EVERYTHING IS BLUE // graystorm

[HOWLINGSTAR]

// @GRAYSTORM

A call to action, a call to war. Those are the last words Howlingstar hears as she slips away, one final breath leaving her before her striped form goes still. Her fourth life has gone. When she opens her eyes, it is a forest she knows well by now. Yes, she has stood here several times before, not when she met with Little Wolf or Gray Wolf, but when she had lost her previous lives. She is dead, she now knows for certain. Finally, the sickness has claimed her, and she will return stronger than ever.

She begins to walk, feeling at ease in this place of stars and moonlight. Her round eyes travel over the trees and rolling hills and vines that swing from branches above. She wonders who from this starry landscape will greet her this time. An old friend? More kin? Paws rustle the undergrowth behind her and she turns, ears pricking with curiosity. It's only when she sees that pelt she could never forget, snowy markings unique to only him, that she cries out in joy. "Graystorm," She greets through joyous tears, whipping her body around to take swift strides towards her son. She embraces him, pressing her neck against his and breathing in his scent.​

 

[GRAYSTORM]

As soon as Howlingstar calls his name, Graystorm runs to her. It is the moment he'd both feared and longed for; the opportunity for him to apologize for being so reckless with his own precious life. He'd worried that Howlingstar would be upset with him. But when she closes the distance between them and envelopes him in a tearful embrace, Graystorm realizes that maybe he's still just as foolish as he'd been when he was alive.

A rusty purr breaks past his tough exterior. Graystorm buries his nose into Howlingstar's fur and closes his eyes, and he's whisked back in time to when he was still a kitten. "Mom," he breathes, voice muffled. He wishes he could freeze time and remain pressed against his mother forever. But even with stars speckling his gray-and-white fur, he didn't have such power.

Graystorm lets them stay like that for a few heartbeats longer, their cheeks brushing each other's neck, before he forces himself to draw back slightly. They didn't have much time to talk; Howlingstar would be called back to the land of the living before long, and Graystorm would have to remain in the stars. "Sorry I didn't come back home. If I could go back and do things different, I’d do it faster than you could blink.'' It's strange to hear himself apologize, even though that has been what he’s wanted since he died. He'd always been stubborn and quick to defend himself in life. But there's newfound wisdom that gleams in his amber eye, intertwining with the sorrow of leaving his family behind prematurely.​

 

[HOWLINGSTAR]

Howlingstar can't help the rumbling purr in her throat as she hugs him tight, eyes squeezing shut. That voice, oh that voice! Every word he speaks she clings to. Stars, she missed him so much. "Do not apologize," She trills, voice trembling as she leans back to look at him. Though tears waver in her eyes, she is smiling adoringly at him.

"You have always been one of the bravest cats I've never known. You died protecting your clan, you died a warrior's death. I miss you so, so much, but I could not be prouder of you, my love." Her head cocks slightly, her smile strengthening. "Your siblings are proud of you, too." Of course she would trade anything to have him return to the forest with her and go on hunts like they once would. But she cannot change what has happened; she can only accept it and move on to the best of her ability. But of course, a mother never fully moves on. Graystorm is always there in the back of her mind, ever-present in her thoughts and dreams.​