Graystripe Has the Stars Knocked into Him
#3 of Ouch! Not There! (Warriors Edition)
Graystripe chased after Firestar and Sandstorm through the forest of the ThunderClan territory. Though Graystripe was Deputy and Firestar was Clan leader, Graystripe was glad that him and his friends could still find time to have fun together.
"I'm going to catch you!" Graystripe cried.
But Firestar leapt out of the way and dashed into the distance, followed by Sandstorm before he could catch them.
They led Graystripe through the forest, Graystripe just behind them, when they approached a shallow gorge with thicket branches covered with thorns on the other side. Without hesitation, Firestar and Sandstorm threw themselves across, landing cleanly on the other side, just past the thicket branches. Graystripe was just about to throw himself over after them, when abruptly, the ground at his paws began to crumble away. Instinctively, he changed his momentum, and just managed to stumble back a step before the loose dirt tumbled into the shallow gorge, and the small stream within.
"Wait!" Cried Graystripe, "I can't jump!"
Firestar and Sandstorm turned to look at Graystripe, realizing the problem. Now that the earth had crumbled away, the gap was now too big for Graystripe to make without crashing into the thicket bushes on the other side. Firestar and Sandstorm looked at eachother.
"Okay, we have an idea," announced Firestar. We'll hold some of these branches down so you can jump..."
"But you have to promise," continued Sandstorm, "That you won't catch us until we have the chance to run."
"Do you agree?" asked Firestar.
"Fine," said Graystripe.
I'm totally going to catch them, Graystripe thought to himself.
So, Firestar and Sandstorm positioned themselves on some of the branches, holding them down to clear the leap for Graystripe...
Graystripe took a step back...
And leapt.
As he flung himself through the air, Firestar and Sandstorm looked at eachother, timing themselves, waiting for that precise moment when Graystripe cleared the thicket, ready to dash before he caught them.
Almost there...
And they released, both bolting for the trees as fast as they could.
Just a moment too soon. The moment they released the branch, Greystripe had just about cleared the last branches, but not quite, and the branches that Firestar and Sandstorm had been holding sprung up fast, shooting right under Graystripe's underbelly, and smacking him right in the... most sensitive place a tom could be hit.
Graystripe crumbled to the ground, hitting it with a smack. The pain was immediate and sharp, beyond anything he could've imagined. He yowled agonizingly, paws flailing beneath his body for his sensitive area where he'd just been smacked. The collision had been so hard, he was now seeing stars. StarClan help me, his every thought was yowling, unable to bear the pain on his fragile body, sure that he too would be in StarClan soon just from the pain.
And then he heard the pawsteps. With bleary eyes, he looked up in time to see a cat emerging from the trees.
Oh no, not Firestar and Sandstorm, they can't see me like this!
But then the cat spoke.
"Graystripe you mouse-brain."
Silverstream?
Graystripe was finally able to make out the cat that stood over him. Stars glittered in her pelt, and a look of amusement glinted in her eyes, but it was clearly Silverstream.
I really did have the stars knocked into me, Graystripe realized with a moan.
He wanted to say something, but the pain was so overpowering he could only continue to yowl, his face burned with embarrassment at Silverstream watching him roll around on the ground like this.
"It's okay, take all the time you need," Silverstream purred with amusement.
So Graystripe laid there until his yowling quieted, and though the pain was still there, he was finally able to speak to her.
"What are you doing here Silverstream," he could feel sadness filling him as he remembered that she was still no longer alive and she was speaking to him only in what must be a vision.
"Firestar and Sandstorm surely must've heard you yowling, and I can't let another she-cat see you in this state before I get a chance to." She murpped with laughter.
Graystripe looked at her, "If they heard me, what's taking them so long?"
"I had to take you out of time so I could visit you," her face grew sad, "I miss you Graystripe."
"I miss you too," Graystripe said, the old longing for his dead mate coming back to him.
"I just want to let you know that whatever happened in the past, you were always the only tom I could've ever loved." Graystripe could see Silverstream begin to fade, "Remember, whenever you are reminded that you are a tom, just remember that you will always be my tom."
"I will," called Graystripe after her fading form.
"One last thing," Silverstream said, "I hate to tell you this, but when I took you out of time, it gave you a chance to recover, but when you return you'll feel exactly the way you had before I met with you."
"Wait, what?"
But it was too late, Silverstream had fully disappeared once again into nothingness.
And the moment she did, the pain that Graystripe had felt in his most sensitive place before returned to him full force. Graystripe yelped loudly, returning to his yowling and flailing in pain.
Then he heard rustling from the trees.
"Graystripe?!"
Oh no, it was Sandstorm.
Firestar and Sandstorm rushed to his side as he rolled in desperate agony on the ground.
"Oh Graystripe, we didn't mean to do that," she said, unable to hold back the humor in her voice.
"We really didn't," Firestar said, also clearly amused, "just try not to tell anyone, this might not be a good picture for everyone's deputy."
Graystripe managed to roll on his belly and glare at them, did they really think he's like to? This was so embarrassing. Oh the pain. He definitely felt like a tom right now.
But as the pain finally began to fade, for real this time, he remembered what SIlverstream had said to him, and that even past her death, he would always be her Tom. A peaceful feeling began to rise in his heart. Silverstream was gone now, but he would always remember her in his memory.
He looked up at Sandstorm and Firestar, though amused, also watching over him, making sure he was okay. Silverstream was gone, but he still had those who cared about him in life as well, and his heart warmed knowing that this was the life Silverstream would have wanted for him. He realized the pain had finally mostly faded by now, nothing more than a dull ache (though given how sensitive he was down there, maybe that was more than he liked), and he saw his opportunity.
In an instant, he leapt up on his friends, tagging them both.
"Caught you!" he cried, before bolting into the trees.
He only got a few steps before collapsing again in a heap.
Yep! his most sensitive place was still too sore for that kind of movement, he realized with a moan.