A/N: Welcome to the finale of WinterClan! This has been a huge adventure. Well, onto the chapter!
Chapter 11
Rosefluff padded after Reedstar back to the Gathering clearing, her head bowed. She felt the angry stares of the cats as she padded past the cats in the clearing. One cat walked up to Reedstar and whispered something in her ear. The leader shook her head and the cat ran away with a yowl of anguish.
"Where's Sephiroth?" Dandelionstar meowed, her tail fluffed up.
"He is dead," Rosefluff replied. "Along with Moorrunner."
Cats let out hisses of shock and anger all throughout the clearing. ThunderClan looked shocked and panicked. WindClan looked grief stricken and angry. Dandelionstar raised her hackles and she looked to Reedstar for confirmation. Reedstar nodded.
"No..." Redleaf whispered, while Brokenshade looked emotionless. Panicked voices rose up in the clearing.
"Who did this?"
"What will ThunderClan do?"
"What will WindClan do?"
"Silence!" Ravenstar boomed. A tense silence filled the clearing. "Panicking won't help anything! We need to find out who killed them. And I think I know who.'
The RiverClan leader looked down at Rosefluff, her tail lashing. Rosefluff bowed her head and nodded. Cats snarled and those near her stalked away, hackles raised. Rosefluff padded into the center of the clearing, her whiskers twitching.
"Why? Just why?" Oneclaw mewed from the other side of the clearing. Other cats nodded in agreement. Rosefluff noticed that the queen was moving towards her. Cats padded out of the way as she padded up to Rosefluff. Soon she was in front of Rosefluff, her ears flattened against her head. "How dare you? You fooled my mate, killed him. Made him kill our kit. You're an evil cat, an evil, evil cat who doesn't deserve to he anywhere near the Clans. You disgust me."
Rosefluff flattened her ears and nodded. Brokenshade padded forward next. She snarled and spat in his face. Before he could say anything, she turned her back, showing her disgust.
"Rosefluff, I at first was proud to have you as my apprentice. You worked so hard and learned so much. You were so eager to learn. And then you sided with those - those rogues!" Brokenshade snarled in her face. "You never should have been in ThunderClan. And then you send a fox to kill me. You never should have been a Clan cat. You disgust me, but I also feel sympathy for you."
"I don't think you mean that! Its you who sided with rogues! It's you who had me banished me for something I didn't do! It's you who destroyed my life! It's you who led me down this path! And you know what? It's all your fault that Emberkit died tonight. That all of the cats died. I know the truth...you sided with the rogues!" Rosefluff snarled. Shocked murmurs spread throughout the clearing. "Its you who does not deserve to be a Clan cat. Did you know that every night, I prayed to StarClan that I would be able to come back to ThunderClan? Did you know that every day, I cried thinking about how my brother didn't believe me? Do you know how that feels?"
Sad mews spread across the clearing at her words. Lilyclaw, a WindClan queen padded up to Rosefluff and put her tail across her shoulders. Rosefluff flinched at the touch at first, then she relaxed. A few WindClan warriors padded nervously up to the expecting queen. She shooed them away with her tail tip.
"You believe me?" Rosefluff croaked quietly.
"Yes I do. Other cats might not have heard it, but I heard the desperation in your words," Lilyclaw mewed back. She then began purring like a mother would do to calm down a kit. Rosefluff felt a strange feeling of tiredness and lay down beside Lilyclaw. "You'll always have a place in the Clans. I know that. You are just a scared young warrior, nothing more.
It's not you who is evil, but Brokenshade. You always were loyal to your Clan, you just wanted everyone to see through your eyes. A cat that was slowly falling into insanity at the thought of being ignored by the cats who you always trusted and worshiped. I might not understand that pain, but I have felt pain before.
When I lost my brother, it was like a peace of me was missing, like I needed to get that back. But, I soon learned to cope. I strived everyday for me to get it right. For my brother to come back home. It took a while for me to accept that Bramblebush was gone."
She began stroking Rosefluff's head with her tail, until finally, she fell into a sound, undisturbed sleep, that she hadn't had in so long.
(Two days later, in the WindClan Camp)
Finally, Rosefluff woke. She looked around and realized that she was in a camp of sorts. She exited the den and realized it had been the...what was it again? Cats ran past her with rain soaked pelts, trying to get to their dens as quickly as possible. She heard the mewing of kits and looked towards the nursery. She recognized Lilyclaw sound asleep with three kits purring beside her.
Quietly, Rosefluff entered the den. One of the queens woke with a sharp gasp and nudged Lilyclaw awake. The tired queen yawned and looked up. A huge look of delight crossed over her face.
"You're awake!" she purred. "The medicine cat was afraid that you were dead. You gave us quite the scare sleeping for two days."
"TWO DAYS?! Where am I?" Rosefluff mewed, looking around.
"You're in the WindClan camp. We were the only Clan that would welcome you," Lilyclaw mewed. "Welcome to WindClan, your new home."
A/N: And that is it for the story! Thank you all for your continued support on this story. Sorry it has taken so long for me to finish it. Anyway, toodles. Remember to review. See you at the next story! ~Nerd