AN: I'm putting this at the beginning of the chapter so it doesn't kill the mood at the end. I just want to say thank you to everyone who read and possibly even reviewed this story. Writing this trilogy has been a journey and a learning experience, and I know I've become a better writer because of it. …That was cheesy.
But seriously. Thanks. :)
E P I L O G U E
Puddlefrost padded out of the nursery, blinking her eyes happily at the sunlight that was spilling into the camp. A bird chirped a ways off, causing the gray queen to smile. The place truly was lovely. She didn't miss the gorge very much; she had been too little, and it couldn't compare with the gentle meadow where she now sat. The gorge couldn't compare to SkyClan's new camp. After the earthquake, the gorge had proved itself fragile and dangerous. But the strong thorn wall around this camp could never fail. The dens had dense walls and were carefully constructed. They peppered the clearing, surrounded by tangles of brambles and shrubs. The overall effect was of winding paths that led to each den, with a good-sized clearing in the center for meetings, sharing tongues, and eating prey. It was cozy and secure. It was home.
Her smile widened into a grin as a very small black she-cat with shaggy gray stripes tumbled out of the nursery, her plumed tail streaming out behind her. The kit looked up at her mother, bright blue eyes apologetic. "Sorry, mommy!" she squeaked, causing Puddlefrost to purr and lick her between the ears.
"Don't worry, Littlekit," Puddlefrost mewed gently. "Are your siblings awake?"
As if on cue, two more kits spilled out of the nursery, followed by three curious sets of eyes. They all looked up at their mother. The first two grinned sheepishly, springing apart, while their siblings smiled sleepily in greeting.
"Morning!" one of the kits who had been tussling chirped. She shook her fur out, a few scraps of moss flinging towards her siblings. Her cheerful green eyes snuck a glance at the tom that was picking himself up.
"No fair, Honeykit!" he meowed loudly at the golden-colored she-cat. Honeykit merely stuck her tongue out at her brother. The icy blue eyes of the dark gray tom covered in helter-skelter black stripes narrowed slightly as he leapt at his sister and started a fresh brawl.
"Honeykit, Jaggedkit," Puddlefrost scolded lightly. The two stopped abruptly and gazed up at their mother, ears flat in embarrassment. Puddlefrost's heart softened at their sweet gazes, but she didn't tell them this. She was awful at holding a firm paw over them.
"Serves you right," a ginger she-cat with bright green eyes pointed out, her voice sounding almost bored.
A pure black she-cat with bright blue eyes watched her sister curiously. "Why's that, Briarkit?" she piped up.
Briarkit glanced at her sister, very obviously thinking she was a little slow. "Because, Splashkit," she began, as though the answer was totally obvious, "they know not to fight in front of mother. We all know she can't stand to see siblings fighting."
"It was just for fun!" Honeykit protested, Jaggedkit nodding firmly beside her. Briarkit shot the two a glare.
"Guys," a tiny voice mewed. A light gray head was peeking out of the nursery, never having fully exited with Briarkit and Splashkit. "Guys, don't fight." The pleading in her bright green eyes was enough to make any heart melt. She made her way shyly out of the nursery, sitting down next to Puddlefrost.
"Honestly, Lilykit," Honeykit complained. "Lighten up. You're always worrying over everyone."
Lilykit shrunk down into Puddlefrost's paw, blending in quite well. "Now, Honeykit," the queen meowed. "No need to be so rude to your sister."
Pouting, Honeykit dropped the subject. The seven cats sat in silence as the sun rose higher in the sky.
My little kits will be apprentices soon, Puddlefrost noted with a twinge of sadness. It was almost funny, really. Puddlefrost and her siblings had been on the receiving end of the first set of ceremonies Ravenclaw had performed when he was leader. Now Puddlefrost's kits would become apprentices in the first ceremony that, aside from that of the deputy, Creekstar would perform as leader.
As bittersweet as it was to see Ravenclaw retire due to the injuries he had sustained from the Horseplace attack, Puddlefrost was proud that her own father had taken over as leader. Willowmist had been named as his deputy, a decision well-supported by SkyClan.
A lot had certainly changed since Ravenclaw had been a young leader and Puddlefrost had been an innocent kit. Her life had been far from ordinary. She'd faced alarming amounts of tragedy and death. She had been uprooted with the rest of the Clan from their home. She had followed the other four Clans on a wild goose chase where many cats had died. She had established a new home by the lake, finally back with the other Clans—where SkyClan truly belonged.
And along the way, Puddlefrost had found love.
Spidersun had remained the only element of the life Puddlefrost had always imagined for herself that had come true. She had always envisioned herself falling in love and having a big family, dying of old age in the gorge. But her hopes were snatched away with the earthquake. Only Spidersun remained there from her fantasies.
Now their kits had joined him there. Littlekit, Honeykit, Jaggedkit, Briarkit, Splashkit, and Lilykit. It had taken a long time to get there, but Puddlefrost finally had the ideals she had always been silently wishing for, asking StarClan just to grant her this one joy.
On the journey to where she now sat, those wishes had seemed pointless. They ought to have been blotted out, crumbled, shattered, broken. They had seemed trivial and almost stupid. But Puddlefrost had never given up. There was always a piece of her that yearned to fall in love, the have kits, to raise a family, and to live peacefully. And now, sitting here in the strengthening light with her kits scattered around her...
Maybe, just maybe, those wishes didn't seem so broken after all.