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Firestorm

Ultimate Predator: Inactive | Burn Baby Burn | Monkey’s Paw
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pp perms given by @Alchemist Kitsune @Fish and @taillow | Please let me know if any adjustments need to be made. Additionally, this takes place after the joint battle with the minks

Lyrics borrowed from Forest Blakk's "If You Love Her"

Love

Noun:
an intense feeling of deep affection
A great interest and pleasure in something

Verb:
To feel deep affection for someone
To like or enjoy something very much

In a sense, love could be interpreted in a lot of different ways. In addition, there were many different ways you could love. An example being, if one were to love eating a certain food, maybe they would go out of their way to make sure they had it every night. Perhaps if someone loved their pet, they’d make sure to try to give them a long and comfortable life.

Then there was love for another person. The kind of love that makes you do stupid things because you want to see that special someone smile, or the kind of love that has you want to be with them 24/7 and never want to leave their side. The list could go on and on, but what really matters is that it’s all Love.

Firestorm spent her whole life not knowing what love was. Of course, at one point she had a mother, but the young queen had died so early into her kithood that she could hardly even remember her before meeting her again in a dream. Though she did have a sister, she had gone missing pretty early in their apprenticeship. Despite this, Firestorm could very clearly remember wanting to stick close to her all the time and to cheer her up when she felt down. But could you call that love? She didn’t tell them that she loved them, not that she could remember at least, so did it count?

Then there was Milknose. He was the first cat that she thought she might have romantically loved. Firestorm would’ve died for the tom. Hell, she almost did on at least two occasions and she didn’t regret it one bit. The two times the tom had gone missing, she was distraught, like something had been ripped away from the very fiber of her being and tossed aside. It hurt. A lot.

Milknose had been her very best friend and then he was just… gone. The orange tabby had planned to ask him to be her mate after her warrior ceremony but when she looked for him, he was nowhere to be found. Was that love? Or was it just a desire to have what she felt was hers by right? Something she and him could have that no one else would’ve been a part of? She didn’t know – couldn’t know, she didn’t have anyone to teach her about those things. All she knew was that his leaving hurt her so bad that she didn’t know if she’d recover.

But again, not once did she ever tell him ”I love you.”

It was only when a blue-eyed certain she-cat entered her life that she began to reexperience those feelings that she had once buried deep within her once more. At first, she hated her guts. Lightningstorm who was an apprentice at the time had everything that she wanted at that moment. She had the attention of Milknose, and everyone seemed to like her. This had caused Firestorm to become incredibly jealous and as a result, would pick petty fights with the healer on the regular.

After a long time of going back and forth and picking on each other, Firestorm started to develop feelings for the calico. Of course, it wasn’t rushed at all, and she vehemently denied it at first, but eventually, things progressed to the point where she could acknowledge these feelings as some sort of affection. She began to feel possessive over the medicine cat, not wanting to have others spend too much time with her or be away from her too long. Spots was hers and hers alone.

It was this desire to solidify the bond that she and the other she-cat shared – to have tangible proof of it, that led to her making that reckless wish. It was in line with her ideals anyways. You see, Firestorm had always wanted to be a mother. She always wanted to be the leader of WindClan, but above that, she wanted to have a litter of her own to care for and raise. Spottedpaw had asked to be her daughter, and she agreed, but it wasn’t the same. She wanted kits of her own. When she was given the chance to have a litter that shared a bit of her and Lightningstorm, she was overjoyed! She jumped on the idea immediately, not worrying about any potential consequences. However, those consequences she brushed off to worry about later were now collecting the debt owed. She just wasn’t aware of it yet.

The heavily pregnant queen was resting in the nursery, chatting with her adopted daughter about how the latter felt ignored by the others in the clan when the pain started. It was time. The kits were coming. ”Spottedpaw.” She breathed through gritted teeth ”The kits – go get Lightningstorm, tell her to bring burnet. Quick!” She didn’t want to do this without her mate here. The idea of bringing their kits into the world without Spots by her side was terrifying. She needed her here.

Thankfully, she didn’t have to wait too long because Lightningstorm came in as if there was fire at her heels. A strained smile graced her lips as the healer and the apprentice joined her at the nest that Spots was insistent she move to, instead of remaining in the nest they once shared (where she kept the feather Fallownose gave to her). ”Spots.” She purred tiredly, relieved to see that the calico joined her.

To spare the gory details, sometime after, Firestorm welcomed the first two kits into the world. First, it was a fluffy cream and orange tabby with dark markings [ @Starfall ]. Not long after her, a similarly fluffy blotched-calico she-kit came along [ @ellie ]. There were only two of an unknown amount of kits, and she already felt drained. Though her head was spinning at the sharp smell of blood permeating the air, she took the herbs her lover offered her when directed without any fuss. She was aware that things weren’t proceeding smoothly. At some point, those around her began baring worried expressions, and her beloved Lightningstorm had ordered Birdie out to fetch some moss. Outside of that, she wasn’t too aware of what was going on, instead focused on the task at paw: having these kits.

It was after the next two kits that Firestorm was sure something was wrong. Despite the herb that was given to her, she could only feel herself growing weaker and weaker. Was this normal? She was in so much pain, and at times felt like she was seeing double. Exhaustion hit her in waves after the fluffy light grey tabby tom [ @naiad ], and simple red tabby she-kit [ @Weekend-Wondering ] were born. Her breathing was growing increasingly labored and was coming out in quick pants. At some point Lightningstorm had begun pacing back and forth, coming to her in between pacing and saying some kind of words. There was a sense of urgency held within her words as she spoke, but at the moment it was hard to focus on any particular sound long enough to decipher it.

That’s when it dawned on her.

She was dying.

~ Take it
If she gives you her heart, don't you break it
Let your arms be a place she feels safe in
She's the best thing that you'll ever have ~

Lightningstorm knew it. She knew it. The calico healer was talking to her in an attempt to keep her awake because she wasn’t done yet – there were still more kits to be had. ”I get it.” the young queen whispered, hanging onto the words that left Spots’ mouth. They were the only thing keeping her tethered at the moment, the only thing preventing her from falling unconscious. She was faintly aware that Bravebird and Spottedpaw were somewhere, but their exact location escaped her at the moment. Did they too know? Know that she hadn’t much time left for the world? ”Calm down~” She chirped softly, more to herself than the other three ”I can do this.”

~ She always has trouble falling asleep
And she likes to cuddle while under the sheets
She loves pop songs and dancing, and bad trash TV
There's still a few other things
She loves love notes and babies and likes giving gifts
Has a hard time accepting a good compliment
She loves hеr whole family and all of her friends
So if you'rе the one she lets in ~

With a lot of struggle, the final two kits joined them. A dark-furred tortie with splotches of orange spread throughout her pelt [ @Poprock ], and a diluted calico with gorgeous grey and light orange markings [ @SuspiciousMindz ]. She did it. She brought all six of her kits safely into WindClan. She succeeded in fulfilling her greatest wish. She was a mother.

Sensing that her time was growing ever shorter, she blinked so agonizingly slowly as she turned to the three cats that surrounded her. First, she would address the love of her life. After all, if it weren’t for Lightningstorm grabbing hold of her heart and claiming her affection, she would’ve never been given this opportunity to fulfill her greatest desire.

~ Take it
If she gives you her heart, don't you break it
Let your arms be a place she feels safe in
She's the best thing that you'll ever have
She'll love you, if you love her
On days when
It feels like the whole world might cave in
Stand side by side and you'll make it
She's the best thing that you'll ever have
She'll love you, if you love her like that ~

”Spots,” She called weakly, reaching out a paw to touch it to her mate’s ”I’m sorry.” Pale green eyes lifted in an attempt to meet those of the healer as she continued, ”I never thought things would end up like this between you and me.” She admitted with a weak purr rumbling at the back of her throat. Never in a million moons would she have thought that the cat that she once disliked with all of her being would become someone she couldn’t see herself without.

To be honest, Firestorm was scared – terrified even, of dying. She always had been since the death of her mother. Something about the permanence of it just scared her. She did her best not to let those fears show in her gaze though. She had to be tough for Spots — had to show her that she was more than just a Kitten. It wasn’t like she wanted to die, but she had come to terms with it and accepted that she couldn’t be saved.

~ Kiss her with passion as much as you can
Run your hands through her hair whenever she's sad
And when she doesn't notice how pretty she is
Tell her over and over so she never forgets ~

”Our kits… You’ll take care of them, right? You’ll make sure they eat and become big and strong warriors, right? Make sure they end up as cool as their moms?” She asked, unable to keep the tremor out of her voice. ”Y-you’ll-” her voice cracked, tears beginning to stream down her face at last. She had tried so hard to be tough, but while staring death in the face she just couldn’t anymore. It was too much. ”You’ll tell them how cool I was, r-right? That I had all of those d-dreams and w-wished for nothing m-m-more than to see t-them, right?”

She choked back a sob, not wanting to disturb her kits or make this harder for her lover. She didn’t want to die! Why couldn’t she stay and raise her kits with Lightningstorm!? Why did StarClan have to punish her so? It wasn’t fair!

It wasn’t fair…

~ Take it
If she gives you her heart, don't you break it
Let your arms be a place she feels safe in
She's the best thing that you'll ever have
She'll love you, if you love her
On days when
It feels like the whole world might cave in
Stand side by side and you'll make it
She's the best thing that you'll ever have
She'll love you, if you love her like that ~

With that out of the way, she turned to Spottedpaw. Oh her dear daughter. She was starting to regret not making more time for her the last few moons. Her heart hurt to see tears running down the apprentice’s face, but she wanted to make sure that she didn’t leave without saying anything. “Tears look terrible on you,” the orange tabby said with a light, strained laugh “You should smile instead, like this.” A gentle, yet exhausted smile found its way onto her features as she looked at the cat in front of her. She didn’t want any of them to be sad, not on her behalf — they deserved nothing but to be happy, even if it was without her.

Then it was to Bravebird. Oh, Birdie. Over the last few moons, Firestorm had grown to see the older warrior as something akin to a mother. Of course, she wouldn’t replace her actual mom, but she would always be the next best thing despite their differences. ”Birdie – no… Mom.” she said, eyes brimming with confidence as she finally admitted what she held in her heart out loud. ”I forgive you.” It was three simple words, but they held a lot of meaning. Firestorm had plenty of reasons to be hostile towards Bravebird. It would’ve started with drowning the RiverClan warrior in front of her, then the way she acted toward Cowtuft during his exile… Okay, well there weren’t too many reasons, but those two were reason enough. Initially, she had avoided the warrior at all costs, taking a long time to reopen back up enough to allow her back in her life. She had since let everything go, things had gone back to normal-ish, however, she couldn't remember if she had ever formally forgiven the grey and white Fury. ”I hope that you can forgive me too.” She felt she didn’t have to elaborate on this either. She was leaving her the same way that Fallownose had left them. She was abandoning all of her other hopes and dreams for the sake of this one.

It felt… selfish.

With that out of the way, she expended what little energy she had left to angle herself so that she could look at the kits nursing at her side. ”We did it. These are our kits, Spots.” She purred weakly. Despite the pain, despite the fear, and worry, a sense of warmth and motherly love filled within her chest and she somehow knew everything would be okay. Growing weaker, she laid back down with a labored wheeze. It was her time. She could feel it. The cold breeze of death had begun to blow over her and unfortunately, she had nowhere to go. She couldn’t outrun this.

Not this time.

~ She'll love you
If you love her like that
She'll love you
If you love her
She'll love you
If you love her
She'll love you
If you love her ~

”Lightningstorm I…” She began, voice drawling lazily as she slowly reaching her paw up toward her beloved’s face. Oh gosh, her head was spinning and things were starting to get dark, but she wanted to look into those gorgeous blue eyes one more time. Angling her face a bit so that she could give Lightningstorm a proper look, she could feel her chest swell with an indescribable emotion. Her paw finally reached its destination, her mate’s nose, a gesture that she had grown used to being done to her throughout the last few moons. She smiled softly before closing her eyes ”... love you…” She managed before her paw dropped to the ground with a soft thud.

One breath… Two Breaths… Nothing…

She was gone.

Firestorm was dead.

The orange tabby had begged and prayed to the stars for an opportunity to be a mother, and her prayers were answered. Unfortunately, she just didn’t realize that the cost was going to be her life. Every action had a positive or negative reaction; in this case, she gave up her own life so that her kits could live.

~ On days when
It feels like the whole world might cave in
Stand side by side and you'll make it
She's the best thing that you'll ever have
She'll love you, if you love her like that ~

Though she may be dead, she made sure to do one last thing before she went. She told the love of her life, the one who used to annoy her so much that she couldn’t bear to see her, the cat that she decided she’d spend the rest of her life with, the cat whom she had her kits with, she told her something she’d never told her or anyone else ever before – something that she knew deep down in her heart had to be true.

”I love you.”

[I ask that you all please wait until Alch posts and then any order after that is fine]