Omen of the Sun Book Three: Dusk

Prologue

Goldleaf opened his eyes to see starlight.

He wasn't too sure how he knew that it was starlight, but he knew it all the same. Then his eyes came into focus, and he realized he was in a forest. All around him was a dim, but yet somehow strong, light that made him blink. Streams and rivers stretched as far as he could see, winding between the oak and willow trees. The leaves were dappled with starlight, and the air smelled rich and of flowers. It was the most beautiful place in the world.

So what was he doing there?

He got to his paws, slowly, realizing he had been lying down. He felt strange in this land- like a butterfly emerging from their coocoon. He felt weak and queasy, like the time when he had eaten that rotten blackbird when Lightningfeather dared him to.

His heart ached inexplicably at the thought of his best friend. Where was he? He felt a sensation of unbearable loss pressing like a hot, heavy weight to his chest. Blinking, he shook out his fur, and when he looked up the cats were there.

The first one he recognized was his father. Raintail. His eyes widened, and he almost walked forward to him, but pulled himself to a halt just in time. He let his eyes wander over the rest of the cats: the next one he recognized was Featherpelt, who had a scar on his stomach that hadn't been there before he left with Applestar to get her lives. The former medicine cat sent him a smile, which he returned as he rolled his eyes over the rest of the cats.

The next was a brown-and-silver tabby she cat with dark, intelligent eyes that seemed to see through him, seeing all his secrets. He looked away from her hastily, and onto the next one: a young, beautiful light gray she cat with eyes the color of a dove. She blinked at him, slightly apprehensively, and he wondered if she knew she was beautiful. He didn't love her, but he knew she was love-worthy. Just not of him.

Because his heart already belonged to another.

He jerked his eyes from the beautiful gray she cat, and set his eyes to the next, and final, cat. His eyes bugged out, and he nearly jumped out his skin- for a moment, he thought it was Sunpool, the two cats looked so similar, and he felt the familiar ache of mingled resentment and pain that he got at the sight of her. Resentment because Applestar had ruined all his chances to be with the one cat he loved, and pain that he wasn't with her, wasn't talking with her, lying with her, sharing prey with her. Then he realized that this cat was older, with slight differences- she had darker, wider stripes, and her paws were slightly broader around the fronts. Still, the resemblance was striking, and he wondered if this was her mother, who she had never told him about- she looked enough like her, anyway.

It was the brown-and-silver tabby who spoke first. "Welcome, Goldleaf. I am Lilycloud."

Goldleaf raised an eyebrow at her. "Why am I here?" He knew that Featherpelt and Raintail were dead, but that didn't mean he was. Couldn't mean. They just needed to tell him something. Yes, that was it, he told himself. They just wanted to tell him something.

"Goldleaf," his father said, and his voice cracked and Goldleaf choked. It was then that he knew, that he knew that he was dead and that this must be StarClan.

He felt a searing pain in his chest, and he realized that he would never again see Sunpaw, or Lightningfeather, or Cinderstorm, or Briarkit or Rainkit or Fernkit or Emberkit or even Applestar again. He was dead, and they were alive, and now there was a huge gap between them, like a chasm that none of them could cross until one died.

But how had he died? He searched for the answer in his father's face. "Raintail," he breathed. The pain was still in his chest. "I-"

"I," Sunpool's mother began hesitantly, cutting him off, "am Sunpool's mother, Frost."

Goldleaf raised his eyebrows at her. "Just Frost? How are you here, then?"

Frost sighed, her tail flicking across the ground. "That is a story for another day, little one," she murmured.

Goldleaf turned to the beautiful gray cat. "I'm Doveheart," she said, and her voice was confident. She stared him down, and he felt... drawn to her. It was strange. He didn't love her, though.

Featherpelt stepped forward and touched Goldleaf's ear with his tail gently. "Goldleaf, there is something very important we need to tell you," he said.

Goldleaf jerked away from the old medicine cat's touch and stared at him. "What could you possibly want to tell me?"

Frost let out a nervous smile. "How about how you died? You have an important path ahead of you, Goldleaf."

Goldleaf's eyes widened. Yes, he did want to know how he died. And this was his dad and Featherpelt. Besides, how could anyone be related to Sunpool and evil? She had one of the purest hearts of anyone he knew. No, the purest heart. It was a reason he loved her.

Goldleaf lifted his chin and flicked his tail. "Okay. Tell me," he agreed, sitting down, his tail wrapped around his paws. He blinked at the five cats in front of him and fixed his golden eyes on Frost.

Frost took a deep breath before beginning the story. "Well, Sunpool is in contact with us, and visits us pretty regularly." Goldleaf felt a trill of excitement. Maybe I could meet her some time. Alone. "And," Frost continued, breaking out of his thoughts, "last night, she came to us. We had seen that conversation you and Applestar had had, and we were trying to devise a plan to save you and CloudClan, and her."

Goldleaf remembered with a dark accuracy the conversation she had said. He had been terrified, though he hated to admit it.

"Well, we had thought of a plan, that would involve less pain for the both of you. We thought it would be nice, anyway, for you here."

Goldleaf was shocked. What was she saying? That they- his father, Featherpelt -had killed him?! But....

"So," Frost continued, and her voice had a definite, defined waver to it, Goldleaf knew. "We asked Sunpool, Sunpaw then, if it was alright."

But Goldleaf was shaking his head, because Sunpool would never say that they could kill him. Never. She wouldn't.

But Doveheart was nodding. "And Sunpool said yes," Frost finished.

Goldleaf's world collapsed. Why would she say that he could die? Didn't she care about him the slightest shred? At all?! Why would she? Why why why?

The feelings rushing through him almost give him a headache- hurt, betrayal, and an overwhelming sense of pure and complete loss. His heart ached, a real and true pain, because the one cat he loved had pretty much killed him, and that hurt.

"On the occasion," Frost continued, "that we try to bring you back."

But nothing she said could make it better. Anger ripped through him like a tidal wave. Nothing she said could change what Sunpool had done, no conditions. He felt broken, like a cord that had tied him to life had broken. He felt like he was drifting, drifiting away in a place where it was just him and his feelings of loss and agony.

He had thought that Sunpool might have loved him.

But he supposed he was wrong.

Ahhhh Goldleaf! Poor poor Goldleaf!

I just want to give another thanks to @Swift_Jay who is one of my best friends IRL, and she's honestly really cool. Go follow her and read her book, Storm Awakening. It's frankly amazhang, (see what I did there? (;) and she needs motivation to update. It's almost at 1k reads, if not already!!!

Anyway. NO GOLDLEAF NOOOOOOO NO NONONONONONO DON'T BE SO UPSET!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Yes. Sunpool did allow him to die. Which is why she felt so guilty in the last book, in case you didn't get that XD

Also, I want this book to be long. So the chapters are going to be long and there are gonna be a lot of chapters.

Also, there will be many POVs in this book. But I won't tell you who! Hehe :D

Well see youuuuuuuuuuuuu!

~Rainfeather