~Warnings: Lots of talk of death, dead body, mention of toxic relationship, I spent precious word count to have Goldenpelt complain about Ashstar~ “You need to make an announcement. You're the leader now. You can’t wallow again, you need to lead.” Snowpelt stared at Skylight for a moment. Oh. Right. Whitestar had made her deputy. Snowpelt glanced over at the cats staring at her and Whitestar. She stared back at them for a moment. She could barely get her mind to process their faces. Everything felt… wrong. What had she done? Snowpelt looked back at the body at her paws. She killed her. She broke her promise and killed Whitestar. She had ruined everything, for what? Revenge? Snowpelt felt a sob rise up in her throat, before Goldenpelt nudged her, quietly saying “Go up there.” Snowpelt took a deep breath and nodded, slowly walking towards high rock, watching her paws that pulled her forward rather than the eyes that followed her. She slowly climbed up the rock she had only walked up twice, both to meet with a cat she hated. But now as she looked down at the cats that gathered below her, the green eyes she loved were gone. So many cats she had loved were gone now. Her family was gone. Her eyes slowly drifted over to Skylight and Goldenpelt, and Flowersong coming up behind them. They weren’t all gone. Yet Snowpelt had pushed them away. Snowpelt’s eyes met Flowersong’s, and she nodded slightly. Snowpelt looked up at the sky, at the snow that fell softly around her. Then, she spoke, her voice quiet, “Whitestar is dead.” The clan was as silent as the snow, until someone, Pidgionheart, asked “H-How did she die?” Snowpelt hesitated, considering answering truthfully. She should, but… what good would it do? The clan was small, and Whitestar’s leadership had been… messy. They needed a leader. At least for a little while. Snowpelt spoke softly, just loud enough to carry through the cold air, “Foxes attacked, but we chased them off.” A few long moments of silence passed. Snowpelt felt frozen, moving and thinking as slow as ice melts on a cold day. Snowpelt forced herself to take a deep breath, then speak “We, we will have a vigil to honor her. Tonight, I…” Snowpelt trailed off, the familiarity of the words hitting her. She was speaking the same words Whitestar had when she became leader. Her eyes drifted back to her sister’s dead body. Whitestar hadn’t been ready for that leadership. Whitestar hadn’t been ready for a lot of things. Anger still swirled a little when she thought of how Whitestar had pushed her away when she reached out… but now that she thought back on it…Snowpelt had done the same thing to everyone else. She and Skylight had such a similar conversion… Snowpelt’s eyes drifted to Skylight, feeling another wave of guilt. She’d let Shadow manipulate her so easily. Skylight gave her an encouraging nod, her eyes unreadable, but Snowpelt’s eyes simply drifted to Flowersong. Flowersong’s eyes were warm, encouraging. Snowpelt closed her own and took a deep breath, then said “Tonight I will go to the moonpool. But first, a deputy must be assigned.” She paused, casting her eyes over the small clan gathered below her. Then, her eyes landed on a cat she knew deserved the position. She looked up at the snowy sky and said “I say these words before StarClan, so that the spirits of our warrior ancestors may hear and approve of my choice. The new deputy of Thunderclan is Skylight.” There was a pause, then quiet congratulations for a surprised looking Skylight. Snowpelt paused, trying to remember if there was anything else she should do. Thinking of nothing, she slowly climbed off high rock and returned to Whitestar’s dead body. She slowly picked her up and took her to the center of camp. Flowersong walked over with rosemary, lavender, and mint. She carefully began to rub it on Whitestar’s pelt to hide the scent of death. Snowpelt took the lavender and started doing the same, to give herself something to focus on other than the overwhelming guilt. She worked for a little while, until a cat came up next to her. Snowpelt spotted her golden paws, but said nothing, letting her stand there in silence for a few moments. “Snowpelt” Goldenpelt said softly. Snowpelt looked at her. Goldenpelt took a deep breath, then asked “Can we talk? Go on a walk and talk?” Snowpelt paused, then nodded, putting down the lavender. The two walked out of camp quietly. Goldenpelt paused near the dandelion felid, paused, then asked “Do you want to go to the dandelion field?”
Snowpelt paused, then shook her head. Goldenpelt nodded and kept walking. She paused, then chuckled softly and said “Darklight used to always call them wish flowers. She believed that if you blew off the seeds when they're white, you could make a wish and it would come true” Snowpelt blinked and asked “She did? Where did she get that from?” Goldenpelt shrugged and said “She made it up. She liked to do things like that.” Snowpelt paused, then said “I… Flowersong told me a riverclan medicine cat called them that.” Goldenpelt paused, then said “That must be Swanwing, Paleclaw’s daughter. Of course he told her about it, he and Darklight used to spend hours wishing on dandelions.” Snowpelt frowned and asked “What do you mean?” Goldenpelt paused, then says “Oh, right, I, I never told you. Most cats don’t talk about it. Paleclaw is your uncle. He moved to Riverclan when we were apprentices.” Surprise washed over Snowpelt as she asked “What?! I have an uncle? In Riverclan?” Goldenpelt nodded and sat down near a small cliff that overlooked the lake. Snowpelt paused, then sat down beside her, asking “Why is he in Riverclan?” Was that the tom that was staring at her during the last gathering? Maybe that was why Shadow dismissed him so fast? But he was her son, why would she do that? Goldenpelt sighed and said “Shadowfall’s actions haunted Darklight and Paleclaw their entire lives. Paleclaw was… less confrontational then Darklight,” Goldenpelt paused, her eyes dancing with some old memory she seemed to find amusing, then she continued “And he wanted a fresh start somewhere different. He always loved swimming, and had made friends in Riverclan. Rainstar had never liked him, so she was perfectly fine with it when he decided to go to Riverclan. I suppose being in love with a Riverclan tom helped him. He made himself a whole new life, where he could truly be himself.” Snowpelt paused, then asked “What did Shadowfall do?” Goldenpelt sighed and said “A lot of things. Bad things. She became the type of cat that other clans tell scary stories about.” She paused, then added “We tell scary stories about. You… you would have heard about them, if I hadn’t threatened any cat with death if they even mentioned her around you.” Snowpelt paused, then asked “Why?” Goldenpelt sighed, “Shadowfall’s actions did enough harm to Darklight and Paleclaw, and neither of them had your paw. Shadowfall was a very evil and cruel cat, she died falling off this cliff here when cats tried to chase her out. Impaled on a broken tree. Darklight and I had snuck out of the nursery and were walking along a path at the bottom.” Snowpelt’s eyes widened as she peaked over the edge, seeing the sharp broken trees and the path just next to them. Goldenpelt sighed and said “I… I suspected she might somehow have been influencing you at Brightspot’s funeral. The way you paused and seemed to listen, then the shift in your eyes before you snapped. Your actual shadow also shifted. I didn’t know what to do. Clearly… I spent too long waiting.” She pauses, then spoke quietly as she said “Your mother was an amazing cat, and I was never the same after I lost her, along with most of the other people I loved. I saw her in you, and Whitestar. You both had her spark. You were quieter, but more independent. Whitestar inherited her outgoingness and charm, but perhaps not her defiance… or intelligence. But,” Bitterness entered Goldenpelt’s voice, “Like how he always seems to ruin everything, Ashstar ruined the relationship the two of you could have had.” Goldenpelt growled softly as she said “I told Darklight a million times that he was a bad cat, that just because he was sweet to her sometimes didn’t mean he wasn’t a piece of dung. They used to get in fights all the time, little ones, and she’d always complain to me, but never listen when I told her to leave him, and he always managed to manipulate her into forgiving him. I hate that tom.” Goldenpelt sighed and said “But you don’t need to hear about that. I just… It's not your fault Shadowfall got in your head. She was talented at that. That doesn’t undo what you’ve done, or make it better, but it is something you need to take into perspective.” Goldenpelt looked at Snowpelt and said “Snowpelt. You have done something horrible, but there is no going back. Only moving forward. So move. Lead the clan. Do what you can to atone. Don’t let yourself be consumed by guilt. It helps no one, especially not you. And please remember, you have cats you can rely on for support. Even… even if I may not be around for much longer.” Snowpelt asked “Why?” Goldenpelt sighed and said “I’m dying. Slowly. It seems the mysterious sickness that killed my mother has come to claim me as well. There’s nothing to be done. But you are still young. You have a life left to live. So do some good with it.” ~First~ https://scratch.mit.edu/projects/1066586971/ ~Previous~ https://scratch.mit.edu/projects/1327902160/ ~Next~ Mid August?
