I thought I would give this a go. Might as well, right? I chose prompt #3, and my story is about Bluestar(Bluefur) telling Oakheart that she needs him to take her kits to RiverClan. It's kind of depressing
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The rushing of the river is the sound of the guilt that floods her mind. The way it branches off into streams and tributaries is akin to the way her heart is splitting in two. But the river flows on, twisting and turning in a marked course that never falters. Never changes.
That is where they differ. The river flows swift and sure, but Bluefur is lost.
She sits on the bank, her head bowed. She refuses to look up, to face the night sky, for she knows that StarClan have seen what she has done. The image of loyalty she was worked so hard to acquire is shattered. And now, she can do nothing but try to pick up the pieces.
After moons of this sneaking around in the late hours of the night, reality has finally caught up with her. She has, until now, denied her disloyalty. Her feelings for her mate should not alter her devotion to her Clan. But deep down, Bluefur has always known how wrong this is. She is supposed to love ThunderClan, first and foremost. But Oakheart…
Oakheart. He emerges from the water as smoothly as a bird in flight, and Bluefur realizes that she hadn’t even sensed him coming. She looks inside her heart, searching for the swelling warmth she’s always felt when she sees the RiverClan tom. But all she feels now is guilt. This boundless guilt.
“Bluefur…” He purrs, stepping forward. She allows him to touch his nose to hers, and closes her eyes. If Bluefur is ice, then Oakheart is fire. He is warm and strong, while she is cool and level-headed in comparison. It is their contrast that attracted Bluefur to him in the first place. She’s always admired the element of fire. And so Oakheart intrigues her.
But no more. She must do what she has come here to do. Her heart throbs as she steps back and stares him in the eye. “Oakheart. We need to talk.”
Oakheart looks at her more closely, and she can tell that he has noticed her stricken expression. “What’s wrong?” He asks immediately, his deep voice laced with concern. “Is it the kits?” He inspects his mate, whose sides are swollen with pregnancy.
Bluefur maintains eye contact. She tells herself if she looks away, then this isn’t real, and it doesn’t mean anything. “No.” She replies quietly, her tail hanging low. “Well…yes. And no.” It’s all a complex whirl, and it doesn’t make sense. Bluefur thinks that maybe it’s never made sense, her and Oakheart.
Oakheart watches her, and he knows something is wrong. “What do you mean? What is it?”
“Oakheart,” Bluefur closes her eyes for a moment, as if to steady herself. “We can’t do this anymore.”
She expects him to bombard her with questions. Part of her even expects to literally hear his heart breaking. But Oakheart is silent. She opens her eyes to see him gazing at her, waiting for her to go on.
“It can never work. I see that now. We must pledge every ounce of our loyalty to our Clans. And how can we do that, if…?” Her question trails off, and her voice is heavy with a weariness that should far surpass her years. “And the kits,” She speaks again. “I need you to…to take them to RiverClan.”
She is almost choking on her words. Oakheart must be able to sense her weakness. Bluefur waits for the inevitable. He is going to ask her why. But he surprises her once more by keeping silent. He just looks at her, and for a moment she can see an unimaginable amount of pain in his eyes. But then he blinks, and it is gone.
“And what exactly am I supposed to tell them?” Oakheart asks slowly. “RiverClan?”
Bluefur shakes her head. “You know them better than I. Tell them what you must. Tell them that you found them, or that…” But even as she speaks, Bluefur realizes that she will have to create a story to tell her own Clan as well. It’s one final lie, to seal all the others away forever. But Bluefur doesn’t know if she’s strong enough to do it, and that scares her. She almost trembles. She must end this, before she loses control.
“I will bring them when they are strong enough to travel.” Her voice is oddly flat as she suppresses her emotions. She can’t even look at Oakheart any more. Slowly she turns around, and starts to walk away. Each pawstep bears the weight of a hundred boulders.
“Bluefur!” Oakheart’s voice stops her dead. She turns her head and gazes over her shoulder. Oakheart hasn’t moved, but he’s gazing after her in anguish. “You’re their mother.”
It’s only three words, but his tone tells her everything. Bluefur knows what he’s telling her: the kits need her, and to abandon them is to abandon a piece of herself. As a mother, it’s her nature to put her kits before all else. The thing is, ThunderClan needs her too. As a leader, she would look after each and ever one of her Clan-mates the way a mother looks after her kits. In the end, that’s all Bluefur has ever wanted. To take care of them.
So she looks back and meets Oakheart’s gaze, and in that moment she lets all of her emotions flood into her eyes. In that moment, she knows he understands. In that moment, they aren’t Oakheart and Bluefur. They aren’t RiverClan and ThunderClan, and they aren’t fire and ice. In that moment, they are just two cats, and they are in love.
But then that moment is gone, and Bluefur knows that she must go too.
