Reflected Stars

Chapter 5

 Fernwhisper's eyes were rigid with shock, her muscles tensed. She couldn't believe that Cherrystar was gone. After a heartbeat of looking into the bleak world of swirling white flakes, she slowly turned her gaze to the shocked Skyclan cats. Their eyes were full of disbelief for their leader was gone taken away by a eagle's scornful talons. No one spoke.

Amberleaf slowly wavered towards Fernwhisper before standing muzzle to muzzle to her. Her sister's sweet herb scent filled her nostrils. "I'm sorry Fernwhisper. Our leader is gone." Amberleafs mournful voice gathered in Fernwhisper's ears.

She blurted out, "Cherrystar might be not here but we can find her! She still had six lives left, she couldn't have gone far, we must search for her." Fernwhisper's determined voice rang through every cat standing with her through the blowing gusts and whirling snow.

"But we don't know where she even is, or even where to start!" Prinkleleap stepped forward challenging his littermate, his voice barely audible.

Meadowlark mewed briskly to Prinkleleap, "I will look for my clan leader, or I will die trying!"

The clan erupted into cheers at Meadowlark's determined words.

"Yes! We should go find our leader."

"Fernwhisper will lead us to Cherrystar!"

"Fernwhisper! Fernwhisper"

Fernwhisper raised her tail for silence. "We shall set off at once!"

* * *

Amberleaf shivered. Snowflakes swirled in every direction around her. She could hardly see the clanmate in front of her. In the moon that they had been searching for their leader, the blizzard condition had gotten worse. Wind howled around the flock of cats as they wearily trekked.

Suddenly, a huge wind gust sent a snow wave tumbling toward Skyclan. Cats shrieked and tried to leap away from the thundering wall of white. The snow powdered on top of them, burying them beneath it.

Amberleaf clutched Leafkit harder in her jaws and dashed away, Parsleyseed and Seedkit at her paws.

The wind whistled and the world was a blur of white. Amberleaf and Parlseyseed sheltered underneath a rock overhang. They crouched together for almost two sunrises. The storm was not letting up. Amberleaf and her mate dashed from their hiding spot. They ran to a cluster of cats which included Windwhisp, Prinkleap, Duskpeak, Dewfrost, Meadowlark, and Fallowfern.

"Where's Fernwhisper?" Amberleaf gasped.

"I don't know!" Dewfrost mewed, "This is all we could find."

"Cats got buried under the snow too."

"Let's get digging!" Fallowfern yowled.

Amberleaf set her kits down on a flat rock and started churning her paws through the white snow. She saw movement out of the corner of her eye. She turned to see a tortoiseshell tail sticking up. Fernwhisper! She dashed over and dug even harder and faster, spraying snow in all directions.

At the bottom of the hole was not Fernwhisper, but Cherrystar!

"Cherrystar!" Amberleaf cried. All of the cats dashed over to look.

"Are you okay?" Dewfrost asked.

"Yes, yes. I'm fine." Cherrystar rasped.

The patrol of cats dragged their leader out of the snow and stepped back. Amberleaf took over and examined the Tortoiseshell-and-White cat that had been lost for over a moon. She's lost two lives! Amberleaf realized. Cherrystar only has four lives left!

Suddenly, a screech split the air. Meadowlark!

"I've found them!" Meadowlark padded around a boulder with Tigerlily, Fernwhisper, Sagenose, Rabbitleap, Reedthicket, Finsplash, Plumwillow, Wasppaw, and Doepaw.

Fernwhisper bounded over to Amberleaf and gasped, "You've found Cherrystar!"

The rest of the cats around Amberleaf widened their eyes in surprise.

"Where's my brother?" Duskpeak asked, narrowing his eyes.

"We searched and searched, digging through snow, but we couldn't find him." Fernwhisper mewed, dipping her head, "We were hoping you had found him."

"No, we couldn't find Birchwhisker," Dewfrost mewed with sincerity.

They sat in a circle, mourning Birchwhisker, who was probably in Starclan by then.

Amberleaf opened one of her eyes to check on her kits, but she saw past them. A speck of something started to inch closer and closer to them through the swirling white flakes. She couldn't see it clearly, but she knew their was orange in his fur. "Look!" She exclaimed. "I think that's Birchwhisker!"

Every cat opened their eyes and turned the direction Amberleaf was pointing to. Duskpeak narrowed his eyes for a moment.

"That's not Birchwhisker," He mewed.

A few heartbeats later the 'speck of something' was only few few fox-leaps away. That was when Amberleaf realized the figure was a Tortoiseshell-and-White pelted tom. The stranger stopped in front off the bone-cold, starving cluster of cats, drifting his yellow eyes across each of them and breathing three words, "I am Sol."

PLOT TWIST! I always hated Sol when he was in the books...

What about you guys? Do you like Sol? Or no?