StarClan's Choice

Chapter 14

Ivypaw looked down at the body in the middle of the clearing. Her paws felt numb and the snow felt like nothing as she blinked at Strawberrypaws body. They still haven't found Pinesap's body yet, and she watched the snow fall around the lifeless figure of her best friend. Dawnflower and Addderpelt was sobbing over the death of their kit,Pinesap, and Brackenstar, Strawberrypaws father gazed forlornly at the body, while and Strawberrypaws littermates, Rosepaw and Rowanpaw had their noses buried in her fur.

Snowflake raised her head. "It's a very sad occasion," she mewed to the ShadowClan leader, "But we must move past it and bury her." "Yes," Brackenstar growled. "We are a strong Clan, and we must prove it!"

Ivypaw winced. She remembered what Doveshade had told her, and was wary of Snowflake. She wasn't very comfortable with Brackenstar relying on Snowflake. She also now realised that the battle in RiverClan's camp was wrong. She looked down sadly.

As the elders buried Strawberrypaw, Ivypaw joined a hunting patrol. Dawnflower was on it, thinking it may make her feel better. Ivypaw was surprised to see Rosepaw tag along too, her eyes red from crying.

They caught voles and mice near the border from RiverClan. Suddenly Firefir looked up. "RiverClan patrol," he hissed.

A RiverClan patrol, led by Shiversong, stopped at the border. "Greetings," she said coldly. "Have you learned from that merciless battle-" she stopped when she saw the looks on their faces. "Did something happen?" she said. "A warrior and an apprentice were killed. M-my own kit and his friend," Dawnflower's voice broke off and she stared down silently.

Shiversong looked stunned. "I'm sorry for your loss," she said. Dawnflower looked up. "I am sorry. This is karma for the RiverClan attack," she said. "Brackenstar may not think this, but I now realise that the attack on RiverClan was unfair. Brackenstar thinks that we should be strong, but this is no way to be strong."

"Thank you," Shiversong said. "I really appreciate it." Ivypaw noticed that Rosepaw was mummering to a pale brown RiverClan apprentice. She jerked back away from him as she caught Ivypaw staring. "Who's that?" Ivypaw whispered to her. "A friend I made at a gathering," Rsoepaw mumbled. Ivypaw felt suspicious, but decided to not press the point further as Rosepaw was still grieving.

As the two patrols parted ways, with a friendly air to the tail flicks of farewell, Ivypaw sent a silent player to the spirit of Pinesap, hoping he made it to StarClan without a proper vigil. Her heart ached with her leftover love for him, and she painted a new future in her mind, a future where Pinesap was still out there. Somewhere...

~

It still hurt to walk, but he padded out of the den into the snowy world. Pinesap dipped the moss into the snow, waiting for it to become cold. He wanted to prank Snowy. He picked it up and walked back into the den, wincing as the ice-cold moss. He quickly tossed it into Snowy's nest.

"AA!" She gasped. She turned around and glared at him. "What is your problem?" she growled. Pinesap smirked. "Relax, it was just a joke," he said. "Why do you have to be so uptight?" He laughed at her disgruntled expression until the icy moss smacked him in the face.

"Hey...!" he said, running out into the snow. Snowy pelted after him, scoping up snow with her paws. "You want a prank? I'll show you a prank!" She flung the snow at him and he gasped at the cold. He scooped up snow and threw it at her muzzle. "Hey!" she complained. "You're cheating! No headshots!" "I don't care!" he laughed, before he got a mouthful of snow. He spat out the snow as she snickered with amusement. Pinesap turned around slowly and playfully growled, "You better run."

She let out a squeal as he ran at her and then rolled around in the snow, playing fighting like kits. They eventually got tired and lay panting on the snowy forest floor. "You know..." Pinesap said to Snowy. "You're actually... kinda cool." "Oh ha ha," he said as he realised the pun. Snowy rolled her eyes but smiled at him. She pulled herself up and looked at Pinesap's wound. "You can walk now..." she said slowly. "Do you want to go back to your Clan?"

Pinesap froze. He hadn't realised that he could leave. He should be yowling with joy, but he didn't want to leave for some reason. "Maybe we should wait till my wound is better," he mewed hastily. She nodded. "Yeah, maybe..."

Snowy stood up and looked at him teasingly. "Can you hunt, or are you too clumsy?" she said. "I bet I'll catch more prey than you!" Pinesap said boastingly. She smirked. "I don't think so." He ran out further into the forest. "Watch me!" She called after him, "Just stop if it starts hurting." When he didn't reply, she sighed and chased after him.

~

Rosepaw stood waiting beside the pool at the border, which had become her and Acornpaws meeting spot. He padded up to her. "Hey!" he said. "You wanted to meet?" Rosepaw sniffled and buried her nose into his fur.

Acornpaw looked at her, surprised. "What's wrong?" he whispered. She croaked out, "The apprentice that died... she was my sister."

He gasped and wrapped his tail around her. "I'm so sorry... I wouldn't be able to bear it if Aspenpaw died." "I just... wanted to be with you," she said, sniffling. "It's okay," he said. "I understand."

They stayed there quietly. Enjoying each other's company, and watched the stars and clouds drift past them.

A/N

Sorry for the dialogue-heavy chapter! It was just needed to move the story along.

Have a nice day!

[no comment on how I didn't post for 3 months]