Moss and Stone

Prologue

"Fernstar!"
The silver she-cat's coat glimmered in the moonlight as she glanced upwards, a look of worry in her eyes.

"How is he?" She murmured softly. The cat that had called her, a young healer she-cat with piercing amber eyes, returned her gaze with a calm sorrow.
"He's not going to make it, Fernstar. He wants you in there with him."

Fernstar nodded at him and stood, thanking the healer as she walked by her into the den. It reeked of infection and sickness. The scent of all the herbs that tried to heal him couldn't begin to cover it.

"Fernstar?" The faintest, weakest voice whispered from the darkest corner of the den.

"I'm here," she crept quietly to the back of the den, though her paws ached to run so far away from the growing smell of dying things. The cat's pelt was matted, and he looked sickly and thin. And small, like a newborn kit in the nursery.
"You're so young," she whispered, "You have a whole life left to live."
The cat laughed a raspy laugh, and then broke into a coughing fit, his gray tabby sides rising and falling in a stuttering pattern.
"S-Should I get help?" Fernstar asked, alarmed. But the cat simply waved a paw ever so slightly to let her know he was okay.

"I already know I'm not going to make it, Fernstar. You're the one who has your whole life ahead of you. That's why I've come to bring you a warning," he wheezed.

"Playing the Stars of the Fallen now, are we? Always so ambitious," she tried to joke, but the misery of seeing the ailing cat was clear in her voice.
This time he just smiled at her, too weak to laugh anymore.

"This is serious, Fernstar. I've made a grave mistake... I... I thought I'd have longer to correct it..."
Fernstar leant closer to catch the tom's ever quiet words. He took a deep breath and continued.

"Beware the one with faces three,
Anger, spite and empathy.
They come to bring those woes again,
They aren't stopped, only slain.

They will be stopped by a wilful silence,
Not pity, empathy, fear or violence.
Only a strong will can survive,
Only the leader who'll take that dive."

He broke into a fit again, and Fernstar's heart sank as she noticed the sticky red pools forming as he coughed. His eyes widened slightly, as if he thought he'd have more time, and he tried to cover his mouth with his paw.

"When I said you were playing as the Stars of the Fallen, I was only joking," she murmured.

He smiled.
"Nope, rhymes and all. The real deal."
She smiled back at him.

"Hey Fernstar?"
"Yes?"

"I'm sorry... For everything I've put you through. Past, present and future."

"I'm sorry for wasting so much time being spiteful," she whispered, feeling a lump grow in her throat.

"Promise me you won't go silent on your clan over me again?" He choked, fighting for air now, blood dribbling down his chin.

"I blood promise," she said solemnly, drawing a claw across her arm, drawing blood. She wanted to use the old tradition they had come up with one last time.

His eyes glinted knowingly, and he lifted his paw, still wet with his blood, and drew it across the side of her face and down her pelt, marking her pale pelt with a streak of crimson. 

And with that, he heaved a gentle breath, almost a sigh, and fell silently to an eternal sleep.

Fernstar quietly drew her now cut and bloodied wrist across his cheek.
"Goodnight, brother."
She turned tail, and padded out of the den.

The young healer was waiting outside, fiddling nervously with a few twigs and leaves. He lifted his head as he saw her, and his eyes grew solemn and dull at the sight of her pelt adorned with blood. She must look ghastly to him.

Such a young cat, and yet she'd have to experience so much more death then she already had. A life of death in the forest. It had all felt so peaceful and alive just a moon ago.

"He's gone?" Her quiet voice broke her thoughts.

And she said nothing, only nodding her head at the healer silently, and crept off to her own den, blood soaked fur and all.

And she drifted off into a deep, sleepless slumber.

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A/N:
01/09/2021

This chapter is just a taster to see if it garners any opinions.
The cover was made on Canva, and depicts Fernstar. I'm not sure if this will be a series or a standalone book, so I've added a 1 to the corner.

I still have to add in the allegiance and a map, but I'll probably leave it for a couple days.

Words: 779