Chapter 13: a mother's love

Snowstar walked away from the moorland, staying close to the lake.

She could feel her heart pounding in her chest and adrenaline coursing through her veins. She trotted happily to a twolegplace. She could see a white fence surrounding two twoleg nests and a den that seemed to hold huge beast.

They had short pelts that came in natural colors and on there neck and hindquarters was a long piece of hair, almost like when her twoleg would tie her hair up. They had giant black rocks for paws and snorted and made odd sounding squeals. They all looked fully grown, she couldn't see any of what she could assume would be the beast's kits.

Snowstar walked towards the place, being wary of the squealing beasts inside. Did twolegs really think that the fence would hold them? They looked like they could leap it with ease!

Eventually she made her way until she looked up at the fence. The one so much like her own. She couldn't help but feel a thorn pierce her heart as she remembered her twoleg. How did Joann feel? Did she miss her? Probably. She shook her head, clearing her mind of the memories. Snowstar had come too far to go running back to Joann. She would have to forget about her and Joann would have to forget about Snowstar. It's the easier option.

She leaped onto the fence. Some of the beast looked at her. She couldn't read their faces and didn't know whether they were hostile or peaceful. After staring at her for what seemed to be a moon, they lost interest and looked away from her, continuing to snort and paw at the ground. She looked inside beyond the beasts and saw that they were seperated from another side of the fence inside the Horseplace.

Snowstar held her breath and leaped down into the beasts camp. She walked slowly through the area, being wary of the rock paws the beasts wore.

When she was half way out of the death trap, one horse reared up on its hind legs and let out a wavering, high-pitched yowl, then its forepaws started to come down. Snowstar's heart lurched and her paws instinctively took her away from the mad beast. She heard the paws slam into the dirt ground with a thud. The beast shook its head and then seemed to be calm, as if nothing had happened.

Her breathing was fast and loud, she could hear her heart in her ears. If she had been one heartbeat later on running, she could have died. No matter how many lives she had she would always fear death.

Snowstar leaped onto the fence, having to scramble onto the top because of its height. She looked around and spotted two cats. Both were toms, one a light ginger tabby and the other was white with ginger patches and dapples and some distinctive brown stripes on his tail.

"Hey! You there!" she called to them.

Both turned their heads and looked at her with confusion.

"Can I help you?" asked the ginger tabby.

"As a matter of fact, you can. Does a cat named Monroe live around here?" Snowstar asked.

"Yeah, we know her. What do you need her for?" replied the white tom with ginger patches.

"I wish to speak with her about some private matters." she mewed simply.

Both toms looked at each other and whispered in one another's ear. Eventually, they faced the Snowclan leader again.

"Sure we'll take you to her." said the ginger tabby, "Come on down here."

Snowstar didn't hesitate at the offer and leaped down easily. This was the moment. She was going to see her mother.

"What's your name? I'm Lightning and this is Trouble." he said, gesturing towards the ginger patched tom.

"I am Snowstar." she said.

"Ain't that a clan name?" asked Trouble. Snowstar nodded, "It's a new clan, you wouldn't have heard of it before."

The cats took her to the large, wooden den. Inside she saw more cats. A light golden tabby tom with paws that faded into grey was talking with a black she-cat with light grey paws. In the other corner was a ball of white fluff sleeping soundly. Lightning waved his tail to the talking cats, "Hello Luna, Puff. Look what we have! A real clan cat. She's here to see Monroe." The black cat nodded, "I'll go wake her."

"So, what's your name?" asked the golden tom.

"Snowstar, and yours?" Snowstar asked.

"I'm Puff, and the cat that just left was Luna. I assume you're already acquainted with those two?" Puff mewed

"Yep." she said

Luna appeared again before Puff could say anything else. Behind her was a white she-cat with bright amber eyes. Almost a spitting image of Snowstar. The white she-cat looked at Snowstar with a blank stare and then mewed, "You must be the cat that wanted to see me."

"Yes I am. I would like it if we could speak in private." she mewed back. The others got her message and left the den leaving Snowstar alone with the she-cat.

"Your name is Monroe i presume?" she asked the cat.

"Yes, and you are?" Monroe asked.

"Snowstar."

"What a lovely name." Monroe said in a sweet tone.

"Did you ever have kits?" Snowstar asked abruptly.

Monroe looked at Snowstar with a confused look. She heard a purr rumble in Monroe's throat and a smile came upon her face.

"I did once," Monroe said, "Three little kits. Oh, how I miss them so much."

"What happened to them?" Snowstar asked, pretending she hadn't heard the story before.

"I used to live in a forest by the sea with my mate, Chess. We lived there for a long time. Eventually, we had three kits, Shallow, Badger, and Icicle. But one day, a nofur found us and took Icicle and Chess away. I ran away from there with my two kits. We found shelter here in the Horseplace. But then Shallow went missing and I took Badger to a place called Shadowclan for safety. There he became Badgerpaw and I watched him learn how to fight. I learned some moves, but I didn't feel comfortable. I knew Badgerpaw would live much better there than i did so i left him and came back here. I haven't seen any of my kits since." Monroe looked as if she was about to cry.

"They didn't know you were here?" asked Snowstar.

"They probably thought I left the lake." Monroe responded

"What if i were to tell you you just saw one?" Snowstar mewed.

Monroe looked at her as if she had grown wings and flew away, "What do you mean, Snowstar?"

Snowstar held her breath. This was the moment she had been waiting for, she exhaled and finally said, "I am your kit, Monroe."

There was an eerie silence between the two for a few heartbeats. Monroe's face seemed to melt, a warm smile on her face, tears welling in her eyes. She rocketed her body forward onto Snowstar and rested her face on Snowstar's shoulder.

"Oh, my daughter!" she cried, "I thought you looked familiar, but i wasn't sure. Oh, my kit, how I missed you Icicle."

Snowstar explained what happened after the twolegs took her away, how she met Grim, her nine lives, everything. She smiled and purred all the way through.

"Hey. Could we come back in now? The horses are acting up." Snowstar and Monroe turned to see Trouble poking his head in.

Snowstar nodded and the cats entered, "Is that what you call those beast?" she asked.

"Yep. Horses. They're no trouble, though they don't like us, I think. If we get too close, or stay around them too long, they start to shriek and rear up on their hind legs." Trouble replied.

Monroe started to explain Snowstar and her kinship with each other. The others smiled and gave Snowstar nods.

"Well, I must be on my way now. My clan is sure to wonder what's taking me so long." she said. The cats waved goodbye and she was about to head out until she remembered why she told the others why she was there. She turned around, "Before I go, I was wondering if any of you would like to join my clan. More would be helpful."

The Horseplace cats looked at each other and spoke in quiet whispers. Eventually, they faced her again. Puff was the first to speak, "Me and Lightning would like to join." he said, "Yeah! It'll be much better than being cramped up in here all day!" Lightning added. Snowstar looked at the others. Trouble shook his head. "I'll stay here and watch over Monroe." mewed Luna.

Snowstar looked at her mother with pity. Monroe approached her and gave her cheek a lick, "I tried being in a clan once and I left, I doubt i'll stay in this one for long either. But I want you to know I love you, Snowstar. Never forget that." Snowstar nodded. She promised her that she would inform Shallowstep and Badgerbelly about her whereabouts so they could visit then left. Lightning looked at the horses with worry, "I know you want your clan to know your ok, but do we have to go through?" he asked. Snowstar remembered her near how she was almost crushed by one of the horses. She shook her head, "We can climb around the fence." she meowed.

The other cats followed her as she walked only on the fence to the other side. When she got there, she leaped down and broke into a sprint to her clan, Lightning and Puff behind. She focused not only on where she was going, but on memories of her with her family back in the forest near the sea. Her playing with her siblings, her mother and father watching them with proud faces. For a moment, it felt as if she never left.