Tears gather in his eyes from the pain - stars, it hurts, but he watches his daughter crawl to safety and he's glad. For a moment, he thinks maybe he can make it out of this. If he moves fast enough, just maybe. But his muscles shriek, twitching and shivering like dying prey. It's no use. He's just not strong enough. A ferocious grunt leaves him as he fights, fights, and fights, but the boulder forces him to the ground anyway.
A cry leaves him as he feels his body break. Ribs snap, pressure builds until he can hardly breathe. From his chest down, he is pinned into the mud by the stone. Forelegs splayed out before him, his head rests on the ground as blood begins to trickle from his nose. His daughter screams for help, and he blinks up at her, gaze pained, and for a moment, frightened. He doesn't want to die. "Iciclefang-" He rasps, wincing with the effort. "It's okay. It's okay. I....I don't regret it." He does regret he won't be around to see his grandchildren play. He regrets he won't be there when his daughters will need him most, when their kits are needy and loud and only he can have the power to entertain them. He regrets he'll never see Ferngill become a mentor. He regrets many things, but dying in place of his child isn't one of them.
His son is there next. He runs forward, slams his shoulder into the rock. Moonpaw and Swiftfire join him - but even if they did move it, the damage would have already been done. Blood seeps from his mouth, now, too. He wheezes, "Ferngill...it's okay." Just as he'd told his sister. He feels the tom's tears rain down upon his cheek, and his own tears follow, dripping to the ground and seeping into the earth. He doesn't want to die. He doesn't want to die. He mourns for himself, and he mourns for everything he'll miss out on, everything he'd thought he'd be there for. He grins weakly up at his children, and suddenly they're kits again in his eyes, faces round and eyes wide with curiosity. "I love you...both so (wheeze) so much. Tell Darkwhisker, t-too...I-"
He shudders out a breath, blood dribbling in a gentle puddle on the ground.
There are more cats there now. He hears Lichentail, the deputy murmuring words to him that make his tears come faster. His eyes shut as he shakes in silent, weak sobs. Thank you. Her words mean more to him than he could ever tell. His kits, they are his life. They're his entire world. Smokestar tells him his kits are RiverClan's best, and his amber gaze opens again, looks up to try to find his black-pelted leader but his vision grows hazy. He is able to force the words from his mouth this time. "Thank you," He croaks, voice growing scratchier. He hopes his kits remember him with pride. It's all he would want. He hopes his grandchildren will know his name, even if only from stories.
He lifts his head again, trying to find his kits once more, but instead finding Lakemoon. Fading amber meets somber blue as he gazes at his eldest daughter's mate earnestly. "Tell her I love her....and she'll be a great mom...I know it." He cries more, jaws parting as more ragged breaths come. He can feel himself fading. Swiftfire's apologies are met with a blink, a smile. "It's okay," He says again, a broken record. He'd do it again and again if it meant he could save Iciclefang.
He looks to her now, along with Ferngill. The edges of his vision grow darker as he gazes once more upon his children, the loves of his life. "Tell Icesparkle...I'm sorry....that I won't be coming home tonight." He cries hardest of all for her. His love, the only she-cat who'd ever claimed his heart. She'd always hold it. He'll wait for her in StarClan for a million moons. "Tell her to take her time," He rasps as his eyes finally fall shut, slowly, like in a dream.
He watches his life, then. Blurred faces of his mother and father, dead before he could have any proper memories of them. His older brother leading him to loners' dens, where they'd stolen fresh-kill as kits just to get by. Learning to fish from a kindly older she-cat, and finally being able to feed himself and his sibling. Stumbling upon Rain's colony in the pine forest and meeting Ice, who'd captured his heart the moment their eyes met. Welcoming Lily into the world, the light of his life. Fighting in the Great Battle and choosing to join Cicadastar in RiverClan with his family. The birth of his second litter; stars, they'd been so small. Training Ferngill for all those moons - he hadn't minded it'd taken longer, it only meant more time with his son.
His final thoughts are of his son splashing into the water, paddling towards him with such strength and vigor. 'Look, Dad! I'm doing it!'
'You're doing it!' He'd yelled back to him. 'You're almost to me, Fernpaw! Just a little further!'
But when that ginger paw reaches the rock, it's no longer ginger. It's black and white, and when he looks up, he smiles at the star-speckled figure he sees. "Steepsnout."
With that final word, Mudpelt shudders his last breath and falls still.
