head-canon contest

tw: cursing

::

"Well?"

"..."

"Fox-shit."

The black she-cat tucked her paws beneath her chest, her favorite comfort position that in no way would quell the grief she was already feeling.

"Aspen, I don't actually know what it means," her mate said, a cream paw raising to her shoulder. "It could just be that-"

"What, Sunnyburns? StarClan didn't respond. You saw the clan burst into flames! Cats of shadows culling those that didn't perish from the flame and ash! And what about, 'only four can be saved?' What else could it possibly mean?" Her voice cracked with emotion, fear filling her yellow eyes. "It's the death of DriftClan."

The twin-tailed cat nervously looked over his shoulder after her outburst. Conspiring like this, not telling the other medicine cats of the prophecy only he recieved; it was treasonous even when the fate of the clan wasn't involved.

"'Only four can be saved,'" the freckled she-cat repeated quietly.

Sunnyburns turned back to look at his mate with surprise. Her voice had changed its tone completely, calm and steady, hardened with resolve, and her eyes were clear and unwavering as she looked up at him. Sunnyburns was no stranger to his mate's swift mood changes, but this was something else. In the brief moment he had looked away, she had accepted her death. Hers, her family, her mate, her kits- well... maybe not her kits. The Aspentuft he knew would never allow her kits to be harmed so easily.

With this realization he knew her next words before she even opened her muzzle.

"I have a plan."

...

The black tom tried to push away all other thoughts. Death was fresh in his mind, and his paws ached as he led his group forward.

They had to find shelter before the storm grew worse.

A tree, huge and gnarled, appeared in the smothering rain. Its roots clinged onto a pile of rocks, and beneath them was a small opening. Deweyes could only hope it would be big enough for all six of them.

It was cramped, but snuggled together the soaked cats could almost feel warmth, and the drone of thunder was dimmed by the burrow's walls. Deweyes curled his twin tails around his paws, his freckled head craning over the exhausted cats to examine their situation.

Yewsun, his brother and the only other fully trained warrior in the group. Eggroll, his sister and a prodigy medcat. Duopaw, his youngest sibling, who was just barely apprenticed before the quest. Ruetrot, a small but determined former kittypet who had received her name from a clan-cat she was too sad to speak of. And Orchid, an intimidating loner who joined their quest after receiving a dream from her own mother.

It was a small group whose original quest was to simply expand their clan's territory. But after a vision from StarClan, or rather Aspentuft in what was formerly StarClan, Deweyes realized they couldn't go back.

Their mother had claimed she'd saved them, telling Dew of his clan's death as he stared at the gash in her starry side. But the black tom couldn't help but wonder if his eccentric mother had doomed them by separating her children from StarClan.

"Dewy, StarClan's no more," his mother stated simply. "Or rather, they are a husk of what they were. Without any cats alive they fought for dominance, ripping each other to shreds. And you... my four kits... are the only living descendants of our clan. Who knows what StarClan would've told you to gain your trust? I had to leave, I had to make sure they couldn't follow you, I had to make sure you couldn't go back."

"Mom... what about Dad?" The tom asked, voice small and eyes dewing. "You... you couldn't have just left him..."

She didn't answer.

Blinking back tears at the memory, Deweyes' head lowered to his paws.

If they weren't being watched over by StarClan, who was watching them? What was watching them?

A sudden, huge crack of thunder made all six cats jump. Ruetrot shivered, still half asleep, and tucked her head into Deweyes' side with a sleepy sigh. The tom tried to ignore his blush and drifted off to sleep himself.

...

What came in the morning shocked them all. The relentless hurricane, which had tormented the group for weeks, had come to a halt overnight. What was more, is that the tree that had sheltered them was struck by lightning in the middle of the night, splitting it in two. And it appeared to still be alive, it's roots still holding the rock pile with strength.

Eggroll tentatively stepped forwards, placing a paw onto the root before jumping back, overwhelmed by a sudden vision. "Aspen..." she mumbled. "StarClan tried to strike us down, and yet Aspen protected us. Split in two, but still strong."

After a few moments she turned, and her first real smile in weeks spread across her face. "We're protected here. There's prey, water... and a strong connection to StarClan- or I guess, Aspentuft's version of StarClan."

"We're not a clan so much. Our afterlife doesn't... work that way anymore. We'll work hard to start something new, in honor of our Mother. Split in two... she left her mate, every clan member she's ever known. We left behind our homes and family. But we can make it. We're protected. We're safe."

Eggroll stood a bit taller, and Dew saw a spark of faith in her eyes that he thought was long gone with their former StarClan.

"We're home."