Ghosts of the Clans (COMPLETED)

Flashback

Penny watched as Redpaw fled, his legs pumping strongly. She swallowed the hard lump in her throat. I really sent my son away, and injured him. Would Sunny have ever done that?

And yet, the flashbacks hit her, wave after wave, unable to control.

"Sunny, where are we going?" Penny asked. She was a young cat once again, fifteen moons old, together with her brother, Coin. She looked back over her shoulder, straining to see their old housefolk nest. Coin nudged her sharply with his broad shoulders, inherited from their father, Windy. "Don't look back now- we cannot go back, after what they did to Windy and Gold." His voice caught, and he looked away for a moment, hurrying to catch up with Sunny.

Yet another vision took hold...

"No! Sunny, where are our housefolk taking Windy?" Penny wailed, struggling within the grasp of the dark ginger-and-white she-cat. Sunny's gaze was shadowed as she watched the gray-brown tabby tom struggling, his sky-blue eyes pained. Gold, beside her, let out a whimper. "What's wrong with him?"

Sunny explained in a hushed tone that was full of grief. "He is too sick, and was in pain. Our housefolk are taking him away... to kill Windy and end his suffering. We cannot do anything, my kits. But the housefolk are coming for us next- so I'm going to run away, flee from here, and you can come with me if you want."

"Yes, I could never leave you," breathed Penny, pressing close to her mother's side. Coin nodded, but Gold hesitated. Then, she began sprinting toward Windy, who was struggling in the housefolk's grip, his eyes lolling and foam coming from his mouth. Penny tensed. Windy had been having seizures like this for moons now, really delusional. And right now, he was having one?!

Gold hurtled on top of her father, spitting at the housefolk and nuzzling against Windy, curling her golden body around his, providing Windy warmth from her own body. "Gold, no!" howled Coin and Penny in unison, but it was too late. The housefolk took both of them away. Sunny stared at them, her dark green eyes misty with sorrow, then flicked her tail on both their shoulders.

"Come on." And with that, they ran, hearts breaking to leave their beloved ones behind. They never looked back at the Twoleg nest ever again.

And her mother's death.

A snarl came from the shadows of the sunset, and four burly cats stepped out. "Rogues? Well, what should we do with them, Rowanclaw?" inquired a dark gray tom mockingly. A dark ginger tabby tom beside him, probably the one called Rowanclaw, purred, his mew smooth as honey. "Well, we obviously take them in, don't we? After all, we are totally ThunderClan, taking in every stray we meet? And of course, we give all our prey to rogues and loners until we starve! That is so definitely what we should do, Cedarheart."

It took Penny a few heartbeats before she processed that Rowanclaw was being heavily sarcastic. A smaller pale gray tom, even younger than her, pointed out, "The tortoiseshell-and-white one is so small, Rowanclaw! Why should we waste time on her?" Her heart plummeted as she saw Rowanclaw's amber eyes gleam with half pride, half cruelty. "You're right, Talonpaw."

Without warning, they attacked. Penny let out a squeak of fear when she saw Rowanclaw and Talonpaw charge toward Sunny while Cedarheart and a younger dark gray tabby she-cat goes toward Coin, who bushes up his fur in an attempt to look intimidating. 

But at once, Penny knew that they could not escape unscathed. "Run, Sunny, Coin!" she bawls, but they did not listen- Coin backed towards her, shooting her a frantic look as his ears get slashed by the dark gray tabby she-cat. Cedarheart leaps onto Coin's back, digging his claws in, and pushes the pale ginger tabby tom to the soil, his jaws closing around Coin's neck.