Catching the Sun

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This is a one-shot for Misty's contest. Enjoy!

Prologue

The she-cat's pale gold pelt was a small ray of light in the foggy darkness as she thrashed frantically. A dark force, half-cat, half-cloud, was moving towards her.

"You cannot escape. It is your destiny. You must die. It is for the good of the clans. You are not a cat. It is you. It is within you."

The she-cat's round pale green eyes grew wider and wider with fear as the dark cloud-cat became bigger. "Please," she sobbed. "I just want to live a normal life."

"Impossible! Childish fantasies! You must accept who, or what, you are. And fulfill your purpose. You have a purpose, a use. That is all."

The cloud enveloped her, but there was no one to witness the dream. If they had though, the would see that her coat grew dazzlingly bright, bursting into a brilliant golden yellow. The she-cat writhed in pain and horror as the light and darkness combusted, and she was thrown back into a silvery realm, into the clutches of sleep.

Chapter One

Runningpaw licked the last bits of vole from his lips, then stood and stretched his lean body. Looking around, he saw that, as usual, GrassClan's camp was quiet. To Runningpaw, it seemed like his warrior ceremony couldn't get here fast enough.

There was one other apprentice in the clan, a moon younger then him, but he rarely spoke to her. There was something odd, or at least different, about Sunnypaw. She had large green orbs for eyes, and a pale coat that looked like it was made from molten gold. Runningpaw kept his distance from her, not exactly because he disliked her, but because when he looked into her large eyes, he felt as if taking a step towards friendship with her again would suck him into a deep abyss that he could never get out of. Like there was much more to her then the pretty she-cat who excelled at hunting that the rest of the clan saw. But he could see it. And it kind of scared him.

"Runningpaw!" Barkleaf, their medicine cat, was walking towards him. "Can you take this mouse-bile and get rid of the elder's ticks?"

Though on the inside he cringed as he picked up the foul smelling pouch, he had to admit that, pathetically, this was the most exciting thing that had happened all morning.

"Sure Barkleaf," he mumbled around it.

"Thank you," the brown tom meowed. "I have to go harvest some dock and marigold, and I had no time to do it. Get Sunnypaw too, if you can find her."

"I think she's out hunting," he put in hastily, which was partly true. The young she-cat was an excellent hunter, and it was probably what she was doing right now. Either way, he wasn't about to go looking for her.

"Hello Runningpaw," Darkflight meowed as he entered. "Come to hear a story?"

"Actually, to tend to your ticks. But I'd love to hear one as I work," Runningpaw replied pleasantly.

"Which one should we tell him?" Darkflight turned to the other two elders, Scratchfur and Linktail.

"How about the time a fox came into the camp?" asked Scratchfur lazily. The reddish tom turned to Runningpaw. "It was the scariest thing I ever saw, let me tell you."

As he listened to the story, with each elder coming up with more outrageous additions to the tale, Runningpaw let his mind wander. Would he ever be forced to fight a fox? He wanted to do the right thing for his clan, but would only fight to kill if it was absolutely nessacary.

After he was done with the elders, Runningpaw headed outside. There was no sign of his mentor, Redberry, so he decided to go for a walk in the woods and do some hunting as well.

The sunlight was warm on his back as he weaved through the forest. Just then, he heard a low, chanting sound. Puzzled, he followed the noise and emerged into a hidden vale. Sunlight filtered through so many layers of green leaves and cherry blossoms that it splayed out in an emerald and ruby pattern on the grass. The cherry trees' long branches brushed the ground, and all manner of beautiful flowers grew around the alcove.

And sitting in the middle of the clearing, bathed in ethereal light, was Sunnypaw. She appeared to be in a queer trance. Her green eyes were wide open, but unseeing. Her body was vibrating slightly. The chanting sound he had heard appeared to come from around her.

Slowly, he backed away, then turned and ran. What is wrong with her?

Chapter Two

"Aolani," Sunnypaw said impatiently, glaring at the dark, wavering form of a cat in front of her. "Can't you talk about anything but how to control my power till the 'time'? Why can't you explain to me what exactly is going on with me?"

The cloud-cat sat, and her eyes emerged from the ever-moving mist she was made of. "Sunnypaw," she sighed, or at least that's what it looked like. It was quite odd talking to her. "It's difficult to explain. Now, let's try that again. This time, when I lunge at you, no matter how angry or emotional you get, do not let it happen."

"I'm the sun." Sunnypaw still cringed and bit her lip when she said those words, though she had known for some time now.

"Not exactly," meowed Aolani calmly. The large golden eyes disappeared, and she reared back and prepared to strike, growing bigger.

With a shrug, Sunnypaw braced herself. As usual, she felt the sunlight. Not the warm sunlight she felt normally, and other cats must all the time, but a hot raging inferno that threatened to engulf everything. Next came the burning in her chest. Then the flash of light- No! She focused her mind intently, trying desperately to keep herself together. The rays began to dim slowly. Aolani's eyes appeared once more, and she gave a nod of approval, receding into her regular form.

"You're getting better."

"Save it."

"It's really helping. Soon you'll be able to fight like a normal cat."

"A normal cat! What do you care if I get to be normal? All you're trying to do is keep the power safe till the time comes. You don't care about me! You think I'm a weapon! Something to be used." Sunnypaw felt her rage building again. Light began emerging once more, chasing Aolani back. She swished her tail agitatedly.

"That's not true Sunnypaw. Calm down, now."

"Forget it!" Sunnypaw expelled a few rays and blinded herself as well. The clouds faded and she was back in her secret place with the new-leaf air surrounding her comfortingly. She blinked a few times, and regained her composure. It always took a while to get adjusted back to the normal world after her training sessions.

As she headed back, she thought that for a second she scented Runningpaw. Runningpaw. She had liked him since they were kits. She could remember when they had been best friends and done everything together. That was before Aolani. Before she found out who she really was. Before her family had died because of it.

Before. And it will never be the same again.

The whole clan was enjoying a quiet evening. Sunnypaw enjoyed it as well, but for a different reason. As the sun went down, the power within her dimmed. It was still there, she knew, a bright, burning presence, but it was much easier to control. It let her mind refocus on regular happenings instead.

A twinge of loneliness stabbed her as she looked about at her clanmates all sharing tongues and talking. Only one other cat was alone as well. His warm blue gaze caught hers for an instant, and she felt her neck-fur growing hot. She looked away.

Runningpaw and she hadn't really spoken since her family had died. Since she had met Aolani. Sunnypaw knew she had changed then, and probably not for the better, but she didn't know how to get back to normal. What was normal anyway, when you were destined to die for your clan. When you knew that no matter how hard you tried to escape it, your only fate was to be a massive bomb. She wasn't even sure what she would be fighting against when the "time" came, but Aolani made it soud like a tiger and lion combined. And Sunnypaw had no desire to fight. It came not from gentleness, though she would never hurt something without reason. It stemmed from the fact that here on earth, without Aolani's help and in the heat of battle, they could never be sure what would happen.

So far she had avoided all the border skirmishes. But as new-leaf made them stronger, GrassClan's biggest advesaries, WillowClan, were attacking more and more often, trying to steal the little portion of woods GrassClan owned. They did most of their hunting on the prairie, but the woods served as a good hunting grounds and a place to make their camp. The clan would defend it fiercely, and Sunnypaw knew it wouldn't be long before she was called into battle. She was also sure that nothing short of an eclipse would stop her from exploding and destroying every cat in the forest, including herself.

Chapter Three

Runningpaw lay awake in his nest, unable to stop his gaze from straying to the other side of the apprentice's den, where Sunnypaw was curled into a tight little ball. Every few minutes she'd murmur something incoherent in a pleading tone, making him wonder what she was dreaming about. What had she been doing when he saw her today?

His thoughts travelled back to his kithood. In almost all of his early memories, she was there. The night she'd been born. Their first trip outside the nursery. Listening to elder's tales together. Getting chased out of the warrior's den by Darkflight. His cheeks grew hot as he remembered the day he'd marched up to his mom and announced that he loved Sunnykit, that they were mates, and were going to have one hundred kits when they grew up. I was little then. I didn't know any better.

Then her parents had died. Their bodies had been found in the woods. The clan had assumed that they had been killed by rogues, because they couldn't come up with anything else. But there was no way a mere cat could have broken two cats' spines like that. Sunnypaw, who was a kit then, had been stricken. But Runningpaw could tell she knew more about her parent's death then she let on.

After that point though, it became impossible to reach her. She retreated into a shell no one could penetrate, and the bonds of their friendship had disappaited into his pitying looks and her defiant glares. Sunnypaw hated to be pitied; Runningpaw knew that much. But it was hard not to feel sorry for her, whatever she was going through had most definitely not ended with her parents being killed. And he wasn't sure if it would ever end.

"Runningpaw! We're going out for some hunting practice." Runningpaw loooked up to see his mentor, Redberry, walking towards him. "Sunnypaw and Crimsonfall are using the sand-pit for fight-training, so I thought we'd go down to the field and catch some hares. It'll help your speed."

"Sure," Runningpaw meowed. Oddly, he felt a bit disappointed that Sunnypaw wasn't coming. He wanted to ask her what she had been doing yesterday, lost in that odd trance. It scared him somewhat, but another part of him wanted to reach out, to know more. How much had his old friend changed?

They headed out of the camp and through the woods. The field opened up in front of them as an endless expanse of grass stretching as far as they could see. The light wind carried the scent of hare on it, making Runningpaw's mouth water. His long legs longed to race over the grassy turf in pursuit of one. It was in his blood.

Spotting a brown shape huddled in the grass, he dropped into a crouch and began stalking it. Keeping his tail still, he wove between the stalks till he could see the hare clearly. Then he leaped out of the grass in an explosion and gave chase. The hare began running as fast as he could, but Runningpaw hadn't recieved his name for nothing. He accelarated till he was a blur, using his long tail as a rudder to help steer himself as he moved. Closing in on the hare, he pounced and delivered the killing bite just before his momentum caught up with him and he somersaulted with the fresh-kill clenched in his jaws.

Redberry caught up with him and smiled approvingly. "Good job," she praised. They hunted a bit more, then headed back to the camp.

Runningpaw dropped his hare and two squirrels on the fresh-kill pile. As he looked up, he caught Sunnypaw's brilliant green gaze, and turned away. Why was she everywhere he looked?

The quiet of the dusk was shattered by Oakclaw, who had just rushed into the camp. "WillowClan is attacking!"

Chapter Four

Sunnypaw's stomach gave a sickening twist when she heard Oakclaw. Somehow she knew her luck had run out. It was time to fight. To find out what she was made of. Already, despite the coolness of the sunset, she could feel her power alight within her. When she looked at Runningpaw, she knew he saw it burning in her eyes, and hot shame crept through her. Why couldn't she just be a normal cat?

Larchstar emerged from her den, her gray-brown agouti coat rippling over nimble muscles. "Then we will fight back. Where are they?"

"The border by the woods. Our patrol is holding them off, but they can't last much longer." Oakclaw licked a spot of dark red blood off his brown coat.

"Redberry, Hareleap, Birdwings, Runningpaw, and Sunnypaw, go with Oakclaw."

Automatically, though her brain didn't register what she was doing, Sunnypaw felt herself moving after the patrol. What would happen now?

As the patrol headed through the woods, the scent of WillowClan became stronger. Sunnypaw felt her warrior blood rising, and fought to control it. She would fight it as long as she could.

Yowls exploded in her ears as they burst into the battle-scene. Screeching cats clawed at each other's pelts frantically. The GrassClan warriors were outnumbered, Sunnypaw observed. She would have to fight. Hareleap and Birdwings, two mates, streaked past her and pounced into the fray. They were followed by the rest of the patrol, except for Runningpaw. He glanced at her, a bit nervously. "You okay?"

She swallowed, trying to force down the intense heat boiling over inside her and focus on his face, the sound of his voice. "Yeah." He gave a short nod and sprang into the fight.

Aolani, please help me make you proud. With that, Sunnypaw pounced on a WillowClan cat and bit down hard. She let out a screech of pain almost the same time he did, but hers was at the scorching pain that lanced through her. She bit down on her tongue, hard, ignoring the salty flavor of blood in her mouth, and scrabbled determinedly at the WillowClan tom's pelt. She would learn to fight normally. She had to.

Hareleap and Redberry were tackling a large tom she recognized as Yodelthroat, WillowClan's deputy, while Oakclaw and Birdwings tussled with another pair of cats. Runningpaw was pinned to the ground by a huge tom, who was diving for his throat. No! There was no way she could save him. He was too far away. But suddenly, just as she thought it, the WillowClan cat was thrown back against a tree. The fighting ceased, as all the cats turned horrified, just in time to see his fur catch fire.

"Snapclaw!" screamed a cream she-cat. The tom let out a howl of pure terror and beat himself furiously on the tree, which ignited. He raced away, his fur charred and leaving a trail of smoke, as the flames began spreading.

"Run!" yelled Runningpaw. He shot forward, a brown blur, and suddenly panicked cats from both clans were rushing past her. But Sunnypaw couldn't move. She'd caused this. The bushes had caught fire now, and slowly it was easing into a circle, surrounding her. "Sunnypaw!" Runningpaw appeared at the last gap where the flames hadn't reached yet. "Come on!"

Sunnypaw closed her eyes, trying to shut out the image, then she ran. She felt Runningpaw alongside her, slowing his paces to meet hers, but she didn't open her eyes. She slammed headfirst into a fallen log and collapsed. Hot tears coursed down her cheeks, not from the pain, but from the sickening guilt of what she had just done. "Sunnypaw?" Runningpaw's voice was softer now, gentle, despite his fear of the fire that was quickly chasing them.

"Runningpaw," she managed to get out. "Go on without me. I'll be fine." She wasn't sure how true this was, but surely she had more immunity to heat than other cats. He didn't respond, just curled up beside her. She raised her head. "Go!"

He shook his head pointedly. "I'm not leaving you here."

"You'll die!"

"We'll die." He was completely calm. She couldn't tell if he meant it, but no more cats could be hurt because of her today.

"Come on." They scrambled to their paws and shot through the woods and grass, headed for the river. Sunnypaw had no time to wonder why he had done it; she was too busy trying to keep up with his long, quick strides.

Many other cats, WillowClan and GrassClan alike, were already there. "Runningpaw! Sunnypaw!" They saw Redberry gesturing frantically and jumped into the river beside her.

"Where were you?" she gasped, staring at her apprentice and Sunnypaw. Sunnypaw opened her mouth to say something, but Runningpaw cut her off.

"Sorry. We got sidetracked."

Redberry nodded and padded off towards another group of GrassClan cats huddled together. "Thank you," she whispered.

"Thanks nothing," Runningpaw said. "I want to know what happened back there Sunnypaw."

"W-what?" she stammered.

"I know you did something." She detected a hint of desperation in his voice. "I don't understand what, but I know something happened. Something you didn't intend."

She stared at him in shock. How did he know? For some reason she didn't feel like lying. There was enough of that in her life. "It's a long story."

He glanced at the burning forest. "We've got time."

"You won't believe me."

His steady blue eyes met her troubled green ones. "Try me."