Chapter 12

Heather was dreaming, again. It seemed that every other night was another confusing, frightening dream. This time, she was at the bottom of a rocky slope. She looked up it. The sun was shining down, the blue sky cleared of any clouds. The rocks would be a perfect place to bask. She looked over her shoulder to say something to the cats that were following her, when she noticed an adder quietly slithering up to them on one of the rocks, slightly above their heads. Without thinking, she ran back, shoving one of the cats out of the way. The adder leapt toward her face, and-

She woke up with a start, her heart pounding. Heather looked around her, briefly forgetting where she was and why. Then it all came rushing back to her. She closed her eyes, and laid her head back down, trying desperately to stop the tears from flowing down her face. She got up quickly and made her way outside.

It was just after sunrise. The sun had risen, but dark red and amber hues still streaked the sky. She let out a small sigh, and glanced around the camp. Flight was grooming herself near the entrance, and Grass was stretching near the prey-pile. He glanced up, and saw Heather. He gave her a small smile, and gestured or her to come over.

"How'd you sleep?" He asked as she approached him.

She gave a shrug, not meeting his eyes.

A look of concern flashed across his face. "Another nightmare?" He meowed, lowering his tail.

Heather nodded.

"Want to talk about it?"

"Actually, I-"

"Hey you two! What are you talking about?" Flight pitched in. She had padded up next to them without Heather or Grass noticing.

"GAH!" Heather yelped, jumping back. She instinctively inched behind Grass, staring at Flight with wide eyes.

Flight blinked. "Oh, I'm sorry. Did I startle you? Geez, I really need to work on that…." She gave a sheepish grin.

Grass glanced up at her. "Heather just had a-"

Flame burst out of the den. She ran up to the small group of cats, hackles raised. Flash came running after her. "Flame! It's probably nothing to worry about!"

Flame glanced at him, then turned back to the others. "I heard a yelp." She growled, glaring pointedly at Flight.

Flight flattened her ears. "I can explain. Heather and Grass were just talking about something, and I guess I startled her."

Flame narrowed her eyes, and glanced over at Grass for confirmation. He nodded. Flame gave a small snort, and turned away from Flight, bristling.

Heather looked a little uncomfortable. "I-I just had a bad dream…"

Flight nodded. "Ooohhh, okay. You...want to talk about it?" She gave a smile, trying to seem approachable.

Heather looked down. "Not anymore."

"Oh, um, okay th-"

"How about you tell us what is going on, huh?" Flame snapped, whipping around and glaring at Flight. "How do you know us?"

Flight stared at her for a few seconds, speechless.

Heather looked over at Flight, everyone else following suit.

Flight glanced around her, and seeing everyone's eyes on her, sighed and sat down. "Fine, fine. You deserve it anyways. Everyone, please just sit down."

Once everyone was seated, Flight gazed at them, conflicting emotions in her eyes. She sighed. "I've never been great at telling stories, so I'll cut straight to the chase. Grass, Flame, Flash, Heather, I'm...I'm your mother."

They all stared at her. "But… Daisy and Feather…" Heather started.

Flight nodded. "A long time ago, they chose to raise you all as their own. It's...a long story." She looked down at her paws. "But all you need to know from it is that I couldn't keep you. It'd be too dangerous. Please, please forgive me. It's all I ask for." She looked up, tears brimming in her eyes. "Anytime you want to. I'll understand…"

Heather gazed at her. "I forgive you." She meowed, dipping her head. It was easy to say, likely because she really meant it.

Grass glanced at her, with an expression that read 'Really?'. Flash was silent, his face expressionless. Flame was staring at Flight, fury churning in her eyes.

Flight looked at Heather. She gave her youngest a smile. "Thank you, Heather. It means more than you know."

Grass flicked his tail at that, turning his head away. Flame's fur spiked up. "Really? You expect us to forgive you, just like that?" She growled, taking a step forward.

Flight blinked, and looked down. "I can understand if you don't understand it at first…."

Flame bristled. "Understand?! What's there to understand? You gave us away without a second thought!"

Flight jerked her head up, looking shocked. "No no no! Flame, that's not true! It pained me so, so much to see you all go. I had no choice. If I kept you, then Frost would've found you and killed you all! It was the only way to protect you!"

Flame narrowed her eyes, and lashed her tail. "And look how well that went." She snarled, then raced out of camp, fueled on by fury.

"Flame! Wait!" Flash called, running after her.

Flight stood up to chase after them as well, but was stopped when Grass reached over and placed a paw on her shoulder. "Just let them be." He meowed.

Flight glanced over to him, and after a moment, nodded and sat down. "I'm...I'm sorry. I truly had no other choice at the time, not one I could see."

Grass nodded. "I understand that."

Heather looked over to the grey and white she-cat. She could clearly see that bringing up this part of her past was very difficult and painful. She sighed, and looked down at her paws. She turned over her right forepaw, and saw an imprint of three swirls in the rough shape of a triangle. She creased her forehead in confusion. 'Huh? What is this?' She thought. 'I don't remember it being there before….It doesn't hurt, so that's good, I guess. Does it have something to do with what happened during….during the battle?' Heather glanced up at Flight. She was staring longingly and worriedly at the entrance of the camp, no doubt worrying over Flame and Flash. 'Maybe she knows? I'll ask later…'

Grass glanced over to Heather. "Something on your mind?" He meowed.

Heather shook her head. "Oh! No, no I-I'm fine." She put on a smile, desperately covering up her doubts and fears.

Grass looked like he didn't really believe her, but nodded anyway. "Okay then." He meowed.

A single snowflake drifted to the ground, and stuck onto the grass blades.