irisclan writing archive

[epilogue]

1/24/21 || Rosemoon, Rushstream, Cloudbumble, Horizonstar || 209 words

"Rosepaw, I'm so sorry,"

Rushstream's words felt like background noise. She could barely hear the warrior speak. A cold wave of despair and hopelessness washed over Rosepaw. She felt as if her brain was melting. Every bone in her body began to feel heavy, and her stomach tied itself into a knot.

"Rosepaw?"

The molly didn't even register who was speaking to her. Her vision grew blurry and she felt her throat close up. First, her sister died. Then a moon later, her mother died. Rosepaw could barely squeeze out any breaths as she stood in the middle of camp. Her clanmates watched her, a look of grief in everyone's eyes.

"Do you want to go lay down?"

Rosepaw didn't even register the voice speaking to her. Everything was falling down around her. Her ears were ringing, and she felt an overwhelming numbness. Without a word, she raced out of camp. Cloudpaw lurched forward to follow her, but Horizonstar stepped forward and shook her head.

"Goosecall, Cypresstail, and Snowfinch, go after her," Horizonstar ordered.

The three cats nodded and headed out of camp. Silently, the rest of the clan went back to what they were doing. But there was a heavy cloud of sadness hanging over the whole camp.

[epilogue]

2/7/21 || Windsnarl, Zephyrrush, Honeysneeze, Horizonstar, Ashstream || 555 words

"Zephyrrush!"

The sharp voice snapped him out of his sleep and he rose his head quickly. He spotted Windsnarl stomping towards him angrily, his tail lashing. His yellow eyes were full of anger and Zephyrrush could think of only one thing.

"What is your problem?" The black and white tom hissed, his words like sharp claws raking down Zephyrrush's face.

"I have no idea what you're talking about," The silver tom spat back, his tail tip now lashing in frustration as well.

"Ever since Peachmoon and I have joined Irisclan, you have done nothing but treat us like dirt!" The warrior growled. "Why do you hate us so much? We've done nothing to you! We have treated you like our family and you disrespect us back."

"Oh I'll tell you what my problem is," Zepyrrush snarled, rising to his paws. The fur along his spine was bristling. "Your daughter is a murderer."

With an angry yowl, Windsnarl threw himself onto Zephyrrush, causing the two toms to go tumbling. Gasps could be heard around the camp and many started shouting. Soon, the clan realized that neither tom was fighting to settle an argument. They were fighting to kill.

Before they could be stopped, there was a faint, but distinct and sickening crack. The camp went silent. With shaky paws, Zephyrrush stepped off of Windsnarl, his maw covered in blood.

"What did you just do?" He heard his mate say in a low voice from the nursery entrance.

Zephyrrush turned towards her, his expression filled with horror and guilt. The molly shielded her kits from the sight, her eyes widening.

"You killed him..."

"I-I didn't mean to-"

"Zephyrrush!" Horizonstar's voice rang out through the camp. It was filled with an emotion he had never heard from her before. It was pure anger.

The leader jumped down from the ledge and walked towards him, her blue eyes dark and her face grim. She faced him, and Zephyrrush could tell she was holding back a furious snarl.

"How could you do this?" She said in a low and stern tone. Her voice was sharp and full of emotion.

"I-I didn't mean to, I swear!" Zephyrrush said, his legs shaking.

"Leave this clan and never return," She said.

"What?" The tom gasped. "I-I can't. I have kits to raise. I can't leave Honeysneeze alone!"

"I don't want to see your face around my children," Honeysneeze roared.

"They're our children!" He gasped.

"Not anymore," The molly hissed. "I won't let a murderer near them."

"You can't force me out of their lives! You can't force them to never see me again!"

"I'm sure they own't want to be related to a cold blooded murderer!" Honeysneeze snapped, flexing her claws.

Zephyrrush realized he was cornered. He couldn't save himself. He turned towards the now growing cold body of Windsnarl, and his face contorted into one of emotional agony.

"WIndsnarl, I'm so sorry," He wailed.

The tom turned and padded out of camp, his head low as well as his tail. Ashstream crept close to her mother and pressed her head against her neck. The molly stepped away from her daughter, her expression blank, and headed back to the nursery. Ashstream sighed. Peachmoon was on a hunting patrol, and she would have to break the news to her mate once she got back.

[epilogue]

2/7/21 || Zephyrrush, Peachmoon || 468 words

The night was cold, and Zephyrrush felt crushed. He had accidentally killed a fellow warrior in a blind rage, and lost the rest of his family and clan. The tabby tom had found a small cave on the outskirts of Irisclan territory, and he decided to settle there for the night. Zephyrrush curled up, wrapping his tail around himself to keep warm, and had began drifting off to sleep when he heard foot steps. He instantly awoke from his sleep, eyes wide open.

"I didn't think it would go this far," He heard a voice say coldly.

A cold river of dread ran through his veins as he recognized the voice immediately. The voice was filled with thorns and venom, and it made Zephyrrush's heart stop.

"Why are you here?" Zephyrrush snapped.

"To finish what I started," Peachmoon answered, stepping into view.

Moonlight illuminated her silhouette, making the she-cat look ghostly. It sent a shiver down Zephyrrush's spine.

"Just kill me already, please," He begged.

"Oh you really are no fun," Peachmoon sighed. "Why can't you beg for your life?"

"I don't want to live anymore," Zephyrrush said, his eyes distant and vacant. "I lost everything I loved. My children, my mate, my clan. I have nothing more to live for."

"I'm really not here to listen to a sob story, but thanks for that I guess," The molly shrugged. "Do you have anything more interesting to say? Why not "Oh please don't kill me Peachmoon! I'm a good person," personally I think that would be swell."

"Do you really feel no remorse?" Zephyrrush growled, jumping to his paws.

"Nope," Peachmoon smiled. "Not a bit! Why tie yourself down with worthless and meaningless relationships? Why should I care about Windsnarl's death? He was just another part in Brindlestar's plan."

"Brindlestar?"

"Don't worry about it, your brain is too full of pebbles to understand," The warrior told him.

"Before you kill me, just tell me, please," Zephyrrush looked into her eyes. "Did you kill Honeyheart and Breezepaw?"

"I did," Peachmoon said, not a hint of regret in her words. "And I killed Wisteriapaw too."

"Why?" Zephyrrush cried out.

Before the tom could get an answer, the molly launched herself at him. The two began to tussle, and Zephyrrush felt a new found determination. He had lost his family, but he wanted to avenge Honeyheart and Breezepaw. He couldn't let their murderer get loose. She didn't deserve to live, especially when she felt no guilt.

The two rolled around and battled before Peachpaw took advantage of Zephyrrush's missing paw and slipped out from under him. The smaller she-cat slammed his head against a rock and watched him slump over.

"You put up a good fight, Zephyrrush," She told him. "But it wasn't good enough. You never will be good enough."

[epilogue]

7/6/21 || Horizonstar, Goosecall, Lionfoot || 118 words

"Horizonstar, you have a visitor!"

The molly lifted her head at the sound of Goosecall's voice. She crept out of her den to see a familiar face. Her pale blue eyes widened at the sight.

"Lionfoot?"

She raced towards the tom and crashed into him, purring happily at the presence of her old friend. Lionfoot let out a warm chuckle and nuzzled her affectionately. After the pair untangled and stood up, Lionfoot took a step back to examine Horizonstar. She was older now, way older than he remembered.

"Horizonstar, eh?" He winked at her. "It suits you."

"Come to my den, let's talk," Horizonstar eagerly nodded towards the leader's den. "We have so much catching up to do."

[epilogue]

8/16/21 || Horizonstar, Snowfinch || 381 words

pain shot through every part of horizonstar's body and she let out a weak yowl, her voice cracking. the leader felt darkness washing over her as the pain ebbed and faded away, but this didn't calm her fear at all.

the grey and white molly lifted her head and looked around, her blue gaze falling on a familiar place, one she had seen in her dreams. horizonstar was in a large, white flower field that was lit up by stars that gave off a soft blue glow. the temperature was perfect, not too hot and not too cool. thin, wispy clouds floated along the beautiful night sky and a silent mist pooled around the molly's ankles. the grass under her paws was gentle and it tickled her paw pads. horizonstar realized slowly that she was in starclan.

"i lost a life," she noted to herself as she looked around at the illuminated flowers and shrubbery that surrounded her. the scents coming off of it were comforting and sweet, almost like a queen's milk or a warm greenleaf evening.

"i'm sorry i wasn't able to prevent it," she turned her head to see snowfinch standing behind her with remorse in her pink eyes.

at first, she felt a wave of relief to see the familiar face. horizonstar rushed towards to molly and rubbed against her, purring as she was happy to see her medicine cat. but then she stopped, dread quickly filling up her stomach. why was snowfinch here...? the leader stepped back and looked at the molly with sad eyes as the horrible realization hit her, noticing that her fluffy white fur was dotted with stars.

"i'm sorry my friend," snowfinch frowned apologetically. "i did all i could..."

"you did wonderful, snowfinch," horizonstar dipped her head with great respect towards the now deceased medicine cat. "thank you for serving my clan and helping us grow. we'll never forget you, i promise."

"i'm honored that i got the chance to meet you, horizonstar," the snow white molly smiled sadly.

the two touched noses before snowfinch made her way further into the starry field. she brushed her pelt against the leader's as she walked by, giving her one last bit of comfort. the starclan territory began to fade away as horizonstar woke up.

[epilogue]

8/16/21 || Copperheart, Ashtuft, Bramblebuzz, Stormtail || 288 words

"copperpaw, can you fetch some water for stormtail?" ashtuft frowned.

"'m afraid he ain't lookin' too well," bramblebuzz commented sadly about her denmate.

"copperheart," copperheart reminded them. "but yes, i'll get him some moss."

the ginger patched tom grabbed a mouthful of moss from his den before he slipped through the iris covered entrance of camp and padded over to the small brook near it. copperheart soaked the wadded up moss in the fresh, cool water. he watched as it expanded slightly when it began to hold more and more water. finally, the skinny cat picked it back up and headed back to his clanmates. water dripped from his jaws and the moss, making his jaws and chest slightly damp.

he wiggling back into the elder's den and placed the moss next to stormtail's maw. the tabby lapped at it gently, his eyelids fluttering. copperheart could tell he was close to death, but he wasn't very sad about it. he knew stormtail had lived out the rest of his life here in the care of irisclan, and they had all taken good care of him. stormtail was one of the most joyful cats copperheart had ever had the pleasure of meeting. the young medicine cat knew for sure he would be happy and safe in starclan, so he wasn't worried. he knew it was his time, copperheart was prepared.

"if he needs anything else, let us know," copperheart said to the other two elders. they nodded as he left them alone.

the clan had experienced so much grief recently that copperheart wasn't sure what he would do. as bad as it sounded, he had to admit that stormtail's death was going to be the least of his worries.