Pinestar's Choice/Chapter 10

Chapter Summary
Pinestar's PoV
 * Pinestar pads through the woods one last time, making for Twolegplace. He has no need to worry anymore: he doesn't need to think about the borders, the fresh-kill pile, or the elders' den leaking in a rainstorm. The reddish-brown tom breaks into a run as he nears the wooden fence, and the long grass surrounds him as he crouches, then leaps over the border. As he lands in the garden, his legs feel old and tired. Pinestar realizes now that he's trembling, and a dizzying emptiness opens up inside him. He recalls his life, from kit, to apprentice, then to warrior, deputy, and leader. Each role had been marked out by his name, how his Clanmates treated him, the routine day, and the boundaries.


 * But now, all that was gone. Vanished; he wonders what he has left. For a moment, the reddish-brown tom wants to go back to ThunderClan, maybe not as the leader, but as an elder, safe, sheltered, and have no responsibility. However, his Clanmates would be around him, and he would've had to watch them go and fight, and never return. Pinestar knows that he'd also be powerless to help Tigerkit, his son. He keeps moving, heading through several other kittypet territories, and passes by Tyr, who's dozing off. Over a wall, and along a narrow path, and then he finds himself at the edge of a Thunderpath. He pictures the last time he had seen Shanty, in the glow of the poles that produced light.


 * His paws feel heavy as he crosses the small Thunderpath, refusing to look at the stain where his friend had died. Pinestar tells himself that Shanty wasn't there anymore, and she was away from fear, and pain: she was safe. The former Clan cat pauses at the entrance of Shanty's den, and hears her Twolegs speaking softly, and wonders if they sounded sadder than usual.