hello hello hello!

things are starting to be wrapped up now... here's some rushstorm pov!

review replies:

guest: (i've deleted ur review) thank u, this issue is sorted now, i'm really grateful that u pointed it out.

minty: THANK YOU SO MUCH! and yes i love rustgold best boys

storm: :000 u really think so? thank u sm! and yess all the rustgold

dragon: yeah she's one spoooooky cat. and thank u!

breezepetal: ty!

Rushstorm paused at the entrance of the leader's den, Beebounce brushing up against him. His mate - he still couldn't believe he could call Beebounce that - offered him an encouraging smile.

They'd decided to do this last night, after Fishclaw and Frogtoe had charged up to them, exclaiming that they were going to get 'officially paired!' Once they'd finished fussing over them, Rushstorm and Beebounce had come to two quiet conclusions.

One, they wanted what their other two friends had. Not officially yet, but Rushstorm wanted to be able to just call him his mate. Their various other labels had been wordy, and this one just seemed to fit.

Two, they had to tell Rosestar about Rustpaw. It wasn't fair that Fishclaw and Frogtoe would be getting paired in a clan where Brambleswipe still had an influence. Even if Rustpaw seemed to have calmed down in the last few days, and he no longer left Beebounce with cuts after their training sessions, it was still a problem. And he felt like he should try to solve it.

Beebounce nudged him forward slightly, and he stumbled towards the entrance of the den. Beebounce smirked at him, before releasing the context of the situation, and he forced his mouth back into a line. Rushstorm poked his head in, and looked around, blinking. "Rosestar." He murmured, spotting the leader in the darkness. "Can we come in?" He asked.

Rosestar looked up, her pale blue eyes shining in the faint light of the morning. "Of course." She mewed, standing up in her nest, head knocking against the reeds that made up the roof of the den. "Are you alright?"

Beebounce pushed forward, standing beside Rushstorm. Rushstorm looked at him, and answered his leader, not being entirely truthful. "Oh, I'm fine." He said.

"My apprentice isn't." Beebounce said, somewhat nonchalantly.

Rosestar's eyes gleamed, and she fixed them both with a hard glare. Rushstorm shivered. "Rustpaw? What happened?"

"Your suspicions may have been correct." Rushstorm mewed grimly.

Rosestar blinked. "Correct? But Beebounce told me that he was fine…"

Beebounce coughed, taking a seat. "I wasn't telling the truth. Rustpaw… he's been blackmailing me for a moon." He murmured, looking down at his paws. Rushstorm sat down alongside him, and wrapped his plumy tail around his mates' body, trying to offer him some comfort. Rosestar glanced at him, but shrugged. He supposed she was used to him and Beebounce being… close, and she didn't think anything of it.

"A moon? What about? Why? Why didn't you tell anyone?" Rosestar hissed.

Rushstorm looked up. "He told me." He confessed. Rosestar narrowed her eyes.

"You told him and you didn't even tell your own mother? Your leader?" She questioned. Beebounce winced, and Rushstorm wrapped his tail around him tighter, reassuring him.

"I mean… he is deputy." Beebounce muttered.

Rosestar stared at him, before nodding slowly. "I-I mean that's true, but still. You should have told me." She mewed, sounding less irritated.

"About what she was blackmailing me about? Did you really want to hear that?" Beebounce said.

Rushstorm nudged him with his shoulder, and lowered his voice. "It wasn't that bad." He whispered.

Beebounce flinched. "I was told that my own mother was responsible for some random Shadowclan's tom death, and that apparently it was her fault that my sister died." He mewed bitterly.

Rosestar looked up, her gaze hardening. "Pricklepad." She said, sounding sure of herself.

"Pricklewhat?" Rushstorm asked, tilting his head.

Rosestar sighed. "Pricklepad. He was Brambleswipe's mate. From Shadowclan. Riverclan fought Shadowclan, and I threw him off me… he hit his head, and fell into the river. He… he didn't make it." She confessed quietly. Beebounce audibly gasped, and Rosestar looked away. She looked… almost ashamed, Rushstorm thought. "So Brambleswipe told Rustpaw this stuff? What else was there?" She questioned.

Beebounce shrugged. "S'not important."

"If it made you feel like you couldn't tell anyone about a ghost training your apprentice, it clearly is. Beebounce, what was it?" Rosestar mewed, getting slightly louder. Rushstorm widened his eyes, and he untangled himself from his mate to step forward, getting in front of Beebounce.

"Rosestar, is this really necessary?" He asked quietly.

Rosestar nodded. "Yes. I want to help you Beebounce." She mewed, sounding sincere. Rushstorm blinked, and moved to sit back down next to Beebounce. To his surprise, his mate leaned into him, head resting on Rushstorm's shoulder. It was unusual for Beebounce to show that kind of… affection in front of other cats. Rosestar had to be really stressing him out.

Beebounce met his mother's gaze. "I can't tell you. Only one of these things was mine to keep." He mewed stoically.

Rushstorm looked up at that, and grinned. "And that worked out well."

Beebounce seemed to just keep on surprising him, because he winked, full on winked, and Rushstorm's heart melted a little. "Damn right it did." He purred.

Rosestar's eyes narrowed, before widening with surprise. "Oh? Oh." She exclaimed, presumably working it out.

Beebounce nodded, suddenly timid. "Yeah." He whispered. Looking up, he added, "That… that is okay, right?" before looking back down at his paws.

Rosestar sighed, and stepped forward. "Son. Firstly, it's about time, and secondly, he makes you happy. I'm not going to take that away from you." She mewed.

Beebounce's face broke out into a smile. "Oh. Thank you." He murmured. Rushstorm looked up briefly to nod, happy for his mate, but he was thinking.

He had already decided that he didn't care if the Hawkstar thing came out. And he'd much rather it came out from the clan leader, instead of some random cat. He poked Beebounce in the side with his tail, and shrugged his head off his shoulder, looking straight ahead.

"Bee, I'm just going to tell her the… the other thing." He whispered. Beebounce looked surprised, casting a nervous glance at him, and then to Rosestar.

"Are you sure?" He muttered.

Rushstorm nodded. "Yes. There's no point hiding away from it any longer. Besides, he's the coward in this situation." He spat out the word coward. That was what Hawkstar was. He couldn't face up to his own mistakes, to what he'd done to Wisp, to anything.

"What is it, Rushstorm?" Rosestar asked gently.

Rushstorm swallowed. "Hawkstar… well, you're not going to believe this, but he's-"

Rosestar cut him off. "Your father."

Rushstorm stared at her, eyebrows furrowed. "...yes. How did you know?"

"Peachpounce is the world's worst secret keeper. Everyone had known for seasons. I don't care. None of us do." Rosestar mewed.

"Why?"

Rosestar sighed. "Your blood… your father. It shouldn't define you. The choices you make, the cat you've become. That's what's important to me. That's what's important to this clan." She mewed, and Rushstorm just smiled at her. It was what Beebounce, what his friends had been telling him for moons, and he was finally starting to believe it.

"Are you sure?" He asked.

Rosestar nodded, and went on. "Rushstorm, you are the only cat in this clan who I would trust as deputy."

Beebounce looked up at that. "Hey!" He exclaimed.

Rushstorm rolled his eyes, and good naturedly nudged his mate. "Sorry, Bee." He mewed, his tone light and teasing.

"I'm going to speak to Duckspark about Rustpaw. He's around her a lot more than he used to be, she's said." Rosestar said suddenly.

Beebounce nodded, agreeing with her. "I think that's more to do with Goldpaw, than anything." He mewed.

Rushstorm had to agree with that. For the past moon, the medicine cat apprentice was practically attached to Rustpaw. "They're good friends. I'm glad he's had someone there for him whilst he's being going through whatever happened to him." He commented.

Beebounce smirked. "Yeah. Friends."

Rushstorm narrowed his eyes. "There's something in that tone that I don't like." He said, accusingly.

"Almost as good friends as me and you…" Beebounce continued, grinning wickedly. Rushstorm blinked, suddenly understanding what he was implying.

"Starclan, really? Does it run in the family or something?" Rushtstorm joked. Beebounce knocked into his with his shoulder, and smiled.

"I don't know, you'll have to ask Rosestar." He purred.

Rosestar's gaze flickered upwards. "I think it's just exclusive to you younglings." She mewed.

"Younglings? Younglings?" Beebounce squawked, outraged.

"I'm going to leave with him now." Rushstorm told Rosestar, amused. He started to push Beebounce out of the den, pleased that he was significantly larger than his mate. Beebounce struggled, trying to get around to face Rosestar.

"I'm very capable! I'm not a youngling!" He mewed, still protesting. Rushstorm lightly shoved Beebounce out of the den, and heard a cat snort from outside. He rolled his eyes. Frogtoe.

"Thank you for that, Beebounce." Rushstorm mewed, sticking his head out of the den to make sure that he hadn't seriously injured his mate. Thankfully, Beebounce seemed to be talking to Frogtoe, who had just placed a variety of flowers on the ground. Rushstorm guessed that she was still debating the flowers she wanted in her fur at her and Fishclaw's pairing ceremony. He turned back to his leader, and dipped his head."And… and thanks, Rosestar. About the Hawkstar thing." He said sincerely.

Rosestar nodded at him, smiling. "No problem. Anytime."

hope u enjoyed, tis just a short one for today