To Die For

. prologue.
you promise to stare into the fiery eyes of death itself

Silhouetted against the orange sky was a broad-shouldered tom, his back turned to the empty clearing. An icy, strong wind mussed his fur, but he ignored the chill he felt on his skin. Eyes narrowed to slits he watched as the sun set slowly, watching as the orange sky faded to pink.

The sky was pink when voice stirred him from his thoughts. "So this is where you ran off to." A lean figure leaped up beside him, its dark eyes warm. She seated itself beside the tom, turning her expectant gaze on him.

The tom didn't look at her as he grunted, "You are aware that I want to be alone, aren't you? Geez. Always pestering me." He sighed, irritated.

The lithe female glared at him. "You're no fun!" she pouted.

"I'm the leader of this Clan now, Konishi," the tom snapped, his shoulder fur bristling. "There's no time for fun." He glanced at the female, then looked back out to the sky.

Konishi yawned, her jaws gaping. She shook her fur, ignoring the wind buffeting it, and sat straighter, staring at the tom with a dark, intense gaze. She grinned toothily as she purred, "You're only the leader of your cute little group because I manipulated their thoughts, dear Lightningfrost~"

"I'm Lightningstar! Lightningfrost is in the past." the tom snarled, his claws scraping against the rock underpaw.

Konishi's grin widened. "Ah, seems I struck a nerve there." She flicked her tail, as if she were satisfied with herself. "Lightningfrost may be in the past, but the sins you've commited are still here. And so am I." She fixed Lightningstar with an innocent look.

The large tom hissed, "StarClan has accepted me as a leader. They've given me nine lives, Konishi. They accept me. And I know you didn't manipulate StarClan's thoughts." His light fur was rising along his spine now. "The deal's off. I'm finished with you. Leave."

In reply, and much to Lightningstar's surprise, Konishi laughed, her obsidian eyes glazing over. Before Lightningstar could react, he'd been thrown from the tall rock. His body thumped heavily against the ground and his vision blurred. Pain shot through him from ears to tail, a pain so great he could barely move. Even gasping for breath hurt.

As his vision darkened, an icy hiss sounded in his ear. He tried to lash out with his claws, but he struck nothing.

"Don't forget, Lightningfrost," the voice whispered coldly, "I hold the power to kill all you love. I hold the power to drive you to insanity. You're a puppet; your entire life is in my paws."

Then he was unconcious.

'''. . . '''

"...ar!"

The voice sounded faint, far-away.

"...tningsta...!"

The leader slowly slipped into conciousness, voices beckoning him wake.

"Lightningstar!"

His eyes flew open to see the worried face of the Clan's medicine cat, a young tom named Duskfire. His pale orange eyes were wide as the medicine cat explained, "An apprentice found you unconcious near the Tallrock. She assumed that you'd fallen."

Lightningstar tried to rise to his paws, but his limbs were stiff and he couldn't even twitch. "That's... not what happened." he managed to say, his voice hoarse.

"What else could've happened?" Duskfire asked.

No one knows about Konishi. Lightningstar remembered with a jolt. ''Not even Duskfire. If I talked about her now, he'd think I was mad.'' The leader sighed. "Never mind." He shuffled into a position that was decent to sleep in, though he wouldn't feel comfortable whichever position he tried.

From across the den, Duskfire mused, "You had me worried, Lightningstar."

"Why?"

"Well, you've been out cold for three days. While you were sleeping, you were mumbling about StarClan, and how they accepted you." The dark-furred tom turned to look at the leader with his orange eyes, as if he were waiting for an explanation.

"Oh, well... I guess I was dreaming back to my leader ceremony." Lightningstar lied. Even though he didn't remember much, he didn't want to reveal Konishi's existance and the horrifying flashes of images he'd never wanted to see.

Images of death. Murder. Gore-filled slaughter.

Duskfire with his throat torn out and blood coating his fur. Tiny Sedgekit with her entrails scattered around her. Bramblefur with his eyes clawed out, only an eyeless corpse shredded with thin, but bloody, scratches. And himself. Lightningstar, bloody and mangled beyond repair, his limbs bent at unnatural angles and his face distorted into a horrifying look of pain. And he felt the sheer agony of it all.

Lightningstar felt as if he were about to retch.

"You don't look well," Duskfire observed. "You should sleep. But no poppy seeds; you don't need them. And they were mixed in with foxglove seeds, so..."

"Alright. Thank you, Duskfire." Lightningstar replied, curling up. But he didn't want to sleep. He couldn't close his eyes without seeing someone close to him mangled and bloody.

...Konishi's curse. This was Konishi's fault.

He couldn't let anyone suffer this curse ever again.

. one - sedgefrost.
you promise to stain your life's pages scarlet

"Sedgepaw, you will be Sedgefrost. Cedarpaw, you will be Cedarbreeze. Both of you have trained hard for this moment, and your mentors have passed on their skills to you both. I hope you continue to serve your Clan as well as you did as apprentices." Lightningstar stares warmly down at us, his eyes shining with pride.

I puff out my chest as the Clan chants our new names.

"Sedgefrost! Cedarbreeze! Sedgefrost! Cedarbreeze!"

Cedarpaw - no, Cedarbreeze - turns to face me, his eyes shining. "We're finally warriors, Sedge!" He grins, and I can't help but laugh. "What're we gonna do first?"

"I dunno. Oh, we should ask Lightningstar if we can go on patrol!" I suggest, my eyes lighting up.

A voice behind us purrs, "First you have to sit vigil tonight." It's the deputy, Kestrelheart. His green eyes are alight with amusement as he studies us. "Yeah, you'll make good warriors. I'm sure of it." The brown tom turned and strides away, leaving me and Cedarbreeze alone again.