Seeking Answers (C)

Basilbloom still hadn't fully comprehended what had happened just a night ago, but the constant presence of Dark Forest warriors in their camp and the darkened sky filled her with anxiety she had never felt before.  Terror, and grief, fueled her heart as she had sought out Rookfire that day, asking him to meet her in her den before the clan slept.  She needed guidance, someone to bounce her thoughts off of.  Most of all, she needed to find out if StarClan was still there.  She'd seen Bloodstar at the Gathering, struck down with plenty of lives to spare and he hadn't been revived.  She doubted, but there was only one way to know for sure.

Once Rookfire had arrived, Basilbloom gestured for him to sit down, her amber eyes dark and scared.  "Rookfire, I want to try to reach StarClan, to see if they're still with us.  I know it's not likely, but we have to at least try!  I figured since you used to be a medicine cat too, we could both try.  We can't go to the Moonstone, but only recently StarClan was able to speak to me in my dreams.  Maybe it can happen again!"  Her voice was getting higher-pitched as she went on as if she was convincing herself to do something impossible.  She gazed into her old mentor's eyes, seeking any sort of answer or reassurance.  She didn't have any left for herself.

Rookfire stepped back into the medicine den where his former apprentice was waiting for him. The Dark Forest invasion felt completely alien to him, but at the same time it reminded him of his past, when he was raised under the rule of Asylum. He could only hope that ShadowClan was treated as fairly as the Asylum treated them, but at the same time he felt that the Dark Forest wouldn't treat them as well as the Asylum ever would have. Really, the main reason that the Asylum was so good to ShadowClan was because Iniko was so kind and had so much influence within the group. After he died, Asylum's treatment to ShadowClan cats grew worse and worse.

As Basilbloom told him what she wanted to do, Rookfire began to listen. It wasn't likely at all, but as Basilbloom continued to talk, Rookfire got more and more optimistic about it. It only takes one star to be shining in the night, no matter how dim, he thought. The stars couldn't just be gone forever. "Maybe it could!" he said, smiling at his former apprentice. "When the Asylum took over, and I was born under their reign, they spoke to me in my dreams normally. And maybe StarClan's not gone, just severely weakened. There might be one star shimmering dimly in the night, but they could be our saving grace." Maybe he was being too optimistic. Maybe he was getting their hopes up, just to be disappointed. But maybe, just maybe, it had a shot on working.

"So, whaddya say, Basil? Ready to try to talk to the stars?"

Basilbloom nodded eagerly as Rookfire's words managed to bring back a little bit of optimism, and the tortoiseshell she-cat laid down alongside the black and white tom. "Yes...there has to be something we can do. Maybe this is it." Taking a deep breath, the she-cat rested her head on her forepaws and closed her eyes, slowly drifting off to sleep. However, when she awoke, no starry fields or kind faces greeted her. Just empty, formless darkness, utterly desolate and lonely. It was hard to stay attentive in that place, and very quickly Basilbloom had snapped awake in the real world, the soft sounds of Rookfire's breathing beside her. Nothing...there was nothing. Why StarClan, how did this happen? Tears threatened to slip from her amber eyes, but she quickly wiped them away before Rookfire woke up. Perhaps he had better luck than she.

Rookfire grinned at his former apprentice. This had to work, right? StarClan couldn't just be gone! The black tuxedo rested his head in the medicine den. He remembered when he was first made Iniko's apprentice, the times that he was raised by Asylum. Those times brought better times than the Dark Forest invasion. Maybe it was because he was older now. Eventually, the black tuxedo fell asleep, hoping to see StarClan once more.

Rookfire opened his eyes to see the territory around him. He thought he could make out stars if he really squinted. Yeah, they had to be! This had to be StarClan, right? As he walked through the territory, he noticed the cats populating the territory. Rosethorn, Loudnose, Mistyfalcon, Iniko, Tavora, Ebonysong, Flintstar... wait a second.

This is not StarClan.

As soon as he thought that, the world around him started warping. The stars disappeared, the cats warped into more hideous forms of themselves, and a cream-and-gold tom he saw in the last Gathering laughing maniacally at him. Rookfire growled. "You won't hurt me," he growled. Still, it was terrifying. There was nothing he could do about them. He tried slashing at the tom, causing damage to him. Lunging forward, he killed the cream-and-gold tom with one single bite, causing the rest of the cats to flee. "That's what you get!" he shouted.

Eventually waking up, Rookfire turned to Basilbloom. "Did you..." he started, but he knew the answer from her face. StarClan was gone.