[Fawn]

33 Moons StoneClan Tom

Kestrelclaw

"Our prime purpose in this life is to help others.
And if you can't help them, at least don't harm them."

_{-Dalai Lama}

The weather took pity on Kestrelclaw and the whole of StoneClan. "I'll be fine, go on without me." He said to his sister, who was scowling and reluctant to leave his side. But her name had been called for a hunting party, and Kestrelclaw put on an amicable smile, hoping it'd give her enough peace of mind. Meadowflight walked off, muttering something about recklessness; Kestrelclaw's smile waned as the hunting group finally disembarked, leaving him alone to his thoughts and his wounds and his anxious heart.

Lifting himself from his nest, Kestrelclaw left the dark safety of the warriors' den, ducking through patches of sunlight in his dogged, stiff-limbed walk to Sandblaze and Ebonypaw's den. It wasn't the promise of more healing poultices plastered to his talon-wounds that spurred him on. As he neared the entrance, his heart stalled, started, and threw itself into a frenetic speed, hope pulsating through every part of Kestrelclaw's body. A bracing breath reminded him of his own still-healing wounds, but the sharper sting was the memory of yesterday's battle playing out in front of his eyes.

Dawnpaw's stillness. The young tom's terror. His foolish, foolish bravery...

Kestrelclaw steeled himself for bad news as he saw Sandblaze bustle out of the rocky den.
"How's--"

"He's sleeping, and we're keeping his pain at bay." Sandblaze said, after setting down a heap of soiled moss. "Let me clear this away and I'll be right with you."

Kestrelclaw's throat tightened, and he hobbled out of the healer's way, another question bursting from his maw the second he could no longer keep it in. "Can he see? Is he still..."

Sandblaze shook his head. "Healing takes time."

Once again left alone with his worries and his wounds, Kestrelclaw forced his limbs to obey him as he sat, wincing at the fire searing across his shoulders from the eagles' talons. StarClan, please let him heal. Please let him keep his eyesight. He knew firsthand how a cat could adjust to living life without vision; Sootwhisker was living, breathing proof that it could be done. But... that wasn't a life he - or anyone else - would wish on Dawnpaw.

StarClan, if he could just have one wish...

Kestrelclaw bowed his head, worry pecking at his heart like buzzards at a corpse. The scene kept replaying over and over inside of him, his thoughts wrapped around it tight as bark. You should have fought harder. You should have saved him. What kind of mentor are you? What kind of son are you? That dark, contradicting piece of his soul snarled at him, punishing him until he seemed to shrink into himself, turning to petrified wood as he sat there, no more alive than the stones beneath his paws.

BlooRey DVD & 455 Words

Greenleaf Day 4 -It is a mild and dry day, cooled slightly by the previous day's rain. A few wisps of clouds drift through the sky.

*Thread takes place after Save Him, Save Me and Under a New Blue Sky