Chapter Text
Flower of War stopped as he gazed upon the beach. The sand stretched on for miles and miles, and the sun was setting, being drowned by the water. It was the place of legends, the place Flower of War had heard about for so long. He carefully stepped on the beach, his paws aching. The sand felt strange to him, like little rocks tearing into his soul. Flower of war looked around for some place to sleep. In the distance was a giant plateau, right next to the ocean. Flower of War cautiously approached it. The plateau seemed to reach for the sky, and out of the corner of his eye, Flower of War spotted a large cave opening. He ventured down into the cave. It was stoney and warm, with a small stream flowing through. Moss grew everywhere, and strange cat-like creatures hung from the ceiling. There were only a few of these creatures, but they seemed to be waking up. Flower of War wasn’t sure what to do. He stayed still until they flew out of the cave. Flower of War breathed a sigh of relief. This cave would make a good place for a home, if he could chase away the flying creatures. Flower of War laid down on the cold hard stone and fell asleep.
His dreams were plagued by nightmares. Starclan cats chased Flower of War until he collapsed, then mauled him until the dirt was stained red.
“YOU FOX-HEART! Trying to murder the leader!”
“Worthless crow-food! Couldn’t even succeed!"
“You deserve to rot for all eternity, and I will watch you with great joy.” Flower of War tried to retort back, but his throat was slashed open. His fur had been stained with his blood, and he was in agony. Flower of War’s words were garbled and he choked on blood every time he tried to speak. He felt darkness consume him, and he snapped awake, his heart pounding, ears pulled back, tail bristled. Flower of War looked at himself, then around him. It was only a dream, something his mind had made. There was nobody here and he was unscathed. Flower of War couldn’t go back to sleep. Only nightmares would be waiting for him. But his weariness was wearing on him, and he eventually fell asleep again. The same nightmare plagued him again and again, the only thing differentiating them were the words spat by the Starclan cats. Flower of War awoke in panic, and always made sure nobody was there before eventually falling asleep again. This went on for hours, until the sun rose triumphantly over the horizon, letting little beams of sunlight reach into the cave, rudely awakening Flower of War. His mind was foggy, and his stomach protested for food. Irritated, he leapt to his feet and walked out of the cave, needing a distraction. There wasn’t much prey nearby, except for the scent of fish in the water. Flower of War was scared of the water. It smelled like tears. It was too wide, went on too long, and was too deep. Luckily, he heard a bird rest in the reeds, further away from the water. He dropped to a crouch, and started sneaking up on the bird. The bird was easy to spot and even a blind cat could detect it. Flower of War’s coat blended in perfectly with the sand. Flower of War pounced, but missed the bird by a mouse-length. The bird started to fly away, but Flower of War took a swipe at it and it collapsed to the ground. The kill was messy, but good enough. Flower of War greedily ate the bird, since there were no elders to feed anymore. He was supposed to give thanks to Starclan but the mere thought of respecting Starclan made him nauseous.
“I hope Starclan is taken over by the dark forest!” Flower of War yowled. “Fox-hearts!” Flower of War felt determined. He was still alive, and that’s what mattered. He sighed and continued exploring the beach. Every moment spent alive was a grave insult to Starclan, but Flower of War didn’t care. There seemed to be clumps of grass on the beach, further away from the water. A strange creature scuttled by. Flower of War tried to pounce on it, but his teeth only met a hard shell. The critter snapped its very large claws at him and Flower of War retreated. There was only sand, water, grass, and the occasional critter on the beach. That was until Flower of War spotted the brown thing in the distance. He ran towards it, extremely curious, but found himself splashing in the water. The sun was high in the sky, sending beams of scorching fire towards him. Flower of War swore that the water level had been lower this morning. He inched away from the water, and ran up to the strange brown thing. It was a half-bridge. It was a platform of sorts, perhaps created by twolegs. It seemed to go a little bit into the water, but then it stopped. Flower of War carefully walked atop it. It felt uncanny, like walking on the inner flesh of the trees. His stomach growled once more. Before he could decide anything, he heard a voice.
“Petalclaw!” Quillsnow exclaimed. “I was worried you had died!” Flower of War whipped around.
“Quillsnow?” He asked. “Why did you come here?”
“I-I couldn’t leave you behind.” Quillsnow sighed. “You’re my best friend, you know.” His amber eyes shone with glee.
“Why would you give up everything to join me?” Flower of War asked. “You had a mate, and the prospect of becoming deputy. Do you know how many cats would kill for that opportunity?”
“I understand why you attacked Rainstar.” Quillsnow replied. “I don’t think you should have been so violent, but somebody had to speak up about the injustice within the clan, and you were the only cat brave enough to do it.” Flower of War was silent for a moment.
“Are you unscathed?”
“I’m fine, just a little hungry.”
“Hunger is better than wounds.” Flower of War said. “Follow me, there’s a nice spot inland with some mice.” Quillsnow followed Flower of War into the meadows. They split up. A few hours later, Quillsnow came back with two mice and Flower of War came back with one. His paws were still aching, but they hurt much less than yesterday.
“I’m glad you’re alive.” Quillsnow purred with delight, devouring the mice.
“Me too.” Flower of War purred back. The two ate their prey in silence, the sun reaching the climax of its arc. A pleasant breeze blew from the water, ruffling their fur.
“Quillsnow, my name isn’t Petalclaw anymore.” Flower of War said quickly. “It is Flower of War. I changed it” Quillsnow had an unreadable expression on her face.
“I understand.” He replied sweetly. “Your new name is pretty, and I like it.”
“Oh yeah!” Flower of War exclaimed. “I hate you Starclan! May the dark forest take over your territory and reign forever!” Quillsnow was quite shocked.
“Is insulting Starclan really necessary?”
“They’ve abandoned us.” Flower of War retorted. “Anyways, I found a really cool cave. I found it last night, and it had many flying creatures, but they seem to be harmless and there’s lots of moss inside of it!”
“Ooh! Show me!” Quillsnow chirped. Flower of War and Quillsnow went back to the beach and into the cave. Flower of War breathed in the damp cave air. It smelled different than the forest, but he kind of liked it.
“Are those the flying creatures you were talking about?” Quillsnow exclaimed, pointing to the critters resting upside down. Flower of War nodded.
“I noticed that they only come awake at night, so I don’t think we’ll have a problem with them.”
“Fascinating…” Quillsnow prodded some of the tall rocks on the ground, and some of the moss patches. He dipped his paws into the shallow stream through the cave, and squinted further into the cave.
“I think there’s more of the cave down there.” He pointed out.
“I don’t know…” Flower of War remarked. “There’s plenty of room in this part of the cave, I don’t want to go down further. It terrifies me.”
“Understandable.”
“Do you want to explore more?” Flower of War asked. Quillsnow nodded in glee. The two spent the rest of the day exploring the beach. Flower of War showed off the brown thing jutting into the water, and Quillsnow discovered an abandoned towleg nest. They laughed and caught a fish for dinner. When they came back to the cave, paws aching and belly full, Quillsnow flopped onto a patch of moss.
“No elders to feed, no territory to mark… I kinda like this.” Quillsnow said. Flower of War laughed in agreement.
“Goodnight Flower of War.” Flower of War watched Quillsnow quickly drift off to sleep. Weariness seeped into his bones, but he did not want to sleep. The nightmares were just too much. The creatures flew out of the cave. Flower of War felt his eyes droop. He fought the sleep, but it eventually conquered him.