Chapter 54: Of Kits Future and Past

Our return trip was much shorter than the trip out now that I actually knew the location and could route some leaps through the layers to speed up travel. It was mostly silent until Crookedjaw began to ask some important questions.

"So, about the obelisks… If there are two, are there more? How did you come to realize Starclan had one?" He asked mostly to fill the dead air.

"I don't know about more obelisks, Starclan's brought about the death of my kits." I replied drawing out a wince from Crookedjaw.

"You see, Starclan got a big prophecy from the obelisk, what they deem The Last Prophecy. What they know about it seems spotty at best, but there are certain facts they've found about it. One, some kind of beneficial fire will occur to save the clans. Two, three cats kin of kin will hold the powers of the stars. And finally, three, I, as the Mother of the Darkforest, will somehow get into Starclan. Then everything ends. No more prophecy. The issue lies in part three. I needed to be sent to the Darkforest, so they needed justification for my damnation.

Starclan didn't just send me here as an afterlife. They've been manipulating me since my birth. Sometimes I even fear they are controlling me now. Regardless, they pushed me on this path. They taught me to be ruthless and encouraged me to be cunning. They then encouraged me to have an interclan affair, part one of their scheme to paint me a monster. I had my mixed clan kits, and they were wonderful. They were everything I wanted in a batch of kits, but Starclan didn't have my best interests in mind. I was forced to lie that their father was a recently deceased friend of mine, but Starclan wouldn't have it. They sent the medicine cat a sign to show their mixed blood. I was exposed, and my kits and I were exiled. You'd think that would be enough, but Starclan waited for us to try and cross the stepping stones before creating a wave. My kits drowned, but Starclan ensured I survived to be their monster.

In my delusions mixed with their manipulations, I killed three cats, the medicine cat who outed me, my best friend who scarred and exiled me, and finally the mate who denied me and cast me away before I even got the chance to bury my kits. He never even bothered to learn their names. I killed them all in the name of Starclan, but they damned me here. Don't get me wrong. I wouldn't trade what we have now for anything, but you have to understand how long and how far they went to manipulate me.

Now I've given myself a new purpose. As long as the obelisks exist, Starclan will continue to follow its prophecies blindly. At the same time, they are stronger than me. I can't outright beat them, so I'll use the cunning they foolishly gave me. The day I get into Starclan, I'll remove the obelisk. The power of prophecy will be forgotten. It may lead to some harsh times, but at least cats will die by fate instead of the misled meddling dead."

Crookedjaw tilted his head in thought before replying. "Is that why you want me to be leader, to throw off prophecy?"

"Sort of. I am banking on small changes changing the whole. A stronger Riverclan may change the outcome. I need you there for the fire. Just don't change too much at once or else Starclan will get suspicious. They aren't as clever as they think they are. As long as you do what they think Oakheart would do, they shouldn't mess with you too much. They won't be happy about what I'll do, so lay the blame on me. When you finally pass on, you'll be our cat on the inside. Bircchface is fine and all, but he still sees what happened to me as slightly justified."

Thankfully, our conversation stopped at that. Digging up those memories always left a sore feeling in me. My poot kits never deserved what happened to them. Nothing could ever make it right. I shook the thoughts out of my head as I spotted the Unseen Stars camp. It looked more impressive now that I was actually looking for changes. The walls just gave off an aura of impenetrability. We actually had a meadow outside of the camp, albeit a bit lacking in plant variety. It was just grass.

I decided to peek in of Frecklewish quickly, but that turned out to be a mistake since hshe looked at me with ferocity.

"Where have you been?" She spat.

"What are you getting mad at me for? You told me leave for a while?" I asked, a bit frightened.

Boragepelt, who had been monitoring the queen, spoke to me. "You'll have to forgive her. Her pregnancy has been somewhat difficult. The Darkforest seems to be amplifying her emotions, and now she's got two more souls feeding off her. She's been having mood swings."

Almost to prove her point, Frecklewish was suddenly super cuddly.

"Mapleshade. Lay beside me. You don't know how much I missed you."

I lay beside my mate, unwilling to bring out that violent side again, but I did comment, "I wasn't gone that long."

Boragepelt shushed me saying, "it's probably best you just go along with what she says. I've already had a cat in the medicine den because they gave Frecklewish to quote 'the wrong flavor of mouse.' It is at least fascinating to find out bearing kits here will make extremely emotional queens."

I shook my head. "That happened among the living too. I remember when I was a queen, I think I knocked out a cat or two for waking me up at sunhigh. I was very testy."

Boragepelt seemed lost in thought for a moment before stating, "I wonder if its because she's growing a part of you? Anything I can look out for to confirm the theory?"

"If she starts shamelessly flirting, we'll know your guess was correct. That would be Splitpelt."

I saw Boragepelt's ears go slightly red. "Oh. I just thought she was complimenting me, but then she asked to do some weird things like share a stick."

My face went red in embarrassment. "Let's just say your theory is correct and call it a day."

Boragepelt nodded her head in agreement. What was spoken in here would remain in here.