Of Dust and Dawn

Generation One: Chapter Eight

Early the next morning the apprentices were ready for their assessments. Dawnstar and Patchpelt took their apprentices Rosepaw and Leafpaw to the northern territory and Hawktail and Spottedwillow took Ivypaw and Aspenpaw south. By sunhigh Rosepaw was proving to be having better luck than her brother in hunting. She had managed to catch two mice, one vole, and a robin. Leafpaw had caught one vole and a mouse.

Leafpaw watched his sister crouch down low into the grass. She slowly crept one steady paw at a time until she burst out of the grass and took off after a rabbit. The rabbit darted left then right, back and forth, zigzagging across the clearing.  Rosepaw stayed on its tail the entire time. A quick squeak filled the air, only it wasn't the rabbit. Leafpaw watched in horror as his sister's eyes went wide and then grew dull. "No!" A wolf held Rosepaw's limp body in its jaws for a moment, letting her blood drip down and staining her long grey fur. It tossed her body to the side, its eyes now fixed on Leafpaw. The rest of the wolf's pack came one by one out of the dense forest into the clearing.

"No!" Dawnstar's cry echoed Leafpaw's. Dawnstar and Patchpelt leaped out of the nearby bushes where they had been hiding. Dawnstar dived towards Rosepaw's lifeless body, and raked her claws into the wolf that took the young she-cat's life. The wolf howled in pain, alerting another who sunk its teeth into Dawnstar's neck. The leader went limp and the wolf tossed her aside.

Patchpelt and Leafpaw stood back to back, keeping the wolves at bay. "There's too many!" Patchpelt gasped, being knocked back by a massive paw, "Dawnstar, we should retreat."

Leafpaw leaped out from between the wolves, "She's over there..." his voice full of fear and sadness, pointing his nose towards Dawnstar's lifeless body. She laid almost directly by Rosepaw.

"Retreat Patchpelt and Leafpaw!" Dawnstar yelled in vain, knowing the two toms would not hear her. She had just lost another life and she had to wait until her body healed enough to return. She watched as the two tried to fight off the wolves, each attempt proving more futile by the minute. In what felt like a lifetime, Dawnstar felt herself finally being pulled back into her body. "Run..." Dawnstar said, her voice barely a whisper, neither tom realized she was back. "Run!" She called out again, this time louder. A wolf turned its attention to her, "Go! Retreat!" Dawnstar slowly rose, her body still weak. Patchpelt rushed towards her, "I said go! That's an order," she hissed, "you have a family."

"I won't leave you behind." Patchpelt put himself between her and the fierce beast. Leafpaw jumped on top of the wolf, sinking his teeth deep into its neck. It opened its mouth, blood splattered out and it collapsed onto the forest floor.

"That's for my sister." Leafpaw spat out a chuck of fur in disgust. He looked between Dawnstar, Patchpelt and Rosepaw. "Please, forgive me Rosepaw...." Leafpaw joined Patchpelt and the two males helped Dawnstar get to safety. The pack let them go, choosing instead to begin to devour their fallen comrade and Rosepaw.

Ravenfoot dropped a fish beside Dawnstar's bed. It had been nearly a moon since the fatal ambush in order to heal. Only now, Dawnstar was recovered, at least physically. "You need to eat."

"He's right, we need our leader to have her strength." Morningdew agreed.

"Hawktail is your leader." Dawnstar turned away from her friends. She had been living in the medicine cat den since Rosepaw died. Hawktail took over her leadership duties while she recovered. During her absence he had taken the liberality of naming the three remaining apprentices; Leaffang, Aspenbranch, and Ivyvine.

"You're our leader." Ravenfoot reminded her, nudging the fish closer. Dawnstar ignored him. She was unable to shake the image of watching the young she-cat being torn apart by those savages. It haunted her every waking moment. When she closed her eyes she saw that image over and over again. In her dreams she saw her, but the apprentice was being eaten alive instead. What if she had been alive? Dawnstar often asked herself. Would she ever forgive me?  Surely these dreams were my punishment. She knew she couldn't forgive herself for letting her apprentice die. And she didn't expect Rosepaw to forgive her either.

Ravenfoot continued to visit Dawnstar each day. He would bring food that Dawnstar would rarely accept. Often she gave the meal to Owlpaw to take to Mousepath and kits in the nursery.

"Morningdew! It's happening!" Patchpelt burst into the medicine cat den. He's panting and shaking. The calico medicine cat who had been curled in her bed jumped up, her heart pounding from being woken from a deep slumber. "Moonflower is in labor!" Patchpelt manages to say. Dawnstar watches the two cats leave.

Ravenfoot lets them go by and enters. "What's going on?"

"Moonflower is having her kits." Dawnstar sighs, turning back over in her nest. She feels her chest tighten up again. That could have been her.

Ravenfoot is silent for a moment but Dawnstar can smell the pain coming off him. "Let's go for a walk." He finally suggests, breaking the quiet.

Ravenfoot doesn't let Dawnstar say no. The two friends walk side by side, each lost in their own thoughts. "Is this...? Dawnstar trails off.

"I guess it is." Ravenfoot smirks. Dawnstar eyes him with suspicion but he does a good job of hiding his thoughts, "I guess my paws knew where I needed to be." They had arrived at the old home Ravenfoot and Moonflower had had lived in before joining the clan.

"It is so much more beautiful in New-leaf."

"It is." Ravenfoot agreed, but he wasn't talking about the clearing. He snuck in a moment to look at his leader. The way the moonlight shined on her fur made her fur seem to glow. Her eyes sparkled, reflecting off the lake. The lake was no longer frozen over, but was beaming with fish. Flowers littered throughout the entire clearing. The white building and the large totem were covered in vines. The journey had taken it's toll on the two cats. They soon dozed off in the old fox hole.

"Dawnstar." Dawnstar opened her eyes. She was no longer in the fox hole. Instead she was surrounded by stars. A young, bright blue she-cat sat in front of her.

"Rosepaw?" She choked back tears, "Rosepaw, I am so sorry. I should have been paying attention to the surroundings. I should have smelled the wolves." Everything she had been keeping bottled up inside came pouring out, "I want your forgiveness but I know I don't deserve it. I failed to protect you." 

"There is nothing to forgive because it is not your fault," Rosepaw sounded wiser than she had been, "it was just my time to join StarClan." Rosepaw touches her nose to Dawnstar's. Dawnstar closes her eyes and when she opens them Rosepaw is gone and she is back in the fox hole.

"You're up early." Ravenfoot remarked, seeing Dawnstar watching the waterfall. The cats had woken up before the sun the following day.

"Thank you for this," Dawnstar said, after finishing her share of the fish Ravenfoot caught, "I think I am ready to return to my position as leader now."

"I'm glad to help." Ravenfoot smiled. Dawnstar turns to leave. Ravenfoot hesitates, "Wait..." Dawnstar stops and turns back with her head titled. "Listen, I don't know how to say this. I know you had feelings for Patchpelt but do you think you could ever have feelings for me?"

Dawnstar looked at the dark tom and felt her entire face warm up. "I do have feelings for you." She purred, taking the first steps towards him. Ravenfoot met her halfway and placed his head against hers. Dawnstar purred louder and pressed her head into his chest. She could hear his heart beating. It was fast, but steady at the same time. The new couple stayed like this and watched the sun rise.