Lighttail's Courage (A Warrior Cats fan fiction)

Chapter nineteen

Thorntooth gave Lighttail a final glance before bounding away, leaving starry paw-prints in her midst. Lighttail, looking at her fallen sisters retreating, was struggling to accept that they were dead. Her sisters would never become mothers or elders, or a deputy or even one day a leader. But they seemed happy. That's all that matters... But how can they be happy if they're dead? 

Lighttail tried to sooth the grief bubbling up inside of her, but the memories of her and her sisters were so strong that they seemed to flow through her. Thorntooth's sarcastic remarks, snarky and offending. Mistcloud, how her eyes flashed when she was excited, her terrible jokes and stumbling paws. How they used to dream of exploring the world one day, before the whole world crashed down around them. Closing her eyes, Lighttail tried to focus on the wonderful times she had had with her siblings, and her mind spun with all of the memories. 

Thorntooth pushing Lighttail into the lake, after Lighttail had bragged what a great swimmer she was. Mistcloud's first prey, one that she and Lighttail had caught together. Thorntooth, Mistcloud and her racing around camp, her and her sisters as kits, safe against their mothers belly. Suddenly, a memory so strong that it seemed burned in her mind, popped up in the back corners of Lighttail's brain, and though it was fuzzy, she let it engulf her. Mistcloud and Lighttail were squealing as they ran through the forest on a crisp, leaf-fall day, Thorntooth chasing them from behind. Sunlight, bright and slanted, dappled through the trees, filtering across the young apprentices pelts. 

Lighttail could barley believe that even happened; so much in the past seasons had happened that it seemed like never. Lighttail, with all her might, let out an agonized screech towards the trees above, letting all of her grief, for her mother, father, and sisters into the sky, which was breaking into an icy blue. "WHY?" Lighttail sobbed, wishing that it was her that had died, not her sisters. When no one responded Lighttail yowled louder, her whole body trembling. "WHY?!" Then, with one last scream of grief Lighttail stood on shaky legs, listening as her yowl echoed through the forest, and letting its faded rings wash over her. 

This time no one came forward to help her overcome her grief; and Lighttail was grateful for that. She needed to take care of her sorrow herself; and the truth is, it felt good to yowl, to let everything go. Heart full of ice, Lighttail straightened up, letting a breeze, warm and cool at the same time, ruffle her fur until she felt calm. Then, after taking a deep breath, she let all of the cats in the clearing fade around her until all that was left was the starry cats, Leaf, Tiger, Hare, Ivy, and the flames.

 One of the starry cats, one that Lighttail immediately recognized as her father, stepped forward. "Oh sweet daughter, do we have some explaining to do to you." He mewed, brushing his tail across her flank. "Come, sit with us." He meowed, and Lighttail, feeling calmer at her father's touch, sat down beside him and the other starry figures, what turned out to be Rosefur, Skystar, ShadowStar, Windstar, and Thunderstar, all members of stories that Lighttail had heard over and over, and she felt a thrill of excitement, despite her grief, at getting to meet them. Once Lighttail had settled down beside her mother and father, Gorseclaw gave Rosefur a glance and Rosefur began to speak, her paws sparkling. "Lighttail, we owe you an explanation, so here it is." Taking a deep breath, Rosefur launched into her speech.

"It started after the Great Battle. You've heard the story from Gorseclaw and I and the elders over and over so we won't go into it, but there is something important here. As you know, every cat from the Dark Forest died; or so we thought. You see, when Mapleshade was killed, we thought she was completely dead, like everyone else was. But, unfortunately, one piece of Mapleshade's broken soul latched onto the closest living thing, Ivyshade's mother, Needlefur, who was watching from the sidelines as Mapleshade died.

 So, the part of Mapleshade's soul lived in Needlefur, and didn't affect her at all, until she had her first litter, Ivyshade and her brother, Waspclaw. Now, the piece of Mapleshade in Needlefur was beginning to grow, and couldn't thrive in Needlefur for Needlefur had nothing to be bitter about, and for the piece of Mapleshade's soul to survive it needed to feed off resent and anger, which Needlefur didn't have; but her daughter, Ivyshade, did. Ivyshade, Ivypaw at the time, had just broken her leg, and had been told she would probably be crippled for life.