THE STOLEN || OLD - being rewritten

Chapter 31 - { StarClan's Blessing }

Hunted out and chased away,
The stars offered nothing to me.
So now I walk without them.

It felt like Darkpaw had only blinked before she opened her eyes again. Everything around her was in shadow and there was shallow water that only just reached above her paws. Looking around, she could still hear the faint, echoing sounds of the battle raging on around her.

"Darkpaw." The same starry warrior who visited her in her dream appeared before her, their fire like eyes bright and full of stars.

"Where am I? What is this place?" Darkpaw asked, her eyes wide.

The StarClan cat's tail swayed from side to side. "Not StarClan. Not The Place of No Stars. Some where in between life and death."

"Am I dead?" Darkpaw asked, her head snapping to another direction as distant sounding thunder roared overhead.

The feline paused for a moment. "Almost." The starlit she-cat mewed, keeping her eyes on Darkpaw. "Do you know who I am?"

The tortoiseshell apprentice frowned.

The StarClan warrior lifted her chin. "I am Blazingstar. First leader and founder of BlazingClan."

Darkpaw's eyes widened and instantly she bowed her head respectfully.

Blazingstar chuckled. "There's no need for that now. BlazingClan is no more."

"I'm sorry.." Darkpaw mewed. It must have been hard for Blazingstar and the other founding leaders to watch as their clans and the homes they created turn to nothing but dust with the reign of Whisperstar.

Blazingstar shook her starry golden head. "There's no need for apologies. The fall of the clans was inevitable. The course of the stars has already been written. It's important that we accept that and stay true to our destiny." She mewed in a solemn tone.

Behind the leaders fire like eyes something hid, Darkpaw could sense it. Frowning slightly, Darkpaw thought. "What do you mean?"

"Upsetting the balance of the world by tampering with the course of destiny is dangerous, is what I mean to say. But no more of that, I can explain more when we reach StarClan. We are all very eager to have you among us." Blazingstar lifted her tail, her starlit gaze glittering.

"Darkpaw! Darkpaw where are you?"

Sagepaw's voice echoed all around, the sound of paws splashing in the rain thudded past Darkpaw before vanishing into nothing. Wide eyed, she looked around again, her pelt spiking before she looked back at Blazingstar who seemed to be growing impatient ever so slightly.

"She's dead!" Another voice cut through the air followed by a symphony of cruel laughter. Darkpaw heard heartbroken yowls breakout as well as cries of grief and anger before another clap of thunder boomed, shaking the ground.

"Come now, Darkpaw. It's your time."

"When a cat dies, they go straight to StarClan." Darkpaw mewed, locking gazes with Blazingstar. "So why didn't I?"

Blazingstar frowned, tail tip flicking back and forth with impatience. She didn't answer.

"It's because I'm not really dead yet, am I? My spirit isn't fully gone because I'm not actually in StarClan. I'm still close to the living which is why I can hear them now, isn't it?" The clever young tortoiseshell begun putting the pieces together. "So why are you so eager for me to die?"

"Are you not tired?" Blazingstar asked, stepping forward, holding Darkpaw's accusing stare.

"Yes."