Title: Shadow of the Fern
Word count: 254
Fandom: Warriors
Summary: Dustpelt never stopped thinking about Ferncloud after she died.
Notes: This is it. Today is the last day I'm updating this. Thanks for reading, and a shoutout goes to Skye, who reviewed almost all the chapters here. :)
Dustpelt never stopped thinking about Ferncloud after she died.
She was in his every thought, his every breath, his every word. He was a gruff, strict mentor and an intimidating cat, but he was soft at heart, and he grieved at his mate's death for a very long time.
Ferncloud had affected him her whole life, from the time she was a little kit and he played with her and her littermates, to when she was an apprentice and he'd first fallen for her, to when she became a warrior and they'd become mates, to when their kits had been born, through the Great Journey. She was at his side throughout the Dark Forest war and everything else he could ever needed her for.
He loved her. He loved her so much, it hurt to have her gone. It was like she was a part of him. She had cast a long shadow on his life, no single other cat had affected him so much.
And... and then she left.
It wasn't her fault, of course. She hadn't wanted to be killed. But it still hurt, it hurt until the day he died. Ferncloud had been his mate, and he loved her more than anything else.
Dustpelt was sure that she missed him, too, but they were separated for a very long time. Until he died as an elder, in fact.
Nothing could make up for that lost time, but at least they were together in StarClan, watching over their many descendants in ThunderClan.