Sparks of a Fire

Chapter 44

Cloudsky had known that her time in MistClan was coming to an end. She had known for a few moons that there was something wrong with her, something so unfamiliar that not even Meadowlight or Flowingstream could cure it.

So when her eyes slowly began to close and her hearing started to fade, the young MistClan deputy knew that her time was up.

Her breathing started to slow and her chest eventually stopped rising and falling altogether. And when the darkness clouded what was left of her senses, Cloudsky willingly let her spirit unbind itself from her physical body.

As darkness swirled around her, Cloudsky sensed that she was standing again. Slowly opening her eyes, she almost gaped from the sight. It was an empty clearing, similar to MistClan, but not quite. Looking down at her paws, she nearly saw small stars glowing around them.

In a whirlwind of colors, voices, and scents, she was there. In StarClan's hunting grounds, that is. It was divided into sections. A snowy, cold ocean place for the IceClan cats, a misty forest for the MistClan cats, a rocky moor and small pine forest for the StormClan cats, and a huge oak woodsy area for BreezeClan cats. But that wasn't all. There was a huge Twolegplace for kittypets and strays, and a field and forest that seemed to go on forever for rogues and loners. The Dark Forest lay beyond that field, for the most evil of cats.

Slowly standing to her paws, the dark-furred she-cat scanned the strange clearing for any signs of life.

Noticing a flower coated in sky-blue petals dappled with silver-and-white, Cloudsky slowly patted over and took a hesitant sniff and gently batted at the strange flower with one of her snowy-white paws.

Wandering around in the foggy clearing, Cloudsky's blue eyes widened in both amazement an aw as she gazed upon the vast landscape that lay beyond in every direction.

As she continued admiring the scenery around her, a sudden rustle of leaves made her pause and turn around. Her fur bristled in alarm upon hearing a pare of unfamiliar pawsteps making their way toward her. Cloudsky's eyes narrowed into slits and her ears went straight up in alarm.

But the figure that emerged from the fog was one that Cloudsky recognized from Goldenflow's stories.

It was Silvershore.

The silvery she-cat smiled warmly at Cloudsky as she patted closer to the former MistClan deputy.

"Hello Cloudsky," Silvershore greeted her with a soft purr. "We've been waiting for you young one. It's nice to finally meet you."

Cloudsky tried to speak but no words came out.

The black and white she-cat cleared her throat and tried again.

"Wait a minute, so you already knew that I would be joining StarClan?" she managed to splutter, her eyes still wide open in shock.

Silvershore purred and her eyes gleamed with mirth as she watched the young MistClan warrior pace back and forth.

"We have watched since the day you and your littermates were born," the silvery dappled she-cat responded with a flick of her tail. "Follow me and I will show you.

Cloudsky simply nodded her head and followed the young StarClan warrior through the foggy clearing,

As the two cats slowly made there way through the endless fields of StarClan's hunting grounds, Cloudsky's eyes wandered aimlessly around, taking in every new sight and smell.

A sudden, small force of something rammed into her paws and made the young she-cat pause and glance down to see what had bumped into her.

Staring back up at her was a small smokey-gray kit. It's fur dappled with black swirls and dozens of small silvery stars shown in the little kittens fur like freshly fallen snow.

"Oh, I-I uh, I'm sorry! I didn't mean to startle you!" the small kitten mewled in apology. "My name is Fogkit, what's yours?" the now named Fogkit asked, staring up at Cloudsky with curiosity shimmering in her stormy blue gaze.

Cloudsky smiled kindly down at the young kitten sitting at her paws. "My name is Cloudsky, I am the former deputy of MistClan."

Fogkit's face seemed to light up as she stared up at her with a questioning gaze. "You're from MistClan too?" the young she-kit squealed with delight. "Does that mean you knew my mother?"

"That depends," Cloudsky mewed with an amused purr. "Who's your mother?"

"Lightningpelt!" the small kit mewed almost immediately. "Her sister, Paledove, took care of me before I got sick."

Cloudsky thought back to her apprentice days, back when she was still Cloudpaw. She remembered seeing a young warrior almost identical to Fogkit going in and out of the medicine cats den to see Spottedfeather and Meadowpaw.

"I remember seeing her around camp back when I was an apprentice, she died during a battle with StormClan during a harsh leafbare season." Cloudsky told the young kit, her eyes dimming with sadness as she recalled her mentor, Ravenheart, telling her all about it later that evening.