"You're leaving?"

Bramblefrost flicked his ears as Tailchaser's mew brushed over him and the flecked tabby shrugged.

"I see no reason to linger here," he meowed. "The Highways are silent, yet there's whispers traveling down them about things elsewhere."

Tailchaser frowned. "Then they're not exactly silent, are they?"

Bramblefrost sighed, closing his eyes. "You know what I mean."

The pale ginger chuckled. "I wish you luck in your travels, Bramblefrost."

The tabby pondered that name for a moment. "That's something else I shall have to explore. Make the name my own rather than have it be one bestowed upon me."

It was Tailchaser's turn to sigh, tinged with exasperation. "I think you're overthinking it."

He met the tabby's gaze. "A name is not something you need to make your own. It's already yours."

"Remind me again how many Robinwings live in StarClan," came Bramblefrost's dry meow.

"Exactly," Tailchaser mewed. "There's a lot of them. Yet if you spend any time with them, you'd know how different and unique they are."

Bramblefrost shrugged. "My point still stands. My path lies elsewhere, and I intend to follow it."

"Then I wish you the best of luck."

Bramblefrost placed a paw on the ground outside of the misty field that marked the edge of StarClan's territory, and a softly-glowing path appeared before him, fading off into the distance.

Bramblefrost glanced at Tailchaser for a moment, then frowned.

"You're welcome to come with me if you'd like."

Tailchaser shook his head. "For now, my place is here. Maybe our paths will cross down the line."

Bramblefrost nodded and entered the Highway, his form melting away as he ran off to parts unknown.

Featherpaw and Stormpaw scampered through RiverClan's camp, narrowly dodging cats as they batted at one another with their paws and tails.

Graystripe watched them fondly, a low purr rumbling in his throat. "They've come a long way since you found them," he mewed to the silver tabby by his side. Silverstream head-butted him affectionately.

"They had some help," she mewed teasingly.

"Is that what we're calling Leopardfur's snarling now?" Graystripe asked in surprise, getting a cuff across his ears for his cheek.

"Careful she doesn't hear you say that," Silverstream mewed, her ears flicking to where the deputy was talking with Crookedstar. Leopardfur's ears twitched and she stared after the two apprentices making a ruckus. Her fur stilled as Crookedstar talked to her and she turned her attention back to him.

"Thank you for coming," Silverstream mewed, leaning into Graystripe. "The kits miss you dearly when you're not around."

Graystripe rested his head on top of Silverstream's, eyes closed. "I've been thinking about that," he mewed after a moment, pulling his head back to look at her. She met his gaze with narrowed eyes. "Do you think RiverClan would have me?"

Silverstream went silent for a few moments, mulling it over. "I don't know," she mewed honestly. "There's likely precedent for cats joining clans their kits are in, but how would your clanmates feel about that?"

"Probably relieved, given how often they remark about my head not being in the clan, or over the river, or… whatever other euphemisms they come up with."

Silverstream bit back a snort at that, looking at him curiously. "You'd be leaving a lot behind," she pointed out.

Graystripe stared after Featherpaw and Stormpaw, eyes distant. "I think it's worth it. For their sake, at least."

Silverstream nodded slowly, before getting to her paws. "Then I guess we'd better talk with Crookedstar about it. Then you'll likely have to do the same with Bluestar… I do not envy you."

"You make it sound like she'll make it difficult."

"She'll be losing a valuable warrior."

Graystripe shrugged. "And RiverClan will be gaining a valuable warrior. Seems a fair trade to me."

Silverstream shook her head in amusement and the two made their way over to Crookedstar.

Tallstar looked at Jake in surprise.

"You want to join WindClan?"

The ginger tom nodded. "I've been thinking about it over the past three moons. There's so much I missed here, and I'd like to be able to spend more time with you, so…"

Tallstar looked away to hide his smile and he took a deep breath. "I see," he meowed, before turning back to Jake. "It'll be nice to have you with us."

The two toms touched noses, and then Tallstar took a step back. "I have a feeling the next Gathering's going to be quite interesting, given how much the clans have changed."

"Probably for the best," Jake remarked. "I for one enjoy being able to relax and not have to worry about someone wanting to claw my pelt off."

Tallstar rolled his eyes. "The irony of you joining the clan where "relaxation" is almost considered a myth seeking to relax is not lost on me."

"Hm…true," Jake mused. "Still, with how often Rusty's been remarking on my weight, joining the most physically active clan is my best bet to prevent more of that."

"Something tells me you'll miss that teasing before long."

Jake laughed. "True enough. What else is family for, after all?"

"At least they're not too far off," Tallstar meowed. He blinked. "Ah, I see the real reason you decided to join WindClan. Did the kits keep waking you up?"

"Funnily enough, no," Jake meowed. "They're remarkably well-behaved."

"Very surprising, given their parents."

"You forget their mother," Jake mewed with a grin. "She keeps them in line. Their father too," he added in amusement. "And that's what surprised me the most."

"Love does weird things to those ensnared in its web," Tallstar pointed out.

"As I've learned, much to my dismay," Jake lamented, before giving Tallstar a warm nuzzle. "And I thank you, from the bottom of my heart, for doing so."

"You showed me there was more to life than revenge, that life outside the clans wasn't as terrible as we thought it to be, and guiding me home when you had no obligation to," Tallstar meowed warmly.

"Stop it, you're making me blush," Jake mewed, flicking his ears as they warmed.

The two toms put their heads together, purring in bliss.

Fireleap stepped out of her den in the medicine cat clearing and gave her pelt a shake.

She was still coming to terms with calling the clearing hers. Spottedleaf's presence still seemed to fill the place and Fireleap felt extremely small amidst it all.

"I miss her too."

Fireleap jumped in surprise as she caught sight of Redtail. The tortoiseshell was sitting with his tail curled over his paws, seemingly lost in nostalgia as well.

"Sorry," Fireleap mewed, shaking her head. "Did you need something?"

Redtail shook his head. "No. I just had a feeling you needed some company."

Fireleap blinked as her pelt warmed and she averted her eyes. "Thank you," she mewed softly before she looked at Redtail curiously. "So, what do you make of all this?"

"Spottedleaf's her own cat, and taking her kits to live with their father, and deciding to stay with him is her choice. I miss her, but she's not that far away and it's easy enough to go visit if I really need to see her."

"It does seem rather selfish of me to want all my friends to always be with me," Fireleap mewed ruefully. "Just makes things so much easier that way." She sighed heavily, before brightening. "Still, some good has come of it."

"Oh really?" Redtail mewed. "Like what?"

Fireleap perused the herb stores, checking to see what needed to be restocked.

"So you mean to say you haven't noticed Raventhroat mooning over you?"

Redtail's tail twitched in surprise. "To be honest, I thought he was interested in you."

"We considered it," Fireleap mewed. "But I've got responsibilities of my own at the moment, and I didn't want to make things too awkward, so we decided to put it aside for the moment and got to talking about other topics, and then your name came up and he got all flustered. It was the cutest thing I've ever seen."

"Interesting," Redtail mewed thoughtfully. "I shall have to look into that more. Thank you for bringing it to my attention."

He took his leave and Fireleap returned to her herbs.

Rusty watched the field mouse scurry from hiding place to hiding place as it searched for food. Flashes of white were sometimes visible among the tall grass, but never long enough for the mouse to notice and Rusty nodded in approval.

The mouse stopped to scrabble at some short grass and there was a whisper of movement as the white blur struck, ending the mouse with a swift bite.

Rusty emerged from concealment, purring warmly. "Very nicely done, Song. I hardly noticed you."

Song puffed out her white fur in pride, her catch at her paws. Her thick plumed tail wafted behind her, reminding Rusty of the debate he and Spottedleaf had over naming her Cloud instead, with the fela preferring a non-clan name.

The young kitten's blue eyes sparkled. "Thank you," she purred. "I'm glad I got it this time. Sixth time's the charm, right?"

"Fifth," Rusty corrected her. "That one with the grasshopper doesn't count."

"I do believe I wound up catching you instead after it had leaped out of the way."

"My head remembers it quite fondly," Rusty remarked. "Come on, let's gather up your catches and see how your mother and brother are getting on."

"Knowing Hawk, he'll be jawing Yellowfang's ear off about another one of his stories from StarClan," Song mewed, wrinkling her nose.

"Poor Hawk," Rusty mewed dryly, knowing full-well how that would end.

Song giggled before scampering off to fetch her kills.

They arrived at the barn just in time to see Spottedleaf neatly flip a young brown-dappled tom onto his back with a twist of her paws before pinning him.

"Alternatively, he'll be getting put through the wringer," Rusty mewed in Song's ear as they approached.

"Do you know what you were doing wrong?" Spottedleaf mewed, shaking her head as she let the young tom up.

"Didn't keep my weight even," the tom groaned as he stretched his limbs. He shook out his pelt and bounced on his toes. "You're also way better at this than I am, so is it really my fault?"

"Yes it was," Song called out. "Even if they're bigger and able to throw you around, you should be able to land on your paws anyway." She dropped her catches and stared at him. "Plus, the correct strategy would've been to run away and try to surprise them later."

Hawk scowled at his sister but it was swiftly replaced by a grin and purr when he saw his father, and they nuzzled one another.

"Welcome back," Spottedleaf mewed, stepping forward to press her nose to Rusty's muzzle. "I see you've had a productive hunt."

"She's a quick learner," Rusty mewed warmly, watching his kits.

"She's got a good teacher," Spottedleaf remarked, before swatting him with her tail to forestall any statements to the contrary.

Rusty sighed blissfully, giving his pelt a shake. "So it would seem." He glanced at Spottedleaf. "And a good mother."

"Pretty sure the father deserves most of the credit there," Spottedleaf replied. "You're the one who had to put in more work to keep everyone fed."

"Barley helped," Rusty pointed out.

"Don't be so modest," Spottedleaf snapped. "Take credit where it's due." Her face softened and she leaned against him. "Thank you, though."

Rusty licked her ears, purring. "You're the one who put up with me long enough to fall in love with me."

"You say that like you didn't fall ears over tail the instant you met me."

Rusty considered it for a moment. "That's true, although at the time you were quite distant and more focused on your clan, which fascinated me."

Spottedleaf tilted her head. "Because it wasn't what you were used to, as a loner?"

Rusty gazed at her for a few heartbeats before nodding. "I was used to living alone. I'd spent most of my kithood that way, further fueled by the plague, so when I got to the clans and saw how they worked, it was all so new to me."

"Yet you still talked to whomever stopped by," Spottedleaf pointed out.

"Fleeting meetings," Rusty mewed with a chuckle. "But then you came along and made things so much more complicated than I was used to."

"Do you regret it?"

Rusty looked at her, at her dappled pelt, her warm amber eyes, took in her sweet scent, and watched the way she looked at him.

"No. I don't." He pressed his nose to her neck. "Thank you."

Spottedleaf nodded, before glancing after her kits. "Well then, let's see where this path takes us."

a/n - Thank you for reading. Hope you had fun.