Epilogue

I never really gave much thought to what my life would be like if I hadn't gone to look for Tara that night. Would I still be living with Everest? or would I have done the exact same thing, just differently. I can't say for sure. Maybe I would have, maybe not. Who would I be if things hadn't been that way though? Probably not the same cat I am now. For all the independence I thought I had while I was living back there with my family and housefolk, I was not that independent at all. I sure as the sunrise tried to be, but I still depended on so many others; and I never gave a moment's thought to any of them.

If I never followed Everest, I would not have gone to Leo; without Leo I would not have gone looking for Tara; without Tara, I would not have stayed with Sparrow; and without Sparrow, I never would have found a place to call home.

Where would that leave me then? sitting on that rickety fence, looking out over the hillside, so close to the freedom I was looking for but never taking that leap down?

Probably.

And if I hadn't done any of that, I wouldn't have found these two; I wouldn't have loved this one. Everything I did back then to help him four moons ago was worth it. Every single second. I made a difference for someone. Even if it was just a raindrop in a river, I'm happy that I did it.

"Lost in thought again, Hickory?" A scarred muzzle poked into the stone den, and the tomcat made his way to her with his lips pulled up to reveal a grin. "You've been like that since yesterday. What've you been thinking about?"

"Memories. Happy ones. About you; Shade; Rain. Lots of things."

Sparrow's grin disappeared. "Rain? Why him?"

"Because I made a difference for him, just like you did. And that made my role in his life far more meaningful." Sparrow nuzzled the gray she-cat and sat beside her, watching the two-moon-old kit tracking and pouncing on her tail. Regret was a friend to him when he thought about the past, but here with this kit—their future, it was no where to be found.

The kit shared their features equally: a mix between their brown and gray fur spattered his own, and he was almost fluffy—a rain cloud, Hickory had said. A small amused grin conquered the father's features. Their little rain cloud. The kit's eyes were a strange blue, set apart from the rest of the its features like a tree on a plain.

But they didn't care about that, not even after his eyes had stayed that way. They loved him no matter how he looked, happy just that they could love him.

Hickory watched as their kit, now bored with "hunting" his mother's tail, ran to Shade, bouncing on his paws and demanding to be told a story of some sort.

"Do you think he'll ever grow out of all this energy, dear? Soon, I'm going to have a hard time keeping up with him."

Sparrow purred, pressing his nose to Hickory's forehead. "At this rate, I'm not so sure. But that's a good thing at his age: let's you know they're healthy."

Hickory stopped watching the kit for a heartbeat to glance up at his father. "Do you ever wonder what happened to them? Rain and Song, I mean. About where they is, or how they're doing? I have. And all I hope is that he found what he was looking for. I didn't find what I was looking for, but found something just as meaningful to me."

"What would that be, dear?"

"Happiness . . . Do you think that's what he was searching for? happiness?"

The fluffy brown tom shrugged, his fur prickly pine needles. "Maybe. I can't say for certain, but maybe."

Soon their kit wandered back to his mother, gorged on stories and wonder, tired and looking for sleep. "Tired, huh, Storm?" The blue-eyed kitten nodded his head drowsily, then curled up with his mother and fell asleep.

But he couldn't stay, not that long into the night. This night kept him awake, while his family slept around him. He'd only slept a few hours but seethed with restless energy. He wanted to explore, but knew they wouldn't allow him.

He went anyway, pulled onward by the light of the moon and the howling of the wind. He sat outside watching the sky. And for a moment, he wondered if there was a world out there bigger than this stretch of moor; bigger than the stone den he shared with his parents and Shade; bigger than everything he had ever known.

Sometimes I wonder if I'll ever see that strange little sparrow again . . .

Well, that's it for Howling Winds. This story was incredibly fun to write and I really want to thank every single person that went along on this adventure with me. It's not going to be the end of my time writing on here, though. You'll be seeing more in the future.

There's going to be a poll on my profile until next Friday, which is going to have a naming question for a character in my next story.

Thank you and see you around everyone,

Tranquil Rain