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Post by Beechstar on Feb 17, 2016 21:19:04 GMT -6
Alternative title-"Spooky Ghost" The moon was waxing and hanging almost completely full in the night sky. The spirit had waited for night. He didn't feel safe in the day. Nothing about his situation felt safe. He was trapped outside of Cloudclan for unknown reasons. First his mind went immediately to the fact that he wasn't clan-born, but then he disproved his own thoughts. He had spent almost all of his nine lives in the clan. Besides, he had fully converted and believed in Cloudclan. So what was the issue? Maybe it was because his disappearance. The spirit sighed. He had known death was soon. His illness was at its peak but only he knew about it. His mind had never been the same ever since he hit it during a Deathclan raid. It got progressively worse. Hard but not entirely visible lumps had formed at his neck. One day the leader felt so weak, he couldn't move his body. So the day after, he decided it was over. The leader sneaked out of camp and wandered as far as he could. His death was slow and under a tree. It brought him peace. But he had not died like a true clan cat. Everyone except the cats on the nightly patrols were sleeping. Spiderstar was sleeping. Beechstar materialized in the leader's dream. |
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Post by Spiderstar on Feb 21, 2016 11:42:56 GMT -6
Spiderstar almost always had the same dreams. He was either out hunting with a patrol, with faceless cats that seemed familiar, but never pinned with a name. Or sometimes he was in the middle of his first battle. A few rogues who had been hellbent on making a small section of Treeclan's outermost territory part of their own land. Spiderstar, only Spiderpaw then, had been sent with a few warriors, one being his mentor, to send them off. The only other type of dream he had, which is what he HAD been having, was the one where the tabby-tom was practically meditating in a small clearing in the territory.
The clearing was small enough to be hidden in plain sight, but large enough to hold three or even four cats. The clearing wasn't actually real in the territory - Spider had gone searching for it countless times - but he had always made tough decisions in this little clearing. Tonight Spiderstar was thinking about Deathclan. It was so quiet, and word had it that Drought had finally kicked the bucket. Who was the new Leader? Unfortunately the thoughts of Deathclan couldn't last long, as something new happened in the clearing.
Ginger fur. Spiderstar narrowed his eyes. Too dark to be her. The face was there, he could tell, but blurry. He couldn't make out who it was. The scent wasn't there either. The cat was almost translucent, but whenever Spider tried to look through it, the fur seemed to solidify into a real being. 'Cloudclan, what is this?' He thought as he got to his paws. "Are you alright?" He asked softly, as if speaking to a panicked kit. He couldn't tell the age of the cat, either. One second it seemed old, as if mixed with grey, and the next it seemed small and helpless, like a kit. But all at the same time it seemed to stay in a standard state, at the size and posture of a warrior.
Maybe tomorrow he'd ask Liongrowl Spottedwillow for something else to help him fall asleep rather than catmint.
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Post by Beechstar on Feb 21, 2016 12:02:32 GMT -6
Beechstar felt the world of Spiderstar's dream form around him. It was a typical dream. One similar to the ones he would have. His amber eyes met with the new leader's and he heard the question, but Beechstar had to process everything first.
He was dead. He had never wanted to die. Death just called to him one day and it just happened. He even had extra lives left over. They were all taken from him. And now this cat took his place. Not that Beechstar was bothered by that, it just seemed so weird. He remembered Spiritleap being so disturbed by it to when he was a fresh leader. He remembered having Spiritleap for guidance. Poor Spiderstar had no one.
The cat was younger than he was when he was appointed leader. Beechstar wondered if he was ready. Maybe I'm the one who's supposed to give him advice... Is that why I'm stuck? The tom shook his head. That couldn't be. He vividly remembered being in Cloudclan with the spirits when they spoke to him.
The question rang through his head again. Are you alright?
"No. I mean yes. Urgh.. Spiderstar, it's me. Beechstar!"
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Post by Spiderstar on Feb 21, 2016 12:11:12 GMT -6
Spiderstar nearly leaped back as the cat spoke. Their voice, at first, was loud and to a human one may even call it static-y. But as he spoke more it became clear. "Shretirshut, itsh me. Beechstar." No. That couldn't be right. Spiderstar had seen spirits before, during his Leader ceremony. They were clear, looked almost alive, and definitely didn't sound like personified nightmares.
But...Spider narrowed his eyes at the ginger cat. This time he could focus, and the patterns on its fur did resemble the ones of Beechstar. He still couldn't fully see the tom's face, though. What was happening? "Are you...here from Cloudclan?" He asked, still prepared for the dream to transform into an awful nightmare. Surely the real spirit of Beechstar would look like all of the other spirits....unless....
Is this what Darkpool Spirits looked like?
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Post by Beechstar on Feb 21, 2016 14:51:22 GMT -6
Beechstar didn't understand why Spiderstar was so frightened. He looked down at his paw and lifted one. They seemed perfectly normal to him. What do I look like to him? The cat tilted his head in confusion.
The question made him think about his troubles again. "No, I never made it. I'm not sure why." Spiderstar's expression made him think. Was it weird to him because he had visited him in a dream? "I think you should try to wake up. I need your help."
Could he even enter the earthly world? He was about to find out.
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Post by Spiderstar on Feb 28, 2016 17:40:29 GMT -6
The static voice was still hard to understand, but Spiderstar could make out enough words to understand what was happening..or, well, what he was being told. The spirit wanted him to wake up. Spiderstar shut his eyes, and felt his dream crack around his paws. Within a moment, he opened his eyes to the real world. It was the middle of the night still. He sighed, and looked around to see if the monstrosity from his dream had followed him or not.
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Post by Beechstar on Feb 28, 2016 23:28:12 GMT -6
The world began to crumble around him. Beechstar began to panic, not knowing how to escape the dream. It soon turned to darkness and he was terrified. The former leader closed his eyes tightly and thought about leaving. Joining Spiderstar in the real world. It almost felt like his body was bending. It ripped out of the dream and he appeared in front of Spiderstar. His eyes opened suddenly.
His eyes were wide with fear. He didn't like that. What had he done wrong? What had he done right? Beechstar opened his mouth and called out for help. "I don't know what happened to me, Spiderfall." The name slipped on accident. "I should have been there to give you your lives! Where was I?"
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Post by Koisplash on Feb 29, 2016 22:37:03 GMT -6
For what felt like the millionth time that moon, Koisplash woke with a start and a cold prickle under her fur. She tried to hang on to the dream, to remember it this time, but once again it slipped out of her grasp. There were always only vague fragments, a vision as distorted as if she were looking at it underwater. She always saw him, maybe even heard him, and yet she could never actually find him. There was always the fog, the chill, the darkness that got in the way.
It'd been going on for far too long. Something was wrong, and Koisplash wasn't one to sit around on it. She had to talk to someone.
She stood up shakily from her nest, taking careful steps as she moved out of the elders' den and into the camp. The night sky was clear above her as she looked up, full of shimmering stars.
Are you up there?
Koisplash tried to push down the sense that she knew the answer and went forward. She'd have to talk to the medicine cats. Or Spiderstar. She decided on Spiderstar, if only because it meant waking up just one cat and not two.
"Spiderstar?" she called softly, as she moved towards the leader's den. "I need to talk to you--"
She stopped dead once she'd reached the entrance. Her throat tightened, all breath leaving her, and she could only stare. No words came to mind, nothing about the sight in front of her.
"Beechstar?" she choked out. |
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Post by Beechstar on Mar 1, 2016 15:36:37 GMT -6
Beechstar's panic vanished when he heard her voice. The spirit's head turned and his amber eyes softened. He had tried contacting her, but it had never worked. The dream encounters had never seemed to work. She could never hear or see him quite right, similar to Spiderstar's dream. There was nothing he could do to tell his mate that he was in distress.
He stared at her and felt the first wave of relief he had felt in a long time. She was exactly as he left her. The former leader was finally able to smile.
"Hello Koisplash."
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Post by Spiderstar on Mar 3, 2016 18:39:57 GMT -6
Spiderstar watched as Beechstar, now shown clearly, formed in front of him. Before he could say anything Koisplash, of everyone to see this, approached. Spider gulped and looked between the two. "So uh...This must be...nice? Awkward? No. Neither. Horrifying. I am horrified. I haven't been horrified since the night of the four foxes. But now I am. I had forgotten what horror feels like. I am not a fan of it." He said, almost monotone.
"So. Beechstar. Thanks for haunting me. What brings you bacvk in the form of a literal nightmare?" He asked, wondering what Koi would do. Koisplash had been Beechstar's deputy for many, many moons. Spiderstar wasn't aware of the two's entire history or relationship, but he could imagine they were quite close.
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Post by Koisplash on Mar 3, 2016 21:49:54 GMT -6
Koisplash blinked several times. Each time, he was still there. She was pretty sure she wasn't still dreaming either, since she distinctly knew how she'd just woken up. But she couldn't stop staring, too many questions running through her mind to put into words all at once. How could this be happening? Beechstar even sounded the same as a spirit, the way he said her name was the same, the way he looked at her and smiled at her--she wasn't sure whether to laugh or cry.
It took Spiderstar talking for Koisplash to snap out of the pseudo-trance she'd entered, and also reminded her he was still there. She gave a start and shook her head as he spoke to Beechstar. She had to focus.
"Why aren't you in CloudClan?" Her voice came out softer than she'd intended it to be, almost cracking. "Haven't you seen anyone from there?" |
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Post by Beechstar on Mar 3, 2016 23:08:40 GMT -6
Beechstar should have known they would be full of questions. He sat down with a sigh. The problem was he didn't even know what was going on either. He had his theories, but he didn't know if they were correct. Spiderstar claimed that he was haunting him. That wasn't the former leader's intentions. "I...I am in distress, my friends."
"When I died I was not greeted by my friends and family, I was simply stuck in your world." He closed his eyes. A world that used to be your own. "I'm not sure if I was accepted by Cloudclan because of the dishonorable way I died." His ears flattened and his eyes became angry. "All I wanted was for my clan to not watch me suffer and die slowly. I wished to die alone and I was repaied with being trapped sending you two dreams." He began to stalk around the den that was once his. "I died on the edge of our territory. No one has found me. No one has buried me. I need your help."
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Post by Spiderstar on Mar 9, 2016 18:29:47 GMT -6
Spiderstar shook his head in confusion. "I don't understand. I've never heard of a spirit being..blocked from Cloudclan. Did you...do something? Like...when you were alive..?" He asked, not necessarily wanting to ask Beech if he had ever done something so bad he may just be in the Darkpool. However Beechstar hadn't always been the nicest cat, and a lot of things had happened to Treeclan under Beech's leadership. Maybe Cloudclan was forbidding his entrance for some kind of crime or plot...or heritage.
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Post by Koisplash on Mar 9, 2016 23:07:06 GMT -6
Her head felt as if it was spinning. Even as Koisplash took in all the information, practically hanging on every word, it still had yet to really sink in. A pang rose in her chest as Beechstar spoke about how he'd died. She'd assumed that had been what had happened, but...this, she'd never expected. It was unheard of.
She whipped her head around when Spiderstar spoke up, starting to bristle out of near instinct from moons past of always jumping to Beechstar's defense against his harshest critics. What could he have done while alive to deserve this? But she pushed it down, keeping a neutral expression. Spiderstar was young and as confused as she was, there was no point in getting angry.
"Whatever the reason for why this happened," Koisplash said, her voice as calm as she could keep it, "we have to focus on this specifically. Beechstar, do you remember exactly where you died? We can go out and look for the body, but we need to know where to start." |
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Post by Beechstar on Mar 10, 2016 17:40:27 GMT -6
Did I....do something? Beechstar's eyes narrowed in anger at Spiderstar. Sure, he had made some questionable decisions during his times as leader, but nothing against the warrior code. He believed he had good morals at least. Koisplash's voice disrupted his thoughts and made him calm down. It was so lovely to hear her again. He had been alone for what felt like ages.
"I..I think I remember. I'd have to take you there." Beechstar tried to remember the exact location. He only remembered walking for a long time and ending up falling over by a tree.
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