The Stars Are Waiting [p]

[Beechstar]

Beechstar awoke from his nest in Cloudclan. He had a weird feeling in his stomach, one that reminded him of his sickness that had taken most of his lives. The tom rose from his nest and glanced around to find no other cats with him.

It had always been his fear that he would be denied entry into Cloudclan. They had welcomed him happily once his soul found its way. The former leader had ever been so happy in his life when he found his clan-mates waiting on him. But now the den was alone.

The weird feeling in his stomach made him want to walk. Beechstar eventually found himself in Cloudclan's territory. Every clan cat shared territory once they were dead. He found it weird at first, but he eventually got used to it. The tom peered down for a moment and saw the Treeclan camp in the distance. His whiskers twitched when the feeling in his belly stopped. "Why...do I have to go there?"

A part of him didn't want to go back. He didn't want to be stuck with the living again. Beechstar's pelt bristled as if he was arguing with an invisible cat. Then a sudden gust of cold went through his fur and he closed his eyes. He opened them and he realized in was in the elder's den.

His eyes softened and his fur went flat. Koisplash was in her nest. "Oh.. I understand now."

[Koisplash]

Dreams were funny things. Koisplash hardly ever remembered hers, not unless they were nightmares--the kind that left her shivering and cold with numbness, with fears that were dredged up and laid bare. Dreams were fleeting, empty. Meaningless.

But this one felt different. It had...warmth, somehow. She felt calm, soothed, as if a phantom touch was stroking her fur. She blinked, not sure if she could believe what she was seeing. It was pitch black all around her, stars scattered in swathes of glittering diamonds. She took a step forward and felt like she was floating.

Koisplash took a second step and looked up. Her breath caught in her throat and she barely managed to swallow, hardly daring to believe it. She blinked again. Once, twice.

"Beechstar?" Her voice should've come out as a rasp, but instead it sounded...smooth. Young. Sharp without the dullness of age.

[Beechstar]

Beechstar padded over to her and held back a purr. "Koisplash, it's good to see you." His footsteps felt so light, almost as if he was floating. Even his form felt different from the last time he was with the living. Beechstar was younger. He remembered choosing the form when he had just received his nine lives. When he was stuck as a spirit, he had been trapped as an old tom. Now his sickness was gone and he felt free.

The former leader pressed his face into the crook of her neck and finally released his purring. "I've been waiting for you." He leaned back, filled with happiness. "We've all been waiting for you." He referred to her family and friends. Cloudclan was filled with cats from their generation.

[Koisplash]

To say there were many things Koisplash could've said at that moment would have been a severe understatement, but whatever she was about to actually say died in her throat when Beechstar spoke. She felt rooted to the spot, unsure of what exactly to do. What could she say? It felt like a dream, it had to be a dream, but something was...off.

She leaned into his touch anyway, because it felt warm and real and it was him. "Beechstar," she began shakily, before clearing her throat. "Am I...is this real? Am I--?"

How could she put it? Deep in the back of her mind, Koisplash had been expecting this moment from day to day. She had been old and going blind, and it had only been a matter of when. But no amount of expectations could have prepared her for the actual moment. It had come so quickly, and quietly, and soon she would be gone, just like every other CloudClan cat before her.

But if this was real, and not a dream, then it meant Beechstar really had made it to CloudClan--and she would make it there, too. That was a comfort, at least.

Koisplash took a deep breath and let it out, and something about that one action felt strange, too. "...Am I dead?"

[Beechstar]

Beechstar didn't answer her question. Nothing was that simple. His eyes filled with worry. "Are you in pain? Are you cold?" He sat before her and shuffled his paws. The leader just wanted everything to be perfect. For her to feel safe and happy. "Do you feel alone?"

He remembered his own death and it instantly made him uncomfortable. Beechstar remembered stalking off into the forest with paws that felt like stone. He remembered his insides feeling like they were getting clawed at over and over. His brain was cloudy and it only knew pain. He remembered falling over and curling into a ball, desperately searching for warmth. Death's sweet release had felt cold. He remembered. 

Beechstar snapped out of his trance. His amber eyes found her green ones again. "You are one of the most noble, loyal warriors Cloudclan has ever known." He paused and smiled lightly. "I will guide you."

[Koisplash]

Koisplash shook her head. "No," she replied, and it came out as a whisper. She cleared her throat and the feeling of that one action felt oddly detached, as if she was feeling herself doing it rather than actually doing it. "No, I'm alright."

She paused at the last question, taking the moment to look at him. In the starlight, Beechstar's eyes looked almost like gold. He'd never appeared more beautiful than he did now. "Not at all," she answered, and she couldn't help but smile slightly. "Now that you're here."

But she couldn't ignore the fact that Beechstar still wasn't answering her question. The way he was acting--he was going to guide her?--was enough to say it, however. She was definitely dead--or at the very least, most likely. Not that she could actually tell. She'd never died before, after all.

Koisplash nudged his shoulder gently. "You better," she said in a mock-threatening tone, smiling despite herself. "If we get lost, it'll be your fault. Think you can handle it, dear?"

[Beechstar]

Beechstar felt his pelt lay flat when she answered his frantic questions. She was safe and that was all that mattered to him. It made him feel a wonderful feeling now that they were together again. He padded closely to her and brushed his pelt against hers.

His whiskers twitched at her retort. "Hey, just because I got lost doesn't mean it'll happen again." He knew she was only joking, so he smiled too. "Even if we did, we would be together." Finally together again. It felt like the good old days when he had just appointed her deputy. Before all of the fighting that ensued after. Viper and Hawkstar flashed in his mind, making the former leader scowl for only a moment.

Beechstar shook his pelt and thought of only good memories. Their training sessions with Whippaw, all of their victories in battle, him naming her Koisplash, giving her Juniperpaw to train, her being there for him when he lost a life, and finding the new camp after the fire.

"Is there anything in particular you want to do first? Your clanmates are waiting for you, but we have time alone to talk before we see them."

[Koisplash]

(OH MY GOOODDDD THIS IS SO LATE FORGIVE ME)

The calico couldn't help the grin that came over her face then. This was easy and familiar. Nice, in more than one way. "Being lost with you doesn't sound too good, though. I imagine we'd kill each other again before we found CloudClan."

All of her life, Koisplash thought, had been leading up to this point. It almost seemed, to use an old cliche, to be flashing before her eyes. Past battles, warriorhood, their fights together and against each other--that all seemed to fall away now, behind them, so they could step forward into...whatever this was. The afterlife. The dead. Being spirits.

She paused at his question. "Well..." There wasn't anything in particular she could think of that she wanted to do. Everyone she'd known and been close to was now dead, for one thing.

"I just want to know," Koisplash started. "How's CloudClan been? Is it anything like legends say it is?"