#lightstream

Cats raced toward the camp entrance. Sedgeshell hissed at them, pushing them back. “Give her space, for Starclan’s sake!”

“How did you find her?” Bluefeather, Gorsedaisy’s brother, asked. His tail twitched with nerves and impatience. He was looking over Sedgeshell’s head, waiting for his sister.

“She found us!” Lightpaw chirped from his mentor’s side. 

“Where has she been?” Stormfleck inquired. 

Cuckoostar pushed through the crowd and stopped in front of Sedgeshell. “Is she okay?”

“We don’t know,” Sedgeshell admitted. “We saw her heading for the camp, but I’m not sure if she knew where she was. She looked dazed, and she was bleeding. Aspentalon, Oatflight, and Drizzlespots are bringing her now.”

“Back up more, then!” Hickoryskip snapped. “She’ll need a clear path right to our den. And don’t go asking her questions until I’ve checked her over!”

Marblegaze held her breath. She returned to the nursery, curling around her kits whilst never taking her eyes off of the entrance. After Redjay’s betrayal and murders and the flood that had swept through all the territories, the Clan needed a miracle. Thank you, Starclan, for guiding Gorsedaisy back to us. 

The leaves began to rustle. Her head shot up, watching intently. Oatflight padded out. Her ears were twitching and she seemed alarmed. Brokenpaw followed her. Behind them was Gorsedaisy and the rest of the patrol. 

Marblegaze couldn’t hold back the gasp that had escaped her. Gorsedaisy’s fur stuck out in wet clumps in every direction. Her lighter spots were stained darker, almost unnoticeable against her black pelt. Marblegaze was too far to tell if it was muck or blood, and she was shocked to see singed fur on the end of her tail, surrounding red skin. How had she been burned during a flood? Sorrowfully, she took in the scars that marred the medicine cat’s face as she was led to her den. In spite of Hickoryskip’s warning, she desperately wanted to embrace Gorsedaisy, to listen to what on earth happened to her and make all the pain go away. 

It was not at all how Marblegaze had been expecting Gorsedaisy’s return to be like. She would be joking, ask the Clan if they really thought that Starclan would allow such a great medicine cat to die. She would be glad to be back to the Clan, of course, perhaps share prey with them as celebration for her return, maybe put aside her duties for the rest of the day and play a kit-like game with the younger warriors. She was not supposed to be…. 

She had looked so wrong. A wet, red-tinge that reflected what Marblegaze could only call horror glazed over her darkened, empty eyes. What had happened to her? Stars, what had happened to her?

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Computer died and I forgot my charger at work, so posting this from my back-up blog on mobile. First post here, I think?

—Grebe once called Broken her little brother. They’re littermates, and he is the youngest. I imagine Broken was always very sensitive, and his sister was his protector.

—Though he cared nothing for Marblegaze, Redjay did love his kits deeply and was very involved in their lives (Black and Grey not included, he died before they were born).

—Lightstream put up a strong, confident front in front of his Clanmates, but alone with Redjay, he would confide and talk about things that worried him, his anxieties and insecurities. After Redjay was revealed and died, he kept to himself completely.

He is also gay, but never had the Realization until after he died and reunited with a tom friend.

—Swanmist was the first to suggest ending their bloodline, distraught at the pain it was still causing the family. Marblegaze had often failed to fight back in battles, not wanting to shed blood anymore, and got deeply hurt because of it.

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ref by Turukhan

@ambitiousauthor @wills-woodland-warriors @starfalcon555 @umbranoxs @elementaldeityoffood