I have no doubt that the following is loaded with typos and the like, so please bear with me; I typed it and the poem in a short timespan. Also, all information here is off the top of my head, with no references whatsoever to Warriors books I haven't touched in a long time, so don't hurt me for mistakes in that section, too, mmkay? As always, though, I would, of course, appreciate if you pointed them out to me. :)
A oneshot from various cats' POV's, dedicated to all of the brave, couragous soldiers that fought and gave their lives so that we could have the life we have today. Original work of me, Annie. Le duh.
.[Bravery].
Silence is beautiful,
Silence is free,
Yet, sometimes, you are left wondering
What it holds for thee.
A glowing candle of hope,
Or a scalpel in the night?
The agonies of knowing that
You won't go down without a fight.
o0O0o
The sky is black and smooth, constant and uninterrupted as the sheet of ice that blankets the leaf-bare river.
Swiftpaw pads lightly through the forest with Brightpaw at his heels, heart beating unevenly as he lopes hurriedly along with a feverish gleam in his eyes. Ragged gasps of air hissing in and out of his contracting lungs, he gallops steadily forward to meet what is sure to be death.
After all, what else could it possibly be?
o0O0o
Powers of the ancient flow wretchedly
Through your bones,
Stronger than the death that
Tears the heart apart.
o0O0o
The black-and-white striped snout of the badger looms inward from the desperately concealing shadows, silver teeth snapping ferociously. Cinderpelt stands up before her foe, balancing the weight of her slim gray body on three legs. As always, the fourth is raised a mouse-length from the ground in an unsightly way, gruesomely twisted by that fateful injury from a day long, long ago. Whiskers twitching in knowing anticipation, she raises her chin in defiance and lets lose a slow, dangerous growl that rumbles in her throat and shows the pure anger that courses through her.
Behind the ThunderClan medicine cat, a thin, eerie wail rises from a dappled tortoiseshell she-cat as Sorreltail struggles to bring forth her kits to meet the treacheries of the world.
o0O0o
And as the desperate flickers
Apologize and go,
You think of all the melodies
That you used to know.
Your mother sang them to you,
But now you've slipped away,
Whisked upon the icy breeze
To where none may follow.
o0O0o
Wise knowledge shimmers in Whitestorm's eyes as he rasps his tongue gently over Willowpelt's ear. His mate trembles uncontrollably even under his loving touch, and a dry sob breaks free from the clutches of her breaking heart as she pushes her cheek into his fur.
"Please be careful," she whispers hoarsely, revelling in his scent for what she very well knows may be the last time. "I can't afford to lose you...what would I ever do without you?" Breaking down once more into coughing heaves of her chest, she is unable to continue.
He soothes her with soft murmurs and quiet prayers, though, in his heart, he knows that he is not destined to return.
o0O0o
The grip of death, so burning cold;
The sacrifice of life
Is brought before the heavens
To be rejected and burned.
o0O0o
Gravelly and open, Snakerocks's expanse looks silver in the moonlight that pours from between the tree leaves, bathing the scene in colourless paint. Gesturing for Brightpaw to stay where she is, Swiftpaw creeps out from the securing cover of the spindly bushes and surrenders to the revealing light of the flat clearing. Beyond the metallically-tinged stone carpeting, everything is dark; he cannot see a thing. A quick peek back over his shoulder shows naught but the glowing orbs that can only be his fellow apprentice's eyes. Though the sight of them is mildly reassuring, he does not doubt that the terror in them match his own.
Taking another hesitant pawstep forward, his gaze lingers over the shadows that waver around the jagged tree line. "What monsters lurk in their depths?" he wonders to himself. A ripping snarl from right behind him answers his question.
o0O0o
Why did you fall?
When I reached out to catch you and
You merely shook your head.
"Do not cry," you whispered soothingly,
Yet tears fell from your face,
"I will be with you always...whatever may be the case."
o0O0o
Dip, strike, duck, scratch...though she had indeed been trained the basic fighting skills by various cats throughout her short life, there had rarely been a time when she had had to put them to the test. As it proves, it looks like the distant ways of a warrior have escaped her, and, anyway, they are meant for cats, not the badger that refuses to give up and instead delivers blow after blow towards the weakening she-cat. She can feel her strength ebbing with every heartbeat...it is like watching the life drain from prey that is soon to be fresh-kill, only in reverse. How can you fight when the pain is internal, a beast that tears you apart from inside? The only option is to wait and see.
o0O0o
Then you left me weeping as you floated to the wind,
And I watched you drift away from me,
My dearest, closest kin.
o0O0o
How many warriors does BloodClan have? It seems that, no matter how many were killed and no matter how many fled, there is always another ready to take the failure's place. Panting hard, Whitestorm spins around to see a surge of fresh cats pouring down from the trees, and he needs to search for the adrenaline that drives his paws towards them. His pads are cracked and stained with blood, but he cannot stop and rest, for he has a duty to fulfill, a duty that he will follow until the end of the earth...even if it pulls him down with it.
o0O0o
Why did you have to go?
What made you want to fight?
What tore you from my arms
And set my heart alight?
o0O0o
Swiftpaw never realized how little effort it took for his flowing fur to be slashed open so. Blood seeps heavily from gashes in his skin, leaving him dizzy and light-headed. More and more dogs pile upon him, and he can hear Brightpaw's shrieking war cry as she carnages furiously for the good of the Clan. Barraged by the biggest canine of them all, he screams wildly and attempts to drag himself away from the pressure on his flaming flank and the hot, dripping saliva that foams and dribbles into his ear.
Amazingly, incredibly, the agony increases, and, one by one, he can feel each of his bones break, hear the shatter of marrow and life. Then everything goes black, and Swiftpaw sees no more.
o0O0o
The battle of the nothing
That rages in your blood,
Screaming,
Whipping,
Dying,
For those that you have loved.
o0O0o
Why did she even bother to fight the truth when Bluestar broke it to her all those moons ago? StarClan has their ways, sees everything set out as if it were a magnificent jigsaw puzzle assembled before them. Their foretelling was right, of course, and Cinderpelt cannot deny it as the badger's gigantic paw comes crashing down on her spine. She is already on her way to the afterlife before the dying breath leaves her mouth, but she died for her family and friends, and she is happy.
o0O0o
Loyalties run deeply set,
Binding you to the stake,
More than just chained manacles
That off you may not take.
o0O0o
Bone stares mercilessly down at the ThunderClan deputy, who placidly meets his gaze in return. This is the moment, he knows, the very reason of meaning for what he set out to do.
"I do not fear you."
The words that tumble from his mouth are not slipped out by accident, nor are they a petty plead for the mercy he knows he would not receive. There is not an ounce of fear reflected in his blue eyes as he stands straight and tall and proud, the stance of a warrior, the statue of a soldier.
The posture is crippled as Bone strikes.
o0O0o
As the world ends at last
And things are all but done,
The blackness clouds over
And you know that you have won.
o0O0o
Perched upon a fencepost far away, in a land that is not quite so riddled with war and terror, a lone kittypet stares upwards in sheer awe and mystery: the scarlet sky is the most dazzling red shade of blood.
o0O0o
Remember.
o0O0o
Definitely not my best, I know, but I was in a hurry to get it up before the end of the day. Have a lovely Remembrance Day, m'dears, and always remember to be grateful for all that you have, no matter how shitty everything seems.
Wear those poppies proudly!
--Annie;;/