Flowerwish sat, with her tail curled around her paws. It had been one whole moon since the horrid flood that had washed her, her mate, her kits, and Lilyfall from IceClan. She still dreamt about the filthy water lapping at her fur as she ran, the relief when they found the hollow tree to hide in, the guilt that their tree, that had seemed to be their savior, was the very thing that had stranded them on unknown territory, full of harm and danger.

Every day since then, Lilyfall and Bluestorm had tried to find IceClan, but failed to do so. Every day, they came back, looking defeated. Flowerwish knew that she should be worried about how much time the former lovers were spending together, but she was to exhausted to do so. Taking care of three rambunctious kits had drained her energy more than anything.

A small cough brought her attention back. Sickness in this StarClan forsaken territory would be fatal, no medicine cats or herbs to help. Shimmerkit was coughing weakly.

"Honey, are you okay?" Flowerwish asked her kit.

Shimmerkit nodded, her pale blue eyes watering as she stifled another cough.

She shouldn't be in a rotting log like this! Flowerwish thought angrily, she should be curled up in the nursery. She's too young and too little.

Bluestorm squeezed his head into their makeshift den. He looked a little claustrophobic, his face scrunched up. He looked how she felt.

"Hey," he meowed, spotting her.

Nodding a greeting, she turned back to her coughing kit.

"Do you think she's going to get sick?" Flowerwish asked, her voice quavering.

She knew that illness without a medicine cat could be deadly. They couldn't risk that. They needed to find IceClan!

Looking her mate in the eyes, she saw him hesitate. "I-I'm sure she's fine," he reassured her.

Settling down next to her, he twined their tails together.

"We explored farther today," he meowed, drawing her closer to him.

"That's good. When do you think you will be able to find IceClan?" Flowerwish murmured, leaning in.

He licked her cheek, "We're not sure. Maybe another quarter moon?"

As he finished his statement, Lilyfall burst into the den, ready to make an announcement.

"Oh, sorry," she mewed, looking both amused and uncomfortable, "Was I interrupting something?"

"No," came Flowerwish's almost sharp words, at same time as Bluestorm lazy reply, "Yeah, just a bit."

They looked at each other in confusion.

"No, Lilyfall," Flowerwish meowed through gritted teeth, "You're fine. You weren't interrupting anything."

"Okay, so since I'm not interrupting anything," Lilyfall turned to Bluestorm, "Would you like to go and try to find some food?"

Me and my big fat mouth… Flowerwish thought angrily. Time alone with Bluestorm was valuable, as the black she-cat took every chance she could to butt in somehow.

Bluestorm hesitated, looking at his mate and silently asking her if she wanted him to go. Seeing no objection from her, Flowerwish wondered if she should have shown some, he licked her cheek and padded out of the tree.

Pebblekit tried to discreetly follow his father, but Flowerwish quickly grabbed him by his scruff and hauled the kit back in.

"Oh, no you don't," she grunted. A moon of eating well had made him chunky. However much she hated to admit it, it was easier taking care of a family and one unwanted cat than a whole Clan.

Pebblekit wailed and looked pleadingly at his mother. Flowerwish shook her head and he waddled to over to his sisters.


"Hello, Lilyfall," a sinister voice whispered, echoing off of the black trees that covered the terrible forest.

Lilyfall whipped around and quivered in fright as the massive black tom approached her. The dark, gloomy trees seemed to sway in fear alongside her. Even starlight was afraid of this place, no light shined through from the sky. There was only darkness residing in this horrid place.

"You know what I'm going to say," he snarled, "You have the perfect opportunity. You go out alone with him every day. Get him to fall in love with you."

Lilyfall nodded in horror, knowing he would hurt Birchfrost, the one cat she truly loved. She could do nothing else but obey him.

"Do you understand me?" Darkstar demanded, his voice growing louder.

"Yes, Darkstar," she whispered.

"Good," he laughed sinisterly. "Soon the power will be mine!"

"You'll regret not siding with me while you can," the evil cat warned.

She shuddered. What was going to happen to Birchfrost? He was all of her, the piece inside of her that was missing. She knew that loving him was wrong and against the warrior code, but there was something about him. The way his eyes sparkled when he laughed, the way his fur seemed to shine in the darkness. She needed him. She had no cat else but him. Darkstar had complete control over the black she-cat and she could do nothing. Nothing could save her.


"We found them! We found border markers!"

Flowerwish woke up with a jolt. Surprise and happiness filled her. Running towards the den exit, she saw her mate. He was purring with Lilyfall. The black she-cat was looking up at him like he was the only cat in the world. Flowerwish stopped. She knew that look. And the way he was looking at the black she-cat was a way she didn't want him to. Flowerwish didn't like the admiration filling his eyes. She had worked hard to win him over, and yet, he was still wavering. His former love for Lilyfall might come back, but Lilyfall didn't have his kits.

"You found them?" Flowerwish shrieked excitedly, putting on a happy front.

Bluestorm ran to her. "We found them," he sighed contentedly, rubbing his muzzle along her cheek.

"When are we going to go back?" she asked him.

"As soon as we can," he meowed, running towards the entrance of the fallen tree.

He quickly came back with Pebblekit in his mouth, and Featherkit and Shimmerkit riding on his back.

"Right, all ready," he announced, handing the kits off.

With Shimmerkit in her jaws, Flowerwish was ready to return to her Clan. With a hollow feeling inside of her, she wondered if she truly was ready. These last moon with no duties, no responsibilities had been nice. Still, IceClan was her home.

"Flowerwish! You coming?" Bluestorm called.

The gray-and-white she-cat shook herself. What was she thinking? Of course she wanted to go back.

"Coming," she answered.


The territory was all too familiar. She recognized the fallen tree, it had countless of cats' claw marks on it. The willows, swaying in the cool breeze. They passed the training clearing, Flowerwish remembered all too clearly spending every waking moment perfecting battle moves. She contentedly sighed. They were home.

An IceClan warrior confronted them, letting out a startled yowl of challenge.

"What are you doing here?" she demanded.

"Petalpaw?" Flowerwish asked incredulously.

"I'm Petalfall," she snapped, "Anyways, what in StarClan are you doing here? You-you're dead."

"Dead?" Bluestorm inquired.

"We never found you after the ambush. You were gone. Troutstar assumed the worst."

"Take us to him," Lilyfall demanded.

Petalfall snorted, "Fine."

"Flowerwish?" Snowfall meowed, "Is it you?"

"We need to talk to Troutstar," Flowerwish murmured to her sister. She sat Shimmerkit at her paws, hoping it would calm Snowfall down.

The white she-cat whirled around to face her Clanmates. "I told you! I told you all! We shouldn't have given up on them!"

No cat would meet her eyes. Sunleap pressed against the white queen.

"It's okay," he soothed. Turning to Bluestorm, he muttered, "She's been upset, refused to eat when you all went missing."

"We need to talk to Troutstar," Flowerwish repeated. "Where is he?"

"He's in his den," Petalfall walked back to them.

Flowerwish stormed to his den, ready to confront the cat that marked them as dead.

"Remember us?" she demanded.

"Flowerwish?" Troutstar peered behind her, "Bluestorm? Lilyfall?"

"We're alive," Lilyfall pointed out.

"I didn't think I would ever see you again," he murmured.

He brushed past them, and yowled to IceClan, "Clanmates! Bluestorm, Flowerwish, their kits, and Lilyfall have returned!"


Sorry this took forever to release. I kind of lost inspiration in this story and went to On Thin Ice. Sorry if it's a bit bland, adventure will come. Hope you liked it and happy reading!