Flame opened her eyes. The moon was shining outside the den. She yawned, and sat up, looking around. It was still night, obviously. All the other apprentices were asleep. She twitched her ear, and padded out into the cool night air. She wasn't sleepy, so she decided to take a walk. Flame smiled at the knowledge of being allowed to go outside the camp. As she went out of camp, she noticed a semi-strong cat scent. She tipped her head, curious, and started to follow the scent trail. She could make out that it wasn't a cat from Leafclan, and it was a she-cat, so it couldn't be Ocean. Her fur spiked in anger as she thought of the murderous cat. Why wouldn't the other apprentices agree to tell? True, she could just tell Falcon and Blossom herself, but if the others did it with her, it would be sooo much more convincing. She realized that she was very close to the source of the scent. She ducked behind a tree, peeping out around the corner. She saw a clearing. At one end was a tom. She couldn't quite make out his markings, but she could tell he was white. At the end of the clearing nearest to her was a grey she-cat. She had white spots dotting her fur. As Flame looked at her, something deep inside her stirred. She tried to grasp it, but it slipped away, leaving only a hint of nostalgia. She shook her head and focused on the confrontation in front of her.
"Frost! What are you doing here? I haven't seen you in ages…" The she-cat meowed. She seemed happy and relieved to see him.
"Hawk sent me here, to warn you, Flight." Frost meowed icily.
Flight stared back in confusion. "Frost? W-What do you-"
Ice shot up from under her, trapping her legs. A spike of ice shot up, just touching her neck. Frost walked forward.
"Don't try to stop this. Accept you've lost. You're useless. You're-"
"DON'T YOU TOUCH HER!" Flame shouted out. She hadn't realized she had stepped out from behind the tree, or even spoken, but yet, here she was.
Frost whipped his head to the side. He narrowed his eyes, looking at her with mild shock. "Kit, why are you here?"
Flame snarled. "I'm not a kit! And you leave her be!"
Frost smiled. "Oh yeah? And why is that?"
"Harming cats for no reason is wrong!" She shouted back. She didn't know why she felt so strongly toward this particular cat, but for some reason, she did.
He smirked, and stepped on the ground. A trail of ice shot from his paw, speeding it's way toward Flame. She watched in shock and disbelief as it encircled her legs, trapping her as it did the she-cat. She twisted her head, trying to move. Her eyes lock with Frost's, and she watched as a slow smile creeped across his face. Her mind filled with rage. She felt something deep inside snap, a power flooding her senses. She screamed at the top of her lungs, letting it all out. Frost's face turned from satisfaction to sheer terror. She felt the ice holding her melt, as well as the ice holding Flight. She dropped to the ground, and after a look at Flame, ran off into the woods. Frost tried to follow her, but everything went a bright red for Flame.
It was morning. Flame woke up, groggy. She groaned, sitting up. She looked around, not knowing where she was. The events of last night came rushing back to her, and she jumped up, looking around for Frost. She almost immediately fell over. She realized that she was exhausted. Flame looked up into the sky, surprised to see that it was nearly sun-high. She started to stumble her way back to camp. She couldn't understand why she was so out of it. Whatever happened had left her exhausted. She let her mind wander, back to the times with her mother, and brothers and sister next to her, all cuddled up, asleep. Wait. She snapped her head up, shaking it. She only had one brother, and no sisters. She groaned softly, a headache taking hold of her. She stumbled into camp.
"Flame!" Feather called, running over. "Flame, oh Flame! Where have you been? You had us soo worried!"
Flame blinked, looking at her. "Huh? Oh, yeah, sorry…"
Feather tipped her head. "Flame, are you okay?"
Flame nodded. "Yeah, just…..kinda out of it. I'm going to go take a nap…."
"Well, alright. I'm just glad you're home safe." She licked the top of her head. "If there's anything you want to tell me, I'm here for you."
Flame managed a small smile before heading to the apprentice's den. She tried to sleep, but found she couldn't. Too many questions were buzzing in her head. She decided to go ask Falcon some questions. He might be able to help her. She got up and went over to the leader's den.
"Falcon?" She called. "Are you in there?"
Blossom poked her head out. "Oh, Flame! I'm sorry, Falcon is on a patrol right now. Did you need something?"
Flame nodded. "I was hoping to ask him some questions."
"Oh, well, maybe I can answer them." Blossom offered, smiling.
"Okay. Well, um, do you know a cat named Frost?"
She shook her head. "No, can't say I do."
"Alright. What about a cat named Hawk, or Flight?"
Blossom paled. She looked at Flame in astonishment.
"What?"
Blossom closed her eyes, then opened them. "Y-Yes…. I do know those two…"
Flame pricked her ears. "Really? Can you tell me about them?"
Blossom bit her lip, but dipped her head. She sat down. "Alright. To be blunt about it, Flight and Hawk are me and Falcon's son and daughter."
"Wait...WHAT!?"
She nodded. "Yes. Long ago, the clan was just getting started. Thorn and Ocean just had their two kits, Dream and Moss. That same night, I had Hawk and Flight. Over time, Flight became more independent. She wouldn't let anything stand in her way. Her brother shared his sister's forwardness, and was definitely more determined. He took a liking to Dream, and eventually became her mate. Flight was certain that she didn't need any cat to be her mate, she was fine on her own. And I didn't doubt her for a second. She had this light within her, shining bright. Then, things started to go wrong. Dream was bearing Hawk's kits. She had three kits, Daisy, Feather, and Snow. Snow was never a strong kit, the runt of the litter. She got very sick, and died. Dream was devastated, and decided to devote her life to help cats, sick and injured. Hawk was also stricken with grief. I don't know how else to describe it. It was if a darkness took control of him. One day, I woke up, and he was gone. We tried to find him, Flight especially, but it was as if he vanished. Daisy and Feather grew up, and became good friends with Flight. Almost like sisters those three were. Flight started to disappear every now and again, but she always came back. One day, she came into camp, and took Daisy and Feather with her. A few worrying weeks later, Daisy and Feather came back. They explained that Flight wanted to be on her own, and not to be found. They also revealed that while they were away, Daisy had bore Pine's second litter of kits. Just two, and that was Heather and Grass. Feather had also bore kits, though she never revealed the father. Those kits were you and Flash, Flame."
Flame widened her eyes. "So….Hawk is my grandfather?"
Blossom chuckled. "I never thought of it like that, but yeah. I guess he is."
Flame looked down, fully taking this in. She looked back up at Blossom and smiled. "Thank you for that."
Blossom smiled, and dipped her head. "Anytime."
Flame nodded, then got up and walked off. As she walked back to the apprentice's den, she spied Claw and Dappled together. She knew that they had been mates for a while now. She walked over.
"Flame! Hello there." Dappled meowed, then giggled. "Should we tell her?"
Claw smiled. "You did say you wanted to tell every cat you saw."
Dappled giggled again. "Alright. Flame, this may not be important to you, but I'm pregnant!"
Flame's jaw dropped. "Wha- R-Really?!"
She nodded. "I had my suspicions, of course, but today I went to see Dream, and she confirmed it!"
Flame was bubbling. "Wow! Congratulations!"
Dappled began to chatter to Claw, and Flame took the chance to go back to the apprentice's den. She settled down, and began to wash herself. As she licked the pad of her right forepaw, she noticed something strange. She leaned back a bit to see it better. A small picture of a flame was imprinted on her paw-pad. "Huh. Weird." She meowed, then shrugged it off and continued her wash.