Warriors: The Fading Light ~Series 1 Book 5~

Chapter 24

Stormflame's POV:

It had been roughly three days since Nutwhisker hit his head.

Stormflame honestly wasn't too sure if it had been three days or not. He hadn't been out of his nest for a long time. Nutwhisker randomly decided that he and Silverstar needed rest.

As if he didn't get enough.

Silverstar had been growing gradually worse. Her coughs were getting louder and harder. Stormflame's cough hadn't changed much. He still coughed every now and then but it seemed that Silverstar was worse than him. She sometimes complained of pain in her chest and nose. Nutwhisker's answer was:

"You just have a build up of phlegm and mucus. It'll go away if you rest."

Stormflame was annoyed that Nutwhisker seemed to be brushing off the fact that Silverstar, his leader, was in pain.

He was brought out of his thoughts when he felt Silverstar cough from beside him and he raised his head to see the silver she cat's green eyes stretched wide. He pricked his ears and meowed worriedly, "Silverstar are you okay?"

Silverstar coughed again as she tried to answer and Stormflame felt her whole body tense up against him. She started shaking and gagging sounds came from her parted jaws. Stormflame felt his fur rise up along his back and he yowled, "Nutwhisker! Watersplash! Help!"

Immediately, Watersplash leapt from her nest and pelted to Stormflame's side. From what Stormflame could see, she was still half-asleep. The light coming from the late night moon wasn't helping matters at all. Stormflame saw Watersplash struggle to find Silverstar in the darkness and she leaned closer to get a better look.

Stormflame stayed deathly silent as Watersplash tried to stop Silverstar from shaking.

"Silverstar! Listen to me. You need to breath. You're not breathing!" Watersplash pressed her paws against Silverstar's chest in a desperate attempt to get her to stop shaking.

Nutwhisker suddenly arrived and he pushed past Watersplash to see Silverstar. Stormflame yowled again, "Help her!" A cough racked his body and he was momentarily distracted from Silverstar.

Watersplash ran her tail along Stormflame's back to try and calm him down. "We need to stop her coughing or she will choke."

Stormflame watched as Nutwhisker rushed to get some herbs but he stopped and turned back to Silverstar just as she stopped coughing and shaking. A ragged gasp escaped her mouth and her tail waved wildly behind her. Nutwhisker, Watersplash and Stormflame stared helplessly as Silverstar fought to breath. Stormflame was about to breath a sigh of relief that Silverstar had stopped coughing but then she went completely still. Her breathing- or, more like choking- stopped. Her tail went still.

Nutwhisker pressed his ear against Silverstar's chest and gasped, "She's losing a life!"

"What?" Stormflame screeched. "No!" He rushed past Watersplash and Nutwhisker and crouched beside Silverstar. He licked her cheek, "Silverstar wake up! You can't lose a life, you'll only have one left!"

But then a thought occured to Stormflame. If Starclan has been cut off from us... Will Silverstar be stuck down here forever like a spirit?

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Silverstar's POV:

Silverstar felt as light as a feather as her spirit rose from her body. She expected to awake in Starclan, but then she remembered that Starclan was no longer reachable.

"Silverstar. Come here." A voice meowed and Silverstar spun around to see Skystar. She gasped. The Starclan she cat's shining fur seemed to have dimmed. Maybe Silverstar was just imagining it?

"Skystar, what is going on?" Silverstar meowed in awe.

"I'm here to take you to Starclan." Skystar explained. "I volunteered to stay here and pick up any cat who died. It weakens me. I can't use my powers anymore, but at least I can help you. Without me, you could have risked dying down here and never returning to either Starclan or Lightclan. Now follow me."

Silverstar moved her paws as if she were swimming and tried to get to Skystar but it proved much harder to move in the air. Silverstar tried using her wind powers but a sudden wave of darkness crowded her vision and she went limp.

Skystar lashed her tail, "I just told you that I can't use my powers so you can't either. Now just grab onto my tail and I'll pull you up to Starclan."

Silverstar sighed and obeyed silently. She gently sank her teeth into Skystar's tail.

"Oh, and I would suggest you close your eyes. The light is quite blinding when you enter Starclan this way." Skystar mewed as she somehow started floating upwards, pulling Silverstar along with her.

Silverstar did as she was told and screwed her eyes shut. There was barely any sound around them, only the faint sound of air tickling Silverstar's ear fur. If there hadn't been any sound at all, Silverstar would've thought she was standing still.

Then, even with her eyes closed, a strong and bright light shone ahead of her and she instinctively turned away.

"Just a little longer..." Skystar's soft voice sounded from in front of Silverstar.

After what seemed like only a few heartbeats but could've easily been a few minutes, Silverstar felt her paws hit solid ground and she blinked her eyes open as she let go of Skystar's tail.

Silverstar looked around and smiled when a familiar sight met her. She was in Starclan.

But it seemed sadder than before. The sky was darker, not as many cats played carelessly through the undergrowth or the moorland. In fact, there didn't seem to be anyone around except Silverstar and Skystar.

"Now," Skystar addressed Silverstar with a smile. "It's time to send you back. Your body has been rested enough and it is time to return to your clan mates."

"But... What happened here?" Silverstar dared to ask.

Skystar's face turned stony and her eyes narrowed to slits. "Since we can no longer contsct you, we are losing our strength. Without the faith and belief from alive cats, we perish. Even Magiclan's and Monsterclan's Starclan cats are feeling the effects." A small chuckle escaped Skystar's lips. "You should have been here yesterday. Magicstar attacked Lightstar and they had a huge battle! I was surprised Monsterstar resisted joining in himself!"

"They battled?!" Silverstar gasped but Skystar flashed her a happy smile.

"It's fine, cats here fight a lot..." Skystar shrugged, "It's our way of expressing our anger and fear. Being up here can be stressful at times. You know, with the Dark Forest forever threatening to cross over and attack us.. It's no problem though."

Silverstar was about to ask another question but Skystar shook her head, "No, you must return to Lightclan now."

With a wave of Skystar's paw, Silverstar jolted awake in her nest.

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We're coming up for the end of the book :3 Only a few more chappys...