[Ghost the Undead Goddess]

Ebonyheart,

Livin' in ruins of a palace within my dreams

Her heart pounded in her chest, over-ruling any logical reasoning as her wide paws drummed heavily against the sloping landscape of the mountainside before it broke away into the familiar barren landscape of Stoneclan's territory. Faintly, above the pulsing within her ears, she could hear the rushing paw-steps of the two warriors who followed behind her with bewilderment raised within their pools and the fur along their back prickled. 

She couldn't explain the fear that had suddenly rooted within the depths of her heart, the feeling of mud sucking heavily at her paws as she stood within her dream. Those of Stoneclan passed staring at her with haunted eyes and prickled pets, their voices unified to echo within her ears as they chanted around her.

Even Mintleaf lacked her usual happy demeanor as her high toned voice melded into the mixture around her. 

The ground shook, the stars scattered, the scent of Stoneclan was blown away on the wind as rocks tumbled around her in a fashion she could only relate to what had happened to Smokestar moons ago. The earth below her wide, flat paws sounded hungry as he groaned and lurched, threatening to swallow the large black feline whole before the ear-shattered crack of a tree broke within her mind. 

Ebonyheart had awoken with a start and immedieatly pushed past those of her remaining healers to head away from the stark whiteness of the Moon Tree. She didn't catch their drifting mews, didn't even wait to converse about what she had seen or even if they had been foretold of the same danger that she had.

There was too much, so much happening within her body that she couldn't control and the lack thereof was freighting her. This panic was unusual for such a refined and proper molly, but the ice cold pin prickles of horror were starting to pierce past her thick, inky coat. Her lungs screamed within her chest cavity as the medicine cat pushed on, past what her limbs and muscles screamed at her as she bounded from boulder to boulder. 

The familiar scent of her clan was growing stronger as the campsite slowly came into view below the subsiding light of the falling moon. Dawn was on the horizion, but it was the last thing on Ebonyheart's mind as she ignored the call from her elder cousin, Bluefeather as her brother Redshadow quickly followed the two she-cats without hesitation though his tail was fluffed up as it streamed behind him. 

"Ebonyheart?" The voice of a confused Vipertail brushed the sensitive hairs of her ear as she raced past the tom on guard duty and into the depths of her clan's barren camp. Her sides were heaving as her jaws parted to gasp for additional air. It wasn't like the ever proper feline to be so disheveled, nor was she known for running the way she had, her tail tucked in fear against her belly if she had anything longer than a fluffy nub. 

"Ebonyheart! Stop!" Redshadow hissed softly as he caught up to his younger, and obviously distressed cousin who rounded on him with wide and erratic mossy hues. The fear rolling off of her was strong, and the red Somali was sure he'd never seen such raw emotion planted on the healer's face before.

Not even in the face of death or danger. 

"I have to find Birdstar." Her tone, still sharp, held a notion of a shake to it which caused more alarm to flutter through Redshadow as the older warrior stepped forwards, only to watch as Ebonyheart took a heavy step backwards. When he went to part his jaws to speak again, the young molly shook her head to stop him. "Please, just have faith in me." She was trying so hard to sound calm and confident that it tore at Redshadow before he gave a nod that he trusted her. 

There was a faint pause before Ebonyheart shifted and moved to poke her head into the den of the Warriors. Most leaders slept in their own, separate den, but not Birdstar and his ever valiant heart. It was one of the things that caused her to be drawn to the matte gray tomcat, but the lack of his body within the sight of the other sea of pelts caused her panic to spike again. 

Birdstar!

Pulling away, Ebonyheart darted back out of the camp past both Redshadow and Bluefeather, one again startling Vipertail with her quick and unprecedented movements. If he wasn't there, then there was one other place that she knew he could be. Somewhere that had a strong pull to him, full of meaning both painful and gentle from his strained past. 

He had to be talking to Redpaw. 

His scent was strong, and almost immediately soothed some of the panic welling within her chest like an uncontrollable geyser. Despite that moment of brief relief, the young healer didn't pause her erratic movements until her pale green pools finally found the handsome tom sitting below the fading starlight with his head tilted back to let his own green hues stare at the fading ancestors above the valley.   

"Birdstar!" Ebonyheart called out, her sharp voice breaking as the fear finally pushed past the fragile barrier she had tried to hold it in with. His ear twitched before his attention quickly shifted to hers, rising to his paws to greet the frantic molly as she reached his side. 

"Ebonyheart, what's wrong!?" His tone was soft but it was clear that he was worried, especially in the state his normally composed and proper healer was in. The pale fur along his shoulders and spine raised as he parted his jaw, letting the breeze roll in the scents around him to make sure there wasn't suddenly a rival taste that could cause such a reaction. 

"Something is coming, or something is about to happen - Starclan!" Her whole frame shook as she spoke, the fear quickly bubbling within her throat as she remembered the receding images of the dream that had frightened her into dashing away from the vivid Moon Tree in what seemed like only moments ago. Her lungs screamed as she sucked in oxygen, her thick fur fluffed ever so slightly. 

Quickly stepping forwards to close the gap between the two of them, Birdstar laid his head protectively against hers. His scent soothing the waves of distraught rolling through her body as she pressed her face within the softness of his neck. She didn't tremble, but it felt like she could have without giving it much thought before he had moved to ease her worries. 

He always had that ability... His warm gaze, his soft smile, his gentle tone...

Everything about Birdstar was enough to both ease her stuttering heart though at the same time cause the breath to leave her lungs without even trying to. Their bond, though secret, had becoming something extremely important to the young Pure Blood of Stoneclan. It was honestly everything she needed within that moment, to help calm her worries and the fears that Starclan had launched within her mind. 

Her breathing eased after a few moments, her leader's dilute fur brushing her cheeks and muzzle before he murmured something in her ear. "Tell me what happened..." His voice was soft but deep as it rumbled within his throat at a much more calm demeanor that she was currently displaying. She didn't realize just how much her disheveled behavior had caused him worry as his green hues blinked it away before she could see. 

He didn't need to stress the beautiful molly anymore than she already was. 

When she didn't speak and instead took a shuttering breath, the pale leader shifted to run a rough tongue softly against her ear in a comforting gesture. "Talk to me Ebony, let me help." The ever valiant tone in his rumble caused her heart to squeeze within her chest as she found her courage hiding below the layer of fear that had managed to settle within her body. 

Taking a step back, Ebonyheart lifted her head so that green could peer into green as healer and leader held gazes. Despite her appearance and worry, he stood like a calm, gray beacon that seemed to ease and soothe the worried that had threatened to sweep her away like a violent wave. 

"Talk to me..." Birdstar repeated, lowing his head slightly to let his nose press affectionately against one of her ears before rubbing his cheek against hers. His gentleness sent shivers down her spine as her body eased, as her breathing calmed within her chest while his ever familiar and soothing scent flowed over her with more presence than the wind. 

"They gave me a prophecy... something bad is coming... The valley is in danger..." Her voice trembled ever so slightly as she tried to hold herself together. She longed for the moment between them to stretch, to evade time so that her world didn't fall around her ears like their ancestors were trying to predict. She wanted to stay in that moment with Birdstar, where neither of them were weighed down by their duties to both their clan and to the rules they abided by. 

Taking a steadying breath and stepping back so that she could once again stare into the depths of his green ocean-like eyes, Ebonyheart steeled herself for the words that had fallen from the past lives of Stoneclan, from the mouth of Mintleaf who had guided her since her sixth moon of life. 

"We cannot stop the waters. We cannot hold the earth together. We cannot spare the valley this sundering, for it is a power beyond our control."

36 Moons StoneClan Medicine Cat 

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