Nightstar's Crown

Chapter 7

|| Chapter 7 ||
❦

Sunrises had passed. The snow had grown taller and thicker. And it wouldn't be the end of her troubles. She'd been trekking her way tiredly, resting where she could find some place safe, drinking from icy puddles as she could find them. But hunting, yet again, proved difficult. Nightrose's belly was groaning and growling viciously at her, and the curve of her ribs were starting to stick out a little. It was on day twelve that the blizzard hit. She lost all sense of direction, and snow was clinging to her fur. "Thornthroat!" She croaked, her voice getting torn away by the harsh wind. Stumbling as another gust of wind crashed into her, Nightrose hissed quietly. "I left them! Just like you asked," she groaned, rasping. "S-so...l-l-leave them...be..." Whining softly, she eventually stumbled back enough until she unsuspectingly collided with a tree trunk. The feather between her teeth slipped out and she gasped quietly. Chasing after it, she felt searing panic stab her every time she missed, and eventually it slapped into another tree trunk. Nabbing it before it could blow away, panting, she moved around to the other side and crouched down to stay out of the wind, her fur ruffling.

Her body was trembling, hot with the sting of frigid air starting to numb her along her tail and paws. Tucking the feather under her, and somewhere along the way, she managed to doze off Opening her eyes, she saw the sparkling of stars dusting the ground in front of her once again. She let out an exasperated sigh. "Great. I'm dead not from being useful, but from a damn blizzard..."

"Not quite yet, firefly." Nightrose lifted her head up and looked over to see Geckospring sitting nearby with a thoughtful look on his face. "You're just a little closer to your destiny."

"Don't give me that obscure, vague StarClan monologue," Nightrose deadpanned and huffed, her pelt feeling strangely warm here. "Just do something that isn't going to make me anymore confused than I already am."

Blinking slowly, he chuckled and stood as he padded over, and crouched near her head. "Would meeting someone make you more confused?"

"Depends," she grumbled.

With an amused smile, the dark brown tabby turned to look ahead of the two again. "Leechstar?"

Following his gaze, Nightrose perked up to see a dark brown, nearly black feline padding towards them. She had short fur and pale green eyes, and several scars all over from her muzzle, chin, ears, over her flanks and even on her tail. With a quiver of her whiskers, the lithe creature gave Nightrose a simple once over with a small smile on her face. "My, my, my," she chuckled. "This one's certainly grown since I last looked over. There again, that was at her birth..."

Nightrose blinked, holding back an ear and slowly sat herself up. "Why would you have been at my birth?"

Geckospring flicked his tail as he sat up as well. "Technically, she wasn't exactly there. Only Powderbelly, your father, and myself were there; and your mother, obviously."

Leechstar snorted and gave a short-lived, throaty chuckle at him in an dainty way, as if he was a kit saying something ignorant and naive. "Yes, quite...ahem, I've been dead for a long time, darling, I simply watched from the stars. I ruled over RiverClan long before they even moved to the forest, let alone here."

Nightrose's eyes widened. Damn. So she's...ancient-ancient. "Oh," she finally said, as if she fully understood the depth of time that had passed. And to a degree, she did, but there'd only been so much remembered and taught of the clans' history. "That's...okay," she breathed, trying to comprehend everything. "But why would you have any interest in my birth?"

"A myriad of reasons, lovely," she said gently. "However, as to avoid the possibilities of risks should I provide you with some knowledge that could shake the stars—" Woah, what—? "I shall merely tell you this. You are my descendent, as is your father before you. However, your presence is a touch more...imperative in guiding paws, like others who share similar fates to your's."