenly, the events leading up to where he were now came rushing back to his memory. His throat closed, and a strangled cry came out of the once proud cat. But for the first time since he was a kit, a warm scent enveloped him. He opened his green eyes to see the kind face of his mother. His mother was prettier than he ever imagined. Her sleek ginger pelt shone like the stars wanted her and only her. She curled around him, the scent of sick completely gone from her breath. They laid there for a few heartbeats as the rest of the crowd stared at him. He gulped and tensed. His mother nudged his cheek. “This is when you tell us all how you died.” she whispered. Nettlesting took a huge breath and stood, facing the rest of the StarClan cats gathered around him. He wished he could lie….

---

The day was warm for that time of year, and for the first time the new herbs were starting to push through the dirt. He and Silentpaw had spent the early morning hunting for herbs and hunting for prey, lounging in the ever evolving warmth. For the first time in his waking memory, Nettlesting was happy. Yet, at the same time, his heart ached. Silentpaw… She was so beautiful. Her silky white fur was soft and literally glowed in the sun. Her blue eyes were filled with love and affection in a way he had never seen before. When he was with Silentpaw, the entire world seemed to slow and it was just them. No sick cats. No broken claws. Just she and him. Against the world. Forever.

The day was winding down when Silentpaw and Nettlesting made their way back to the medicine den to sort through the day’s herbs and for Nettlesting to give a lecture on some herb uses. Floating on a cloud, nothing could ruin this day for Nettlesting. Nothing. Not if the entire forest attacked ShadowClan’s camp right at this instance.

The air in the medicine den was warm, but not too warm. The comfy kind of warm that makes you sleepy and happy. The lecture was going well, and he found himself pleasantly surprised with how fast the she-cat picked up on everything. They cracked jokes, they laughed so much more.

“You know, I’ve never met a better cat than you, Silentpaw.” Nettlesting tossed out, testing the waters. His green eyes watched the young she-cat reacted. She reacted positively, with a large purr.

“Thank you Nettlesting!” She was really coming out of her shell.

Nettlesting continued the lecture, and about halfway through, he urged Silentpaw to take a sniff of some catmint. “Be careful, it really tickles your nose.” he warned, but even as she sniffed in, it did tickle her nose, and she let out the softest sneeze. Nettlesting couldn’t help but laugh. She was just too cute. The tom moved to be able to lick the small leaf particles that landed on her fur, and his heart swelled for the third time in the last hour. He sat back, and as he watched her groom her fur, he couldn’t hold it back anymore.

“Silentpaw…” he started. His voice deep and soft. “I love you… Will you please be my mate?” Her eyes widened, and his heart started to race. “We don’t have to tell anyone! We’ll be super careful. Nobody will question the closeness of the two medicine cats! Silentpaw, I love you so-”

“Nettlesting?” Came a loud meow at the entrance of the clan. Nettlesting’s head whipped so fast to the side, it felt like he was hit by a monster. The warrior Tansyheart had spoken. And Silentpaw had ran to her, and hid behind her legs. As if…. She was… scared of him. Something broke in Nettlesting. The fear in Silentpaw’s eyes killed him. The rage in Tansyheart’s eyes scorched him. He had destroyed everything he worked for in one breath. “Ryeheart!” Tansyheart called, and the other warrior padded up. “Get Littlestar now.” She stared straight and hard into his eyes, and that is when he remembered… She was the daughter of Gingerstripe and furious at him for getting her father exiled… Ryeheart entered the den. The golden warrior was confused, taking in the scene. Nettlesting with his fur raised, claws out and ears back, panic in his eyes. Tansyheart in the entrance, a terrified Silentpaw behind her. Three death berries a few mousetails past the medicine cat’s paws…

“What’s going on?” Ryeheart asked confused. Tansyheart flicked her tail, her eyes staring into his soul.

“I walked in on Nettlesting trying to feed Deathberries to Silentpaw!” she hissed, claws unsheathing. What? That was not what was happening! Nettlesting’s eyes widened and Ryeheart’s eyes turned dark.  His voice lowered.

“I will get Littlestar immediately.” The tom left within seconds, and was traveling at a fast pace to the leader’s den. Silentpaw sprinted with him. Would Silentpaw tell the truth? Tansyheart moved to block the entrance. Time slowed, and Nettlesting weighed out his options. He could wait and try to explain to Littlestar what really happened. That he broke the code to ask Silentpaw to be his mate. He would have his rank stripped, but maybe he would be allowed to stay in the clan. If Silentpaw said he was trying to kill her… He would be kicked out and left out to die. No clan would take him. The murderous medicine cat.

Nettlesting’s vision panned behind him. The deathberries. He didn’t want to die, but he had no choice. “This is the only way I can protect my legacy…” He whispered under his breath, tears starting to stream from his face. He had to move quick. Without any more hesitation, the ginger tom swooped down and quickly ate all three Deathberries at once. There was no way he could be revived. In the background, he could hear Tansyheart screaming angrily, and could distantly see her rushing towards him. He swallowed hard.

Instantly, he felt the poison seep into his body. For three seconds he stumbled around. The world swirled around him until he fell to the ground. As the world started to go dark, all he could feel is the choking and the shaking from his legs. He coughed, and blood splattered the walls and ground around him. Again and again he coughed blood. He could hear voices. As his eyes rolled to the back of his head, he could see one more thing… Silentpaw. She was in charge of his legacy now.

“I couldn’t seem to die…” But he did die. And the world went black.

---

“And that’s when I woke up here.” Nettlesting whispered, his starry gaze tracing over the figures of those around him. What would they say? Was his legacy secure?

Blossomheart blinked. "You know, that really sounds pretty rough. I mean, I ran away to save my legacy. Still ended up dropping dead. But at least I know I'm remembered well. I think death is a little much, but I get what you're doing. No way to go back now." She had fallen in love with a rogue and died soon after... But she'd died happy.

The death of any cat with a high position always attracted a crowd. Even though Honeydrop wasn't personally fond of this week's addition to their ranks, she figured that she might as well turn up just for the show. And boy, was it a show. Nettlesting, a cat she'd once respected as she trained him from StarClan, had sunk so low that she didn't even recognize him. First misinterpreting her message and showing no mercy to her son, then lying about him to every Clan leader, and finally this- attempting to do the very thing that she'd been exiled for, and then killing himself so he didn't have to deal with his own disgrace. Barely disguised disbelief covered her face as the tom glanced around the ranks of StarClan, as if asking for acceptance of what he'd done.

"Unbelievable." Disgust was evident in the usually-kind she-cat's tone as she stepped out from the crowd, beautiful golden fur raised along her spine. "Absolutely unbelievable. After all you've done, after knowing what I did, you still tried to have a forbidden relationship? With another medicine cat half your age? What in StarClan's name were you thinking?" Her amber eyes narrowed further as she stalked up to Nettlesting, feeling a pit of anger boiling hot inside her. "After kicking my son out of the Clan and making sure he'd never be accepted anywhere, what right do you have to worry about your legacy?! Gingerstripe is your legacy, and what you did to him will never be forgotten. And not only did you disobey the code when you tried to have a forbidden relationship, which I warned you about, you then abandoned a medicine cat apprentice on her own by callously killing yourself over a false accusation?!" Honeydrop breathed heavily, hot air blowing into Nettlesting's face, and then looked away as if she didn't want to see his face anymore. "I'm disappointed in you."

"Disappointment is an understatement." Ginger wasn't one to meddle in the affairs of other clans, but this was too appealing. Besides, not much happened in Starclan nowadays (besides the whole Lichenmask thing, but he didn't have anything to do with that). "You knew the rules. You enforced them on others mercilessly, and yet... I suppose you thought they didn't apply to you, hmm?" The white-furred tom flicked his ginger striped tail, stepping behind the former Medicine Cat. "Why you're not in the Dark Forest right now is a mystery that I, for one, would love to solve."
The forbidden romance wasn't the thing that made Ginger's lip curl.
"Silentpaw was an Medicine Cat apprentice. She was naive, and you took advantage of that." Not to mention, Rowantalon's daughter. Back when they were apprentices they had been great friends, although when Rowantalon got his warrior name they drifted apart. Still, it had been nice seeing him prospering in Shadowclan.
Until this silly fool had to go and ruin everything.

"I for one think you did the right thing in killing yourself." A massive, sandy brown tabby came into view. He'd only been half-listening from the shadows when the medicine cat began to share his tale but as the others piped up, the tom became more invested. Allowing a snort to escape from his maw, Eaglefang shouldered past Honeydrop and flicked his tail across her nose in a rather disrespectful manner. In his short time within the forest, the young Thunderclan warrior had been witness to Gingerstripe's desperate attempts to rejoin a clan after banishment from his own. Eaglefang had protested vivaciously in his youth to prevent the Shadowclanner from joining their midst. For this reason, it was obvious what his opinion on the matter was. His cold gaze fixed Nettlesting's as his claws flexed into the starry terrain.

With a glance back over his shoulder, the warrior growled a low response to the she-cat, "What he supposedly did to Gingerstripe should be celebrated. Cats like that do not deserve a place in any clan. He did his job as a medicine cat." Eaglefang stalked past Nettlesting and walked a slow circle around the other Starclan cat. When he finally stopped, he stood next to the dark-reddish coated cat. An obvious disdain showed itself in a snarled lip and blazing eyes "However, your inability to follow the code makes you just as awful as that ginger-pelted foxheart. Are all medicine cats just as foolish as the pair of you? Or it that just a Shadowclan thing? I'm not sure why I trouble myself from straying away from Thunderclan cats at all..." With a huff, the tom turned away. His piece had been said, his thoughts made known, which was all he cared for.

Nettlesting sat there and took in everything being said to him. As the words kept flying at him, the all too familiar anger kept rising. How dare Honeydrop insult him for attempting to break the code, even when she went so much further. If she didn't want her son being punished for murdering her, why did she tell him? The fur along his spine began to raise. As every cat started to pile him, he couldn't control it anymore. He whipped around to Honeydrop. "If my legacy is Gingerstripe then I feel sastisfied with my legacy. Gingerstripe is a murderer. He killed you, and you sit there and protect him? Everyone but his cultish family appreciates what I did. My job. I protected the clan from him killing someone else he didn't like. You're the one that told me. If you didn't want me doing my job, you shouldn't have said anything." He whipped around to this 'Ginger.' Who even were they? "What even kind of mystery is it? If Honeydrop is here - a medicine cat whom actually had kits- is here, then why wouldn't I be? I may have proposed to break it but I didn't actually break it." Nettlesting paused. Eaglefang didn't really say anything he could argue with. What he said was completely the truth... Could have gone without the ShadowClan insult, but he'd deal with it later. "And finally, Silentpaw will be fine. She is extremely intelligent. And I don't know if you remember, but my mentor died when I was apprentice as well. And my skills turned out just excellent." He took a deep breath, lashing his red tail back and forth as he stared straight at Ginger. "Get a real name before trying to come at me."