Okay, so you don't want an epilogue, I totally get you.
Reader (this is your cue): -death dagger glares-
Oh wait, maybe I got some reviews. -eyes pop out of head- Alright okee YOU WANT AN EPILOGUE!! DON'T KILL ME!!
I'm presenting this last chapter; it's dedicated to all of you who've read the story, whether or not you reviewed. Although thank you very much for leaving your mark on my story. AtB is the first multi-chaptered story I've completed.
Across the Borders, Chapter 12
by: rainfeather's hope
"Always"
I lay on the ground, trembling, as Oakfur's attacks on me cease. He purrs darkly and leans over to nip me on the ear; I'm not looking at him. "Well, my darling, was it good?" My ear burns where his tongue touched it, and I resent the fact that he does this whenever he pleases. Blankly, I nod. Honestly, I'm afraid he hurt the kits. But I have to pretend that I love him, or I fear he will strike me or have me exiled.
I'm about one moon along in my pregnancy and like Snowstep I'm unsure whose kits I will be bearing, Birchfeather's or Oakfur's. I haven't been able to meet with Birchfeather since the last time, when we mated, so he has no idea of my pregnancy, although it's becoming very obvious. I do dream of the kits being Birchfeather's.
I also hope that I imagined seeing him tonight. It was at the beginning of dusk, shortly after I'd realized Oakfur had different intentions for bringing me out here than I had imagined. Out of fear I always act blissful when Oakfur touches me, so I was moaning in this moonstruck kind of way, pretty loudly. Then I thought I heard a bird fly away, so I opened my eyes and locked onto his. Birchfeather's eyes were like ice shards lodging themselves in my heart.
You should've told him, the voice in my head taunts.
What will he say?
-x-(apple. pov. two. nights. later.)-x-
Birchfeather is near. I'm crouching on one of the uppermost branches of a maple tree, casting my eyes around relentlessly for any sign of that tabby pelt. His scent floods my senses; I just hope he's alone. When he appears I scramble down from the tree and land on his back squarely. "Birchfeather!" I hiss as he opens his mouth to yowl for his Clan. His ears prick up, but his face stays stony.
"I guess we need to talk." He turns decidedly away from me as he speaks.
I uneasily meet his eyes. "Maybe we should go somewhere private," I finally suggest.
Something flickers in his unreadable expression, but he doesn't reply and follows me yet again to the fallen maple. Leaf-bare has coated the fallen glory, and no leaves remain on any tree near. Birchfeather paces the ground agitatedly; when I try to lay my tail on his shoulder in comfort he hisses at me. Nervously I draw back. "You saw me - but wait, wait - I can explain-" As the words leave my mouth I am uncomfortably aware of how guilty I sound.
Birchfeather's voice explodes into an outraged yowl. "Explain, explain?! You said you loved me, and then I saw you allowing that… that Oakfur to touch you and take my place and you weren't fighting or crying; no, no, you were enjoying it! Don't look at me like that! Great StarClan, Applenose - I love you, I always have and I probably always will! But I can't always meet you in secret, can't always be wondering if you're cheating on me with Smokestream or Oakfur or whoever… I can't do it, Applenose, I just can't. I've got Whiteflower now and you've got Oakfur, and … however much I want to, I just can't cross borders for you anymore. I'll always want to… but I just… but I just can't." His voice falls off, softening, emotion filling ever syllable.
My vision is blurry, and when I focus it I'm in time to whisper, "Birchfeather."
He turns around, his amber eyes glowing with more love than boundaries could ever contain. Then he was gone, gone, just like that.
"Birchfeather-" My voice cracks in the empty forest, and I am overwhelmed by my sense of solitude. "I never told you… I'm expecting kits…"