[Fawn]

LionstAr

blinded by the light of a new sun
take it to the world, gonna sing it like an anthem

Clouds passed over the moon, plunging TreeClan's camp into shadow. Lionstar awoke, at first bewildered at being unable to sleep solidly through the night - until the unnatural stillness in the dry, greenleaf air prickled his pelt. No longer tired, Lionstar left the quiet sanctuary of the Ancient Stump, letting the sounds of the night flood in, unhampered by a breeze of any kind.

Something's not right.

Lionstar approached the warrior assigned to nightwatch; Sprucefur greeted him with a curt nod, but there was no mistaking the unease in the paler tom's eyes.
"What is it? What's wrong?"

"I just saw Bluejay leave camp. I called out to her, but she didn't seem to hear me. She looked back but..." The warrior's words failed, and there was a momentary pause as he tried to come up with the right description. That spoke more to him than anything else, and Lionstar quickly scanned the surroundings, as if he might spot the blue-furred she-cat trodding somewhere in the dark.

It was foolish to think she had left only to get a drink. After Meadowleaf's kitting, and the tragic amount of lives lost to greencough, Bluejay hadn't been herself.

Where are you going, Bluejay? She wouldn't leave without good reason. Lionstar held tight to that logic, but uncertainty hung in the back of his mind like a shadow, ready to remind him that this event may have nothing to do with logic at all. With luck, StarClan had sent her a message - or she was making an impromptu trek to the Moon Tree - but again, Lionstar knew he wouldn't rest until he was certain.

"Which way did she leave?"

Sprucefur pointed with his tail. "That way."

Towards the NightClan border.

Trying not to rouse the camp to a state of alarm, Lionstar shook the tension from his body with a quick toss of his pelt. "Wake Falconstorm, and let Gorsetail know what's going on. If we aren't back by dawn, tell Gorsetail to send a small search party."

The pale warrior left quickly, and Lionstar waited at the edge of TreeClan's camp for Bluejay's apprentice to appear. If anyone would know where Bluejay might have gone - or even why - it would be Falconstorm. This could be nothing, Lionstar tried in vain to be optimistic, but unease was clawing at him. Or this could be something... terrible.

leader of TreeClan

391 Words | Justice Phoenix | notes: short posts so it goes quickly

so alive | background image | table by phoenix

[Phoenix]

Gorsetail

Deputy of TreeClan

i wish everyone was loved tonight
and somehow stop this endless fight

If he had to choose a favored feline to wake him up in the morning, he much preferred Sprucefur’s methodology to that of Zephyrfang. His old friend was much more polite and quiet about it – and gentler with the prodding – and he could convey urgency without giving Gorsetail a miniature heart attack by weaving some story about the camp being attacked by foxes. When he had blinked open green eyes to see Lionstar’s brother standing there, the tabby tom had been having what he vaguely recognized as a pleasant dream, though the specifics were quick to evaporate from his mind. Then Sprucefur spoke, quietly summarizing the situation with Bluejay, and suddenly, the lingering details of his dream no longer mattered.

As he followed the other tom out of the den, he found his thoughts drifting toward their medicine cat with a familiar concern. The greencough epidemic had taken a lot from the clan, both in lives and in morale, but it had demanded the most from their two healers. Even as horrible as he had felt when in the throes of the illness, he would not have traded places with the miraculously healthy Bluejay. With each passing day, she had grown visibly more ragged and rundown, and exhaustion became etched into every move she made. Kept busy with his own duties and trying to make sure everything still ran smoothly in Lionstar’s absence, Gorsetail had only been able to watch from afar as the epidemic took its toll on his friend. For a while, as cats began recovering instead of dying, things were looking hopeful, and he found himself thinking that maybe she could get a full night’s rest. And then Meadowleaf died, and the kits were to be nursed in RainClan.

The deputy shook his head to clear it as he joined Lionstar by the edge of camp. ”Sprucefur said Bluejay had left.” Green eyes could see the tension in the leader’s frame that he was trying so hard to hide. Bluejay had been his apprentice, he remembered suddenly, before she had become their medicine cat. The golden tom was undoubtedly twice as concerned; she hadn’t even been his apprentice, and StarClan knew Gorsetail’s heart was racing in his chest. ”What do you need me to do?”

Fawn Justice

better days | background image

[Justice]

Falconstorm

37 MOONS, MEDICINE CAT APPRENTICE OF TREECLAN

His sleep was restless, dreams haunted by the dying and the sick. He was slowly putting the weight and the energy back into his body, but with nightmares and restless nights to come it would still take some time. At least he didn't feel like collapsing into a nest and staying there for awhile anymore. He was also plagued by worries for the clan, for the harsh blow greencough had made.

He knew Bluejay had been put through the darkest of times as well, and she'd been the medicine cat longer. He was only an apprentice, though for how much longer after this he didn't know. So when he was nudged and gently roused he sat up in a bolt.

"What?" He was a little confused for a moment before his blue eyes focused on Sprucefur and he learned what had happened. Bluejay was missing. "She hasn't been well." He mentioned. He had been staying in her nest with her, worried that the smaller cat wasn't warm enough even though it was the heat of greenleaf now. He followed the other tom to Lionstar, still ragged looking though he at least had started to recover. Another week of the less stress and no more deaths would see him mostly to rights.

He took a breath, dipping his head to the leader and the deputy one after the other. "She may just be out walking. Neither of us is exactly used to sleeping without being disturbed." But somehow he didn't think that was the case.

MYSTERIOUS AS THE DARK SIDE OF THE MOON

Notes | Fawn Phoenix | Words

[Fawn]

LionstAr

blinded by the light of a new sun
take it to the world, gonna sing it like an anthem

The expression in Gorsetail's eyes was undoubtedly parallel to his own. Lionstar's tail twitched a steady, agitated rhythm behind him until he willed it still. "Keep everyone calm. There's no need to make a mountain out of a molehill." Not without proof. "Organize the Dawn Patrol as usual," Lionstar lifted his muzzle to the sky, seeing the stars glint and glimmer overhead. It must have been moonhigh. Still too soon for dawn. "If we have not returned by then, organize a search party as well. Senior warriors only, if Demon's prowling, I don't want to risk it."

If Demon was out prowling, then Bluejay didn't have a ghost of a chance. She was thin, thinner then he'd ever seen her in her life, and something felt... wrong.

At Falconstorm's arrival, Lionstar made a final glance to Gorsetail before he set off with the apprentice. "She would have told Sprucefur before she left," he replied, shaking his head slowly. "The last thing Bluejay would want is to cause the Clan more stress." Though much of Falconstorm's fur concealed the condition of his body, Lionstar could tell from the dullness of the other tom's coat that he was still recovering.

Lionstar forced his pace to slow. Impatience dug in under his fur like fire ants, urging him faster. Remain calm. She's probably fine. Despite this, his thoughts raced on, going through a multitude of outcomes - none of which were good - that could all be Bluejay's fate.

"Bluejay!" He called, letting his voice carry as far as it could without straining his throat. This was TreeClan's territory; Lionstar had no fear of being overheard by prying ears. "Bluejay!" He called again. The unwelcomed hoot of an owl and flutter of wings sent a ripple of tension down Lionstar's back. But they were given no trouble from the night hunter.

Lionstar caught a scent, and his heart quickened. "She went this way," without pause, Lionstar veered for the NightClan border. The scent seemed to be going to the shallow marshes. He tensely hoped it went no further. After what felt like the longest moments of his life, the ground texture finally shifted from the forest floor he was so used to, to the softer, flatter earth - made dry by the heat of the last few days - of the marshes.

No! Lying near one of the only puddles of water left, the moonlight reflecting on its surface, was Bluejay. Lionstar threw himself forward, his paws furrowing the earth as he stopped a mouse-length from her body, touching her flank with his nose. She was burning up, and her flanks rose and fell with rapid, shallow rhythms.

"I can't..." Bluejay whispered, her blue eyes full of grief. "I can't find her..."

"Who?" Lionstar demanded, the fear in his heart adding a sharpness to his words that he didn't mean.

"Pinkcloud," she rasped. "Wh...where is my sister..."

leader of TreeClan

487 Words | Justice Phoenix @zen | notes: </3

so alive | background image | table by phoenix

[Justice]

Falconstorm

37 MOONS, MEDICINE CAT APPRENTICE OF TREECLAN

Falconstorm dipped his head a little. Of course Lionstar knew better when things came to Bluejay. He had the resentful thought that Lionstar wasn't the one that sat with her while she had bad dreams, wasn't the one that watched while despair overcame even the bright spirit that his mentor possessed. He slept in Bluejay's nest to protect her dreams, to guard her and keep her warm. So if she wanted to go off without saying anything, she was more than within her right. StarClan knew he wasn't the best of company right now, and probably wouldn't be for some time. It pulled his heart to thoughts of StarClan's Claws, and to Herondive. He missed her so, and wondered if she was well.

Of course, their leader had been spared until the end, when only his idiocy and inability to stay away from Honeysong had given him greencough and ultimately caused him to lose a life. He only thought Falconstorm didn't know about it. He'd found the other tom between death and reviving, something that he kept to himself but that terrified him when he'd gone to check on the other cat. His tail flicked with irritation even as concern started driving into his every sense. StarClan please, no more death. Hadn't they all lost enough? His clan, his family, the valley?

He followed in Lionstar's wake. He saw her about the same time as his leader and let out a strangled cry as he ran forward, all thoughts of resentment and exhaustion. "Bluejay!" He called out to her even as he also pressed his nose to her flank. And her words broke his heart. "No...dear heart...its Falconstorm." He gave Lionstar a look, worry plain in his eyes. "Let's go home now." He had come to push his weight against her side gently, prodding her and nuzzling against her to help encourage her. He was gentle, tone soft and coaxing.

StarClan, she was so thin. He rethought his actions and eased down so that he could lie next to her to protect her and keep her warm. He lifted his head and looked around, searching the area for a fever-reducing herb. She had to be treated here, moving her would only make things worse at this point. It would be better to get her back to the medicine den, but until she breathed a little better he didn't want to risk it. "Lionstar." He spoke flatly, blue eyes looking to the other tom. "I need you to take my place here, I need to gather something to help her. That fever has to come down some before we risk moving her." Feverfew, for sure. Coltsfoot and Juniper berries would be nice, but didn't grow near here. Fever first, the most dangerous.

He pressed his nose to the top of her head. "Be still now, Bluejay. I'll help you." He was confident now, the one who knew what to do. He'd already faced down the hardest of his tasks as a Medicine Cat's Apprentice. If he could deliver kits then he could find feverfew on his own. He knew his herbs. "Feverfew, feverfew..." He chanted softly as he searched about. "Call me if she gets worse, I won't be far."

Pinkcloud. She was looking for her sister. Visions in the depths of her fever.

StarClan please, no more death.

MYSTERIOUS AS THE DARK SIDE OF THE MOON

Notes | Fawn | Words

[Fawn]

LionstAr

blinded by the light of a new sun
take it to the world, gonna sing it like an anthem

Lionstar swiftly took Falconstorm's place beside the greviously ill Bluejay. His heart was in his ears, pounding with every pulse of his blood, a terrible sense of foreboding sweeping through him like winter's chill. "Just hold on, Bluejay," he murmured, and bent his head to lick her paw pads - hoping the wind would cool them, help ease some of her fever.

Hurry, Falconstorm.

"Li..onstar...?" A weak whisper, hardly any louder than the rustle of ferns, made his ears prick forward. Relief flooded his belly. "I'm here. It's me. Falconstorm's getting you feverfew. Just hold on--he'll be back soon." He forced a purr, afraid of letting any sort of silence lapse between his words, as if the truth were going to sneak out of that empty space, and attack.

She's dying. StarClan no.

Bluejay shuddered, her body brutalized by burning fever, and unrelenting chills. She whimpered, even when Lionstar curled more snugly around her, trying to keep her warm just as Falconstorm had instructed. How do I know if this is working? Foxdung, I can't help her! Frustration and anger put a sheen in Lionstar's golden eyes, seeing a small blue-furred kitten when he looked at Bluejay again.

She had so fearlessly and so compassionately safeguarded and shepherded her sister. A champion for the downtrodden. She hadn't even wanted to learn battle training, so opposed was Bluejay to the idea of hurting others, be it with words or with claws. Lionstar's chest tightened. "Falconstorm!" He threw his voice into the words, praying the medicine cat heard him as he searched.

"I-I see her... Oh Pinkcloud..." Bluejay sighed with relief, as if a thousand moons of searching had finally come to an end.

Lionstar gripped tight to the earth, his stomach heaving. "Bluejay--Wait--" Pinkcloud, it's too soon. Don't take her!

"It's alright," she whispered, barely able to push out the words. Lucidity had returned to the gray healer, in her last precious few moments. "It's my time."

"It's too soon," he insisted, the heartache clawing its way up his throat to permeate his words. "Bluejay, please."

This time, there was no answer.

leader of TreeClan

361 Words | Justice Phoenix | notes

so alive | background image | table by phoenix

[Justice]

Falconstorm

37 MOONS, MEDICINE CAT  OF TREECLAN

He had just heard Lionstar call out to him when he found the herb. "Found it! I'm coming!" He called back, plucking the plant and running back to where he'd left leader and mentor. To a heartbreaking sight. She was gone. He dropped the feverfew. "No...."

Falconstorm came to her side, headbutting her in the side and nuzzling the top of her head, eyes burning in tears as his breath caught and his heart broke all over again. "Please no...not you too." His voice broke, body beginning to shake as he kept desperately trying to get the younger cat to speak to him, to answer his frantic calls. Lionstar didn't matter anymore, not now.

"I failed."

Bluejay, what do I do now?

She hadn't prepared him for her death, she hadn't told him what he was to do should the medicine cat die. He was fully trained now, if just, but he hadn't thought he'd be stepping up so soon, if ever. She was so young, so full of life and joy and...StarClan she was gone.

He pressed his head to hers, her body still hot from the fever that had finally taken her. "You fought so hard, I'm sorry I couldn't save you. Be happy in StarClan Bluejay." Hopefully she'd found Pinkcloud and could be happy.

The healer stayed as he was, body shaking as he supressed the sorrow that rolled through him. He couldn't break down now, he had to bring her home. His last duty to her, his last task as her apprentice. He stood slowly, swaying as the weakness of his body let him know that this was going to be the last straw for him. He needed to rest, and with this newest pain that was the last thing he would be able to do. "Lets get you home dear heart." He told Bluejay before nudging her somewhat until he could get her by the scruff.

"Lionstar help me." He spoke softly, blue eyes dull with this fresh pain. Between the two of them they should be able to carry her home without her body dragging. They were both big toms, and Bluejay had been small.

MYSTERIOUS AS THE DARK SIDE OF THE MOON

Notes | Fawn | Words

[Phoenix]

Truly, it was a beautiful night, Gorsetail found himself musing as he spoke quietly with Sprucefur in an attempt to distract his thoughts from wandering down paths with increasingly painful results. Ever perceptive, the other tom undoubtedly sensed his need for conversation to chase away the threatening silence, and though speaking while keeping watch was not strictly advisable, the senior warrior provided much-appreciated support in that steady manner of his. Where nerves had him nearly incapable of sitting still, Sprucefur was like an ancient tree with the wisdom of the ages: This, too, shall pass.

Green eyes looked to the stars, and he imagined the ranks of StarClan watching them from above. Lionstar and Falconstorm had left to find their wayward Medicine Cat, but the warriors of old already knew. Unbidden, memories of pleasant nights spent in the company of Nightsky rose to the surface of his mind, and his eyes were drawn to the star that they had decided was her. A young mother with her whole life ahead of her, Pinkcloud had been taken from them far too soon, but he had managed to find peace with the knowledge that he would do his best to look after the two cats who meant the most to her: Bluejay and Nightsky. However where he had succeeded with the latter, he had clearly fallen short with the former.

Please be safe, He found himself begging silently of the stars, willing a compassionate soul - Pinkcloud, surely - to hear his plea. Watch over your sister. Bring her home safe. Twinkling innocently far above his head, the stars remained as impassive as ever. I can't do this again. I can't lose her too.

But when he saw a limp form being carried between two defeated toms, his heart shattered into pieces far more numerous than the stars above. Any capability for coherent thought fled as he struggled to comprehend just what he was seeing, that what he had feared most had come to fruition and he had done nothing to stop it. At the sound of their return, he had risen to his paws, ready to help out in any capacity, but now everything simply ceased; his breath had been stolen away just as hers, and he suddenly found himself sagging back against Sprucefur as his legs collapsed under his weight. When had life started to weigh so heavily on his shoulders? Didn't it know that he wasn't strong, that he had an emptiness inside him where his heart once stood and every new blow hollowed him out just a little more? A broken noise reached his ears, and it took another moment to realize that the horrible whimpers were coming from him. He had promised Pinkcloud that he would look after her sister. He had failed. In that instant, he felt less like a proper friend than ever before.

With a gentle nudge, Sprucefur guided him to his paws, and feeling like a ghost rather than a physical being, he drifted over to the little patch of moonlight where her body lay. Her gray fur looked almost white, and suddenly it wasn't Bluejay laying there but her sister, Pinkcloud, broken and battered and horribly mangled, and that old wound broke open as if it had never scabbed over in the first place. A moment later the image was gone, but the damage had been done. He buried his nose in her gray fur, breathing in her familiar scent and trying to remember the last time he had visited her to simply enjoy her company, to remind her just how much he loved her - as if she had been his own apprentice, as if she had shared his blood.

He couldn't, and now he never would again.

As he stood and stared down at her limp form, a brief spark of irrational rage flickered through him, and with a fire he didn't realize he still had, he wanted to turn on Falconstorm and Lionstar and the ranks of silent cats watching from above. "You were supposed to keep her safe!" He wanted to scream at them. "You were supposed to bring her home alive and well!" But he couldn't because it wasn't fair, because it wasn't their fault, and because the flame had died as soon as it had appeared, replaced by that hollow emptiness.

"We - uh - we'll need to tell the clan." The words came thickly, pragmatism winning out where overwhelming emotion failed him. His eyes stayed glued to her lifeless form as he spoke. "It won't be good if they wake up and just find her--" her body, but he couldn't say that because then that would make everything far too real "--find her. We should... We should..." But he was at a loss for words. How could they possibly tell anyone that someone so young, so compassionate, and so, so loved was gone?

Fawn Justice

[Fawn]

LionstAr

blinded by the light of a new sun
take it to the world, gonna sing it like an anthem

Grief burned through Lionstar like an errant flame. As if Bluejay's fever had been transferred to him, the golden tom felt his skin searing, his blood rushing through his head and limbs. He wanted to roar at the stars, to express his fury with the unfairnes of life in the most explosive way possible.

But he could not.

Gorsetail and Falconstorm, their grief so fresh and potent it was scarring Lionstar's heart just by proximity, needed leadership. TreeClan would not fall, though one of their pillars had cruelly crumbled well before her time. "Prepare her for vigil, Falconstorm," he said, his voice sounding distant to his own ears. Distant, as if some other cat were speaking through him; some other cat not shattered by grief.

Lionstar gazed at Bluejay's body, looking long and without anything to say. In that moment, an unwelcome clarity blew through him like a cold leafbare breeze. Mockingbird's rage and torment over Berrypaw's 'death'... He understood now, what it felt like to lose a kit. Before the grief could overwhelm him once more, Lionstar's attention was arrested by Gorsetail.

No, the Clan did not deserve to find her this way. "Help Falconstorm get her to the medicine cat's den, Gorsetail. I will..." He drew a steeling breath, trying to find resolution in place of agony. "I will wake the Clan."

As he turned away from the deputy and his medicine cats, Lionstar felt the span of the past 48 seasons crushing into his back and shoulders. He could not raise his head. Not immediately. Peering grimly into the warriors' den, he unwittingly sought out the familiar lilac fur of Honeysong - and was at once glad he had. Tiptoeing through the sleeping warriors (it felt so cruel, to be the bearer of such awful news. Had he not suffered enough? Must he now see the grief played out on every Clanmate's face until dawn?), Lionstar pressed his nose to Honeysong's cheek.

He was sorry to wake her, but his soul couldn't bear the weight of his grim obligations. Not alone.
"Something's happened," murmured Lionstar as she awoke. "Bluejay's... Bluejay is..." He forced out the word. "Bluejay is dead. I need you to wake the elders and the apprentices. I will wake the rest of the Clan."

Heavy paws drew him to each sleeping form, and he nudged them awake - the atmosphere quick to settle over each newly conscious Clanmate. "Clan meeting. Wait outside. Pass the message along." The news would spread like greencough - his tail flicked bitterly - and he left the warriors den to wake the queens. They could decide for themselves to attend the meeting, or tend to their kits.

leader of TreeClan

449 Words | Justice Phoenix | notes

so alive | background image | table by phoenix

[Justice]

Falconstorm

37 MOONS, MEDICINE CAT OF TREECLAN

Falconstorm gave Lionstar a blank look, but leaned over to grip Bluejay at the scruff. She was still too big to carry her that way as one could a kit, but if Gorsetrail grabbed her back legs he'd make it work. He got her where they needed to be and got her situated. "Lets get you cleaned up, dear heart." He spoke to her softly, the way he did when addressing StarClan. You spoke softly, and with deepest respect. He started to groom his mentor's lifeless body, talking soothingly to her between each shift of his frame to move on to another dirty patch.

Keep moving and the pain couldn't get him. He didn't look or speak to Gorsetail, didn't want to talk about it or see the grief in the other tom's eyes. He's sat vigil over her dreams since they'd come back from the thicket, had kept her nightmares at bay and made sure she took care of herself as best as possible while he barely paid attention to his own needs.

The others would need to know, and when he went to Moon Tree he'd tell her goodbye properly. That was the lead he could do for her.

MYSTERIOUS AS THE DARK SIDE OF THE MOON

Notes | Tags | Words

Honeysong

We'll forget the sun in his jealous sky
As we lie in fields of gold

67 Moons, Senior Warrior of TreeClan

She woke slowly, still not quite used to being home and in her own nest. Really, if she were honest, she slept better curled up with Lionstar. Not that she was telling him that, not right now anyway. Maybe later, when some time for the hurt of greencough's wrath had had the chance to settle. She cared so much for him, and the time they'd been able to spend together made her happy despite everything.

When her groggy brain recognized Lionstar, when she realized he was in pain, the lilac she-cat came to her paws and tucked her head under his chin, pressed to his chest. "I'm here." She told him softly, standing there that way for a long moment as he delivered his news and a fresh wave of pain hit her. "Oh no...." She shifted and dipped her ears back so that she could nuzzle against the side of his head. "I'll stand with you." She promised him before disappearing to start waking the apprentices first. She went from den to den, gently waking each cat and explaining that there was a clan meeting, that they had to attend, that it was important. She helped the ones that needed it, most thanking her as they remembered that it had been Honeysong that sat with many a loved one lost as they went to StarClan.

Word Count // Phoenix Fawn // Notes