Chapter Text
Fog covered a white puffy ground and floated upward. The area was almost boxed in with clouds, it took the shape of a forest; Though it was lacking in trees in one little clearing.
In the far end stood a ledge that loomed over the rest. It took a darker shade than the clouds around it. A few rock-like shapes stood as steps to it; though they were far enough from each other that they'd have to be jumped. It all was a replica of a clan camp. The stone ledge for meetings, and dens all around.
Lightning had struck at the sky, aiming into the clearing, with rain following it. A cat lept to the ledge from the rocks and dug her claws in to drag herself up. She caught her breath and was quick to yowl a yell of distress. She yowled more until her voice dissipated. Lightning struck more. Soon, a few cats came running, and then a few more.
The clearing filled with murmuring cats, some a little louder than others, many looked as distressed as her, their pelts bristling. A tom from the crowd yowled back at her. “Is it time? Or have you figured something out that'll save us?” The other cats became quieter. It was as if they all knew what this meeting was about, and whatever it was it made them all terrified.
The yellow molly on the ledge held a wistful look into his eyes. Then gazed around the other cats. She held her tongue for a moment, collecting her words. “This.. is going to be hard to tell you all.”
The cats around looked uneasy at each other. Some of the younger cats held close to their parents, or any grown cat they could find. But even the older warriors seemed to be hardly able to hold themselves up. Like a weight was crushing them slowly. It ripped at the yellow cat's heart. How could she tell them this?
She sighed, sat down, and draped her tail along her paws. “There isn't an easy way to say it.” She slowly meowed. “We haven't found a solution for what's to come.” The cats’ worries increased, but they let the cat above continue. “I’ve spoken to the other leaders and medicine cats, we've tried as much as we can to fix this.”
There was an outcry from a few cats. One of them being the tom from earlier. He stood up and made his way to the front of the crowd, his claws unsheathed and tail lashing. “Do you expect us to watch our home and ourselves die, Sunstar?” he yelled. The pitch black tom was always known for being open with what was on his mind. At this moment no cat dared to argue, many of them were thinking the same. “Surely you can do more? Or do you not want to save us?” he questioned her.
Lightning struck the false dens around them. Multiple at once. Cats huddled closer together and most shivered as though they were cold; it was fear going through them. Starclan cats couldn't feel the cold or the heat. And these cats couldn't feel anything but the fear instilled in them and their hearts trying to beat out of their pelts.
Sunstar shook her head, looking down at her paws. ”I don't believe any cat or even multiple cats would be able to save us. We've never faced such a danger..” She tried to steady herself as she thought of it. The weight of this situation relying on her felt crushing. “A danger larger than the whole of Starclan.”
It seemed even the tom from before became silent now. Realizing how nothing could be done, he sat down where he was and looked thoughtfully at her. Regret burned at her pelt. She couldn't fix this, nothing seemed like it could.
An image of gnashing teeth and foaming mouths filled her head. As well as an explosion tearing their cloud sanctuary apart to shreds. It was a vision she had seen only a moon ago, and only a moon she had to sort this out; to save Starclan itself. A voice from even higher than Starclan had spoken to her presented itself to her that night. It wasn't like any animal the clans had seen, and certainly something no cat should be seeing.
The creature itself haunted her in a way. So large and coming to them with such a terrifying message. But that was unimportant at this moment. She shook herself to get the vivid memory off her mind. She needed to focus on what was in front of her. Her terrified ancestors and ex-clanmates who needed her most.
One of the cats from below, a gray molly with small swarming spots, ran to the front of the crowd. She hurried her way up, hopping on the steps and onto the ledge. “Something has sent me a message.” She meowed. Her paws shook under her with little support. She flashed a green eyed glance to Sunstar who nodded at her.
The clouds around darkened and the lightning got closer to the cats huddled around. The fog rose as well, seeping into their fur. It was clear their time was running out. But the gray cat continued with stars shining in her eyes. “I saw something huge, some beast of some kind maybe.. it held so much power, I could just feel it.” There was a sense of awe in her voice as she spoke. “It showed me something. A huge glowing hole. It looked almost melting - like a frozen lake dripping after leafbare.”
Some of the cats below became curious. But they didn't yet let hope come to them. Not after the worry they'd been put through. Sunstar looked at her with huge, longing eyes, wanting to urge her to go on. Their time was running out and they needed to hurry.
The gray cat tried to speed up her speech. “It seemed to want us to go and find the portal. I don't think it'll save us all. The portal seemed to close as three cat shaped figures went inside.” The other cats looked at each other with a mix of emotions. Some of them could be saved, there was some future for Starclan. But there was a gut wrenching feeling. Almost every cat wouldn't make it alive, and their home would be gone.
Sunstar’s eyes glimmered and she nuzzled against the other molly. “Thank you for bringing this to us, Moonlight. There's so much more hope now.” She almost purred, fighting to keep it in. Moonlight bowed her head. “Of course, my leader.” she meowed.
She looked to the crowd again. “If Sunstar believes we should do this then we should get a move on to find this portal.” She watched as the cats slowly stood and made their way from the clearing. The black cat from earlier lifted his head and glared at them. “I hope you two make it out.” His voice was flat, as if he hadn't believed it would actually happen. He held his yellow gaze on them for a moment, and then stalked off.