Together At Last

(Hollyleaf x Fallen Leaves)

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The ebony she-cat allowed her brilliant green eyes to open ever so slightly. White light scorched across her vision, causing her to blink violently. Where was she? Why did this light hurt so much? She had to blink several times over before she could open her eyes fully. Upon opening them fully, a wave of disbelief washed over her as she gazed at the scene. The source of the brilliant light was a large pale orb against an indigo expanse. Along with the twinkling ornamentation, surrounding the larger shape, the great orb cast an eerie, yet soothing, green-blue light onto the ground, illuminating even the darkest of shadows. Tall trees reached up and caught traces of the ethereal glow within their leaves, a zephyr causing the illuminated flags to whisper to one another. Below them and around her paws the blades of grass hushed softly in reply.

Hollyleaf frowned at the scene. Could it be…? “Am I… in StarClan?” she whispered to herself.
“Indeed you are, Hollyleaf,” came a familiar voice from behind her. She turned her head towards the source, ears pricked, and her eyes widened. Before her sat a brilliant tom, his bright ginger coat seemingly ablaze. His eyes shimmered a brilliant emerald in the starlight. In fact this cat was burning with starlight. The black she-cat could barely believe her eyes. “F-Firestar?!” she breathed softly. The tom smiled warmly, a small him of amusement escaping his throat as he met the eyes of the open-mouthed feline. “Yes, it’s me. And you are here because, in case you were wondering, you fought Hawkfrost and lost your life shortly after winning your battle. Do you remember?” The ebony she-cat’s brilliant green eyes widened in shock. She was dead?! Impossible! She looked away from her former leader, staring into the moonlit blades below.  She closed her eyes tightly, trying to think back. She was… Ivypool was in danger… Hawkfrost… Snowtuft… Thistleclaw… She jumped in between Hawkfrost and Ivypool… She was fighting the malicious tabby… She was winning… He took one desperate swipe… Claws… Into her neck… Pain… Tigerheart was there… Carried her home with Ivypool… So weak… So much pain… She said goodbye to everyone… Leafpool… Her mother… Her real mother… At least she got to tell her… Tell her that she was a good mother…

Her brilliant green eyes reopened. With her memory gaps refilled, Hollyleaf wanted to look for answers and guidance. The young she-cat turned to Firestar, only to find he had vanished. It took her a while before she spotted his blazing pelt striding towards the distance, a delicate trail of starlight left in his paw prints. “Firestar! Wait for me!” he cried, bounding over to him as fast as she could. The grass and earth beneath her paws felt soft, the droplets of starlight left by her former leader moistening and cooling her paws. She was unable to catch him until he stopped at the top of a small hill. Unable to make eye contact with Firestar, who was gazing off into the distance, the she-cat followed his gaze.

“Woah…” was all the ebony cat could manage to utter. At the bottom of the hill was the largest group of cats Hollyleaf had ever seen. Cats of all sizes. Cats of various age. She even recognised some of the cats. Cats from ThunderClan, RiverClan, WindClan, ShadowClan- everywhere. Each one was beautiful and elegant- in the prime of their lives. However, some were very young, some were old, yet they were all happy. A flash of grey caused Hollyleaf to glance over to the right. The female’s eyes widened in shock. A mottled grey tom was watching her, his pale blue eyes transfixed on her form. She already knew about Ashfur making it into StarClan, despite the pain he had caused to her family. But seeing him here… Her spine tingled in discomfort. Yet he didn’t seem to be glaring at her. He was just staring at her, neither friend nor foe. Uneasily, the young female dipped her head in his direction, gently blinking, as a respectful gesture. For a brief moment nothing happened. Then Ashfur gently dipped his head in reply, returning her gesture. She was about to say something, but the tom had already turned and stalked away through the grass, a trail of starlight being all that was left behind.

“Hollyleaf,” Firestar’s voice called ahead. The young cat trotted towards her former leader and they headed towards a small gathering of cats waiting for them. They consisted of a silver-blue female with azure eyes, a shaggy old female with brilliant yellow eyes, a golden tom with green eyes ad a snow-white tom with pale yellow eyes. Firestar and Hollyleaf sat down amongst them, all eyes fixed upon them both.  “This,” the flame-coloured tom began, “is my granddaughter, Hollyleaf.” At the sound of her name, the younger cat dipped her head to the older cats. She caught a glimpse of a smile of approval from each one, her confidence flooding through her. Firestar now addressed the ebony she-cat, introducing each cat in turn. “These cats are Bluestar, Yellowfang, Lionheart and Whitestorm, the greatest role models I had when I was both apprentice and warrior.” Before Hollyleaf had a chance to speak, the blue she-cat opened her mouth and spoke, her voice somehow both stern yet soft. “It is a pleasure to meet you, Hollyleaf. We have been watching your progress with great interet.”
Hollyleaf frowned. “My progress?” Whatever were they on about?
The shaggy grey cat nodded, adding ,“Indeed. We initially believed you to be part of the prophecy, not foreseeing Dovewing’s significance.” The she-cat paused, before adding “It is true you have made mistakes- grave mistakes at that- but you were a fine warrior, Hollyleaf. You were true to the code and were quite possibly one of the greatest losse to ThunderClan.”
A small smile flickered across the she-cat’s face, pride filling her to the brim. “Thank you, Yellowfang,” she spoke, dipping her head to her elder in respect. The dark grey female smiled warmly the buff-shaded teeth that gave her name glistening in the pale moonlight. Next the golden tom, whom Firestar had referred to as Lionheart, stood up and spoke. “Yellowfang is right. You were a great warrior, but now you may rest your paws for serving your clan well. And if you follow us, we have a surprise for you.” At that, all of the cats got to their paws, including the black she-cat, and began to walk towards another group of cats in the distance.

Hollyleaf trailed behind the others for quite some time before almost crashing into Firestar as the company came to a halt. Slowly they parted, forming a clear pathway as they backed off, finally standing on either side like sentinals. The young cat’s brilliant green eyes travelled up the pathway the older members made until something extraordinary captured her gaze. Her heart thumped and pounded against her chest, like a bird within the grasp of a feline. She felt her body shivering as if it was filled with lighting- powerful enough to take on anything in her wake. Breaths came from her lungs in rapid succession, her whole soul elated. There, at the other end of the pathway, was an extremely familiar tom with eyes as green as new leaves and white fur peppered with ginger patches. Once he’d locked onto her eyes with his own, she couldn’t move. Only her heart and lungs seemed to be in synchronisation, her mind in a whirl. He appeared to be the same. His eyes were filled with a strange emotion, somewhere caught between shock and joy. A small smile crept up his face. “H-Hollyleaf?!” he breathed silently, his voice cracking with the joy he felt. She couldn’t take it anymore. Her heart pounding out of control, she charged towards the tom, her head sinking into his soft fur. “Fallen Leaves?! Is it really you?!” she sobbed into his fur, breathing in his familiar scent. It had to be him. It just had to be! He chuckled softly, his laughter broken as he began to break down too. “It’s really me, Holly. I’m really here!” He broke out into a roar of a purr as he began licking her forehead lovingly. She returned his purr, embracing his romantic gesture with open arms. “But how? Surely StarClan didn’t…” He seemed to chuckle again as he pulled away from her, looking down into her brilliant green eyes, softened by tears. “No, they didn’t know about us,” he began explaining. “The Tribe of Endless Hunting can cross into here when they wish. When you…” He paused for a moment and looked away, something seemingly paining him. “When you fell to Hawkfrost’s claws I came here looking for you. I began to lose hope that I’d ever see you again, until your friends, your wonderful, wonderful friends, here helped me find you again.” Hollyleaf looked back at the older cats. They all smiled in approval of the young couple. After all, two of the cats amongst them had what the code would have deemed forbidden relationships, another forbidden emotions. They weren’t about to interrupt them now they had only just reunited. Hollyleaf smiled weakly at them. “Thank you… Thank you so much!” she cried in utter joy to the elders before turning back to look at Fallen Leaves, as if he could vanish if she looked away for too long. Whitestorm chuckled. “Let us leave the young couple to it,” it said to the other felines before getting up. Each cat got up to leave and followed the white tom towards the rest of the StarClan congregation. Soon enough the two lovers were along together.

Poor Hollyleaf could barely get her head around all of this. She looked into the soft green eyes of the tom, his soft smile warming her from head to toe in an instant. She couldn’t help but grin in reply. “This… this is all real, right?” she choked in disbelief. “I’m not dreaming? You’ll still be here with me?” She lowered her head slightly, the weight of her mind bringing her down slightly. “I mean… I only found out I was… I am dead a few moments ago… Yet here I am, a member of StarClan… with you by my side.” She looked back up at him. “Just promise me you’re real! Please!” He hushed her softly, rubbing his chin against her forehead in the most comforting and tender way he could manage with the way his emotions whirred through him. “I know it must be hard for you to take everything in,” he murmured softly. “But I can assure you I am quite real, as is all of this. We can finally be together. Together for eternity!” Hollyleaf giggled softly into his chest fur, unable to stop the sobs of joy rising from within.

“So it’s true- we’re finally together at last!”