Chapter 46: Unbreakable Bonds
An amount of time had passed since Frecklewish's unification. My concerns had drifted towards the living. Recently, Crookedpaw had been denied his warrior name due to having left the clan ever so briefly while his brother received his. It had been a tough day for both me and my adopted kit. He cried in my embrace, and I felt a cold fury in my veins when he told me what his other mother said, no, that heartless fraud said. She was no mother. She was a thing that if I ever got my paws on would know the true fury only a loving mother could have. Maybe I'd fade her or roll her back to when she was a kit and leave her with a deformity. Yes. That was my plan. If I ever got her in my claws, I'd roll her back and raise her right.
I exited my musing when Crookedpaw settled down. It was time to give another encouraging speech.
"I know this hurts dear Crookedpaw. It's another unfair obstacle you've faced today, and sometimes there feels like there is no end to them in sight. I'll tell you my dear kit, obstacles are always present in our lives. Some are just pebbles, and some are mountains. Some come hurtling as fast as a monster at us and some crawl with looming dread. This does not mean you should give up. It is when we struggle that we find ourselves. Every cat, regardless of clan or birth, has faced their own trials and obstacles. You've faced mountain after mountain in a row, but look at you. You've overcome each and every one of them. I know you're tired of trying and this latest one feels more dreadful than the last, but I know you'll overcome it, just like every one before. I want to give you something that my mother gave me, something I still carry with me to this day."
Crookedpaw looked up at me with wonder, wondering what I would bestow on him to help him survive his ordeals. He sat facing me with determination spread across his face.
"Repeat after me. I am Crookedpaw and I am unbreakable." I mewed confidently.
"I… am Crookedpaw and I am… unbreakable." He mewed with a lack of confidence.
I shook my head at his lack of conviction.
"Again! Say it with feeling. I want to hear you yowl it like a battlecry."
He muttered the phrase again to himself as if to memorize the words. He muttered it again and again, his voice slowly getting louder and more confident.
I in encouragement asked, "And who are you?"
"I am Crookedpaw and I am unbreakable!" Crookedpaw howled at my face, his battle cry fierce and powerful.
"That's right! You are strong. You have weathered storms that would leave others a mewling mess. Whenever you feel weak or want to give up, remember that mantra. It is my family's mantra. Let it bring you strength when you feel you can no longer continue. You are more than a warrior in my eyes. I know you can keep going because you're one of the strongest cats I know, and someday they'll all see your true strength."
"Thank you mother, for everything." Crookedpaw mewed, pressing into my side gratefully.
Crookedpaw left my side to return to the living world with a confidence beyond what he'd lost before. I couldn't help worrying for the cat. He just kept getting hammered with misfortune after misfortune, and there was nothing I could do to stop it. Why were the living so blind to the suffering they put on others? Why was Starclan as well? Were they so concerned with maintaining the statue quo that they destroy anything that doesn't fit perfectly with their beloved prophesied future?
That must have been it. Starclan was following a path and every pebble or branch in their way, they kicked to the side. I had to know the truth. I needed to see their prophecy. Splitpelt accompanied me to the edge of the barrier. Due to my change in it, I'd have to be within the Darkforest to even send any powers through it. Thankfully, the gas like barrier was easier to worm my powers through since it was less dense. My powers crept through, worming their way into Starclan's skies. I guided them further, towards the obelisk. With a desire firmly in mind, I touched it and felt it latch on. With my ascended strength, I had firmer control on it. It no longer tried to recreate a memory. It awaited a command. It still pulled on my harshly, but I pressed on.
"Show me the future you've shown the cats before." I growled through bared teeth.
It pulled harder, needing power to be fed into it to complete my command. I fed it myself, not wanting a pulse to rip through Starclan like it so often did. I felt in reeling in my power mechanically. By the time it finished, I felt like I'd just run across an entire territory, but it gave me my response. I saw the future it had provided before. It was murky, full of symbolism, and vague beyond belief, but I saw brief snapshots of each clan. They all looked haggard like the universe itself had been trying to destroy them. I saw Riverclan starving under Crookedpaw's brother, him unable to bring himself to fight his neighbors. In Thunderclan I saw eyes of yellow, filled with ambition beyond belief. In Shadowclan I saw a river running red with kit blood. Finally, in Windclan, I saw nothing. The grassland was barren of cats. I could only hear a faint rumbling of a thunderpath in the distance.
I then felt words like a whisper. The voice felt older than time and somehow yet to be. I could hardly parse the words.
"Fire… Savior… Three with the power of star… Mother of Darkness will walk the land of light… The end of Prophecy."
I felt myself fall back panting. That vision was beyond anything I'd ever felt. I felt disoriented like I'd been sent rolling down a hill. The whole thing felt jumbled, like I'd been clawing scraps of a leaf together and trying to piece it together. It also felt wrong, like this knowledge was never meant to be known. This was the path Starclan wanted to walk? I felt my fur bristle. This future they wanted to bring about was filled with evil, and I would not stand for it. I knew Starclan would try to prevent me from changing the outcome, but I may be able to change one clan's future. Oakheart could not care for his clan like I knew Crookedpaw would. When the day came, I'd ensure Crookedpaw got into leadership, if only to spite the negative future Starclan was dead set on following. He'd face more challenges from Starcclan to dissuade him from continuing, but he was my family, so he wouldn't be broken. I swore on my name as Mapleshade, Mother of the Darkforest, I'd see Crookedpaw become Crookedstar.
Starclan may try to stop us, but my family is unbreakable.