Hush Now [Open]

Mistysky didn't know where she was.

It looked like home. Just like the camp she had known all her life. But she was alone. The dens were all empty. None of the cats she had loved in life were to be found. And Mistysky was forced to just wander, forever searching for a way out.

She managed to find her kits. Oh her precious kits, how she had missed them so. She nuzzled each one, but there was still a hole in her heart. She had left Batsong and Specklekit. Her little one would never see the face of her mother. Mistysky would never see Specklekit grow up into the brave warrior she could have been. Never got to see Batsong as she journeyed into motherhood herself, would never meet the kits that the black molly would bear. There was still so much that Mistysky had wanted in life, and now she would never have the chance. She had just wanted to protect her family.

A dark thought had gone through her mind just then. Would any cat miss her? Mistysky had not always been the most pleasant cat to be around. Maybe cats would be glad she had died. Maybe her punishment had caught up to her. She was destined to lose everyone, and then forever be lost herself. She didn't even get StarClan's greeting, only to be alone with herself and her 4 little kits.

So lost in her thoughts, Mistysky hardly even saw the shadows that had formed around her, the dark shapes of her Clanmates as they went on with their life. Although in the end, all they were were mere shadows. Perhaps those were merely memories, yet another thing coming to haunt the late queen.

And so she wept for what could never be anymore.

There was a deep sorrow that pulled the young apprentice down like a weight. She had usually been one to reflect her golden pelt - sunny, cheerful. An energy to her spirit that seemed never-ending, relentless despite what was faced inside of Windclan's walls. She'd only ever known the presence of the Dark Forest cats within the moors, and even though they unnerved her to a degree, she had grown used to them. Continued to train under her mentor's direction.

Until her mentor was gone.

Mistysky, the second cat for Maplepaw to ever truly know and bond with. Even her littermates, she would play with, but never truly felt a deep connection to them like she had formed to the other molly. As the gathering had commenced, the traumatizing sight of the she-cat being killed before her was forever burned into her brain. She didn't know what to do. Sure, she had been somewhat without her mentor's guidance since she had been with kits, but the warrior was still there as a figure she could visit and consult in her times of need.

Now she wasn't.

Her tail drooped low as she walked around the camp, and her paws carried her to the nursery. Her emerald gaze searched desperately for a sign of the queen's existence, hoping that maybe, just maybe, it was all a cruel dream. Maplepaw couldn't help but find herself collapsing at its entrance, unable to push herself inside. She didn't want to be reminded of her mentor's scent, which acted like a motherly comfort to her. But a shadow out of the corner of her eye caught her attention.

She stared. Her youthful mind plagued by the events of the world, and she shook her head. A saddened queen, marked with the signature pelt she knew her mentor bore. It only caused her own head to droop more, as she was convinced it was simple tricks being played upon her mind. A small sob shook her tabbied pelt. She wanted to say so much to her mentor... but never would get to. It hurt to be reminded of her in this corner, and yet ... it would be the only solace she would have. So the golden tabby curled up outside of the nursery, feeling so close, but so far to the one she relied upon to guide her paws.

Batsong sat alone for now in a corner of the camp... she was still processing the death of her 2 adoptive mothers Mistysky and Swiftsprit. ... First her real parents died suddenly then the two warriors who so selflessly took her in when she was such a mess had died now too.

She closed her eyes mourning for them... she was a relativly shy and quiet cat who didnt normally go out of her way to talk with others unless she knew them well but she was also very kind so when she saw Maplepaw half collapse in grief as well by the nurserys entrence she couldnt just stand by and watch... With slow paws she approached her tears still in her eyes.

Mistysky had been a mentor to this apprentice and no doubt was importatnt in her life just as she had been important in Batsong's... Mistysky had raised Batsong practically speaking and now she was gone in what was all to quick.... one moment they were standing next to each other keeping an eye on specklekit the next...
Her mind while on specklekit quickly checked the nursery and was happy to see them in a deep sleep for now...Specklekit seemed to be asleep with her kit Crowkit. She would watch over him and adopt him if needed and raise him along side her own Crowkit... it was the least she could do for Mistysky and yet it seemed like not enough.

Looking down at the young apprentice who had collapsed just outside the nursery she sat next to her.

"I c--...cant... b-b...belive th-they are gone she stuttered somberly

(Batsong has always had a stutter ever since kithood in case anyone did not know)

"she... s-she w--w...was like a mother to me" she said quietly to the apprentice whose mentor was Mistysky.

"no... she was a mother to me" she corrected herself closing her eyes as tears fell from her face.


Mistysky's words echoed in her head from the day that Berrypaw had died

"Ya know, ya made me realize somethin', Batsong. I thought I did, but I ain't lost everything yet, have I? As long as you're around, I still got me some family. And I do think of ya as family, Batsong. Everything I had ever done for ya, I would do again in a heartbeat. Honestly, if it weren't for you, I don't got a clue where I would be right now, I just know I would be in a far worse place. I like to think you saved me." Mistysky had said... the memory cut deep and Batsong sobbed heavily laying down not able to even sit up anymore... You never lost everything Mistysky... but Im losing everything now it feels like. She thought in despair

(OOC: that is from this topic if anyone was curious enough

https://warriorclancats.forumotion.com/t46804-she-s-a-broken-lady-open-mourning)

Looking up through very teary eyes she saw a shadow in the shape of Mistysky... she convinced herself that it was probably a combination of things

She had blured vision through the tears,  
She had not been sleeping well at all
She had been exhauseted after becoming a queen herself
She was probably just having her mind play tricks on her... a cruel trick that was Mistysky still being there for her... looking at the shadow which she thought was just her imagination she stared at it and whispered "why did you leave me mom?" ....

Perhaps Maplepaw would think she was crazy... hmm maybe she was ... Batsong was a very gentle and kind cat but this recent loss had been too similar to losing her birth parents much in the same sudden way.

Ryepaw padded over to Batsong. "Batsong," he said gently. "Come, Mistysky is in Starclan now with the rest of our ansestor's and their families. It doesn't make it any easier, but we can rest easy knowing that she is watching over us from the stars and will make sure that nothing happens in the next generation." he said sadly bur firmly. He hated seeing Batsong like this, the she-cat had been very close to Mistysky and obviously mourned the queen like she was her own mother. "I miss Mistysky as well, however showing these dark forest cats that we have weakness only makes them stronger. Come, let us mourn in private."

He didn't care whether the dark forest cat's knew if they had an impact, it was obvious by just the way that the clan cat's had reacted.

From where she stood, Mistysky could make out the shapes of Maplepaw and Batsong. They seemed so sad, were the shadows showing her what life would be like with her gone? She padded over to the pair, now trio as Ryepaw joined them. She longed to hold the cats she had loved in life, loved still even now. She had promised them she would be there for them.

Guilt filled her thoughts as realization sunk in. She had just selfishly questioned if any cat would miss her. She didn't think of how much pain these cats would be in. She had left Specklekit an orphan. She would never know her mother. She had left Batsong to fend for herself, a gentle she cat who had relied on Mistysky to protect her. Maplepaw, her own apprentice who she promised to look after. She died thinking she could protect her family, and now look at what had happened.

She collapsed to the ground, her kits huddling in her arms. They, too, were probably only visions as well. And yet she held on to them tighter. If visions were to be her only comfort, then she would hold them close, no matter how much it pained her. It meant that her family was still there.