Swiftstar's Prophecy - Unfinished

Chapter Sixty-seven

Excited meows and giggled echoed from the den and Hawk closed his eyes, sighing lightly. The tom quickly groomed himself because he felt left out and grumbled, "There, satisfied?"

"Oh, very," Nectar chuckled before two kits sprung out from the brambles, their little tails lifted high and their ears perked. It was Honey and Snow, Hawk's daughters. Honey was the bigger one, her light brown pelt puffed and ungroomed. Meanwhile, Snow followed her sister closely. Swiftblossom's heart was struck with surprise as she noticed how blue Snow's eyes were. She's blind! Swiftblossom thought, her eyes growing wide. She never knew that a kit so young would be born blind; Mousetail's blindness came with age. But to be born blind...

The two kits skipped over to Swiftblossom, curious as to who this she-cat was. Honey's amber eyes were wide while Snow sniffed at Swiftblossom's paws. "Hello," the warrior meowed gently, looking down at the small kits. Honey blinked before she turned to Hawk, her eyes filled with happiness, "Hey Dad! Doesn't she look a lot like Aconite?" For a quick moment, every adult cat paused with a bittersweet sadness. Swiftblossom could feel it emitting from Nectar, Gold, and Hawk. But Hawk meowed to Honey in a gentle voice, "Yes. Yes, she does." Swiftblossom averted her gaze from the kits, a bit awkward and out of place. Whoever Aconite was, they must've meant a lot to everyone. 

Snow asked Swiftblossom, "Are you the one taking us to a new home?" The calico nearly nodded, almost forgetting that Snow was blind, and the she-cat replied, "Yes, I am. It is nice to meet you and your sister." Then, the blind kit carefully padded over to her sister, and the two busied themselves by playing with leaves.

Flaxpaw emerged from the brambles, his tail drooping. His eyes were dull and he looked fed up with the kits. Swiftblossom held back a chuckle and went up to her brother, "Are you okay?"

"No, no I'm not okay! They wouldn't stop talking. Oh StarClan, they never shut up!" Flaxpaw whimpered, and Swiftblossom set her tail-tip on his shoulder, comforting him. That only lasted for a brief moment when Nectar announced to every cat, "It's sunny right now, but I feel that it'll rain soon. I think it would be wise to move now. What do you think, Swiftblossom?" The pale cat turned to the warrior.

Swiftblossom blinked slowly and responded, "According to how high the sun is, I'm sure by the time we get to TideClan it will be sunhigh. Though, we risk being caught by a patrol. Our best bet is to travel as quickly as we can. It wouldn't hurt to get there early or late, but sunhigh is the selected time where Lionstar is awake. I just pray that she isn't on a patrol." 

Flaxpaw budded in, "Last night, I overheard Lionstar and Blazestripe talking. Lionstar said that she would stay in camp more while Blazestripe goes out. I think our leader wants to stay in camp to defend the clan," Swiftblossom nodded and she turned her head towards the direction of the clans. 

Hawk turned to face Swiftblossom, his amber eyes narrowing, "So? What's your call?"

The calico warrior closed her eyes, letting a soft breeze touch her face. She forced herself to remain calm and to trust her heart. A soft whisper of the leaves lingered and she turned back to the group. 

"I think we should head out now. I will take the lead, with Nectar and Gold behind me. Hawk, Flaxpaw, and the kits, you will regain slightly behind us. We need to be slightly split and not in one group, or else we risk being found and forced to leave. How we'll execute today will determine whether or not you are ready for change; today will be hard but I promise I will get each and every single one of you to TideClan." Swiftblossom announced, the confidence in her words emitting looks of determination from the group. 

Flaxpaw sank his teeth into Snow's scruff while Hawk carried Honey. Swiftblossom surveyed the area once again; the tree den, the brambles, and the dead leaves. I pray that TideClan will give them hospitality than this place has. "Let's move out," the calico meowed, before making her way to the trees on the slope.

In Swiftblossom's group, Gold behind Swiftblossom, then behind the queen was Nectar. The pale she-cat glanced at the back of Swiftblossom, her yellow eyes beaming with hope. Something stirred in the rogue's chest when Swiftblossom gave her speech; it made her hairs stand up and her body experience chills but in a good way. How the calico stood up straight and how her amber eyes were set on success made Nectar realize something. 

Honey said that Swiftblossom looks a lot like Aconite. Nectar fondly remembered the diluted calico cat who defied Ash yet cared for the helpless kits. Though, it was strange that Honey remembered Aconite. Aconite was killed just a moon after Honey and Snow were born. Heartbeat after heartbeat, Nectar noticed that Swiftblossom and Aconite held more similarities that were more to the naked eye. 

Aconite was a natural leader, the one who wanted to rebel against Ash; she was intelligent, cool-headed, confident, and a quick thinker. Swiftblossom nearly mirrored those traits of Aconite. As Nectar gazed at Swiftblossom, Nectar felt a compelling will to obey her words, as if she was a higher up.

Swiftblossom would make an excellent leader one day, Nectar thought, the image of Aconite leaving slowly fading into the image of Swiftblossom. She's so young but holds so much potential.

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Hey guys! How are ya? Hopefully, you guys aren't getting stressed about the upcoming school year. 

Now, let me explain the story of Aconite. Nectar doesn't really go deep with Aconite's story so I'll explain it here:

Aconite was a dilute calico she-cat with deep blue eyes and a former kittypet with the name, Chelsea. Chelsea left her Twolegs for a life of adventure and stumbled upon Ash's clan. Unbeknownst to the terrors and frights, she joined. Many moons past and she had to hide her gentle personality. The cats were cruel and cold, almost every cat for themselves. In a fight against a Shadow for prey, Chelsea barely stood a chance since she did not have any fighting experience. It was only when she used aconite, a very poisonous, blue flower, to chew it up and bite into her opponent did she win. But it came with a price. She was very sick for days and her entire mouth grew numb. Though she recovered, Chelsea could never speak properly and nearly became muted. Since she defeated a Shadow, she was the replacement of the former Shadow and took the name, Aconite, for her poisonous bite and her blue eyes.

She then secretly created a plan to stop Ash and his reign over the forests but with no luck. Though she couldn't talk properly, she tried to be as nice as possible; because of this and her little knowledge of fighting skills, she was known as the "weakest Shadow". Once Ash caught up with her plans, he killed her in front of the many Shadows to set an example.

Yes, aconite is a real plant. And yes, it's very toxic with the chance of dying. But Chelsea, or Aconite, survived. Sadly, she was murdered and she was never able to see her plan work out as an influence.

You're probably wondering; why did I introduce Aconite? Aconite was a very random character!

Well, let's just say that karma works in many ways.

-Morgan