A Stream of Crystal [Crystalstream's Lives]

[Azalea]

Crystalstream padded cautiously into the Moonstone chamber, blue eyes widening at the sight of the beautiful stone glimmering with moonlight.
Touch the stone. a gentle voice echoed in her head. Obediently the deputy lay down, touched her nose to the stone, and dreamed.

Out of nowhere Crystalstream was sitting in Fourtrees, surrounded by the heavenly cats of StarClan. Her eyes widened as she spotted cats she remembered well among the crowd.

A dark she-cat stepped forward, amber eyes alight with wisdom.
"Crystalstream." she meowed gently. "Are you ready to gain your nine lives and take up the responsibility for ShadowClan?"

"Darkmoon." breathed Crystalstream, then regained her composure. "Yes, Mother, I am."

A foggy gray tom stepped out of the mists, emerald eyes glinting with wisdom. Crystalstream's brother. Fogpaw, who had been killed in a battle with WindClan.
"With this life I give you courage." he meowed. "Use it well to defend and protect your Clan, even at the cost of your life."
He stepped toward her, touching his nose to hers.
Pain seared through Crystalstream, as well as a flashback from his own life: the battle with WindClan.
Lithe bodies surrounded him, growling and snarling. Looking through eyes misted with blood. Another gray tom like him, raising a claw and...blackness.
Fogpaw stepped away, sadness clouding his eyes.
Crystalstream panted as the strength ebbed away, and her legs shook. How could she bear eight more of these?

Another cat stepped through the mists, this time a black and white she-cat.
"Badgerclaw!" cried Crystalstream with surprised delight. It was her old mentor, the one who had (ironically) been killed by the same badger that had slain her mother.
Badgerclaw grinned briefly before allowing the smile to drop from her face.
Like Fogpaw, she touched her nose to Crystalstream's, and a bolt of something that felt like lightning strike her body, raising her fur slightly.
"With this life I give you justice." murmured Badgerclaw softly. "Use it well to fairly judge the cats in your power."
She gave Crystalstream a soft smile before disappearing into the crowd of cats.

Once again, a tom stepped out of the gloom. This one was a Siamese, who looked rather like Crystalstream herself.
"Father!" cried the she-cat, rushing over to meet him.
He touched his nose gently to hers, sparkling blue eyes glowing with joy. "With this life I give you loyalty, my Crystalstream. Use it well to stick to what you know to be right. Never doubt your heart. Follow it wherever it leads you, and there you'll find happiness."
This life was less painful, for Crystalstream felt the dim glow of her father's love: for her mother, for her, and for her siblings.
With peace clear in his face, he stepped back to stand beside Darkmoon.

"Flamepaw!" Crystalstream cried, spotting a small ginger tom in the back of the crowd daintily stepping his way through to the front.
Flamepaw had been her first apprentice, before he was killed by a rogue on his first trip to the Moonstone. Crystalstream had not been there, but she had mourned deeply for the apprentice, who had been bouncy and energetic all throughout his young life.
"Crystalstream." he murmured softly, touching his nose to hers with the familiar jolt of pain. "With this life I give you boundless energy. Use it to carry out all the duties of a leader." He smiled again at her before returning to the crowd.

Following the same pattern, a cat stepped out of the mists, a burly dark brown tom. This was Bearclaw, another brother of Crystalstream's and more or less her bodyguard.
"With this life I give you the desire to protect your Clan from anything, whether it be beast or disease. Use it well to keep your Clan safe."
A gentle smile on his face, he stepped back into the crowd of cats.


This pattern was becoming familiar. Yet another cat stepped out of the mists, this one lithe and sleek. A RiverClan cat. It was her friend from kithood, who had drowned in the lake her second moon after becoming an apprentice. Mistpaw. Mistpaw grinned delightedly at Crystalstream, opening her mouth to say something, but then quickly shutting it again and instead coming up with "With this life I give you mentoring. Use it well to train the young cats in your Clan, so they may grow wise."
She licked Crystalstream's ear gently, and a tear grew in one of the soon-to-be leader's crystal blue eyes. How much could she be expected to bear? All the cats she had loved that had died, all speaking to her. It was too much.

An unfamiliar muddy brown tom stepped forth, introducing himself as Mudstreak. "I was killed by a patrol of your Clan." he explained gently before continuing, "With this life I give you compassion. Use it well to care for those weaker than yourself in the Clan. Do not forget them." Mudstreak stepped back, a hint of a smile on his face.

At last. There were only two lives left. Two lives. Crystalstream panted heavily, and her legs threatened to give out, but an involuntary burst of energy kept her up as she saw the next cat.
Sunflash. A brown tabby tom with a stripe of yellowish orange on his forehead. They had been childhood friends together, and Crystalstream had not yet figured out she had loved him until it was too late and he had died of an unknown sickness by her side. Suddenly she remebered his face before he died. It was creased with pain, in a grimace, bloody wounds covering his beautiful forehead. His face showed none of the same pain now. Instead his eyes glowed with love as he touched his nose gently to hers. "With this life I give you love. Use it well for all the cats in your care. And do not mourn me for the rest of your life...there may be someone else out there for you. Persist. And when you die, which is many, many moons from now, we'll be together. Forever. I love you, Crystalstream."
Heartsick, Crystalstream raised her head and licked his cheek gently. "I love you too, Sunflash."
And then he was gone.

At last Shadedstar came before her, green-gray eyes sparkling with a light she had never seen before and starlight dazzling his fur. "Crystalstream." he greeted her warmly, stepping towards her and touching his nose to hers. "My deputy. We meet again. With this life I give you Nobility and certainty and faith. Use it well to lead the Clan now, as long as you are alive. We now hail you by your new name, Crystalstar."

The other cats of StarClan took up the cry. "Crystalstar! Crystalstar! Crystalstar!"
The last thing Crystalstar felt before awaking was the warm pelt of Sunflash's, pressing against hers. "We'll always be here to guide you." he whispered. "Anytime you need anything, call on us. We will be there."

OoC- PHEW!
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