For the Lightningbolts in my Arteries ✪


✪ Align my Heart, my Body, my Mind​

indentThe cycle of death and undeath is exhausting. When Dustystar awakes again, cushioned by a soft bed of stars, she doesn't bother to get up. How many times has she died now? Three? Four? Though she'd tried so hard to push the truth from her mind, the facts begin to set in. She's going to die here, permanently.

indentShe's never going to see Branchkit become and apprentice, or to see Wheatwhistle finally retire his aching bones. She won't get to see Honeyflower's beautiful kittens grow into warriors. The last memory anyone will have of her will be as a dictator, throwing cats into danger to quell her own fear.

indentThrough the welling of tears, she can see a small figure approach. Their pelt is soft and full, with eyes much brighter than the last time she'd seen them. "Bluebirdkit." Dustystar mews, weakly. "It's good to see you."


Dustystar - 27 moons - Windclan Leader


 
ʚBLUEBIRDKITɞ

✧˖°. STARCLAN ⋆˙⟡

Sometimes she hates that they aren't allowed to intervene, that StarClan is so powerful yet does so little to help the living cats. Bluebirdkit knows what happened to Molewhisker, she knew what Dustystar was planning, she knew how Hawkstar would react. Yet she couldn't warn them, nor could she warn her little brother. Of course he got picked for the patrol.

All she could do was watch and wait. At least... well at least until now. StarClan isn't meant to meddle with the living, talk to them or approach them, unless it's for specific reasons. But Dusty is not to stay among the living anymore and Bluebirdkit takes this chance to talk to her before it's her final time. Before she's to depart to the other side. Bluebirdkit isn't all knowing, but of this, she is fairly certain.

"Hello, Dusty."
she greets the other with her old name, the one Bluebirdkit had known her as for most of her short life.
"It's good to see you too."
she sits down next to the dying leader.

Bluebirdkit is not yet sure what purpose she came here with, but seeing Dusty dying all by herself? Well, she couldn't take it anymore.
"I'm here to keep you company, if you wish for it."
she speaks softly, the stars in her pelt twinkling with every word.
"And if you're worried about what your clanmates think of you now... well, I don't know everything, but my brother does not blame you. That much I can say."


The fact that he blamed himself was another thing, but not one for Dustystar's ears to hear. Not for the dying leader to worry about. She already had too much on her shoulders to bear and adding Bluebirdkit's brother's anxiety to it would serve no purpose but harm.
"He may not understand, but he respected you. He listened to you without complaints and I think that speaks of your character more than your final act."

 

✪ Align my Heart, my Body, my Mind​

indentWith great effort, Dustystar pulls herself up, just enough to gently lick the top of Bluebirdkit's lovely head. Though she'd died so young, she was still so wise, so full of knowledge beyond her years. "I'd love that, Bluebird." Like Bluebirdkit, she speaks their old names. It's a comforting reminder of an easier time, when borders and codes were only found in distant stories.

indentWith a heaving sigh, Dustystar lays her head on her wet, freezing paws. "Your brother has grown into a wonderful cat. I was looking forward to naming him a warrior." She hums, bittersweetly. "I'm sad I'll have to miss it."

indentBluebirdkit speaks of her brother's respect. Dustystar's brow furrows with thought. "Listening without complaint... I almost wish he hadn't. Maybe if enough cats had thrown fits about it, I would have called off the patrol." Her good eye drifts to watch the sparkling ground. "Or, maybe not. No matter what Hollowmumble says, something had to be done. I don't think anyone could convince me against that." Maybe they could have come to another solution, but they couldn't have done nothing. A reputation for being easy to slight would ruin Windclan.

indentSilver shoulder sag. All this ruminating only made her head hurt. There's no turning back what had happened.


Dustystar - 27 moons - Windclan Leader


 
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ʚBLUEBIRDKITɞ

✧˖°. STARCLAN ⋆˙⟡

She listens to Dusty speak without a word, waiting for the other to finish first. When Dustystar looks at her, Bluebirdkit offers her a smile, but nothing beyond that. Not yet.

Only when the grey-pelted leader stops and the world falls into a silence, does Bluebirdkit speak up.
"Maybe."
she simply repeats.
"Or maybe not."
Dustystar knows this in her mind, but does she know it in her heart as well?
"It does not matter now. What's done is done and what WindClan does next is up to your clanmates now."


Bluebird thinks of the days after the barn fire - the confusion, tension, yet hope. Survival. Kinship. She was too weak and small to understand most of what was happening, but she knew Dusty had been chosen. And now, she understands why.

"You did your best as a leader."
she dips her head.
"Though I did not live under your rule, not long enough at least, I have watched you."
Sure, Dustystar was young, inexperienced. But she had taken on her role seriously and took care of her own. No one could ask more of her.
"You loved WindClan. You loved your clanmates. That's the most important quality a leader may have."