A Snippet From The Fan-Fic I'm Writing (Warrior Cats)

[Riverspell]

I always get way into my writing and this end scene made me cry. I may post the story on here if you guys want me to as I finish the chapters. But I'm not sure if any of you would really want to get into it?

It was time. Bonetail knew it in his bones as his heart heaved with emotion and his eyesight cleared as they had promised. Yet his face remained expressionless as he gazed up at the setting sun. They had told him he would know and they had not lied. Every fiber of his being trembled with fear of the unknown, of death. He knew there was no escaping it, it was part of the deal he had sealed with the ancestral Voices, and so he told himself he would be brave.

A nose touched his shoulder and he turned his gaze to spy Catchfish settling beside him in the medicine clearing. Catchfish knew it too, medicine cats could tell when a cat was slipping into the stars and it was no different with Catchfish and Bonetail. While Bonetail remained purposefully ignorant of it, his breath was shallow and heart erratic. His body was feverish and trembled like a leaf in a fall breeze.

Catchfish was the first to speak and he stated but the obvious as if to get it out there. "It is time is it not?"

"Yes." Bonetail whispered, fear tinging his voice.

"Shall I fetch Mossears?" Catchfish offered.

"No. I don't want her to watch her last child die as she did Leafkit."

Silence stretched between them. The sun was behind the trees when Bonetail spoke again.

"I'm scared, Catchfish." He admitted with a touch of shame.

"Death is just another step in the seasons of our lives. There is nothing to fear. You have lived an honorable life and the clans will remember you long after you are gone. And when your memory has faded, your story still will remain."

Bonetail choked back a sob, remembering the words of Reedtail and Leaps As Frog. "Complete the journey of seasons." "Do not fear death. Death is just another path, one that we must all take. I will be waiting for you." He sincerely hoped she would be.

Tears threatened to spill from his eyes and when he looked at Catchfish he could see the medicine cats eyes were unusually bright.

"Come Bonetail, it's time for you to rest." The medicine cat said softly.

The apprentice didn't argue, he was feeling weaker by the moment and he was grateful for Catchfish's tact. Tail on his shoulders, Catchfish led him to a specially made nest for him. It was lined with down and soft mosses, like the nests of queens for their kits. He could scent his mother on the material and this time he allowed the tears to come.

Curling up in the nest he whispered goodbye to Catchfish and closed his eyes. The medicine cat sat beside him and gazed up at the gathering darkness, uttering prayers for a swift and painless death and for the ancestors to welcome the hero of the clans with great celebration. Gradually the night grew longer and with every minute that passed, Bonetail grew weaker and his breath shallower. As dawn crept over the horizon, the tom's chest gave one final heave and grew still. Catchfish placed his paw on his chest and when he felt no heartbeat, bowed his head and allowed his tears to flow.

..........

Bonetail felt his body grow cold even as he slept and slowly slipped into that final abyss. Sudden warmth blossomed on his back and he opened his eyes to find himself in Fourtrees in the height of greenleaf. Everything had blossomed and the wonderful smells of prey, sweet water and sun yellowed grasses crept into his nose. He nearly cried when he realized that last moment of eyesight continued here. Blindness would no longer plague him.

"Bonetail."

He turned at the voice and his heart constricted as he laid eyes on Leaps As Frog beside him. They touched noses before she continued speaking.

"I cannot stay long, these are not the halls of my ancestors. However I wished to keep my promise and be the first to welcome you."

His eyes burned as he realized he would not spend the afterlife with her, the one cat he'd found it in his heart to truly love despite his station. She smiled, knowing what he thought and felt and feeling it herself.

"Welcome to Starclan Bonetail and always remember that both the Clans and the Tribe will honor you."

With that she faded away, the last of her form swept away in a breeze. He whispered goodbye and stared up at the canopy of the trees and into the bright sunlight.

"Goodbye my family. Be safe, be strong and do not mourn me," he softly prayed, "I am home where I belong."