Shadows of Stars

Chapter 1: Dying

Silence. The triumphant yowls had stopped. Everycat stared at the burning log, crackling and popping. Then the wails of shock and disbelief started up. A sand coloured she-cat rushed to the body. "No!" She moaned "I told you not to waste your last life!" She sobbed quietly in to the bloodied ginger fur.

A large group of cats had gathered around Firestar's body, all covered in fresh battle wounds. The victory they had so recently won lay forgotten. Soulblaze bowed its head. Such a great victory but for such a great price.

With a mournful heart, it padded away from the body of its host, seeking solitude in it last few moments as it waited for the sky to claim it, to fade away in nonexistence. Looking around it, at the world it had come to know, it felt a twinge of regret. It didn't want to leave, it wanted to carry on protecting those it now considered its family, albeit a rather large family, full of bickering and fights, love and pride, but a family non-the-less.

As it walked towards the edge of the war-torn clearing, it grew aware of the others, watching the proceedings with the heavy weight of defeat. They were there, lurking in the shadows, those on the other side; most ghosts of cats, dully flickering, but some those who had been misled. It paused, searching for a familiar face among the defeated. A roiling shadow of violent red caught its eye, and a flicker of victory raced through its body to see the look of failed vengeance upon the spirit which it had fought so long and hard against. Its nemesis, the mistake, the shadow of the star it was created from. The one who had guided the suffering of so many. Their eyes met, crimson and gold. A sudden spark burst in the foes' pupiless orbs, bringing about a change in its demeanour. It padded over, scarlet eyes glowed defiantly, challenging Soul.

"Finish me, coward." Teeth bared in a snarl, it goaded a reaction.
"Go on, kill me! You know I have nothing to lose. My host is dead. So is yours. We'll be gone soon."

Soulblaze flicked its ears in confusion. "What's the point? You have been punished enough. Everything you have fought for is gone. As you said, we'll fade soon. What difference would it make?"

"Everything!" Voidspark spat "Better to go down fighting than to accept defeat."

"Yet some may argue that living and suffering for a cause is more noble than dying for it."

Void sneered at it. "That's the talk of cowards."

"A clever coward who accepts fighting is not always the way forwards...Besides, I do not kill in cold-blood, nor for revenge. "

"Who says it's to be in cold-blood?" And it leapt at Soul, claws out, paws outstretched. But the paws were fading, and Void passed straight through Soul. It turned, panting, panic flashing in its eyes.

"Look, its starting. Strange, I don't feel anything. I always thought it would hurt, even just a dull ache." It felt oddly calm.

"No! No! This can't, this can't happen!" Void stared straight at it, eyes pleading. "Kill me, please, I'm begging you! If, if you feel anything for me, end this, end this now."

Pity stirred Soul, it almost fell to the shadow's pleas. It walked forward, until their muzzles were almost touching. Its eyes softened.
"I do care about you, that's why I can't do this to you. When we go, we won't remember any of this, nobody will. Come. Let's enjoy the last few heart-beats of this life together, sibling. "

All the fight left Void's eyes. It sagged to the ground in defeat. "So this is it, then."

Soul sat next to its once bitter enemy, and curled its tail around it. "Yes."
Both cats gazed upwards to the inky sky, strewn with twinkling stars. Their true home, calling to them. Something seemed to be pulling them upwards, as their glowing pelts slowly dissolved. Setting them free.

The world flew into darkness. All around it, lights flickered. It felt like it was drowning, being pulled deeper into a web of light and dark. By instinct it twisted in mid air. Below, growing closer with every heartbeat was an ocean of light, rippling and immense. It flailed in a vague attempt to slow its fall, but it was plummeting too fast to stop. A paw shattered the surface, and light swallowed it.