Lightclan Shorts

Burdens of The Future

There was a horrible wail as the branch fell from the tree and landed squarely on Roundclaw, killing him beneath its weight.

He swallowed nervously and pulled away from the vision. Watching himself die every morning was stressful, but he had to know what to avoid so that he didn't die. Roundclaw wondered for a heartbeat what it was like for other cats, not knowing when they will meet their end. The future a mystery for them to discover.

Stormwhisker's voice made him look up from where he was crouched in his nest. "Hey Circle, ready for our hunting patrol?"

Roundclaw rolled his eyes at the ridiculous nickname and stood up, facing his brother. "Of course."

"Got any future visions for me?" Stormwhisker asked, starting to trot out of the warriors den and into the main clearing of Lightclan's camp.

"Not currently." Roundclaw replied, covering up the truth that he hadn't actually checked how Stormwhisker's day would go that morning. He had been too busy seeing how he could possibly die or injure himself.

Stormwhisker let out an exaggerated sigh. "You never see my future anymore, you're too wrapped up in your own."

Roundclaw opened his jaws to argue, but stopped when he realised that it was in fact true. He had only been checking his own future, completely ignoring that of his siblings. "Sorry, I don't mean to be selfish. It just.." He trailed off, shrugging.

Stormwhisker shrugged as well and nudged his brother reassuringly. "Heh, it's okay. Don't worry about it. I'm sure I'm going to live a long and happy life anyway."

Roundclaw chuckled. "Yeah."

The two brothers fell into silence as they trotted into the forest. Roundclaw focused his gaze on the trees around him, looking suspiciously for any signs of branches falling. He was so focused on the trees above that he walked straight into a thorn bush.

While Roundclaw untangled himself from the thorn bush, hissing and growling as much of his pelt was left behind, Stormwhisker laughed hysterically. "It's not funny!"

"You just walked-" Stormwhisker was cut off by another laughing fit as Roundclaw tripped and landed face-first back in the thorn bush, "-into a thorn bush, twice!"

"Help me!" Roundclaw snapped as thorns poked dangerously around his eyes. "I'm stuck!" He tugged and pulled, trying to free his face from the thorn bush.

"That's what you get for daydreaming." Stormwhisker chuckled but grabbed onto his haunches anyway and haules him out of the bush. "Honestly Roundclaw you're becoming more clumsy than me."

"I have a lot on my mind." Roundclaw mutterer, poking his face with his paw to check for bleeding.

"Like how you're going to die? Give it a rest just for one day. Tomorrow morning you are banned from using your powers." Stormwhisker meowed, his voice light-hearted but underneath prowled an order.

"Fine." Roundclaw agreed, sighing. It would probably be beneficial if he took a rest for one day and stopped worrying about his future. He would be normal and let his life play on like any normal cat.

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It was the following morning and Roundclaw woke up, walking out of the warriors den. He didn't once think about how his day would go, and he realised with a happy grin that it relieved so much stress. He then made a decision to completely give up using his powers so frequently and only use them when they were needed to help others.

Skystar called a clan meeting and Roundclaw looked up, wondering what his mother was about to announce.

The white she cat stood on the HighTree, watching her clan below her. "Cats of Lightclan. Our clan is small and we will not survive the next attack from Deathclan..."

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If only Circle used his powers for another day, then he wouldn't have died in the Deathclan battle... Oh well >:3