The Fall

''The Fall is the Pilot episode of Unstable Time's season 1. Song featured is Time to Say Goodbye, by Jeff Williams and Casey Lee Williams. ''

Enjoy

The Fall
There's a point where it tips, and there's a point where it breaks

There's a point where it bends and a point we just can't take

Anymore...

Snowfire's POV

Snowfire had spent her whole warrior ceremony grieving for her father, Jaystar was noble and just, loved by all his clanmates. Her clanmates greived as much as she did, and now Thunderclan was left without a leader or a deputy. Jaystar had fought bravely against the other clans, but now all of them suffered for that war.

"Snowfire." Riverflight called, Snowfire looked up

"Yeah, what is it?" Snowfire asked quietly, she watched the other she-cat walk up to her cautiously.

Riverflight seemed to be choosing her next words carefully, "Some of us were wondering if we should start border patrols again, make them stronger, so we don't have a repeat of the war." She murmured.

Snowfire blinked, and asked, "Why are you asking me? I'm not the leader."

"That's the thing, Snowfire. No one is, we need someone to at least give us a direction." Riverflight explained, and tipped her head to a group of warriors watching Snowfire carefully. Snowfire flicked her tail, and sighed, "Fine, let them know, remark the borders around Shadowclan especially."

Riverflight nodded, and led the other warriors out into the night, Snowfire looked up at the stars, and murmured, "I wish you didn't leave the clan so soon, father... There's still so much that needed to be done..." She blinked when the stars only twinkled sadly, even her mentor, Hawkfeather, was taken away from her. The always laughing, goofy, bumbling tom brightened up the clan even in the darkest times, and taught Snowfire more than just hunting and fighting moves, Yet... I'll never be able to fill either of them's place... She thought sadly.

She looked back at the nursery, she jumped when someone laughed behind her, and said, "It's been a long time since you were in there, Snowfire."

Snowfire looked back to see Leafwind sitting by her, Hawkfeather's mate. Snowfire pointed out, "You're still in there."

"Yes," Leafwind murmured, and her eyes grew sad, "However, the kittens are old enough that I at least get to walk around, it's nice, even if Hawkfeather isn't making some joke about how flowers should be put on the brambles to make it more welcoming beside me, not anymore." She padded up to Snowfire, and sat beside her, and looked up into the skies as well.

Snowfire whispered, "I'm sure he's watching his family from Starclan."

Leafwind nodded, and laughed, "Don't let yourself be stressed from what the cats are saying, take your time, both your father and Hawkfeather always did." She stood up, and walked away.

Snowfire muttered under her breath as the other she-cat walked away, "That's what got them killed..."

Leafwind seemed to be the only one that accepted the fact that Snowfire just wasn't ready to be a leader, not so soon after being made a warrior, not so soon after her father's death. However, the other cats weren't as patient, she understood their fear, if Thunderclan continued without a leader, the great clan of the forest would fall eventually, and she was the closest thing they had, even if she was just made a warrior.

What should I do? Snowfire thought, and looked up at the sky, she didn't get an answer except the wind through her fur, which only made her cold, she curled her tail to her side, and looked around the camp. It was oddly empty save for the remaining cats of Thunderclan, many warriors, even apprentices, had died protecting Thunderclan, it would take many moons to even start rebuilding, let alone have a real leader.

Snowfire felt a shot of anger course through her, but she resisted unsheathing her claws, it was a lesson her father had taught everyone, Revenge won't bring the dead back...

She decided to wait until the border patrol had come back, she dreaded the time where they would come back, give her their reports, and she had no idea what to do whatever it was that was happening on the border, Hawkfeather didn't prepare her for this. Snowfire spotted the medicine cat, Vinespeck, a nimble spotted she-cat, watching her carefully, as if considering her.

Snowfire stood up, and felt uneasy under her other clanmate's gaze. She jumped up the leader's tree, and sat there, looking over the rest of the camp. She flinched nervously when the cats continued to watch her expectently, she put her paws in front of her, and clawed the branch in frustration, I'm no older than an apprentice, Jaystar and Hawkfeather were the leaders, not me, I wanted nothing but to be a warrior, I don't want this...

When the sun rose into the sky, Riverflight and the patrol had returned, Snowfire jumped down to meet them, and asked, "So? Anything interesting?"

"Nothing." Riverflight reported, Snowfire breathed a sigh of relief, she spotted some apprentices sniffing the measly prey pile. Riverflight saw this as well, and Snowfire knew what was coming next, so she nodded, "Yes, hunting patrol." She said quickly, before Riverflight could land it on her.

Riverflight nodded, and flicked her tail to the two apprentices, who followed her out. Vinespeck walked up to her, and murmured, "You cannot avoid this, Snowfire, Thunderclan needs a leader."

Snowfire shook her head, "Thunderclan needs someone else, I'm not ready." She pointed out harshly, but Vinespeck didn't flinch.

"I watched your mother bring you into this world early, Snowfire, none of us are ready, but either we accept that we're not and prepare the best we can, or we all watch as this clan falls into the darkness ahead," Vinespeck grumbled, "Your clanmates are going to want you to get your nine lives, recently made warrior or not, I've seen signs from Starclan that this is what they want."

"Hawkfeather would be beside himself." Snowfire grunted.

Vinespeck looked up at the stars, "Maybe, but I know your father believes you can do this, let me know when you're prepared for it, I'll take you to the moonpool, I will not rush you, but this needs to be done before Thunderclan crumbles, do what you can as a warrior." She said calmly, and walked back to her den.

Snowfire groaned, she had no one to turn to, Hawkfeather wasn't there to point out that leaders aren't born, they're made, her father wasn't there to do the leading, her mother died giving birth to her, all her friends were gone, all that was left was a broken clan, a broken clan that she was expected to lead.

Now it's time to say goodbye to the things we loved

and the innocence of youth

How the time seemed to fly from our carefree lives...

And the solitude and peace we always knew...

Ashpaw's POV

We can't just cling to childish things as evil just grows closer

the clan's are in jeapordy

This fight is far from over

"Ashkit! From this moment on you'll be known as Ashpaw, your mentor will be Fogheart, I hope he teaches everything he knows to you." Darkstar called over the crowd, Ashpaw felt his fur bristle in excitement, I'm finally an apprentice! He thought excitedly as him and Fogheart touched noses, he heard all of Shadowclan call out his name, it made him feel great.

"I hope you're ready, Ashpaw, we have a lot of catching up to do since the war." Fogheart said coolly, Ashpaw brushed it off though, and bounced excitedly.

Ashpaw spotted his mother and father on the sidelines, Fogheart flicked Ashpaw with his tail, and nodded to his parents. Ashpaw bounded up to them, and said excitedly, "I'm an apprentice!"

His father, Skyflame, laughed, "I'm proud of you, Ashpaw, Fogheart's a great warrior, be sure to listen to him."

His mother, Oaksong, laughed softly, "You grow too fast for me, Ashpaw."

"Aw, mom." Ashpaw flicked his tail in embarresment. They all looked up when Darkstar called them again, "I will be sending several border patrols to both Riverclan and Thunderclan borders to strengthen the line between them."

Ashpaw watched as Fogheart called, "Thunderclan is weakened since you fought Jaystar and won, we should take some territory, we have so little prey, it's not like they'll be able to fight back, we need the prey. They don't have a lot of mouths to feed anymore."

Darkstar eyed Fogheart, "I did not like killing Jaystar, I respected him as a leader, it was an unfortunate accident, did you feel the same way when you killed his best friend, when all he did was protect his camp and all who were in it?" He asked darkly.

"Hawkfeather? He laughed in my face as I killed him, he practically drove off my patrol all by himself before joining Starclan," Fogheart explained, "I did not care either way, they are both dead, and Thunderclan is left without it's two best warriors, we should take what it's ours before they get a new leader."

Ashpaw asked Oaksong, "Who's Hawkfeather?"

Skyflame answered him, "Hawkfeather was the deputy of Thunderclan, I met him during a gathering, he always had a sense of humour to him, but I wonder if Fogheart was telling the truth if he kept that sense of humour right until the end."

Ashpaw shivered, Fogheart finally relented from Darkstar's gaze, and he called, "I do not want any of you overstepping to Thunderclan, the war was a mistake all of us had made, allow them their time to grieve, they lost two great warriors, understood?" He asked harshly, and all the cats bowed in submission. Fogheart didn't though, but Darkstar ignored him.

Darkstar called the meeting, Fogheart walked up to Ashpaw, and said, "I'm going to introduce you to the territory." He nodded to Oaksong and Skyflame, and led Ashpaw out of the camp.

Ashpaw trudged through the mud that was Shadowclan's territory behind Fogheart, who didn't seem to be having any trouble. They stopped by a fishy smelling border, and Fogheart said, "This is Riverclan, their main prey source is fish, they're very hard to breach right into the camp, as they're surrounded by a river, well defended, don't underestimate them."

Ashpaw nodded, taking note in his head he turned to follow Fogheart, almost tripping into the mud. Fogheart ignored this, and forged ahead. Ashpaw finally caught up, and soon they stopped by a leafy forest. Fogheart sniffed the air, and laughed, "Seems as if Thunderclan is trying to make it clear that we aren't allowed to cross."

"This is Thunderclan?" Ashpaw asked, and looked up at the magnificent leafy tree's.

"Yes, Darkstar killed the leader, while I killed his deputy." Fogheart said calmly, which made Ashpaw nervous. Darkstar had seemed to regret what he did.

"How did Hawkfeather drive your patrol off if you killed him?" Ashpaw asked.

Fogheart looked down at him coldly, "He drived off my patrol, then I killed him, but I had to retreat, my warriors were gone, there was no way I was going to reach the camp." He explained, and turned away from the border, flicking his tail frustratingly as he went. Ashpaw stood there though.

"Ashpaw, come on, I'm going to teach you some basic hunting moves." Fogheart called.

Ashpaw finally turned around, and followed Fogheart into the underbrush.

Were we born to fight and die?

Sacrificed for one huge lie?

Ravenwing's POV

Are we hero's keeping peace?

Or are we weapons?

Ravenwing ran through Windclan's seemingly endless fields, he had chased a couple of rabbits and won. He laughed, and said, "Sorry rabbit's, looks like Ravenwing wins the race this time," He buried the prey nearby, and bowed his head, "Thank you Starclan." He murmured, then sniffed the air.

He spotted a rabbit nearby, he crouched sneakily, and laughed to himself, "Ravenwing 3, Rabbit's 0."

He began the chase, the rabbit got startled, and ran away, he chased it across the fields and into mossy ground, not that he was paying attention, his mind was on the chase, until a sleek black furball bowled into him, he grunted as his back slammed into the ground, and the rabbit escaped, he sighed, "Ravenwing 2, rabbit's 1."

Ravenwing finally looked at his capturer, and his jaw dropped, the sleek black she-cat stared down at him critically with sharp emeral eyes, and she asked dangerously, "Am I interrupting something?"

"Oh, nothing sweets, I was just you know, chasing a rabbit, for prey." Ravenwing grumbled.

She looked around, and murmured, "Couldn't you do that on your own territory?"

Ravenwing blinked in confusion, then looked around quickly, he spotted the reeds of Riverclan, and the grassy ground that wasn't Windclan, he sighed, "Whoops, my bad, so are you going to take me to your leader?"

She looked at him thoughtfully, and asked, "What's your name, Windclan?"

"Ravenwing, you know, for those black birds," Ravenwing said calmly, she rolled her eyes, he asked, "So? What's your name?"

"Silvershade, and you should be more careful," Silvershade jumped off him, and pointed out, "My clanmates haven't been as forgiving since the war, they'd sooner tear your throat out then make small conversation." She flicked her tail, and turned away from him. He bilnked, and thought quickly.

Ravenwing finally called back, "Why'd you let me go then?"

Silvershade perked her ears, and pointed out, "All you were doing was chasing a rabbit not paying attention where you were going, that's not really something punishable, just an honest mistake, everyone makes them." She shrugged.

Ravenwing stared as her tail waved into the bushes, he stood there like a dumbstruck squirrel, until a bird call shook him out of his stupor, he ran back to Windclan, unsure of what just happened, and unsure of the soft feeling in his chest. He grabbed the buried rabbits, and ran back to camp.

Nightpaw, his apprentice, was waiting for him, she asked, "What took you so long? I came back a while ago."

Ravenwing didn't answer her at first, he put the rabbits down on the prey pile, and said, "Sorry, I got caught up."

Nightpaw laughed, "Sure, Ravenwing." She padded away to talk to her friends, and Ravenwing sighed in relief, but jumped when another cat called his name.

"Sootstar!" Ravenwing gasped at his bestfriend.

Sootstar laughed, "Jumpy aren't you? Did the rabbit's finally beat you to it? Not like you to lose a chase, you're one of my best hunters." He nudged Ravenwing on the shoulder.

"Got caught up on something," Ravenwing reported, and nodded to the two rabbit's he caught, "I didn't come back empty handed Sooty." He laughed, using the name Sooty since they were both kits. Sootstar didn't seem to mind though.

"Good job then." Sootstar laughed, and walked away, Ravenwing looked around his clan, and thought grimly, Our clan got off lucky, we're still stable, after the war, the other three clan's were effected too harshly, we haven't had a gathering in ages, our medicine cats haven't spoken with Starclan like they should...

He watched as Ivyblossom walked up to him, and asked, "Any luck on your hunt?" She asked.

"I lost." He pointed out, and shrugged.

Ivyblossom laughed, and brushed her tail down his flank, "How about tomorrow we both go hunting, they can't outrun both of us." She said quietly.

Ravenwing said, "Sure."

Ivyblossom walked away, but his mind wandered back to Silvershade, he could still see her sharp emerald eyes, the sleekness of her black fur, and he thought, Silvershade, huh?

Are we pointed at the enemy...

<p style="text-align:center;">So that someone else can claim a victory?