Criminal Claws [UnitedWarriors]

Christmas Special Chapter

Graystar frowned and shifted in her nest. Her body was weighted down with exhaustion, but she just couldn't seem to fall asleep. The leader stood, stretched, and then curled up once more on the moss. How long had it been since she had slept soundly? Since before Mallowheart's death, surely. Graystar sighed. She couldn't believe that only six days ago, everything had been normal. Better times felt like a lifetime ago, but she could still remember them...

Everything went dark when the leader shut her eyes, but then the world was swept with color as she dreamed of a memory.

~★~

It was a cool day in leaf-bare, nearly five moons ago. The clan was together, whole, and happy. Evil had not yet touched any hearts on this special day. All of the cats were gathered around a single tree just outside of camp, which had been strung with heather and ivy, and decorated with brightly colored flowers.

No cat could remember when or how this tradition was created, but it was a tradition they followed nonetheless. On the day of the winter solstice, the clan would gather under a decorated tree, sharing tongues and eating together, and sometimes offering small tokens of friendship to each other. Happy chatter filled the air.

"Wow, Honeyrose, the tree looks great!" Laurelgaze purred. She playfully nudged the Sphinx she-cat with her shoulder. "How many times did you fall out of it putting those decorations up?"

Honeyrose laughed and swept her tail over Laurelgaze's ear, who ducked away with a smile. "None, actually," the hairless she-cat purred while puffing out her heart-marked chest. "But I didn't do it alone, of course. Crowtail helped me string the ivy -- and don't forget all the cats who gathered decorations."

Laurelgaze turned to Crowtail, who was sitting not far away, listening in. "Well, you did a good job. It looks amazing."

Crowtail gave her a rather shy smile in return. "Thanks."

Under the tree, Blackpaw was standing on his hind legs with one forepaw pressed against the trunk for balance as he reached up with his other paw. He batted at the spruce's lowest bough until a fluffy round object dropped out of it - a rabbit's tail. The apprentice cheerfully scooped it up and scampered over to where Echopaw was sitting.

"Got you a present," Blackpaw purred, dropping the rabbit tail at her feet.

"Tree-robber," Echopaw scoffed, but her amber eyes were sparkling.

Cascadefall was padding up to Palefern, a rabbit (incidentally tailless) held in his jaws. "Want to share?" he asked in a friendly mew.

Palefern swished his tail and crinkled his nose as he frowned at the russet-brown tom. "I can get my own prey, thanks," he retorted grumpily.

Cascadefall just smirked and settled down beside him. "Awe, come on. Even you can't be grumpy on Solstice," he teased. Palefern's whiskers twitched but he relented and took a bite of the rabbit, though not before cuffing the side of Cascadefall's head. Two heartbeats later a white and cream form tottered towards them as Smallcloud ran over on his short legs. He skidded to a stop just shy of running over Palefern. "Can I share with you?" the munchkin-fold tom asked hopefully.

Cascadefall eagerly made room for the little warrior, and even Palefern didn't raise any objections. "Sure thing, buddy," Cascadefall answered. Smallcloud stretched out beside him and the three toms eagerly fell upon the rabbit. 

On the other side of the tree, Snowsong and Pinestep were walking side by side, their tails twined. Pinestep was leading the way, trying and failing to keep Snowsong from looking to see where they were going. "Close your eyes," he finally ordered his mate. Snowsong reluctantly obeyed, but then peered up at him through one gleaming green eye. "Do I get to know what this is about?" she asked. Pinestep covered her peeking eye with his tail. "Just wait," he told her.