Chapter 5

Poppy

The river babbled and gurgled as Poppy trotted along it's banks. Close at his heels was Mint, the blue-gray she-cat keeping close with a darkness in her eyes. Fawn had grown more agitated and struck out on the poor Shard, nearly raking her claws across her eye. It was only a few days ago and the blood had long since dried up, the wound scabbed over to make a gnarly wound on her pretty face. Every cat was tip toeing around the camp, knowing it won't be much longer until Fawn either attacked another of their group viciously and injured them so badly that they couldn't hunt or eat. Swiftly, he lead the way to the Twoleg Bridge, he had seen many of them walk over it, so if it could support their weight, it could support a cats. They just had to be fast to avoid any Twolegs and their pesky dogs.

Quickly, they trotted closer and closer to the massive wooden structure. Poppy swallowed thickly, glancing back to the young she-cat who had her ears pricked. Just one more moon and she would be a Fragment, one more moon and Fawn would do worse then ever before. They had to move fast, anything so they could escape with their fur in tact. Once they reached it, Mint hared across the bridge, Poppy going just slow enough to keep his strength up. If there was any danger on the other side he wanted to be ready to leap into action the moment they ran into it. His amber eyes wide to scan the far bank, the thump of their paws reverberating all around them on the bridge. Nothing came up, faint barking could be heard on the other side of the bank, but it sounded faint. He was positive they would be safe, after all, they haven't seen those River-cats or any other since moving in some seasons ago.

Soon, they reached the other side, panting as they padded into the spindly-tree forest. Their trunks barely the same width of a cat's body as they traveled the outskirts of the unknown territory. Brush, shrubs, ferns, and brambles rustled in the breeze eerily. Sticking close together, Poppy made sure to not lose track of Mint in the strange territory. Parting his jaws to taste the air, the dark ginger tom could pick up the musky scents of forest and cats. The territory was occupied, they had to search further to where the stink of cats weren't present. Which made it even trickier, if they go too far it could take too long to get back to camp, not to mention they would return empty pawed from their lie of hunting.

"We have to go a bit further, don't we?" Mint whispered.

Poppy nodded. "That we do. Come, let's head towards the gorge on this side, perhaps there is a territory up that way."

"Right." She breathed, taking up the lead again.

He followed more slowly, his amber eyes admiring the beautiful she-cat Mint had become. She had grown up well despite the trauma her heart had to endure. She was his brave girl and he felt proud to have been her adoptive father. He picked up his pace, knowing that she was old enough to not only understand, but able to see why they must leave their current fragment. They were far enough away that he felt confident to tell her, no matter what, he knew he had to keep to his promise.

"Remember the promise I made you a few moons ago?" Poppy prompted.

The blue-gray she-cat looked to him, blinking curiously. "I do."

"I am ready to tell you what haunts me whenever I hunt." He told her, seeing how bright her eyes have become now. "A long time ago, when I was around twelve moons old, I was the oldest kit of my mother, who was a leader, that lived. All the others had died from sickness and hunting mishaps in the Twoleg Place. My younger brother preferred to fancy toms, which is normal for any cat. Fancying a cat is an acceptable thing, doesn't matter if they are she-cat, tom, or whatever else they believe themselves to be. My mother, however, never saw it that way. She cared about numbers and making sure we are prepared for any battles."

"Were there a lot in Twoleg Place?" Mint asked.

"No, but she was older and most older cats worry about that sort of thing." He assured her gently. "Back to my story; my mother didn't approve that my younger brother preferred toms as she wanted him to mate with a she-cat. So, he was exiled and I had to bare witness to it. What do you think of when I say 'Exile'?"

"To leave and never to return to the other cats you've known." She answered.

"That's what I thought to. What my mother meant by it was, she was going to have him killed." The horror on Mint's face made him shudder. Poppy was positive he had that look on his own face that day. "They wounded him and I was forced to do the killing blow. Ever since, she made sure we all knew that to be exiled permanently, it was to be in death so there is no forgiveness."

"That's why you left them?"

"I went hunting like I had to, but I never returned to my birth-fragment. My brother's blood was on my paws and I never wanted to be part of it's dark history. I believe every first born my mother had left like that to escape the brutality they not only witnessed, but had to carry out. Ever since then, if I hunt, I am reminded of the shadows I must carry, the shadows of what I have seen, and the darkness that tainted my paws crimson forever."

Mint was silent, her blue eyes round with sympathy as they padded side by side. He could see her mind racing to say something to comfort the pain in his heart. He knew it well, even his lost-mate had that expression; searching for words that could take an edge off the pain. Something, anything, that could be brought to the surface and let him know that he would never be disliked for something that could not be helped. Closing his amber eyes slowly, he opened his jaws to speak, to assure his own daughter that he did not need comfort; yet, she beat him to it.

"I understand why you didn't want to tell me until now." She mewed. "I'm not afraid of you for something you couldn't prevent. I'm not even afraid of our fragment, I know we will leave soon, not because of Fawn, but because of what Bush will do. No matter what happens, wherever you go, I want to be there. So when we find your lost-mate we can be one big happy family."

Poppy slowed, hardly aware that they had walked out onto moorland as he looked to the young she-cat. He wasn't blind, she was clearly full-grown and would make a fine mate for some cat. Slowly, he stepped to her, rubbing his cheek along hers. His heart ached with a mixture of pride and grief. She was no longer his little kit, he had to let her make her own decisions from now on. He could not hide her from the darkness of the world, she had to face it head on and hope it would open the way for them all.

"Let's hurry." He whispered. "We have to find that camp and hunt on the way home."

"Right." Mint whispered back, looking to him with worry. "Will you be alright to hunt?"

"Always." He promised, knowing he truly meant it.

Slowly, the pair padded into the vast open moorland. Poppy glanced around, his eyes scanning the sky carefully. They may not have any kits with them, but he wanted to be sure there wouldn't be trouble from the sky. In the distance, rabbits hopped among the grasses, weeds, and heather. Poppy felt his claws itch, wanting to see if he could catch one, but he ignored it. If they caught moorland prey the others would know where they may have gone. They began to move more swiftly, a tug on Poppy's paws seemed to guide him until he found a dip in the earth. It looked like a giant cat had dug a crater in the ground, was disturbed, and fled into the distant hills. Ever so carefully, he slowed to a stop, realizing that the pull didn't just head here. Far beyond it, a pile of stone in the distance was beyond a Thunderpath with a trail that Twolegs and their dogs must use.

"What's all of this?" Mint asked, panting with her jaws parted to take in the scents. "I don't think any cat has been here since forever!"

"This is moorland, I only heard stories about it." Poppy answered her. "Beyond that Thunderpath, those pile of stones look like a rocky hill of some kind."

"Didn't Fawn say Clan-cats used to live here?" Mint inquired.

"There used to be four Clans." Poppy recited from his own nursery tales. "They lived in the marsh, beside the river, in th eheart of the woods, and on the moors. In a stone-chamber deep under the earth was a special place very few of those cats had ever seen."

"I wonder what could be under there." She took a step forward.

"Let's check out the dip in the earth." Poppy decided, leading the way towards it. "Let's worry what could be beneath the earth later." He didn't want to admit that he felt compelled to marsh straight towards the strange pile of stone in the distance. No matter how strong it was, he had a job to do and that was to find a place for them all to hide away from Cedar in relative safety.

In truth, any cat could track them to here, but he had to hope that they would be too confused and angry to use their noses and scent glands to find them. Sun-high arrived as they entered a secret tunnel made of thorny gorse bushes and dried strands of heather stems. It appeared to have been a camp in the long distant past and was abandoned for what could have been forever. There were even faint traces of foxes and badgers, but they may have only passed through or denned in recent moons before their young was big enough to leave. After thoroughly checking the area, Poppy made sure to mark the territory for their own uses. Anything to keep the bigger predators out until they had to use it.

"We should have cats with time to come here to clean up the place until those kits are a moon old." Mint meowed, before looking to Poppy. "Think they would be old enough by then?"

"Well, they would still need milk, but as long as we have expecting mothers on our side, we don't have to worry about it." Poppy pointed out.

"You know a lot on kit rearing." Mint mumbled, seeming impressed.

Poppy purred warmly. "Well, you and Leaf aren't the first kits I've raised. Me and my lost-mate adopted many kits and know how to help raise them. That's why being a Kit-Watcher is easy for me to fall into. It's like being a father to all the kits. I dare say they are my weakness."

"So, you don't agree with Bush kidnapping his own daughter?"

"Not at all, but who am I to stop him? I mind as well let him do what he wants and hope Pigeon and Ginger have kits or even Brindle and Tangle." He pointed out as he finished marking the new camp.

"I wish we could wait at least another moon. This camp has a lot of work to be done to it." She complained softly.

Poppy started to pad to the entrance. "Let's just hurry back to our territory and hunt quickly before returning to that camp. If we take any longer, Fawn will be suspicious and who knows what will happen."

"Fishing will take forever and who knows if any birds would be out and willing to be caught." Mint huffed. "I might get hurt worse this time, Poppy."

"I won't let her without a fight." He growled, lashing his tail. "Let's run home before they send a search party."

.

It was late when they returned to camp with a couple of water shrews. Fawn wasn't happy it took them all day to hunt them, but she at least only let them go to their dens and other duties without food. Mint wasn't happy, but with a moon of hard work in the future, Poppy knew he couldn't complain. He curled up with his kits, knowing that the following moon Mint would be old enough to be a Fragment and, with an ache in his heart, know that she will have to sleep with the others in the Fragment's den. Concern and worry fill his mind as he slowly fell asleep. His dreams, for the rest of the moon, are troubled with visions of cats going into the massive cavern and finding a stone that glowed bright like the moon.

Ever since, the yearning and pull in his paws to go there had grown through the rest of the moon. His paws itched more and more to follow what his dreams told him to. The half-moon had arrived far sooner then he expected, the pull on his paws had become so strong, he was about to leave everyone to find out. He had been thinking on when he should go and made his decision to find these strange cats that plagued his dreams. However, the plan was destroyed the moment he saw Bush slip into the Shard's den, his amber eyes seeming to glitter with a malice he had never seen in a cat's eyes before. The tom was covered in shadows as he crept closer and closer to them.

"They are gathering outside, go now." He hissed softly, slipping past Poppy and Dapple with ease.

With a thudding heart, Poppy rose to his paws, rousing Leaf and Mint as well as Dapple and Morning. They were sleepy and, understandably grumpy. That was, until Poppy told them they were going on an adventure. The sleepiness was gone in an instant as they left as quietly as possible. Dapple and Poppy made sure they thought they were practicing stalking to keep them quiet. Mint, on the other paw, understood the gravity of the situation. However, they had misjudged their first obstacle. Night was leading the cats out, Pigeon and Ginger waiting for them so they wouldn't get lost in the twilight before dawn.

"What are you cats doing out of your nests!?" Snarled Fawn, her ancient body racing towards the kits with an anger in her blue eyes.

Poppy was ready to strike, but Mint was a heartbeat faster. She tackled into the older she-cat, catching her off guard as she attempted to pin the feisty leader down. They wrestled violently on the ground, their bodies slamming into the earth, making it seem to shake with vigor until Fawn swung out a soft-paw and struck the young she-cat on the side of her head. Poppy felt his stomach drop with horror. Mint had collapsed and wasn't moving, hardly breathing as Fawn stood over her with a sneer on her face. Her jaws parted for the final lunge for their treachery.

Ginger was swift in slashing their leader, hissing furiously to make her back off while her mate, Pigeon, got the blue-gray she-cat by her scruff and pulled her away with them. Ginger began to back down, but Fawn was still furious and was in a hunter's crouch. Poppy didn't hold back, racing forward, he slammed his paws onto the older cat, feeling her fragile bones lurch beneath his pads. She squirmed, claws raking his pelt as he sank his teeth into her shoulder, she let out a pained screech that was loud enough to wake the dead. He let Fawn go, not caring how wounded she might be as other cats soon came out. His family had left him, but he knew the way.

He backed away, Council-cats and the Fragments who were to stay watched him coldly. Without a word, he turned and fled after the others. Their jeering hisses and warning caterwauls echoed behind him, yet he felt no remorse. No guilt, as this time he had done it for his family. He had no fear of what he had done, whether Fawn lived or died, it did not matter to him. All he cared about was getting away and never returning to the vile place that caused him so much pain on the inside. As he raced away, following the familiar paths that were bathed with cat-scent he knew he was following the correct path.

As the sun rose, Poppy reached the new camp, cats hid in the dens while Night stood vigil, waiting for Bush to arrive. However, her yellow eyes blinked sadly to him. He was alone, no other cat had arrived. Poppy waited alongside her, fear building in his chest before, at last, the familiar reddish-brown tom appeared with a kit in his jaws. Her eyes wide with wonder, confusion, and hurt. Bush held bleeding scratches and slashes, clearly having barely escaped safely himself. He padded to Dapple and placed Jagged down, his amber eyes cold and unfeeling of tearing such a young kit from her mother so soon.

"What have you done?" Dapple demanded, curling her lips to show off her fangs.

Bush stood silently, his amber gaze seeming to belong to another cat entirely. "Destroying everything Cedar ever thought of me." He answered her in a tone colder then the coldest leafbare any of them ever had known.

.

The following night, Poppy followed the instincts he had pulling him to the massive thunderpath. At dawn, he had told Bush where he was going, but the tom didn't much care. Making it clear that he did not want to be a leader of these cats, but will play the part until they left to find their own homes. Until then, he was going to do his best to protect them all by being on look-out as much as possible. Night was his second-in-command, who gave the orders so every cat was busy making sure they had enough to eat and that they could find a more suitable home that didn't have such a wide expanse of sky over them.

In the meantime, Poppy was following this strange pull all on his own. His amber eyes stretched wide to catch every bit of moment, his ears rotating constantly to every strange and odd sound. He followed a peculier path that zig-zagged through the hills of the moorland, peaty dirt seemed to spring under his paws as he traveled, weeds and greenleaf wildflowers were blooming well all around. The half-face of the moon lighting their leaves, stems, and petals a brilliant silvery white. The colors muted so well, that he could not tell where a blade of grass and its neighboring weed began. The noisy roar of the monsters were few and far inbetween, making his heart soar. They were just like the monsters of Twoleg Place, growing tired and weary the later in the night it became.

He made his way to the thunderpath and once he reached it, he followed the instincts taught to him since he could walk. He looked to the left, then back to the right, then back to the left. It seemed clear of any monsters, so he placed a paw on the black stone before himself and waited. The black stone was still, so he raced across on his own, just as he was about to reach the other side, the blackened earth beneath his pads trembled. With relative ease, he reached the other side and a monster rumbled by as he kept his pace. The pull in his heart was growing stronger and stronger as he approached where the grasses turned into dirt and stone and pebbles. His amber eyes locking onto a strange cavern in a mountainous looking rock before him. The cavern itself looked like a yawning mouth of a cat, the lichen looking like long strands of fur and sharp teeth in the half-moonlight.

"This must be where this pull is coming from." He whispered to himself, the tug growing more and more powerful now that the half-moon was seeming to rise into position.

He approached the cavern, sniffing cautiously, but all he could smell was stone, earth, and seemingly stale air. He snorted gently, parting his jaws to taste for anything deeper. Nothing alarming had bathed his tongue, so Poppy began to make his way into the cavern. It was so dark he couldn't see where his paws were. He twitched his whiskers and did his best to feel his way through the tunnel. It was narrowing at one point, threatening to squeeze him until he was stuck for good. At least, until it opened up ever so slowly into a glittering light just ahead of him. He squinted as the light glittered, shimmered and grew bright and brighter until it filled the entire cave he found himself in. His paws rooted to the ground as, a massive stone, three tail lengths high, glowed brightly like it was a shard of the moon itself.

"Where, where am I? What is this?" He asked breathlessly to no one in particular.

Go to the stone. A feminine mew whispered in his ears, a feeling of pelts brushing against his own. It was as though they were pushing him towards the massive stone in their own way. Touch your nose to the Moonstone, let us meet you at last!

He obeyed, padding up to the massive stone and slowing to a stop before it. His eyes had adjusted to the glow, yet he could not see any other cat. The voices that mewed in his ears called it a 'Moonstone,' which had suited it very well. Like a massive chunk of it had fallen from the massive circle in the sky, it glowed so brightly. Closing his eyes and crouching as the ghostly tail's brushed him to do so, his nose touched the chilled stone. In an instant, the ground seemed to give way, shifting beneath his paws. His amber eyes flew open in panic, the stone and earth had been replaced all around him with great swaths of heather, hissing branches of an ancient forest that clattered softly like it was in leaf-fall. The half-moon blazed like a sun high above him with the stars glittering and sparkling beside it.

The grass, heather, and gorse shuddered and shivered as eight starry-cats appeared. The first at the head of the group was a dark gray she-cat with brown eyes. Every step of her paws, stars flickered into the world like pieces of ice and snow. There were two dark brown toms following close behind along with a snow-white she-cat with sky-colored eyes with her head raised in pride. A pale golden tabby she-cat was right next to the snow-white one as well as a creamy brown tabby tom and a gray-brown tabby tom with a light ginger she-cat who eyed him up and down. At last, they lined up in a half circle, facing Poppy with eyes that were studying him from head to tail to paws and ear tips. The snow-white she-cat was the one who spoke up at last.

"Elders of StarClan, I declare that the River of Stars has chosen us a fine medicine cat." She meowed.

Confusion slowly filled him, puzzled, he looked each cat over. "StarClan? River of Stars? What in the moon cycles are you meowing about?"

The dark gray she-cat spoke next, her mew far more familiar to him then the others. "We are warrior ancestors of the cats who once lived in this ravaged forest. When the four Clans of the forest left, we stayed behind to die in our homeland as we were too old to take the journey all those moons ago."

"However," the light orange she-cat began, her tone sharp. "Once we reached here, the traces of every cat who lived in StarClan had all but faded. We felt we would get lost, but being so far from the cats who remember us, we began to look for a cat who can create the spark to believe in us so that we may survive being so far from wherever the paws of that stars have gone."

"And so I was chosen?" Poppy asked, his mew sounding so small and desolate. "There is nothing special about me. I'm a Kit-Watcher, I prefer watching over kits and seeing them become strong cats and raising them as a father."

"You can still do that." The snow-white she-cat promised. "The entire group would become your kits and you would have to look after them."

"How?" Poppy's mew hardened, bitter anger filling his chest. "They don't need looking after anymore after they are twelve moons old!" Why would any cat need to be looked after any longer?! Are they dumb as mice?!

The dark gray she-cat stepped closer to him. "All cats, no matter the moons the lived, need to be looked after. A medicine cat does that by keeping them healthy."

"Although, medicine cats cannot take a mate or have kits." The gray-brown tabby tom pointed out.

"I have a mate." Poppy snapped.

"But they are lost to you, aren't they?" The thick set dark brown tabby tom snapped back, making Poppy flinch. He was right, but it never meant it still didn't hurt. Silent and feeling chastised, he looked over each of the frost-speckled cats.

"Don't be too harsh on him." The pale golden tabby she-cat meowed, "We are here to guide, suggest, and ask of him and his abilities. Not scold him about whether or not his mate is with him. For all you know, he still carries their memory in his heart like a good cat should."

"Sorry." The dark brown tom muttered.

"Poppy." He looked up, startled. "We see many things in the River of Stars, but there is only one thing that is for certain. You are meant to be a medicine cat. You are meant to look after those who have injuries and we can teach you how. However, it is your choice on whether you personally want to walk this path. It can be heartbreaking and difficult, especially with it's rules and to remember, but it is completely your choice."

"What if I only want to try it?" He asked softly.

"There is no try." The snow-white she-cat pointed out. "You can only do it. In the words of my wise leader long ago, you cannot live with a paw in each world. You have to make a choice. If you wish to be taught, you will come back next Half-moon and we will teach you the basics of the rules to the basic herbs you can find on the moorland."

"Actually, that will be our duty." The creamy brown tabby tom spoke up. "My name is Oatwhisker and this is Tangleweed. We once lived on the moorland your group is at right now. We can teach you the herbs you can find there that you can use."

"Only if you choose to do this." Tangleweed reminded him gently.

"Frostfur and I, Speckletail, will help when it comes to the herbs of the forest should you be able to get to them." The pale golden tabby she-cat offered.

The dark ginger tom blinked, feeling more and more at peace. He had a choice, but the choice was difficult to make. If he made the choice, he could never raise kits again like he once had. On the other paw, he would be able to look after every cat and kit; even help them get better after getting sick! The negatives hurt his heart, but the positives were also welcoming. He huffed softly, feeling more and more weary.

"Just think it over." The dark gray she-cat murmured, her brown eyes glinting as though she was looking at her own kin rather than himself. "No matter what your choice is, we will respect it."

"I want to." He slurred, realizing that he might be waking up. "But giving up my youngest kit; she would be devastated."

"You won't have to!" The light orange she-cat yowled after him, her voice sounding like it was beneath the river's current.

Poppy opened his eyes, the stone no longer glowed and glittered with splendor. He was panting, feeling as though he had his entire world shaken. Carefully, he rose to his paws and began to leave the cavern. His mind racing with countless thoughts and worries and concerns. Leaf still needed him, but that she-cat whose name he didn't have a chance to learn had told him otherwise. The dark ginger tom pushed himself through the tunnel and back into the open. His heart was pounding as he began to make his way home. He looked to the stars, suddenly wondering if what he had seen was true. That there were ancestors out there. If there was, where did his mother go when it was her time? Where had his brother gone? Let alone, where would he end up going when his time finally came?

Jasmine, please be safe. He thought feeling his heart crack into two. I have to let you go for what I may do, but I will always keep you in my heart.

Author Note:

Poppy is feeling the pull of his destiny and following it to the end, all the while Bush seems to be guided by darkness, don't you think?

More is to come, so thank you so much for reading!

Recently, I lost my father and I'm taking time to grieve for him currently. I will try to post next Friday, but if I don't this is why. I'll do my best to heal mentally and in my heart, until then I hope to come back stronger.

Have a wonderful morning/day/evening/night, and, as always, I truly hope it gets better for you if life is not being so kind to you. - NightSky