"The Dream"

First topic message reminder :

-- no more passing out, waking up. again, follow my lead. this is where it gets interesting--

It seemed like only moments, but it could have been hours since he had passed out. Waking up, Shadestar's head felt sore, perhaps where he hit it? He felt groggy as well. Wondering what even happened, he stood up shakily, putting one foot on the rock one by one and standing up. What met his eyes scared him to his core.

The wolves were all collapsed as if they were dead. Every single wolf. What could have even caused this? But that wasn't what alarmed him the most. All the trees, all the foliage, everything.... Was burnt to ash. Gone, like that. He couldn't have been out that long could he? Stepping down from the rock, he trotted to the edge of the clearing. Something didn't feel right here, as though it was a dream, though it felt real enough certainly. It was just something didn't fit right in his mind. Perhaps he was just attempting to cope with what happened. All of his home, everyones home, gone in the course of a second. What the heck was going on? Confused, he ran back to the rock and stood there, his golden gaze protectively watching the rest of the collapsed wolves, especially the ShadowClan ones. They would have to come together, whether they wanted to or not.

Hoping Shadestar and Lilystar would go back to the clans, Magmapup went to the other side of the Gorge, and verified that Stonestar and Swifstar were thankfully away from the gorge. He then watched Grayheart carefully as she neared the gorge. Surely she wouldn't fall in too?

He rolled his eyes and sighed. None of them got it. The answer was literally right in front of them, and yet they couldn't put their heads together and figure it out.

Opening her eyes, the leader found herself staring at everyone frantic and stressed. Seeing Shadestar, the leader pulled back into forming a smirk. "I cannot believe this happened." She said, almost in a joking matter.

Magmapup saw Lilystar get out of the water. Good, he thought. Perhaps she will talk sense into Shadestar.

(remember that he's a ghost right now guys xD)

Shadestar simply stared at Lilystar. There was nothing else he could do now- did she know, did she see, did she understand? Maybe she can finally tell them and this nightmare would be over.

Jaystreak watched the two clan leaders and their strange actions. She turned her head left and right for her leader, Swiftstar. For some odd reason, Swiftstar nor the deputy were near her. "Where is my clan?", She mumbled.

Lightningpaw just sat and stared at the gorge. Her young mind was working, twisting everything she had seen just happening into one picture. She thought long and hard. First, at fourtrees, everyone suddenly fell asleep. When they woke up, the forest was charred and black as if a raging fire had just torn through the area yet none of the wolves were injured or burned in any way. Now Shadestar jumped into the gorge followed by Lilystar soon afterward. It just didn't make sense. /unless.../ she thought another moment and slowly her paws carried her closer to the gorge edge. She stared down at the water below, watching it swirl. Then a slight movement caught her eye and she glanced up. An odd difference in what she saw compared to what was normally there captured her attention. She looked hard then realized something looked as if it wasn't there before, as if, as if... /did Shadestar and Lilystar die? She thought to herself before looking back down at the gorge. "What if Shadestar wants us to follow him..." she said out loud, her voice somewhat low but if someone was close enough they might have heard. She looked up again toward where she thought she had seen a faint outline of her leader, a hint of difference between the surrounding forest and this mysterious shape. Her bright eyes stared straight at it as she mouthed the words 'do we follow?' It was a question to what seemed like Shadestar, a question of did he truly kill himself on purpose.

Magmapup realized that Shadestar was a ghost and slowly began to understand why he wouldn't come back. But Shadestar had neglected to appoint a deputy, so surely he had to at least name a new leader. He shook his head in utter confusion. He did not understand why Shadestar wanted to leave his clan to the forces of a power struggle.

Shadestar blinked and smiled at the young ShadowClan apprentice. His very faint outline slowly faded until he was there no more, and then gone from this world forever.

Silverpup inches closer confused. What was it that they were looking at? Noticing the faint glow of her leaders pelt she tilted her head was this really how it was supposed to end. Falling into the gorge and never returning.

Lightningpaw saw the ghostly figure make a movement as if it blinked and smiled. She lowered her ears when the shape dissapeared and for once during this time felt truly sad. She stared at the spot she had seen her leader, hoping he would return, hoping this was a dream, hoping he knew what was going on and would help them. Her body seemed completely still, only a slight movement of her flanks to indicate she was not a frozen stone. After several oments her paws seemed to loosen and she backed away from the gorge in disbelief, shaking her head slightly. "No. No. It can't..." She muttered, her voice barely above a whisper, she backed away slowly until she bumped into something, or someone. She glanced back and it was a fellow Shadowclan wolf. Her ears lowered and she turned and walked along the gorge, about a wolflength from the dangerous edge. Her head was low, not too low, but somewhat low, as she paced along the gorge edge. Eventually her mind began to clear and she thought again. /What was it Shadestar had said? He had told us to... to... to look for inaccuracies around us./ she thought. Then she raised her head. She had walked near the Thunderclan leader, Swiftstar and saw the female looking downstream. She stared as well down the stream, trying to piece together all of the events. Her tail twitched, like it always did when she was thinking.

Apache smiled at Nightfeather when she came near him, thankful for the comfort of another clan mate's presence. Then he watched as Lilystar fell, the ground beneath her giving way. This was all too strange! There had to be something he was missing, again the idea that this was dream entered his thoughts...Could it be true?

Seeing Lightningpup at the edge of the gorge Apache instantly felt a shock of concern, he did not want to lose another wolf. Standing her hurried over to her, arriving in time to hear her say that she thought Shadestar wanted them to follow, she then turned to look back, Apache followed her gaze catching a glimpse of a ghostly silhouette before it vanished, could it have been Shadestar? It was there and gone to quickly for him to tell. And so her focused on the gorge, something did not feel quite right, for some reason as he stared at the river bellow something seemed strange. The male smiled, everything was strange here fires that killed only trees and plants never touching the wolves the smoke never suffocating them, leaving no scent of smoke or chard wood, only something like that would happen in a dream.

His thoughts were interrupted when Lightningpaw bumped into Shadowpup before making her way, instantly the male followed coming along side her when she reached the Thunderclan leader. Putting his muzzle close to her ear he whispered, "You feel it too, something is not right about this place. It is almost as if we are in some kind of shared dream...." He trailed off, uncertain whether he should go on. He too remembered Shadestar's words to look for inconsistencies around them, words he barely heard as he fell into slumber. But they had stuck with him, they fit his thoughts exactly, the place was full of unconstitutional, this fire was one of them, now the gorge and the way his leader had acted. There was something he was missing, some crucial element that would cause the puzzle to fit together.....but what was it?!

Skypup stared off into the distance, ignoring everything that was going on around her. Shadestar wouldn't have left them for nothing. He was NOT that kind of wolf. She looked at the ashes to the side of her. What if this wasn't real...could it not be real? Well, it wasn't wolves who had caused this but those strange figures, so it couldn't be. Maybe they really were dreaming and StarClan had connected their dreams? She shook her head. No, they wouldn't allow such confusion and disaster in the Clans, no matter what. Skypup rose to her feet and padded absentmindedly over to the edge of the gorge and looked down at the water. She sucked in a breath. I hope you're right, Shadestar she thought before jumping into the water and letting herself be pulled under.

Apache had allowed his eyes to wander, if he had not he never would have seen Skypup make her way toward the ledge. he knew what she was about to do, by some strange feeling he knew she would jump and so like a lighting bolt he was up and running toward her, but he was unable to reach her in time as she leaped over the edge. And so out of pure instinct he followed after her, and that was when it clicked what Lightning had said made sense now this wasn't a dream but a nightmare, and the only way to wake up from it was to die.The male savored the odd sensation of falling through the air, actually finding that he enjoyed the feel of wind rushing through his fur, then everything went black.

Silverpup summarized what had happened she shook her head following her leaders pelt until she was ankle deep in water. Moving forwards stepping with mo hesitation until she gave her last breath before being dragged to the bottom of the viscious current. If she lost her leader just like that it wasn't possible fire no smoke leaving everyone unharmed. Shadestar then Lilystar but all she felt was the tug of the cool rapid water. Until everything was black only to find her leader.

Tallpup was lost in a maelstrom of fear, uncertainty, and confusion. He watched through wide, horror-struck eyes as wolf after wolf leaped off the edge of the cliff, plunging into the violent waters of the gorge below. Tallpup didn't know what they were doing or why. Were they so lost in their own confusion that they were following their leaders into the certain death the lay below? At least Lilacstar and Shadestar had some sort of chance of surviving the fall, what with their nine lives, but any other wolf wouldn't stand a chance. Tallpup found himself trembling violently, his blunt claws digging into the peaty soil as he struggled to get a hold of himself.

Then, it hit him.

These wolves weren't sacrificing themselves out of hopelessness or fear -- there had to be some motive behind their actions. Some wolf must have figured it out, put the missing peice into the puzzle, and now things were all coming to light. Tallpup didn't know what had been figured out or how plunging into the rapids would help, but he had faith in the wolves that were facing potential death to figure this all out. Gritting his teeth, he shakily pushed himself to all fours, flashing Rosepaw a furtive glance as he took a step towards the edge. He padded forward until his paws were kneading the side of the ledge; then, he screwed his eyes shut, and plunged over the edge.

Tallpup barely had time to register the feeling of violent wind ruffling his fur before he hit the water with neck-breaking force. He let out a strangled cry as the water enveloped his small body, the strong current tugging him under. Tallpup didn't fight his impending demise; he let the water rush over him. Praying to Starclan that things would turn out alright, Tallpup went limp and gave himself up to the river.

Almost immediately, things faded to black.

Magmapup didn't know what was going on or why the wolves had started jumping into the gorge, but he knew there was some sort of purpose. Perhaps they were trying to understand what had happened to Shadestar and Lilystar, or perhaos they were just giving up hope. But he felt as if they were trying to solve some sort of problem. So, aware that he might end up dying, he jumped into the gorge. And everything faded to black.

Lightningpaw had watched as some wolves began to fall into the gorge. Just then, it hit her. /A dream! Starclan!/ she thought. She sped off toward Apachepaw to tell him what she had thought when suddenly Apachepaw also jumped into the gorge. She herself followed to the edge, watching as her clanmate plummeted. Knowing Shadestar wouldn't do such a follish thing as to kill himself and the others wouldn't either, not to mention it made sense this was a dream, Lightningpaw, quick as her name suggests, lept into the gorge. She felt a touch of water come over her then nothing but darkness.

Squirrelpup was frantic. Without the leaders, what? But he felt himself drawn to the water, and he drowned in everlasting darkness.