Wolfshade paced as his mother Aspencreek was giving birth to her second little of kits. Then Wolfshade found himself in the nursery, the medicine cat telling him his mother had died giving birth to his siblings, who had also died. Then Aspencreek turned into Silvermist and her kits, but this time Taloncall was there, looking on laughing at Wolfshade's pain. Then Rainshine appeared, also laughing. Wolfshade found himself launching at the two cats. Then Wolfshade started tumbling down into a big black hole.
Wolfshade woke up with a start, it was a dream. He shook his pelt, the sun was slowly rising and the cold air woke him up. He noticed that Taloncall wasn't there, but he could care less.
I'll go check on Silvermist, seeing her will cheer me up.
Wolfshade entered the nursery, horrified to find our that Silvermist wasn't there. Wolfshade felt a horrible rising suspicion. He left camp and stumbled upon his mate and Taloncall sitting side by side watching the sunrise. Wolfshade let out a growl as he stalked towards them, teeth bared.
"Silvermist!" He barked.
The black and silver she-cat whipped her head around.
"What? I'm not fighting badgers this time!"
"What's he doing here?" Wolfshade growled, glaring at Taloncall.
"We're just catching up! I just wanted to hear what was going on in the other clan, we're just talking, nothing more."
Then Wolfshade had an arousing suspicion.
Taloncall leaves right after Silvermist is pregnant, then returns when the kits are about to be born... Are these his kits?!
"Silvermist, " Wolfshade's eyes grew dark. "Are you having my kits?"
Silvermist tilted her head, "What do you mean?"
"I mean, are these Taloncall's kits?"
"Of course not you mouse-brain! I'm mates with you! Not him!" She snapped.
Taloncall intervened, "That would be like me asking Rainshine if she was having your kits or Emberblaze, Silvermist and I aren't in a relationship and we never were."
I would never be Rainshine's mate! Wolfshade silently protested. I mean, she is alot nicer now and she and Silver seem to get along...
Silvermist stalked up to Wolfshade and pushed her head against his.
"Fur-ball!"
Then she walked off.
Taloncall felt a fatherly feeling toward the kits, even though they weren't his. Taloncall missed the small clan he now so proudly called home. Rainshine and Taloncall took a stroll passing thoughts, exchanging stories, siblingly teasing each other, and expressing concerns about the unstoppable war.
"So... your pregnant, congrats." Taloncall congratulated, looking down shuffling his paws. She probably blames me for not being there. Taloncall thought
"And no I don't blame you for not being there, you had your own problems I wasn't considerate about" Rainshine whispered, like she knew what he had thought.
"I'm fine. you're fine. Everything is fine" Taloncall practically sang
"You know mother always used to say she was fine, was she ever... no, not really. Even though she said it her self she who told us fine is another way of saying a fire of emotion is blazing on the inside"
" Ok... If I tell you you can't tell anyone, you can laugh all you want, but its what I've morphed as a belief in my mind." Taloncall mumbled looking down at the dirt.
"Tell me now I'm interested, and I would never laugh at you." Rainshine looked all innocent, she wasn't. She would laugh, and Taloncall knew it.
"... Silvermist has kits right-" Taloncall began soon getting cut off
"Shocking genius, it's not like she's been in the nursery with me well over two moons" Rainshine practically yowled in a sparse of laughter.
"Oh starclan where has the time gone" Taloncall whined
"Go on" Rainshine spoke interest spiking her tone.
"Well I'm getting old and I don't think I'll find another cat like her, so I've figured. Might as well treat and love her kits as if they were my own." Taloncall said looking hopefully
"Aw yes maybe they'll even call you grandpa" Rainshine teased
"Oh be quiet fatty" Taloncall teased,
"says you, I might as well be a reflection of you in the water. And I'm Pregnant." Rainshine exclaimed.
The two cats stumbled back into camp and enjoyed the rest of the day chatting in the nursery, although Taloncall did lead a sun high patrol.
Pufffrost opened his jaws to speak but Feathersong spoke quickly, beating him to it.
"Why are you even here?" She tried to keep her voice devoid of emotion, but her surprise was evident.
"Tell me what's up with you." Emberblaze meowed "And don't lie. I've trekked all the way over here, leaving my mate who could have kits at any moment, to see a sister who abandoned us all." His tone was cold, hostile even. "So don't dare parrot your phrase, 'I'm fine.'"
Feathersong's ears flattened slightly as she stared at her brother in shock. She opened her jaws to speak but nothing came out.
"I'll leave." Pufffrost seemed to sense that Emberblaze wanted to talk in private.
"No, please don't." Feathersong didn't want to face Emberblaze alone. Especially when he was..not acting like normal.
Pufffrost looked surprised but obeyed.
"First though, tell me who is that?" Emberblaze's voice sounded more normal now. His little rant over. If anything, he seemed slightly embarrassed. Not that he was openly showing it.
Pufffrost waited to see if Feathersong would reply to him, she didn't.
"I'm Pufffrost..."Pufffrost said smoothly.
"Relation" Emberblaze almost demanded.
"... I don't know, maybe the annoying clan cat that follows her around" Pufffrost said proudly.
"Or at least that's what our clanmates call me..."Pufffrost mumbled, then turned to Feathersong wondering if she had anything to say about him.
Emberblaze also turned to look at Feathersong who looked mildly uncomfortable. "I don't know..Friend?" That was an understatement but she didn't know how to phrase it. He wasn't like Silvermist. Pufffrost was more like a shoulder to lean on when she needed it. She did think of him as a good friend as well though, but that didn't sum it all up. She just didn't know how to explain it.
"You're her friend?" Emberblaze seemed surprised. He didn't say it but it was clear that he was thinking, How did you manage to become her friend? In a way, he was jealous. He had tried to get past Feathersong's barriers but she never seemed at ease with him. She was never really alone with him. Always with Dappledleaf. And then this..Pufffrost..waltzes in and becomes her best friend for life. Did Silvermist know that?
"Now, tell me what in the name of StarClan is up with you!" Emberblaze never took his eyes off of Feathersong and she just stared down at the ground. Why did he have to come? Why couldn't she be left alone?
She was fed up of hiding it and without her meaning to, it just popped out. "I'm not your sister!"
Several cats who had left their dens had turned their heads, looking at the scene with bewilderment.
"Feathersong, don't just come out with the first thing that you could think of." Emberblaze seemed annoyed by that answer.
Pufffrost said nothing but he seemed uncomfortable, stuck in the family drama. Feathersong shot him a pleading glance, silently begging him to stay.
"It..It's true. I'm not making it up." Feathersong looked at Emberblaze, hoping that he would believe her and just leave. She had said it. It was out in the open. "Happy now?"
"Feathersong, you're serious?"
"I'm sorry." Feathersong battled the tears that welled up in her eyes. "Mother told me before..before she died."
"What do you mean, you're not my sister? How is that even possible?"
It took all of her willpower not to tell him everything. "I told you what's up. I don't need to say more."
"I was expecting it to be something..different. Just tell me and I'll leave."
Feathersong couldn't help it; she had to tell him everything. "Mother said about how when you were younger, you had a third sibling. A silver tabby she-cat, stillborn. She basically abandoned you in her grief, leaving you in the nursery and she left. She found a kit wailing in the bushes that looked exactly like her dead kit so she took it. Not caring about if it had a mother. If I had a mother."
Emberblaze blinked. "Why didn't you tell us?" His cool voice evaporated.
"I've told you. Now go away!" Feathrsong snapped. "Go tell your mate and your unborn kits!"
Emberblaze recoiled in shock. "..Okay." He started walking off but turned around, "If it helps, I still love you as if you were my sister."
Feathersong burst into tears the moment Emberblaze had left.
Pufffrost stood in shock ut that information seemed vaguely familiar. It didn't matter though he was there for feathersong, and they walked back to camp, Feathersong leaning on Pufffrost shoulder as he whispered.
"You'll be ok..." He a said nuzzling the she-cats head for comfort.
"Why did it have to be me?" She whispered, her voice thick from crying. "Why couldn't Emberblaze be the odd one out?"
"I don't know." Pufffrost replied, "Although now he has the information, you'll be left alone." The thought slightly soothed Feathersong and she nodded. "Thanks for being with me, by the way." She gave a half-hearted grin, "Must've been awkward, seeing me just lose it."
They returned to camp, no more words being said. Feathersong was caught up in thinking, wondering how Emberblaze was taking it.
She looked up at the sky, though the stars had long gone,
Why did you do that to me, 'Mother'?
The entire day went by with Feathersong sitting by Pufffrost, still in a daze over what happened.
"Want some prey?" Pufffrost offered, "I'm off to get some."
Feathersong nodded. She was a little hungry and she didn't want to wallow in self-pity forever.
Pufffrost came back with a mouse and a bird of some sort. "I thought that you'd just want something small."
"Thank you." She ate the mouse quickly as Pufffrost began eating his bird.
"Do you believe in StarClan?" Feathersong asked randomly as they sat together.
"Of course." Pufffrost replied, instantly. "Why?"
"If they existed, why would they always let our lives screw up. If they are so high and mighty, then why isn't life perfect?"
She stared straight at Pufffrost, her shyness gone temporarily. Searching him for an answer.
"I don't believe in starclan for guidance, I believe in it for comfort. Because I'm scared of death" Puffrost replied grimly but an honest tone.
"Fair enough." Feathersong nodded. "Sometimes, I like to imagine that Dappledleaf is in StarClan. Running the moors, free and happy again." She stopped, not wanting to say more than she had meant to.
"Yeah, I just hope I get to spend more time with you when I'm in starclan" Pufffrost mewed quietly and wrapped his tail around Feathersong. He looked down at her and smiled. Pufffrost wasn't sure what Feathersong expression was but he thought he say her blush.
Feathersong did indeed blush but she tried to hide it. The tips of her ears grew hot and part of her was frightened. She had never felt like this before. Though she had a feeling that she knew what it was.
She pulled away from Pufffrost, trying to ignore his hurt expression. In a way, she felt as if she was betraying Silvermist by befriending a new cat. But that wasn't the main reason.
Really, she was afraid that their friendship would grow into..more.
"I'm off to take a nap." She muttered, ignoring the instinct that told her to go back to him. She had shattered the quiet moment and she deeply regretted it after some time.
"Alright rest well" Pufffrost called after her in a warm tone.
After Feathersong left, Pufffrost ran off and joined a nearby patrol.
Feathersong thought she heard a twinge of hurt in Pufffrost's voice. There wasn't, but she feared that she had just ruined their friendship a little. Why did she have to ruin it. As always, Feathersong started a peaceful, enjoyable moment. And then she went and screwed everything up.
She didn't take a nap, watching Pufffrost join a patrol. She didn't want to join, thinking a little about Silvermist.
Emberblaze had probably told Silvermist literally everything about what had happened. Emberblaze had always been a snitch, right from when he was a kit. Silvermist probably hated her, knowing that she already found a new friend. She wanted to run to Silvermist, say that she was still her best friend. But she knew that was irrational.
Had her kits been born? Feathersong longed to be there and witness the birth, though she couldn't. She wasn't WindClan anymore. Though Taloncall had randomly left and Feathersong had a hunch about where he was now. Would she easily be accepted?
Though she couldn't ever leave. She had Pufffrost and, when she wasn't busy, Azure. Though lying there, she realised how much she actually missed WindClan. Not this new DawnClan or whatever it was called. She missed the old territory.
If only they could go back.
Pufffrost was severely torn, should he continue given her space or not. In the end he chose to go and talk to Feathersong.
"You know little thing you say can't stop me from coming back right?" Pufffrost asked playfully.
"What?" Feathersong mewed clearly she was zoning when Pufffrost had spoken.
"You know little thing you say can't stop me from coming back right?" Pufffrost repeated, Feathersong still looked unfocused. Her eyes were glossy and lifeless like she hadn't gotten any good rest in awhile.