Faustian | warrior cats

xi | leaf-fall

 ▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀ 

THE Mahogany Tree was one of many ThunderClan's spectacles. Unlike the Sunning Rocks, which were always being stolen by the cats of the neighboring river, the amber tree was eternally rooted as the heart of the territory. While cats much rather spend time swimming in the waterway veins, the Mahogany Tree was a wondrous sight. It was a mother to thousands of blood-red leaves; leaves that would live briefly through the air and once they had fallen, they would lay dead along the roots. But it wasn't only leaves that grew from the branches of the tree, but so did memories which were soon to blossom blue.

The death of Redpaw arrived as an earthquake to ThunderClan. It riveted the grounds and made the flowers rattle from their petals. When she died, so did all the colors of the forest. The flowers bent their heads to ground, withering in grief and the striking red petals from the trees tumbled into brown crisps. It was nothing but a graveyard sight. 

When Larkmoon first laid her eyes upon the limp body of the apprentice she loved so dearly, she didn't think it was true. The former mentor kept thinking she would eventually see Redpaw's sides lift up to swell with breath and her whiskers twitch from the gentle blast of her nose. It was all a hallucination; her apprentice didn't move.

"Wh-" Larkmoon opened her jaws in an attempt to speak, instead the sound scratched from the back of her throat and spoke as a stammer. The ginger tabby clammed her eyes shut, hoping to get rid of the dreadful image of her dead apprentice. But she found that the blackness only reminded her of the emptiness she felt in her heart.

"Larkmoon," cooed the deep voice of Hollowhawk. His sound scared away the image as if he were the hunter and it was the helpless prey. The she-cat's eyes flew open, eased by her Clanmate's company.

"What happened?" Larkmoon found her voice again, though her sound was opposite of what it was before. It no longer quivered in sadness, rather it was drenched in ice; cold and cruel. Anyone overhearing her words would not think that the speaker had a heart.

There was a junior warrior shivering before Larkmoon. She was a restless thing, her eyes springing back and forth to escape the pressure of Larkmoon's confrontation while her coal-colored fur shivered in horror. "We found her during the evening patrol." The she-cat explained, inhaling a sharp breath before she proceeded, "She was scattered along the roots of the Mahogany tree. We believe she fell-"

     "C'mon Larkmoon! Could you move any slower?" The shout resounded off the wall of the trees, echoing through the hallways of the great woodland. It didn't sound too far and fresh footsteps which flattened the dusty floors proved that there was an eager apprentice around.
      Heeding the call, the chestnut teacher dashed after her student, the bright green leaves above her head blurring as she galloped on. An atmosphere of dust awoke in her stampede, splattering each and every leaf with sullied spots. Soon, she fell through the shrubbery of which her apprentice called from behind.

     "I'm here," Larkmoon suddenly announced, appearing between the bushes. At once, her eyes floated upwards at the sight of her apprentice clinging to one of the high branches on the Mahogany Tree. She gasped, "StarClan! Be careful."
    "It's fun!" Redpaw shouted back, bouncing up and down carelessly on the loose limb. Leaves trickled down from her abrupt movements, falling before Larkmoon's face. "C'mon, let's go to the top!" The youthful feline tried to allure. "I want to see the sky."
     Despite fear thrumming against her ribs, Larkmoon admired the way Redpaw's eyes glimmered as they gazed up at StarClan. The two dark circles of her eyes were filled to the brim of teary dreams, longing to know what it was like at the top.
      Larkmoon exhaled an exhausted sigh, "Go but please be safe."
     Redpaw looked down at her with a confused glare. Her crimson red coat dazzled amongst the red flowering in the tree, making her seem as though she was one of the youthful buds growing on the branches. Redpaw smiled, "I'm not doing this alone." She said in absurdity. "You're coming with me."

It wasn't easy for Hollowhawk to see the heartache spread on Larkmoon's features, though it was undeniably present, it made his own heart ache at the sight of her. "Please," He ordered sharply, spinning his eyes away from the corpse. "Take her away."

"No," Larkmoon protested, throwing herself forward into the small clump of warriors. The memories of Redpaw were stained in her mind. The memories shouted, "you're coming with me!" They controlled her voice, forcing her to shout, "Take me away, let me have her place and bury me in her grave." It was all of her fault anyway. If she hadn't been so wrapped up in the rumors of the Clan, she would've gone hunting with her apprentice. Meaning, Redpaw would still be here- Larkmoon screamed again, guilt ripping like claws into her skin.

Hollowhawk attached himself to her side, blocking her vision of Redpaw's corpse. "Larkmoon- stop-" He stumbled, his eyes glazed in shock. He had never seen this side of the she-cat before, in fact, her agony frightened him.

Larkmoon stared him deep in the eyes; her brown orbs pooling into his golden ones. Her face shivered, shattering into pieces of sadness. She appeared to be a broken creature, like a bird with severed wings. Finally, Larkmoon spoke quietly, though her voice was full of strength. "It should've been me."

Hollowhawk shook his head viciously, disagreeing with everything she said. "I won't let you go." On the rims of his sunshine eyes sat a cloud, threatening to rain down his muzzle. "I love you too much," He whispered, once again his voice chased away the soreness from her heart. Hollowhawk always had an odd way of doing so; he was the comfort she so desperately needed. The large tabby cat purred, "She's in a better place now."

"Who said StarClan was a better place?"

     The top of the tree was the closest way to heaven without having felt the pain of death. It was a peculiar feeling; mortals being able to touch the sky that was deemed for gods. Larkmoon's lungs were breathless as she poked her head from the roof of red leaves. Instantly, her eyes were blurred by the endless blue, tearing up with the cerulean sights. Redpaw popped up beside her, though she didn't look as impressed. She stared around solemnly.
     "I've never seen anything like it-" Larkmoon mumbled, the strong wind whipping the words from her tongue. She glanced over her shoulder at her apprentice, noticing that her eyes didn't sparkle as brightly as they should. They sat in her head in a serious nature; seeming as though they had just attended the funeral of daylight.
       She was shaking her head slightly, "It seems lonely up there." Heaven? Lonely? Larkmoon followed her apprentice's fixed stare, head tilting upwards as she was bathed in blue. Larkmoon didn't understand; there were many myths about how full StarClan was of life. The medicine cats would share their stories of seeing forests replicated in the realm of the dead, the trees still grew and battle wounds would heal. But perhaps Redpaw was right. Considering all that unbroken space, how could anyone be crowded?

        Larkmoon was soon to find out that her apprentice was right all along...

―

The medicine cat den was never welcoming. There was a stench that had veiled the clear air, sitting like smoke for newcomers. Upon entry, they could taste the fiery smell through their nostrils, constricting their throats as if the incense was a snake. Larkmoon's nose tingled in the sensation, twitching and begging for a gasp of fresh air. She studied Hollowhawk, who seemed unbothered by the scent.

"Ah, the deputy is upon us." From within the shadows emerged an ancient she-cat. She was an aged thing, looking as though she had stripped from her grave. Her legs were worn down to four bones and her eyes were struck blind with time. She inhaled a deep breath, scenting the honorable tom. He smelled of everything brave: the sweat from a caged lion, a trickle of oak leaves, death- It halted her thinking abruptly. Death? Something, or someone, was amid him as well. It reeked of mortality, the medicine cat caught a whiff of dirt from six feet under the ground and suffocated in the perfume of a casket spray. Was StarClan with her? Was a spirit walking on the earth? "What have you brought in?

▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀