SnowMoon's Heart -

Chapter 6~

About a week later SnowPaw was fully better but had requested to stay with her mother till she was better, but she had begun to train with DeerLeap again. It was now night time as SnowPaw was getting ready to curl up and sleep IceCloud had beckoned her over. " SnowPaw darling please sleep next to me tonight. I don't wish to be alone tonight, I.. I am afraid to sleep now. In case I lose my battle tonight, I wish to have my only child by my side." SnowPaw laid next to her mother grooming the she cat's unkempt fur. SnowPaw had started to hum a tune to her mother. IceCloud herself had hummed the tune to her as a kit. Soon she noticed that IceCloud had begun to drift off to sleep. The she cat's breathing slowed and everything in the den was calm. " I love you mother, rest easy now." Whispered SnowPaw. SnowPaw didn't want to sleep tonight, the poor thing felt like tonight was the final night she would have with her mother. She buried her muzzle into her mother's soft fur breathing in her scent. She had smelled of the open moore, the herbs, and the sweet scent of honey. SnowPaw was comforted by her mother's presence and wished this moment would last longer than it would. A few moments later IceCloud's body started to shake and she knew she was dying.

    " TansyHeart?! Help! IceCloud?!" Shouted SnowPaw the elder tom burst out of his nest over to them. " No! No, IceCloud please no.." The tom was panicking. SnowPaw knew tom had loved her mother like a daughter. " IceCloud come on, come back to us. I can't let SpiralPelt down. I promised her..." TansyHeart begged the unconscious she cat. Slowly IceCloud's spasms had calmed to a slight twitching. She was still breathing but it was faint. " S.sn..SnowPaw? I.. I love you my.. s..sweet daughter. TansyHeart? T..take care of her please.........." IceCloud weakly whispered. The she cat took her final breath and then  stopped moving all together. IceCloud was dead.

SnowPaw just sat there staring at her mother's unmoving body, tears streaming down the she cats face. TansyHeart was sitting there his gray and black pelt was shaking from grief. SnowPaw moved closer to her great uncle and put her head on his shoulder. The two cats sat there and cried over the loss of their family member. " I.. I need to fetch HeatherStar... I need to.. ''I'll be right back.." TansyHeart moved away from SnowPaw and out of the den. Now it was just SnowPaw sitting in the den, she knew that she needed to grab some lavender to cover the scent of death and sickness for the clan to share tongues with her mother one last time. She went over to the herb store that was at the back of the den. She found the lavender and took it out to her mother. She quickly tore off petals and spread them through her mother's fur. She learned to do this from watching TansyHeart get SheepFur and CliffJump ready for their last time with their clan mates.

" All cats old enough to gather their own prey gather beneath the highstones for a clan meeting!" HeatherStar announced. Cats started to gather in the clearing from their dens. " A few moments ago IceCloud had lost her battle with her illness, and has joined StarClan. Her daughter SnowPaw is fully recovered and will be returning to her former duties as an apprentice. This is a great loss to me and to our clan. IceCloud was a good sister, warrior, and a mother. I will miss her greatly." The clan leader had finished her speech. SnowPaw didn't care that she was fully recovered, or that she was allowed to be around her clanmates again in full. All she wanted was her mother back. She wished to be in her mother's place instead of her being dead.  Cats had started to gather around SnowPaw and IceCloud and share their words of goodbye to the dead cat. SnowPaw felt a cat lay next to her and a nudge on her side. To her left was HeatherStar and to her right was HerbKit. " GoodBye IceCloud, thank you for leaving SnowPaw with us, i'll help watch over her like you did for me when I was in the sick den with you. I'm sorry SnowPaw."  Said HerbKit. The tiny kit dug her face in SnowPaw's side. The cats who stayed with them that night all fell asleep there.
With the morning the elders had come to take IceCloud to be buried, SnowPaw had gone with them. She picked flowers along the way to put on the ground after her mother was in the ground. 

Later that day SnowPaw had snuck out of camp to get some peace and quiet, she traveled to the spot where she and EchoHeart used to meet. Apart of her was hoping he was there, she wanted to talk to him. She sat down and just stared into the sky,  watching the clouds and the birds go past. She felt as if she was being watched, soon two cats pushed through the bushes. It was ShadedStar and EchoHeart. " Hello SnowPaw, what are you doing here?" asked ThunderClan's leader. " I wanted to get away from the camp, I wanted to be alone.." " Why? Has something happened my dear?" she asked again. " Yes, m.. my mother just passed from that illness." ShadedStar's eyes softened. She felt EchoHeart sit next to her and wrap his tail around her shoulders.

" Oh SnowPaw I'm so sorry. Is there anything we can do to help Snow?" asked EchoHeart. She shook her head no. " Son go back to camp. I want to talk to her alone." She told EchoHeart. As soon as he was gone the leader sat next to SnowPaw. "  You know my son has taken a liking to you? I've known that he snuck out a lot as an apprentice to see you, and you did the same. I've known since the first time he had snuck out. I followed him of course and if you truly care for my son I do not care if you two continue to meet here. I quite like you SnowPaw, you've been through so much despite being so young. My son had told me about how worried he was when you stopped showing up to meet, he had thought something terrible had happened to you. He kept begging to go on a diplomatic visit to WindClan so he can see you." The she cat let out a mrrow of laughter. " All he wanted was to see you these past moons, he loves you. As much as I wish he would take as much interest in a ThunderClan cat than a WindClan, but he chose you. Which I am not mad about he could've picked a worse cat." The leader put her tail on SnowPaw's shoulder. They sat there for a minute in a peaceful quiet. " Could.. Could I join ThunderClan? I have nothing left in WindClan, the only cats there who would care for me is HerbKit, DeerLeap, and TansyHeart. I understand if you say no, i'm not a ThunderClan born cat..." " Of course you can, if that is truly what you wish to do young one. Think over your choice for a few days, WindClan has always been your home. I must go, I'm afraid I don't have many days left with my clan. I'm old, the oldest cat in ThunderClan besides my mate. Farewell till we meet again SnowPaw." ShadedStar got up and walked away. SnowPaw watched as she left. Did she truly wish to leave WindClan? Did she want to be with EchoHeart? Should she become TansyHeart's apprentice, he did ask her to be a while back after LightPaw's death.  So many things were going on in SnowPaw's mind at the moment. How will she decide.