[ road of thorns ]

[Slug !]

Story Title: Road of Thorns
Author: Slug
Rating: PG-13
Warning: dark themes, mild violence, character death
Genre: angst
Main Character: Willowpaw of FogClan
A/N: This isn't FoF!canon, but I wrote it anyway. I'm sorry
Summary: A life cut far too short, yet still lived, is perhaps a life after all?

Second part of the Road Saga: A Fork in the Road.

Road of Thorns

Part One of Kithood
O' Child of Winter

Someone is crying.

The snow is whipping and biting at their pelts, but they can hear the cries above the howling of the wind. There’s fear in those sounds, raw and utterly shameless; fear cracking in the panic that they’re stumbling along after.

The snow is deep, but they keep looking.

It’s hailing now, the cold storm leaving sore spots that would hurt for many days to come. They want to turn back; they tell themselves that they can always resume the search once the weather subsides. They tell themselves the kit will be fine.

Snow-whisker reminds them that hail can break bones, and they don’t turn back.

It’s too quiet, and that’s what scares them the most. They were too late. It’s over. There’s no use in taking a corpse to camp; no point in scaring anyone.

But that’s when they see it; small, barely darker than the snow; they’re not exactly sure what it could be. Perhaps it’s only a trick; a shadow on the ground. Yes, it has them all completely fooled.



The kit mewls.

[Slug !]

Road of Thorns

Part Two of Kithood
stubborn like thick ice

He’s half-frozen and barely breathing. The medicine cat tells them he won’t make it through the night; too weak, he hasn’t eaten enough. Maybe he hasn’t eaten at all. They can only make him more comfortable and wait.

The queens refuse to believe this. They won’t leave the medicine den and not a soul in the entire forest can make them. They’re purring to the frail, frail kit; licking his too-cold fur and murmuring warm, sweet nonsense.

They’re woken early, but not by the sun. The tiny tom is kneading at their bellies, mewling in confusion. Why is there no milk?

One of them scares off an apprentice, and the others send the deputy packing to his den; they’ve kitnapped the poor thing and held him hostage in their nursery. Even though just one queen is producing milk, it’s more than enough.


The kit survives, but not without a few sniffles.

[Slug !]

Road of Thorns

Final Part of Kithood
blizzard in your soul

The camp is in chaos.

There has been a kit uprising, of all the crazy things to happen. The tiny rebellion is being lead by none other than Willowkit. Owlstar suspects some of the apprentices may be helping them.

She raises an eyebrow at the small fluff of grey, who gives her the meanest little green glare she has ever seen coming from a kit.

“No,” he tells her, bony shoulders squaring. “You can’t make me!”

Owlstar could, but she’s far too amused to do any such thing.

“No,” she tells him right back, lifting her chin. “You’re not leaving the camp.”

Willowkit tries anyway.

Two warriors get their noses scratched and one nearly has her tail bit off, but somehow they manage.

While they’re distracted, the rest of the kits make their get away. It takes a moment to realize, and then the entire camp becomes one big search party.


Owlstar gives Snow-whisker a hard smack to his head before marching after her clan.

[Slug !]

Road of Thorns

Part One of Apprenticehood
numb the heart's pain

Snow-whisker is dead.

Just minutes before Willowkit’s apprentice ceremony, they find the warrior frozen solid in the snow. They don’t know why he had been out of camp when Willowkit, practically his son, is finally becoming Willowpaw. All they know is that he tripped and fallen into a deep snow bank.

Too deep for Snow-whisker.

But the others... they are not so sure. The timing is uncanny. Why now? When Willowkit was finally becoming an apprentice after so many moons of recovering, and how? Snow-whisker was a seasoned warrior; he would have not made such a reckless mistake. He knew FogClan’s territory too well to simply... just... it’s impossible!

There are mutters as Willowpaw joins the other apprentices; every pair of eyes bore into his back, silently accusing him of terrible things. It is a heavy weight on Willowpaw’s shoulders that he doesn’t notice yet. He should be worried; he should be yowling his anger to the sky; seeking comfort from the queens, even.

But all he feels is the cold.

[Slug !]

Road of Thorns

Part Two of Apprenticehood
cold hands taking hold of me

Owlstar is gone.

FogClan has chased her out and Willowpaw with her. Some have come with them; it is a small rebellion, and he is having flashbacks to when he was younger—when it was the kits against Owlstar.

But now it is them against their own clanmates; now, it is not so funny anymore.

They have been turned away by the other clans. There is not enough food for them and they cannot share. This leaf-bare is harsh and cruel; the old ranch barely keeps out the cold.

Willowpaw remembers Snow-whisker and his body in the snow, so frigid that it made him sick when he looked at it. He wonders if he will die that way. What would that be like, to freeze solid in the snow? Perhaps he will fall asleep. Death, he wonders.

And he knows he deserves it.

[Slug !]

Road of Thorns

Part Three of Apprenticehood
their eyes are frozen shut

Willowpaw never becomes a warrior.


Dovepaw is running; fleeing from FogClan and from the vicious dogs chasing after her. They came from no where, surprising them all. They destroyed the camp and her clanmates had scattered or flung themselves into a losing battle.

A losing battle for the pair of canines; FogClan wins with only a few tears and bites.

Dovepaw had been one of the scattered; separated far, far away from camp—from help. She is running hard and fast, but the dogs are faster. They are catching up to her far too quickly, nevermind their wounds.

They are angry.

It’s the end; their breath is on her heels and their teeth are closing in on her like a bear trap—

But they miss with a sharp snap. Someone is screaming; yowling with fury and the yelps of pain are unmistakable.

Dovepaw doesn’t look; she is too afraid to. All her body knows what to do is run.

She runs and never looks.

[Slug !]

Road of Thorns

Final Part of Apprenticehood
fly away with snow angels

It had never been worth it.

Dovepaw is back. She can’t recognize who it is until they speak; distorted, wet, gurgling that she barely understands.

It’s okay, Willowpaw tells her, when it really, really isn’t.

She tells him things; babbles, presses close enough to dye her fur red. He listens, whispering lies to her. It doesn’t hurt, he says, over and over again.

The only warmth he has is her and he is greedy; selfish; he tries moving closer and can’t. It does hurt, but he no longer has the strength to whimper.

Dovepaw knows this; she knows and gets as close as she can. The pain worsens as she pushes on the wounds, but that’s okay. There is warmth in her words; her paws, but all of the world is stealing it away.

Willowpaw is greedy; selfish; he clings to it and doesn’t let go.

He manages a sorry, because he knows he’s going to hurt her. He doesn’t mean to, but he knows it will happen. It’s unavoidable.

Willowpaw lets go.

The snow fades; becomes black and then brightens again. It twinkles with stars and swirls with the moon’s pale light.

Snow-whisker tilts his head at him and gives a bitter smile.



Hey there, kiddo.

[Slug !]

I'm a soldier, wounded so I must give up... the fight

There's nothing more... for me

Lead me away