[The Cannibal]

Originally Posted by fenic!

Taking a deep breath as he looked around what he'd appeared into, and the stars around him, a familiar face came into view- one he hadn't seen for a while now. She wasn't a part of his family, but it always felt like she'd been, an apprentice of his who'd drowned in the river shortly after one of their training sessions. He'd known her as a kit, playing with his own first litter in the nursery while he helped out Shellfeather with the younger ones. "...Willowpaw." He breathed, beaming in joy as she stood there, one of the cat's he'd grieved over looking as happy as one who was still alive. I've missed you- but you're okay, right? Living among the stars here, with everyone else who's passed. He ws about to try and ask her something, but decided instead to keep his mouth shut- he didn't want to possibly interrupt the ceremony, or end up doing something wrong.

Letting the deceased apprentice touch her nose to his, the tom's eyes widened as a flash of energy burst into his body, like he could run and hunt for hours. At first, it was a refreshing feeling for the soon-to-be leader, but then memories of fighting alongside those you've trained, the way you needed to protect those you helped to learn, it sliced into him like a wound. Lurching over in a barrage of pain, different memories about training his apprentices came to mind- it was Speckledpaw, Willowpaw, Crowpaw, and finally Rainpaw- he'd given his all to train them, and he could feel every single session he'd ever hosted wracking his body, the pain of defending the life of those who had yet to learn what they needed to.

However, this didn't last as long as he thought it would- and after a few moments of excruciating pain, it ended up subsiding into a small murmur, which allowed him to open his eyes again, standing up straight in a slower manner, and letting out a deep breath as he watched Willowpaw step away, reaching out to the apprentice as she disappeared into the mist. "I'm sorry I let you die." He murmured to the molly, eyes filled with sympathy as he left. Gazing into the crowd of watching eyes, he wondered... who's next?

Stepping out of the shadows after Willowpaw had given her gift to the new leader was a cat that the tom very likely didn't know, though perhaps he had seen her at gatherings, a kind she-cat who was always seen around young cats, telling them stories and playing with them, a cat by the name of Daisyfrost. The brown tortoiseshell approached with a warm, comforting smile on her muzzle and her tail held high above her head. This cat had been killed during the fire that raged across Thunderclan, having been murdered by a dark forest worshiping apprentice when she was weak from smoke inhalation, trying to catch back up with the clan in their evacuation. But now she was restored to her youth, restored to an unscathed, uninjured cat who no longer hurt.
"Greetings Russetswirl." Meowed the she-cat in a voice so gentle it had the power to lull a kit to sleep in mere seconds, no matter how feisty the youngster may be.

"With this life I give you love. Use it well to care for your clan when they need it the most, use it to strengthen those that are lonely and most of all, let it guide your heart." When the she-cat finished, she slowly craned her head forward to touch her nose to him to transfer the second life unto him.

After it had been given, she would flash a loving grin and step back into the misty grounds of Starclan to make way for the next life.