Shorts Stories

Ivypaw's Death

     Ivypaw opened his eyes, expecting darkness that had swallowed him into dreams and visions like before. This time however, he awoke in a large forest filled with cats. There were cats he had never seen before and cats that he remembered had passed away. He felt his heart drop in his chest. If he was seeing dead cats, then he must be in Starclan. He died. He glanced around, not knowing what to do or say. He shifted his paws, wondering if any of the cats could even see him.

"Welcome, Ivypaw."

     A high-pitched mew behind him scared him, and he flipped around to see a dark grayish-yellowish tabby kit staring up at him with yellow eyes full of excitement. "We were told you were coming!" The kit squeaked, bouncing up and down. "Er, yeah, I'm here now, but where are we?" "Starclan silly," the kit looked at him like he was a mouse-brain, "Littlesong told Berryflight and I that you would be coming to join us today" "Lionkit?" Ivypaw asked. The kit puffed up his chest, "Lionflame! Your kin!" "Lionkit!" A sweet mew came from the distance, and Ivypaw turned to see the familiar spotted gray pelt trotting over to him. "But he's finally here! We haven't seen him in forever!" Lionkit whined. Ivypaw noticed a small, gray she-kit with black paws and green eyes trotting next to Littlesong. "Hi, Iyvpaw." The small kit welcomed him with a warm gaze. Ivypaw dipped his head. "Ivypaw," Littlesong's mew was full of love, "we're sad that you joined us so soon, but we're so happy to finally be able to see you again." "Now once Duskfeather joins us, we can be a complete family again. Right, Littlesong?" Berrykit asked her mother. Littlesong let out a loud purr, "of course we can. Now, how about we show Ivypaw around?" The two kits let out excited squeals, clearly thrilled to show him around.

     "First off, all the clan cats from every clan are here and we all live together," Berrykit mewed. "Without fighting?" Ivypaw asked, glancing back to Littlesong. She gave him a small nod, surprise filling Ivypaw. How did they not fight if everyone thinks their clan is better? "We're all one big clan together," Lionkit added, "Starclan is everyone living in the stars. We can watch over the living cats at the pool." "The pool?" Ivypaw asked. Lionkit nodded, "we'll show you. C'mon!" The two kits led him deep into the forest with stars seeming to light it all up. He didn't feel hungry, nor did he feel tired or in pain. If he fell into that gorge, especially with all the wounds he had, why didn't he have them anymore? Do they just disappear when you die? Either way, he was fine with it. They brushed passed cats everywhere, cats from different clans sharing tongues, sharing prey, everything a normal clan could do.

    They finally caught sight of what Ivypaw assumed to be the pool, since there were two cats staring down at the water with their tails intertwined together, happily looking down at something. "That gray-blue she-cat with dark blue paws and green eyes is Nettlefoot, Mistfoot's mother. The gray tabby tom with blue eyes is her dad, Rivercloud" Berrykit whispered. Ivypaw nodded, then padded up to them. "Hello." Nettlefoot glanced up at him, her eyes filling with warmth as she noticed it was Ivypaw. "Ivypaw! It's good to see you. I wanted to thank you for saving Mistfoot from that horrible, horrible cat." Ivypaw shifted his paws, "it's what anyone would have done." Rivercloud dipped his head towards the pool, beckoning Ivypaw over. The black tom padded over, and Rivercloud turned his gaze back to the pool.

    "See that? That's Mistfoot down there. The three kits running around are Mistfoot's and Leafstride's kits." Ivypaw stuck his head closer, staring at the kits running. They all have their mother's eyes. See that one? The light-gray she-kit? That's Ashkit. The calico she-kit running around is Spottedkit. The last one, right there," Rivercloud nearly touched his nose to the pool, "the white tom with the black stripe down his back with a black back paw with white toes." Ivypaw nodded, "I see him." "His name is Ivypaw," Rivercloud mewed. Ivypaw was astonished as he stared at the kit wrestling his sister. "She named him after you," Nettlefoot purred. Ivypaw felt his heart start to fill with triumph and happiness. "She named him after me?" Nettlefoot and Rivercloud nodded. "If it wasn't for you, none of them would have been here. Mistfoot was proud of you, so proud that she named Ivykit after you. And we think it fits him quite beautifully," Nettlefoot mewed. He stared at the young kit down there, wondering what the kit's warrior name will be. Sadness overcame him and he pulled away from the pool, allowing Nettlefoot and Rivercloud to watch their kin. Ivypaw turned and slowly padded back to his mother, who gave him a worried stare.

    "What's wrong? We thought you'd love to see how proud your friends were of you." Ivypaw shook his head, "I'm really thankful for that, and am happy that they thought so well of me to name their kit." "Then what's going on?" Littlesong's mew was soft. Ivypaw let out a small sigh, "I didn't get my warrior name before I died. It's not fair, I did my best. I tried and I tried over and over again, but Springstar wouldn't give me my name," Ivypaw's mew cracked. Littlesong gave him a sympathetic gaze, "you did deserve it. Springstar was too angry to give you it because he didn't believe Starclan had sent you, not until the battle. I was watching, and I saw the tremendous amount of guilt on his face when he never saw you come home. He will never get over that, but you'll have to accept it." Ivypaw stared sadly at his mother, it still wasn't fair to him. "We give ourselves our own warrior names!" Lionkit mewed happily. That's right, Ivypaw wasn't the only one who never earned his warrior name, his siblings didn't either. They weren't even given a chance. "I go by Lionflame sometimes and Berrykit is Berryflight, but Littlesong still calls us Lionkit and Berrykit because we are always her kits." Lionkit imitated Littlesong's mew at the end there, and she flicked her tail against his ear which sent him into a fit of giggles.

    "It is true, a lot of kits and apprentice's go by warrior names they've given themselves. However, to their mother they will always be a 'kit or a 'paw." She let out a small purr when Lionkit pounced on top of Berrykit. "Y'know," Littlesong started to talk again, "Springstar did lose a life in this battle." Ivypaw watched the kits in surprise, "really?" "He's only got one left now." So he could be joining Starclan soon too. Ivypaw shook out his fur, nervous for his clan. Shortstop would make a great leader, but he was nervous about who he'd pick as his deputy. Dayleap would be a good deputy, or even Blazestorm. Whoever Shortstop will pick will be a good leader anyways. "Well," Lionkit's mew broke his thoughts, making Ivypaw turn focus back on his small kin. "Are you going to pick your warrior name?" Ivypaw thought about it for a moment, then crouched down to meet his gaze, "why don't you and Berrykit come up with mine? I'm sure whatever you pick will be great." The two kits let out excited squeals, then turned to each other and started whispering.

    "Okay," Berrykit turned to Ivypaw, "we have a couple of ideas." "I want it to be Ivystrike or Ivythorn, since you always win your battles and are strong," Lionkit mewed. "And I think Ivystride would fit you, since you seemed to really like Leafstride and copied him a lot," Berrykit mewed happily. "So, which one?" Lionkit asked, pressuring him. Ivypaw thought about it for a moment, then dipped his head to Berrykit. "I like Ivystride, sorry Lionkit." Lionkit let out a sigh, "it's okay, I liked that one too, that's why it was a choice." Ivystride let out a small purr. "Well, welcome to Starclan Ivystride," Littlesong nodded, "we hope you'll like it here."