Hello readers, and welcome to A Time of War. This story is a direct sequel to my first one, Forest Roots, and spans across the events of Uprising.
If you haven't read Forest Roots yet, I strongly advise you do so, because it will help you really understand the idea behind this one, and understand the original concepts and characters that I have used in this story.
And once again, have a good read and a good day!
"You bring them? I assume that's why you're here."
"Y-Yes, I did. I'll go get them."
She headed off into the forest, to the crooked oak trees. After several minutes, she came back, with two kits; a brown-haired tom that looked just like him, and a red-haired she-kit.
"Here they are. Pikekit and Mintkit. Please, take care of them well."
"Where's the other one?"
"Dead."
She slowly started to walk away, but kept looking back at her kits, who watched her slightly shocked.
"Mama, come back!"
"Where are you going?"
"Are you coming back to get us?"
She took off running as fast she could go into the forest, unable to bear listening to their heart-wrenching cries.
Millie glanced down at the small necklace she had in her hand as the memory faded away. Like most of the necklaces given to young kits, it was fairly simple in design, decorated only with a single, large owl feather. It had once belonged to her daughter, Leafkit, who she lost while taking her kits to their father.
The decision to give away her kits had hit her much harder emotionally than she'd prepared for. She'd known it was going to be really hard decision to make, and that it came with the risk that they would end up forgetting her, but forcing her kits to trek through the forest in such savage weather, losing Leafkit, and hearing the remaining two cry out to her like she was abandoning them had just about broke her heart.
As for her tribe, they believed her kits were dead; she'd made it look like they'd been stolen by some animal, driven by starvation to venture into the camp for the first time. The tribe had scoured the forest for moons, but of course, they were unable to find anything, except for Leafkit's necklace, which Millie had purposely taken from the kit's body and left lying in the snow that had piled up over the hole. It was the only thing she had to remember them now.
A loud bang snapped her out of her thoughts, and she looked up to see a familiar figure fly overhead. He was carrying something that was sort of shaped like some weapons she'd seen humans use to hunt deer. Whatever it was, that was what made the loud noise, because she heard it again as he shot down some snake-like creature that had huge fangs and a small pair of wings on its back, near its head. The angel flew off into the distance, and vanished.
"Millie, what are you doing out here?"
A soft voice made her jump, and she turned around to see a ten-year-old apprentice with black-and-raven streaked hair standing a few feet behind her.
"Oh, it's you, Crowpaw. You kind of scared me. Aren't you supposed to be helping Whitefeather?"
"Yeah, but she didn't have anything for me to do, so I decided to practice tracking."
"Huh. Well, I'm impressed you managed to track this far, considering you can't see."
"Who needs eyesight when you can just follow your nose?"
Millie nodded once.
"That is true. I remember teaching you that once. I'll give you a point for that."
The apprentice smiled proudly.
A year after Millie had "lost" her kits, she'd been given Crowpaw as an apprentice. Sadly, Crowpaw had to give up on her ambition of being a warrior after she developed an infection in her eyes that left her blind. Instead, she was given the offer to become a tribe healer, which she didn't hesitate to accept, and it had proven to be a pleasant experience for her.
"Anyway, I'm always finding you out here, by the crooked oak trees. Why?"
Millie hesitated for a long while.
"It's...I think of my kits, for some reason, whenever I'm here. Maybe it's because Leafkit's necklace was found here, but I don't really know. I come here to remember the kits I once had."
"Oh, okay."
The apprentice turned to leave, but looked back for a minute.
"I would ask if what you told the tribe is a lie, but I've got the feeling it's something I'm not supposed to know."
Millie watched nervously as Crowpaw headed off into the forest. Crowpaw wasn't the only person who suspected that she'd staged losing her kits. Cedarstar, Swiftwind, and Darkpool did too. Much to her relief, Thistleheart believed her story that her kits had been stolen, however, he did once tell her that "they were better off dead anyway", which only made her even more emotionally hurt by her decision to give them up. At least he didn't have any suspicion that her kits really were still alive, and being raised happily someplace he couldn't go.
It's been so long...I wish I could see them...and Pit...I wonder what's going on...what was that he was carrying? And what's with the monsters around?
As if on cue, she saw glittering light appear in the sky, which Pit's form soon became visible against. He fluttered his wings as he landed in front of her.
"I saw you as I flew by. You're probably wondering what's going on."
"Yes, I am."
"You know how I told you that Medusa, goddess of the Underworld, had taken over my home once before?"
"Yeah. You told me that when you first came here a few years ago."
"I thought I defeated her for good...Apparently not. She's started a war against us again."
"Oh. By the way, how are our kits?"
"They're fine. They love it up there, in Skyworld. Especially the tom. It's almost like having two of me with him around."
"Oh...I feel like it's been forever since I saw them last..."
Millie paused for a long moment. A sudden idea then just came to her.
"You don't suppose you could bring me to Skyworld?"
"What?!"
"So I could care for the kits. I've got the feeling you're going to be gone a lot, and with me there to watch them, I feel like it would help you a bit."
He gazed at her for a moment, a look of caution in his eyes.
"It's just...You won't be able to really get around without me. You'll be stuck in Palutena's Temple. Are you sure?"
"Yeah. I'm doing this for you."
"Okay, if you insist..."
He got down on one knee, and gestured for her to get on. She leaned forward and firmly gripped his shoulders. Once she had a solid hold on him, he spread his wings and took off. She saw his wings flash a bright blue and a shimmering light enveloped them as he left the ground, and headed for his home.
"The thing I don't get Pit, is you told me you were flightless. Yet, you're flying now."
Pit felt his face get warm.
"Well...let's just say I can't fly by myself. Right now, I'm flying with Lady Palutena's help. It's called the Power of Flight. But the thing is, it only lasts for five minutes, after that, my wings will burn up."
"Sounds really painful."
"Sure does."
Pit slowed down almost to the point of hovering as his home came into view. Millie swept her gaze across the site, fascinated by it all. It was unlike anything she'd ever seen before; huge chunks of land floating in the sky, with beautiful structures on them. Strange, humanoid beings with wings growing out the back of their heads swarmed around.
"Those are centurions, Lady Palutena's rank-and-file troops. They're all pretty much grunts, and can be revived if they die."
"Oh. What about you?"
"Lady Palutena can heal injuries I receive, but she can't do much if I were to die. Being an angel doesn't make me not human in some way at all. I've only got one life."
"Oh. Makes sense."
Pit went into a steady glide to allow Millie to get a good idea for his home. Moments later, she took notice a huge structure bigger than any of the others. It seemed to almost overlook the rest of the realm.
"That's Palutena's Temple, where I raised the little ones. They should be waiting outside for me."
Sure enough, two kids were playing in the garden outside. Both of them looked up at the exact same time when Pit's shadow cast over them.
"Daddy! You're back!"
The two of them practically jumped on him when he landed. He quickly shooed them away to let Millie get off of his back. Once she'd let go, he let them climb and pounce on him, and the angel playfully flopped onto his side and rolled over, pretending to be defeated by the two little ones.
Millie couldn't help but be amazed by just how much her kits had grown; they looked to be about six years old now, and almost twice the size they were when she'd given them up. Their faces hadn't changed much, save for the fact they'd lost some of the babyish roundness in their cheeks, so they didn't look quite as youthful as before. The tom's eyes had also gotten slightly darker somehow, and she could've sworn had it not have been for his darker hair, he could've easily been mistaken for his father.
But the thing that surprised her the most was, sprouting from the kits' shoulder blades, were tiny wings! They were all fluffy down, except for on the edges, where there was a row of spindly structures that would eventually form into their primary feathers needed for flight. Directly underneath them on the kits' backs were dark lines that vaguely looked like scarring on their backs. Since it was right underneath their wings, Millie couldn't help but wonder where such marks could've come from.
After a while, the two seemed to get tired of playing, and started heading inside. They didn't seemed to have noticed her at all, which was understandable, as they'd come to see Pit as their main parental figure. On a whim, she called to them.
"Pikekit! Mintkit!"
The two of them stopped, and looked back, in a mix of curiosity and confusion. Their eyes went wide when they saw her.
"Mama?"
They ran up and firmly put their arms around her, in an attempt to hug her. Millie got down on her knees, and set them on her lap so she could hug them both in return. She gently stroked them as pure joy filled her.
"I've missed you two so much."
Pikekit nuzzled his head up under her chin, his soft hair tickling her neck.
"We've missed you too."
Mintkit suddenly yanked herself free.
"And we're not "kits" anymore. Daddy calls us Pikepaw and Mintpaw now. We're apprentices now!"
Millie looked up as Pit came up to her.
"I told them everything. About you, the tribes, the forest, and why you gave them up to me. I may not be a tribe leader, but I felt that it would be to some benefit to consider them apprentices, since they are at the age in which kits would become apprentices in the tribes."
"That is true. And I'm actually kind of glad you did."
Millie let go of the two, and stood up as they disappeared into the temple.
"Hey Millie, your tribe doesn't happen to know why you're gone, do they?"
She shook her head.
"No. But they'll understand why. They know how close I am to you, so they'll figure I'm with you. And I don't plan to stay here for too long."
"Okay. I don't really like it too much when you go making bold moves like this, but then you probably know the tribe better than I do. And I've seen for myself that they trust you and the decisions you make."
Millie couldn't help but chuckle a bit at that.
"You're starting to sound like Cedarstar."