Never Again

[» &Göldιê™; «]

<sub>((Yeah, or he could be the first victim of the coyote pack.))

The apprentice's bright-blue eyes were trained on Phoenixpaw, and when she opened her eyes, and started yowling at him that he was dead, he stood quickly. When she almost ran into the side of the building, he pitched forwards, skidding to a halt next to her. "I'm not Shadow! I'm Ghostpaw!" His fervent meow was tempered by his love and concern for the medicine cat apprentice.</sub>

[Sable]

(( Somethin' like that. Nonetheless I'm going to bring in Xiral soon because I've been itching to roleplay her. x3 ))

Phoenixpaw blinked in confusion. It took her muddled brain several heartbeats to snap back to reality. Or what little was left of it. She shook her head furiously, trying to clear it. Looking back at Ghostpaw, she saw him with better clarity. "Oh . . . Ummm . ." She scrambled to find words, only to come up empty. "Sorry," she said blankly. "You just have his eyes."[/color]

[» &Göldιê™; «]

_{Ghostpaw glanced at her, still confused and bewildered. "I have... Shadow's eyes? Who is that?" The apprentice blinked slowly, his bright-blue eyes practically glowing at the fact that she had not chased him off yet. "That's what you said, anyways," Ghostpaw continued awkwardly.}

[Sable]

"Err . .Sorry. Well . . ." Phoenixpaw scrambled to come up with an explanation. She tilted her head toward the grave. "Shadow was my best friend before I came to JungleClan. Maybe more than a friend, you know . ." She swallowed as her throat threatened to choke her up. "He looked just like you. . . I think he might've been your brother. Or some sort of relation, at least."[/color]

[» &Göldιê™; «]

_{Ghostpaw listened to her words, sadness closing his throat for the moment. He nodded mutely, imagining what the tom must have looked like. He could have been my brother, or even my father. That's hard to think about. The apprentice paused for a moment, struggling to gain control of his voice enough to speak. "How... did it happen?" His words were strained, as though they were being forced through water.}

[Sable]

A spasm of anger shook Phoenixpaw's body. Her fur stiffened, quivering as she gazed through Ghostpaw at some unseen foe. "That worthless rat Duskhaze insists on calling a brother." Her claws kneaded the ground. "If it was only him, Shadow might've had a chance. But there were four. Nonetheless, Shadow left his mark. Demon hasn't forgotten that."[/color]

[» &Göldιê™; «]

<sub>Ghostpaw winced at Phoenixpaw's anger. I'm glad I'm not on the recieving end of THAT anymore, he thought, relieved but frustrated towards Demon for doing this to her. "I don't doubt that he would have. He sounds like he was a strong and brave cat." Ghostpaw stood, hesitant to come any closer should she choose to release her anger upon him.

((Maybe that would be how Phoenixpaw started believing in StarClan, then she could see Ghostpaw again ^.^))</sub>

[Sable]

(( LOL DRAMA ))

"Yeah." Phoenixpaw's eyes flicked to Ghostpaw's with a guarded expression. "Yeah, I suppose he was. Not so strong and brave anymore. Just dead. Gone." Her voice was flat and emotionless, her ears pressed back against her skull. [/color]

[» &Göldιê™; «]

<sub>((Heheh, yeah.))

Ghostpaw sighed, his ears drooping. "No cat can live forever, it always seems that the good ones die so early." Stepping over to the grave, Ghostpaw looked at it for a few moments. He turned back to her. "I wonder what it's like to die. I know that no cat can live forever, but to not be living at all..." the apprentice's bright blue eyes lightened a little. "Shadow is with StarClan now... at least, that is, if..." Ghostpaw trailed off, turning back to the grave.

((After your next post Imma bring in Shaden and kill him off... >w<))</sub>

[Sable]

(( *le gasp* oh noes! ))

Phoenixpaw glared at Ghostpaw suspiciously. "If what? Don't tell me you're going to start spouting this StarClan superstition again." Her voice was rough, but the skeptical scoff didn't reach her eyes, where the faintest spark of hope stirred.[/color]

[» &Göldιê™; «]

<sub>A dark shadow stalked through Penbrook. He had been with the other coyotes, back at the Hollow, but he was familiar with this place already and had decided to scout ahead. The black-furred coyote turned his nose up, scenting a smell he had not smelt in a long time. Cat.

Shaden's eyes gleamed in the mist. It was time to hunt. Emitting an eerie howling noise, he stalked towards the edge of a Twoleg nest, where the feline smell was emitted from.

Ghostpaw sighed and shook his head. Turning back to her, he fixed those bright blue eyes on Phoenixpaw. "Phoenixpaw-" the JungleClan apprentice was cut off by a howling noise, close outside the fence of the Twoleg nest that they were sitting in the backyard of. "Did you hear that?" Ghostpaw mewed in a hushed voice. "I think it was-"

Spotting an entrance through the fence, a broken plank that caused a hole just big enough for him to slip through, Shaden emitted a yip and followed the scent straight into the yard.

Ghostpaw's sentence had been interrupted by the sharp yip from just outside the fence and he watched in horror as a canine, much like a dog but with a wild look to him, slipped into the yard. "Phoenixpaw, run!" the apprentice yowled frantically.

The tomcat meowed something to the she-cat, and faced Shaden with fierce blue eyes. If the coyote's heart wasn't as black as his pelt, then he might have paused to see the overpowering courage in the apprentice's eyes. But he was not one to wait for his food, especially as he had been starved of cat meat for the longest time.

Ghostpaw glanced around, seeing if there was any immediate shelter for the two cats. But it was all too open. Preparing to fight the canine, his heart pounded painfully, torn in the middle on whether to run or to fight. It also pounded with love for Phoenixpaw, and he made his heavy decision, giving her one last look before entering combat that lasted only a few moments, but for him it seemed to last a lifetime.

Stalking towards the cat, Shaden's jowls dripped with saliva, eager to sink his teeth into the tomcat. The she-cat could wait; it was the tom that he wanted first. He emitted a low growl, and locked his eyes on the JungleClan apprentice. Without hesitating another moment, he snapped forwards.

Damned if I'm not going out without a fight, Ghostpaw thought, his heart still pounding faster and faster. When the coyote charged him, he leaped forwards, faster than the doglike animal. Unsheathing his claws, he sunk them deep into the black-furred beast.

Wincing as Ghostpaw sliced through his muzzle, Shaden pushed himself to end it faster. But as the apprentice scored his claws across Shaden's face, the coyote found his confidence in killing the cat easily wavering.

Ghostpaw yowled in triumph as the coyote backed off. He turned his eyes back to Phoenixpaw, letting down his guard for a moment. "Phoeni-"

He emitted a gut-wrenching cough instinctively before he even realized what had happened. Looking down, he saw those huge incisors clamped down, piercing his stomach, and his bright blue eyes filled with tears. It's all over. I'll never see JungleClan again... or Phoenixpaw... Looking back up to the russet she-cat he loved with all his heart, he slowly began to close his eyes, feeling like he was falling, feeling no pain, as everything turned black at the edges.

Shaden snarled with triumph as he tasted the warm blood from the cat's body flowing into his muzzle. And then - he saw stars for a moment, and barely blunk in time before claws almost put his eye out. One last blow of raking claws just above his eye released blood that flowed over his muzzle, coating his nose. That's my blood! Releasing his jaws from the cat, he shook his head, unable to clear the blood. Turning tail, he ran back out the way he had come.

The JungleClan apprentice barely felt it when the coyote released him. Everything was already almost all gone, and the last thing he saw was Phoenixpaw, before he closed his eyes and let the darkness set in.

((*Wipes a tear* I almost cried, that was so sad...))</sub>

[Sable]

(( KITTY-KILLER DDX ))
Every hair on Phoenixpaw's body quivered with anguish as she watched Ghostpaw fall to the ground. She hadn't even had a chance to strike. Standing over his crumpled body, she looked down into his face. "What were you going to tell me, Ghostpaw?" her whisper was hoarse. As she stood there, the grief choking up her throat was overpowered by a boiling rage. Her orange eyes blazed as she stared defiantly into the forest. "Whoever you are, I"ll hunt you down and tear your throat out," she snarled through gritted fangs. "Do you hear me? I'll KILL YOU! KILL YOU FOR WHAT YOU DID!" Her vengeful screams echoed with an eerie promise that would not be forgotten.

Phoenixpaw sighed, but closed her eyes. "There aren't any more tears to shed," she murmured sadly to Ghostpaw's body. "But I can't leave you here. I should bury you, like I did for Shadow." She first thought of the Moonstone, but the image of his body laying frozen in a stone tomb made her shudder. Then she remembered BlueFalls, and how Shadow had once mentioned finding flowers there when the sun came out. Shaking herself, Phoenixpaw took Ghostpaw by the scruff and started for the cliffs.

[» &Göldιê™; «]

<sub>Blinking a couple of times, the apprentice watched Phoenixpaw staring at something in horror. What's wrong? He asked, but he knew she couldn't hear him, because his voice wasn't there anymore. And then realization hit him like a monster on the Thunderpath. The coyote, the ripping pain in his chest, then how everything had slowly faded. Shaking his head, he didn't want to look, but he forced himself to.

It wasn't what he imagined. He had thought maybe he would look horrified, or scared, or something, but when he looked at that clone of himself laying on the ground, all he could see on his face was a fierce loyalty, and his heart churned. Then he pried his bright, fiery blue eyes away from his increasingly cold body, back up to Phoenixpaw. She murmured to him, and he heard her. "What were you going to tell me, Ghostpaw?"

I love you, Ghostpaw meowed again and again, hitting the ground with his paws in frustration. I love you I love you I love you! And then a wave of grief hit him again, gut-wrenching like the blow of the canine. He would never feel her fur again, he would never get to tell her exactly how much she meant to him. He would never be able to talk to her, and he realized that was true since she didn't believe in StarClan... if that was where he was going to go.

Deciding it wasn't like that, he looked down at himself. Sure enough, it was just as he had expected. There was no bloody wound in his stomach or chest, and he was slightly bluish. His paws glittered with the light of the stars. Tears began to flow down his furry cheeks, and he screamed inwardly with anguish. It's not fair... it's not fair!

And then he felt a little wave of calm wash through him, and felt another close by. Turning his head, he saw a blue-gray she-cat, stars glimmering in her fur, too. "Ghostpaw," she greeted him, dipping her head. The apprentice found a voice in himself, but when he spoke he knew Phoenixpaw couldn't hear him. "It's so cold..." Ghostpaw managed to choke out.

The she-cat padded forwards, so that she could look him in his bright blue eyes, and he realized hers were blue too. But he didn't know her, and shook his head, flattening his ears. Backing up, he stood right next to Phoenixpaw, so that their fur would have been touching had he not been a spirit. "I don't want to go," he meowed tersely. Waiting in the silence, he scrutinized the StarClan cat warily.

She sighed, staying put, but he felt warmth and affection coming from her. "My name is Riverfur. I am a cat of StarClan, if you did not know. Ghostpaw, we honor you as not just an apprentice of StarClan, but a warrior." The apprentice still continued to glare at her, and then turned his eyes balefully on Phoenixpaw. "I won't leave her," he repeated.

Riverfur purred sadly. "You are very loyal to her, I know. But StarClan has laid another path-" her words were interrupted by Ghostpaw, a flash of unusual temper flaring across him. "Oh yes, StarClan, the ones who just stood there and did nothing when I was killed by a horrible creature. No, I don't want to go with you, I will stay with Phoenixpaw through life and death."

Riverfur watched him balefully for a moment, her blue eyes clouding with grief. "I watch over my kits... they still live. And you can watch over her from StarClan, in the sky." "It's cold," Ghostpaw repeated to Riverfur, the protest leaving his voice. He wanted to turn and bury his muzzle in Phoenixpaw's fur, but he couldn't; he was already gone from the world. Riverfur's voice was closer when she spoke again.

"I know. But it doesn't have to be cold anymore, you can be warm forever in StarClan. Come with me, I will explain everything. And we will make you a warrior. That is how you belong; I will also tell you of what must happen. You are a warrior of StarClan now."

This seemed to convince Ghostpaw, who let another tear leave his eye. He started to walk towards Riverfur, but he hesitated for a moment. Turning back to Phoenixpaw, he whispered in her ear, his voice merely a whisper, but tangible. "I will never leave you. Seek me in the stars." Turning, he padded to Riverfur, his eyes clouded with pain and grief.

Riverfur paused, and Ghostpaw nodded. They padded away, as Ghostpaw turned his head and peered over his shoulder once more to look at the world he would never see again. Facing forwards again, they began the journey to StarClan.

((I don't think anyone will really mind if I use Ghostpaw as kind of a StarClan character... this made me almost cry again... ))</sub>

[maracate]

((sorry for interupting, but can I put my kittypet in here? not yet, of course.))

[Sable]

(( It would probably be better to make a new topic here. n_n ))