Flametail rose up, as the sun for the living clans did as well. This was something he normally did. Up at dawn, watch over his clan. Occasionally look at the action in Thunderclan as well. While most of his living kin was in Shadowclan, upon coming to Starclan he had discovered many of his kin had Thunderclan roots. He had Thunderclan roots, even if he considered himself loyal to his birth clan.
He watched his clan go about their day. His brother, Tigerheart, now Tigerstar was leader. Another Tigerstar of Shadowclan. A better one, he presumed, than last time.
When he and his siblings had been kits, there was often talk about why their mother, Tawnypelt, had chosen the name. While it wasn't something that affected him, he could tell that his brother had often felt pushed to prove that he was better than the cat he was named after.
Shadowclan was doing fine. It was leaf bare, sure, but compared to the challenges that his clan had faced in the past, he would say they were doing fine. Though I hate to admit it, my brother is doing a much better job than my father ever did at leading. The aftermath of Darktail's reign on the clan required a strong leader, and Tigerstar filled that requirement. It had been quite some time since Tigerstar had assumed leadership of Shadowclan, and Flametail thought he was doing quite well.
The running off with Dovewing thing could have gone better, he thought, but his two daughters are now warriors, and his son a medicine cat in the making. His absence from the clan had eventually helped to strengthen it, so Flametail wouldn't complain too much.
As he was about to move to check on Thunderclan, he heard his name being called.
"Flametail."
His ears perked up at the sound of a familiar voice. One he hadn't heard in a long time.
"Dawnpelt! It's great to see you," he purred at the sight of his sister. He knew she had died at the claws of Darktail, but this was the first time he had seen her in Starclan. It's been so long.
Dawnpelt looked younger than he remembered. She would have been much older than him at her time of death, but that wasn't something that surprised him. They say when we die we appear at the age we were happiest. She almost looks like an apprentice!
"I'm… sorry I took so long to come see you."
The way she spoke however, reminded Flametail of her actual age. She sat down beside him, and watched the clan.
"It's okay," he reassured her. "I'm… kind of actually relieved."
"Of what?"
"That you… seemed to have adjusted well to Starclan." Flametail thought of a quick lie to say as an answer. They were being reconnected for the first time, he didn't want to ruin it.
In truth, he had been worried that he hadn't seen her for such a long time. He remembered watching in horror as she sided with Darktail along with her kits. Then, she died. He had been waiting for her to find him, but that had never happened. He knew she believed in Starclan, which had only left one fear in his mind. Had she gone to the dark forest? Ever since the last time he had been almost trapped there, he had avoided the place, but it had been a fear in the back of his mind.
Up until now. She was here, in the stars with him.
"Have you spoken with father?" He asked her, changing the subject. While he had passed by their father multiple times, their exchanges were brief. Rowanstar, no, Rowanclaw was different than Dawnpelt.
"We have," she answered simply. "He says that you two don't talk."
Because he let Shadowclan down. Even if it was moons ago, he was still disappointed in his father. I guess grudge holding in this family is genetic. Both he and his sister held, albeit misplaced, blame on one of their kin. He had told himself that he would sit down and speak with his father about it like proper warriors, but that wasn't high on his list of things to do. He was a good father when I was a kit, I just don't like his actions from after he became leader.
"So… what do you do all day if you don't talk to your kin?"
Their silence had become rather awkward, which prompted Dawnpelt to start talking to him.
"I speak to my kin," he replied to her.
"Up until recently you haven't had many to speak with."
Flametail hesitated before continuing.
"Our Thunderclan kin," he told her. "They're very nice."
As kits, Tawnypelt had explained to them their family tree contained a lot of Thunderclan blood. It was also their first lesson on Starclan. Remember their names, he could almost hear Tawnypelt saying in his head. Remember them and they live on. He had memorized the names of most of them as a medicine cat, so when he came to Starclan it was simply a matter of guess and match.
"I'm surprised they're still around," Dawnpelt said mildly. "I certainly didn't repeat their names to my kits."
"I'd like to believe Thunderclan does a better job of passing down this information than we ever did."
In his occasional checks on Thunderclan, he would sometimes hear kits listening to elders recount cats of the past. Graystripe had mentioned his grandmother at least once, even if just as the mother of Bramblestar.
"I was… actually about to visit their part of the sky, if you'd like to join me."
"Why?"
"We have kin there."
"I hesitate to call Jayfeather kin."
"What about Alderheart and Sparkpelt?"
"Who?"
As he had started to walk, Dawnpelt quickly followed, now interested. He explained to her that Bramblestar and Squirrelflight had a litter of kits that officially connected them by blood.
"So that medicine cat was kin," she said. "No wonder he looked so familiar."
Flametail sat down, now watching the Thunderclan camp. He could see Alderheart holding a kit in his jaws, handing it to Sparkpelt.
"That kit is named Flamekit," he said to his sister. Her eyes widened in surprise.
"After you?"
"I don't know," he admitted, "But I'd like to watch over him."
Truth be told, he wasn't sure if Alderheart and Sparkpelt knew of their connection to Shadowclan. He studied his sister, as she too watched intently at Thunderclan going about their daily lives. Why isn't she older? When did she look like this? He himself stayed pretty much the same age as the one he had died at. He wasn't sure why, but something about her youth bugged him.
"Dawnpelt, at what age were you the happiest?"
He wasn't sure if normal cats knew certain details of Starclan before entering it. He had certainly had never said anything about this to her. The question took Dawnpelt off guard, causing her to look up at him.
"Right before you died."
No! No... That's not fair. Had his death affected her that much?
"Think about it," she said to him. "You died, we mourn. Great battle, we mourn. Darktail arrives and I betray my clan and… and then I die."
When she puts it like that, it makes more sense. Still, something about it felt unfair to Flametail.
"When I got here moons ago, I didn't really want to see you," Dawnpelt continued. "I had always hoped you were watching over us, but after what I did I didn't want to face your judgement."
Flametail pressed his fur against hers, trying to comfort her. It was true, he had been watching over her.
"That was moons ago, I'm just glad that you're here."
He didn't put much blame on Dawnpelt. All of her kits had chosen to side with the rogues, and the rest of their family hadn't exactly made a good case against them. A fault of Rowanclaw's honestly. He suppressed a laugh - Dawnpelt wasn't the only one who had been avoiding family.
A golden tabby caught his attention, causing him to look back down upon Thunderclan camp. That's Lionblaze, and his son. Flametail looked more closely and noticed another, smaller cat beside them. A grand-kit? She looked to be about apprentice age.
Lionblaze, Jayfeather, and Hollyleaf were only a few moons older than they were. He could still remember how the three of them had visited him and his littermates when they were all much younger. I've spoken to Hollyleaf a number of times, but this is the first I've heard of a grand kit. I wonder what she thinks about it.
"Can we go back to Shadowclan? This is getting boring."
Dawnpelt stood up, and Flametail followed. Passing between the two clans now took longer with Skyclan ancestors in the sky but he didn't mind. I'm just glad they've all settled in peacefully.
"Hello Flametail."
Near the edge of Thunderclan and Skyclan's imaginary Starclan boarder he heard a voice call out to him. Turning around, he saw Goldenflower, his grandmother. He liked to talk to her, and she would often tell him stories of the old forest, as if he were a kit once more. It didn't take long for Goldenflower to notice the cat beside him.
"Are you Dawnpelt?"
"I am."
His sister looked a little stunned that a complete stranger knew her name. She really must not have ventured outside of Shadowclan's sky. Goldenflower introduced herself to his sister.
"How long have you been in Starclan?"
It was the polite way of asking how long she'd been dead for. Dawnpelt answered, and Goldenflower looked a little surprised, but dipped her head respectfully.
"Well I'm glad Flametail could get you to see Thunderclan," she told them. "You have a lot of kin here."
The two of them said goodbye to her and parted ways.
"I think I'll stick to our Shadowclan kin on our father's side, thanks."
He let out a purr of amusement at his sister's remark. He too had met their Shadowclan kin, but found them a bit colder in comparison. As that was the environment he grew up in, it wasn't a big deal, but he always welcomed the warmth of his Thunderclan kin.
Flametail followed his sister back to the Shadowclan camp, and followed her gaze to the Elder's den. That's right, Ivytail was her mentor. Ivytail had been a respectable warrior. She deserves the rest of an elder.
His own mentor, Littlecloud, was in Starclan. The two of them would often talk. He could remember the discussions they used to have about Puddleshine, Shadowclan's current medicine cat. I should have been around to teach him, but he turned out. Flametail could see the tom now and feel assured the Shadowclan had a competent medicine cat. Now he's training Shadowpaw, my kin.
"We should spend more time together, now that we can." Dawnpelt said to him as they watched Shadowclan life.
When alive they were close, but not that close. He was often in the medicine den with Littlecloud, while she and their brother had warrior apprentice friends. I remember how she and Olivenose hung out a lot. He had seen the other she-cat in Starclan many times, and had even spoken with her. She died in the great battle. She's only been here a little less than me. Though in life they didn't know each other well, in Starclan it was nice to talk to someone his age. Dawnpelt will be happy to see her, I guess it's a good thing she came here a bit younger.
"I agree," Flametail said to her. "I'd really like that."