Chapter 13: Confrontation
Frecklewish wasn't near as creative in the use of the Darkforest as I was, but what she lacked in that, she more than made up for in indomitable spirit. She was also a cat who could hold a grudge. After seeing me in such a depressed and injured state, a hatred was forged. She knew not what it was that drove me into that depression, but it was sourced from Birchface. He may be her brother, but she held no love or memory of him.
Frecklewish managed to deposit me in the nursery by my kit before storming off out of camp. She had words to share with Birchface. Her own determination was radiant and powerful. With it, she managed to reach the border in a few heartbeats. Being discovered was not on her mind. Giving a piece of hers to Birchface was all she cared for. She pressed her paw against the barrier and willed Birchface to return. He wouldn't deny his sister.
Birchface felt Frecklewish calling, the Darkforest Frecklewish more specifically. Maybe she wanted to know more about herself. Maybe Mapleshade wasn't as remorseful as he thought. Regardless, he wouldn't deny his amnesiac sister. She needed his support. He bound off to the barrier where Frecklewish was waiting. When he saw her, he didn't expect the rage so visible on her face. He found himself unable to turn away.
"Birchface! Get over here!"
Birchface's ears flattened, and his tail dropped. He could only slink over like a chastised kit. He knew better than to resist her when she was mad.
"Uh… Frecklewish. What brings you here?"
She was fuming. Her anger was generating a visible aura. The mud under paw rippled outward from her presence.
"Do you even know what you did? Do you know how much you hurt my best friend? I may not know you like the original, but you are making me seriously doubt I'd want to in the first place. I don't care for you. I thought maybe being siblings mattered to you, but seeing how much you want to hurt the one cat I care for, you obviously don't."
Birchface could only press himself lower under her chastisement.
"Frecklewish… I… I… I do care for you, but what Mapleshade did…"
"It is not your place to punish her! If any cat has the right to, it is me! And I forgave her. She was just a grieving mother hallucinating that Starclan demanded she have her vengeance. I deserved it. I let her kits die. We're even."
"She wasn't hallucinating," Birchface muttered under his breath.
"What was that?! Speak up when I'm talking to you!"
Birchface knew he messed up when he muttered that. Frecklewish was also the type to see right through lies when she was angry. He had to fess up.
"She wasn't hallucinating. A Starclan cat did tell her to have her vengeance. It just wasn't her kits. I didn't lie to her."
Frecklewish bristled at his holier than thou attitude.
"A lie of omission is still a lie! You let her believe she had gone mad, that the idea was hers and was her own fault. Now you tell me Starclan wished for this?! Then why is she here and not over there?! She did what they asked!"
Birchface could not explain. He didn't understand it himself. Everything happened under Starclan's guidance but was a mess of tragedy that seemed to serve no purpose but to cause suffering.
"I can't… I don't know… Everything is so wrong! I am trying, but I can't make any sense of it. I've seen how those in control act. They… They caused everything that happened, but their purpose is unknown. The only thing I can understand is that it has to do with a prophecy, the Last Prophecy as they call it. I think the reason they did all this was specifically to get Mapleshade over there."
Frecklewish was finally calming down. All this talk of conspiracies was beyond her, but at least now she knew Mapleshade wasn't at fault. She had been a pawn in a bigger game. Most of all, she could prove to her best friend and crush that she wasn't the monster she feared she was. She was just Mapleshade, the kind and driven cat her memories oh so brilliantly depicted.
A call could be heard from the Starclan side of the barrier.
"Birchface? Where are you? I thought I heard you talking."
From over a hill appeared Frecklewish, Starclan Frecklewish. She approached, mesmerized by the sight of herself sitting across the border. Then she began to bristle.
"Who is this?! An imposter!"
Darkforest Frecklewish responded coolly. "I think not. You tossed me away, and so I am here. What a spiteful rat you are to toss away such great memories because you can't handle the truth. Mapleshade was our sister and best friend, and you let her kits drown. You watched them die. I bet you were even grinning like the twisted cat you are."
Starclan Frecklewish lashed out only for her paw to strike the barrier.
"Mapleshade is a monster! Of course, I enjoyed watching those things drown!"
"A monster? No. She was a mother. She lied to protect her kits like any mother would do. The only monster here is you, who lashed out at her best friend, condemned her kits to die, all because you couldn't stand that she had used your brother's name. We deserved the death we got. I'm glad you cast me here. I now have a chance to make things right. Meanwhile, you'll remain that same spiteful ball of hate. I may just be a fragment of the original, but I'm ten times the cat you'll ever be."
Starclan Frecklewish desperately struck at the barrier repeatedly. She wanted to destroy the image that was using her name. In her mind, she knew no other response. Finally, she gave up hissing before retreating into the distance.
Birchface had witnessed the exchange, but he did not know which Frecklewish to side with. They both were Frecklewish. The one so violent she lashed out was the one who remembered him, but the one beyond the barrier was the one who reacted like he remembered. She may not remember him, but she carried the same cadence and aura he remembered from life.
The Frecklewish that remained stared him down before mewing, "I expect you to apologize to her. She went through a lot of pain because you decided she didn't need those important details. If you do, maybe I'll consider thinking of you as a brother. Until then, you are just a Starclan cat who hurt my friend."
Frecklewish turned away with her head held high. She would not look back at the cat who watched her leave so pleadingly.
Birchface slunk back to where Mapleshade's kits awaited. His head was filled with thoughts. Had he been wrong to lead Mapleshade on like that? Which Frecklewish was the real one? Was Starclan even worth remaining in if this was what they did? He couldn't answer those questions. Instead, he tried to distract himself entertaining her kits. It was the only thing he was sure he was doing right in the afterlife.