Half a moon passed since the heavy defeat of WindClan, and no cat had spoken a word about it, too ashamed to confront the tragedy. Even Scorchstar stayed silent, not having addressed his Clan. He had spoken to each warrior separately, trying to uplift them, but other than that, Russetstripe guessed that her brother was too guilt-ridden to say anything else, considering how Seedfur and Thrushwing had both died in the battle.
Waspberry had given birth to her kits, and they were named Icekit and Frostkit. It had been quite obvious to the cats in camp that Lightningtalon had only visited them once in the span of half a moon, and no cat knew why. Russetstripe wondered when she would be able to meet Scorchstar's kits. It had been a little over a moon since they were born, and still she had not been able to even spot a glimpse of them.
She was on her way to ask her brother if she could when she spotted his ginger-and-white tabby pelt stalking towards the nursery. Russetstripe bounded over to him, tugging at his tail and forcing him to stop. Scorchstar looked over his shoulder, his amber eyes wide with confusion as Russetstripe stopped him in his tracks.
"What is it?" Scorchstar asked.
"Aren't you going to let me see your kits?" Russetstripe inquired. "I'm their kin. Surely I can be part of their lives?"
A shadow crossed Scorchstar's face, and the slightest hint of guilt was prominent in those shadows. "I need to ask Wildheart."
Russetstripe sighed. "And if she says no?"
Scorchstar shook his head. "You're right, Russetstripe. You're their kin, and you have every right to be part of their lives. I'll let her know that."
"Thanks." Russetstripe gave her brother a nod, victory rushing through her pelt. I won't let Wildheart forbid me from seeing my kin, she thought to herself as she watched her brother disappear into the gorse bush. She could hear faint arguing between the two cats, and she leaned in, trying to make out their voices.
Scorchstar's voice was low. "Listen, Wildheart, I know you don't like her. But she's my sister, and yours now, too. Family is family, whether you like it or not."
Wildheart's voice was disgruntled as she replied. "Fine. She's your sister, which means you're the one who's going to have to deal with her. Not me. She can have a relationship with the kits, but she won't have one with me."
A heavy sigh followed Wildheart's words, and moments after, Scorchstar emerged from the nursery, giving Russetstripe a nod. Russetstripe flicked her tail in irritation. What was Wildheart's problem? The competition was over. It was years ago. So why was Wildheart still holding a grudge against her? Russetstripe squeezed through the entrance of the gorse bush, the gorses tearing against her long fur. As she entered the nursery, she could saw Wildheart lying with her kits curled against her stomach.
Wildheart shot her a cold glare, but Russetstripe's gaze was focused on her kits. One of them looked exactly like Scorchstar – with short ginger-and-white tabby fur. Her eyes were open as she stared straight into Russetstripe's gaze, and Russetstripe realized her eyes were green, just like Russetstripe's. The kit on the other side of her had dark red fur, with the same green gaze as the ginger-and-white tabby kit. On the left of the two siblings was a much smaller kit, with dull gray tabby fur, the odd one out.
"What are their names?" Russetstripe asked.
The venom melted from Wildheart's gaze as she looked down to her kits. "The ginger-and-white kit is Hawkkit." She pointed her tail to the red tom. "His name is Redkit." She nodded to the gray she-kit. "And that's Mallowkit."
"Is there something wrong with Mallowkit?" Russetstripe asked, craning her head to study the small she-kit. Why was she so tiny compared to her siblings? And why wasn't she looking at Russetstripe like the other kits were?
"She's the runt of the litter," Wildheart explained.
"So is she going to live?" Russetstripe asked bluntly.
Wildheart's nostrils flared. "I won't let her die."
Russetstripe stepped back as Skykit raced over to Russetstripe, bounding around her paws. "It's so boring in here!" Skykit complained, nipping Russetstripe's paws. Russetstripe stepped back, her green eyes wide. "Wildheart's kits don't want to play, and Icekit and Frostkit are too young! Sedgekit never wants to play with me." The gray she-cat glanced over at her sister, who was studying a fallen leaf with intent pale green eyes.
"Skykit!" Sandfall exclaimed. "Get back here!"
"It's quite all right, Sandfall," Russetstripe said, sitting back on her hind haunches and letting Skykit run circles around her. "You're bored, huh?"
"Very!" Skykit complained.
"How about I take you to the edge of camp?" Russetstripe suggested. "I bet you won't be so bored then."
Skykit gasped. "Can I?" she asked, whirling to face her mother.
Sandfall's face contorted. Russetstripe walked over and touched her nose to the queen's shoulder. "I'll bring her back in one piece," she promised.
"Well, she is bored around here," Sandfall remarked. She looked down at Sedgekit, who still was staring at the leaf. "Sedgekit, are you sure you don't want to play with your sister?"
Sedgekit looked up and gazed at her mother. Nothing came out of her mouth. Sandfall sighed and turned to Russetstripe. "Okay, Russetstripe. You can take Skykit out."
"Ha." Russetstripe grinned and looked over at Skykit. "Jump on."
"What?" Skykit gasped. "Really?"
"Hurry up, before I change my mind." Russetstripe's tail twitched, and in seconds, Skykit leaped on her back, her small claws tugging into Russetstripe's thick fur. Russetstripe walked out of the nursery, bidding a cordial farewell to Wildheart before she left. Just as Russetstripe set her paws in the clearing, Skykit was already climbing up Russetstripe's spine and peering over her ears.
"Wow!" Skykit gasped. "The camp is so big!"
"Don't tell me you haven't been out here before?" Russetstripe asked. "Because I won't believe it."
"I always have to keep pace with Sedgekit," Skykit complained. "And Sedgekit never moves. She just… sits there."
"Does she?" Russetstripe's ears twitched. "Well… why?"
"She's always so much more interested in this plant or this leaf or this twig than exploring," Skykit meowed, holding onto Russetstripe's ears. "And Mom tells me not to leave her, so I have to stick with her."
"Sounds like you think your sister is holding you back," Russetstripe remarked.
"I guess." Skykit frowned. "But she's not here. You are, so show me camp! I'll be an apprentice in a couple of moons!"
Russetstripe twitched her tail in amusement. She liked Skykit. She had a lot of energy and was boisterous – but that was a good thing in apprentices. It meant they were eager to learn. Russetstripe allowed the kit to hold on her back as she padded over to the leader's den. She peered in the hollow tree. Scorchstar wasn't there, but Russetstripe wasn't going to let Skykit inside.
"This is Scorchstar's den," Russetstripe told Skykit, bending her head so the she-cat could see deeper into it. "It used to be my father's den, too. It's the den for every Clan leader."
"Wow!" Skykit exclaimed. "I bet I could climb that tree."
"Not now," Russetstripe said, whiskers twitching in amusement. She had climbed it once, with Blackdove, when they were both kits and had left the camp. "Maybe when you're an apprentice you can push Scorchstar off the branch."
"Huh?" Skykit gasped. "Did you do that?"
"I might." Russetstripe chuckled lowly in her chest. "Do you want to see me do it?"
"That'd be so funny!" Skykit laughed. "But would you get in trouble? I get in trouble with Mom all the time!"
"Oh, Skykit, I can't tell you the number of times I've gotten in trouble," Russetstripe remarked, tightening the kit's grip on her shoulder before crossing the camp towards Violetheart's den. Russetstripe looked up at the tall rock, the slit in the boulder was the entrance to the medicine cat's den.
"Is this Violetheart's den?" Skykit asked, looking up and down.
"Yep." Russetstripe nodded.
"The only place Sedgekit moves to other than the nursery is this rock," Skykit commented, peering her head to study the rock.
"Really?" Russetstripe's ears twitched. "She goes in here?" That was news to her.
"She likes to see Violetheart," Skykit told her.
"Hmm." Is there a new medicine cat apprentice on the way? "Is your sister interested in herbs?"
"She smells like them when she comes back to my mom," Skykit said, tightening her grip on Russetstripe's back. The sharpness of the kit's claws made Russetstripe winced. "My mom always asks her what she did, and she replies with something none of us can understand! The other day she told my mom, 'Because you are alive, everything is possible.' What does that even mean?"
"Maybe Violetheart is getting to her," Russetstripe guessed.
"But she has no interest in play-fighting with me!" Skykit complained. "Or trying to race with me. How is she going to be an apprentice? Will she stay behind as a kit, and I'll have to train by myself?"
"Have you ever thought that maybe Sedgekit doesn't want to be a warrior?" Russetstripe asked Skykit.
Skykit gasped as if the world was ending. "But what else could she be?"
"A medicine cat," Russetstripe said.
"A medicine cat…" Skykit's words trailed off. "But… she never told Mom that's what she wanted. And… if she wants to be a medicine cat… who will I train with?" The sorrow that dripped at the edge of Skykit's voice made Russetstripe wince with pity. "I'll be the only apprentice!"
"Hawkkit, Redkit, and Mallowkit will surely train with you," Russetstripe said.
Skykit sighed. "But that'll be ages away! I'm going to be an apprentice soon, and they probably won't be for at least four or five more moons! I also heard Wildheart saying that Mallowkit may need to be kept in the nursery."
What? Now, this was news Russetstripe hadn't expected. Mallowkit was going to stay behind in the nursery when her siblings were apprenticed? How would Scorchstar – and Mallowkit herself – react to that? I haven't heard any of those kits say as much as a word. Have they spoken yet?
"Oh, Skykit." Russetstripe shook her head out. "You just focus on yourself, all right? You focus on being the best warrior WindClan needs you to be. You won't be alone in your training – you'll have your mentor by your side. And… if Sedgekit does decide to be a medicine cat apprentice, you'll still get to spend time together. Just not training in the clearing."
Skykit let out a long, exaggerated sigh as she climbed on top of Russetstripe's forehead and rested her chin on it. "It seems like ages away."
"It felt the same when I was a kit, too," Russetstripe said. Trying to make the kit feel better, she asked her, "Hey, did you know I wasn't apprenticed on time?"
"What?" Skykit gasped. "Really?"
"Yup." Russetstripe purred, wanting to make the kit laugh. "Earlier, when I was a kit I snuck out of camp and went into ThunderClan territory. My father was so furious with me, he delayed my apprentice ceremony."
Skykit stared at Russetstripe, her blue eyes round with shock. "So when did you become an apprentice?"
"The next night." Russetstripe laughed.
"How did it happen so quick?" Skykit asked, tilting her head as a small flower fell on top of her head, and she batted it off with a small paw.
"I left camp… again, but I saw that RiverClan was coming to attack us, so I went back and warned my father," Russetstripe explained, the day replaying in her mind as if it was yesterday. "He made me an apprentice after that."
"RiverClan!" Skykit gasped. "Isn't that the scary Clan who beat us in the battle? Father came back so bloody that Mother thought he was going to die!"
"Beat us…" Russetstripe echoed, recalling to the fight for their lives when ThunderClan and RiverClan had cornered them. She would never forget tearing chunks out of Runningflame's ginger-and-white fur as the tom held her in an iron clad grip – and boasted about it the entire time. What a rabbit-brain! Anger made her fur fluff up as she thought about the tom. He tried to kill me, and he joked about it the entire time! RiverClan are such fox-hearts! "They'll never beat us. WindClan is the strongest, Skykit. Remember that."
"I will!" Skykit promised fervently. Russetstripe was about to show the kit to the elders' den when she spotted Aspenstep's striped gray pelt walking over to them. The long-limbed warrior narrowed his eyes when he spotted Skykit holding onto Russetstripe's thick pelt. Amusement made his whiskers twitch.
"This is a sight I didn't think I'd see," Aspenstep remarked. "The fierce Russetstripe, spending time with a kit."
"Don't say something you'll regret," Russetstripe warned the gray warrior.
"Father!" Skykit leaped over Russetstripe's forehead and landed on the ground in front of Aspenstep. "Don't get mad at Russetstripe! She was showing me around the camp."
"And your mother allowed that?" Aspenstep's blue eyes widened.
"Yes!" Skykit ran around Aspenstep's paws. "Russetstripe told me that I'm going to be an apprentice soon. Isn't that great?"
"It is, lovely," Aspenstep said, stopping Skykit by pressing a paw to her tail and drawing her close to him. "Thanks for keeping her busy, Russetstripe. I'll take her back to Sandfall now."
Russetstripe gave Aspenstep a nod as the gray tabby picked Skykit up in his jaws and walked over towards the nursery. She watched him go, feeling a pang of bitterness at her heart. She wished she could have spent more time with Skykit – she liked the little she-cat. Now that she had nothing to do, Russetstripe walked over to the fresh-kill pile, searching for something to eat, but it was empty. Guess I'll go out.
The ginger she-cat climbed out of camp, leaving the activity behind her as she plunged into the moorland and ran where her paws took her. They skimmed across the moor, guided by the gods of the wind themselves. She could still feel the remnants of Skykit's tiny claws digging in her fur, and she thought back to her words about Sedgekit.
Is Sedgekit going to be the next medicine cat? Russetstripe asked. Should I believe Skykit? She's just a kit, she could obviously be upset and just making things up. But Violetheart is old. Over the past few moons, Violetheart had considerably aged – there were more white furs than ever on her muzzle, and she moved with the stiffness an elder would, although the fire never left her eyes. Would Violetheart die before training an apprentice? Fear flooded Russetstripe's mind at the thought of a future without a medicine cat, and it was then when she skidded to a halt. The scents of ThunderClan were fresh. She had gone to the border.
Just as Russetstripe walked over to the stream that carved through the land, she stepped back. They've marked the old border! The ThunderClan and WindClan border had been changed so many moons ago when Swiftstar led an invasion into ThunderClan's camp, taking a strip of their land from the streambank all the way to a large tree deep within the forest. But the scents were now thick on the stream, and it seemed that ThunderClan had taken that piece of territory back. They must've thought that with the battle won, it's theirs now. And… they may have a point. Russetstripe wondered if Scorchstar knew. And even if she did report it to him… what was the point? Would they throw themselves into another battle to take back this pointless piece of territory?
Russetstripe was lost in her thoughts when she heard rustling across the stream. The ginger she-cat snapped her head up, narrowing her green eyes. She'd question a ThunderClan cat about it. Russetstripe walked over to the streambank, her tail twitching irritably, waiting for the cat on the other side to show himself. Russetstripe's heart sank as she recognized the silver tabby fur of Winterfall. The ThunderClan tom lifted his head, sniffing the air intently, and then his tail twitched in irritation. He knows I'm here, too.
"Russetstripe." Winterfall's voice was colder than the season he was named for. "Show yourself."
"I'm here." Russetstripe rose to her full height and caught the tom's icy blue gaze from across the stream. "You changed the border."
"Rootstar ordered it," Winterfall said. "We won the battle. It's our territory, now. Your ruthless father took it from us, and Rootstar took it back."
Russetstripe sighed, the fur on her shoulders rising. "Fine. It's not like I care. We didn't even use it, anyway."
Winterfall eyed her. "It looks like you do."
Russetstripe sat on her haunches. "No. I don't think it's worth fighting for. Both of our Clans suffered too much from the last battle, didn't they?"
"I'd say we're doing just fine," Winterfall meowed, twitching his tail back-and-forth. Then a trace of wistfulness entered his eyes, and he sat down too. "How long ago was it, Russetstripe, when you and I were apprentices, and we shared the same insecurities we had? Being the children of our Clan leader?"
"A long time ago," Russetstripe growled. "So why would you bring it up?"
"Because I thought of you when I heard that Swiftstar died." Winterfall's tail twitched. "How did you feel?"
"Why does that matter?" Russetstripe's ears flattened.
"To him, I'm just collateral damage," Winterfall said. Russetstripe flinched as she realized he was echoing the words she had said, so many moons ago. "Does that still hold true?"
"He's dead, now," Russetstripe growled, "so it doesn't matter. And, to answer your question, I was happy that he died. Weren't you, and the rest of ThunderClan? He was a ruthless tyrant who acted like he cared about his family, but in the end, he couldn't give a damn. You act like you sympathize with me, but from what I heard, Flintstar treated you like you were the Clan's most precious jewel. Just like…" Russetstripe's words trailed off.
"Just like Scorchstar," Winterfall murmured.
"Oh, shut up." Russetstripe's tail lashed.
"I still feel second best, you know," Winterfall commented. "Even though my father is dead, and it seems that Rootstar holds me closer to him than he does Frostfang, I still hear the echo of my father telling me I'm not as good enough as Frostfang. I know you think that he pampered me, but in reality, it was Frostfang."
"So, you're jealous of Frostfang?" Russetstripe asked.
"A little," Winterfall confessed. "But at the end of the day, he's my brother, and I love him. I can't blame him for what my father said. It's not his fault."
"I guess," Russetstripe muttered. But even though sorrow traced Winterfall's silver expression, she could not find it in her heart to sympathize with one of the cats who had nearly brought WindClan to its total destruction. "I don't have time for this." She turned on her heels, hoping that the silver tabby would just go away. One more word about her father, the dead cat who should be buried and left to rot, would break her.
"Russetstripe." Winterfall's words were curt. "This territory is ours. Don't come back to it."
"Like I'd want to." Russetstripe snorted. Just as she was about to plunge back into the moorland, she could hear a deeper voice.
"Winterfall?" called the other voice. Russetstripe turned her head to see a yellow-furred tom walk over to the silver tabby tom, his eye whiskers knit with worry. "Who were you talking to?"
"No one important." Winterfall shook his head. Why did those words crack Russetstripe's heart to the core? Well, of course. There's bad blood between him and I. Why did I ever think we could continue our friendship, like we were when we were just apprentices? Keeping Winterfall's face out of her mind, Russetstripe walked away from the new border. She had to report the change to Scorchstar.
Russetstripe raced through the moor, the heat of the greenleaf sun burning on her striped back. She approached the WindClan camp and stood over it, seeking out her brother's ginger-and-white fur in the camp. She slipped down the walls of the hollow and sought him out as she raced through the clearing. Scorchstar's eyes were gleaming with pride and joy when Russetstripe walked over to him.
"Um…?" Russetstripe tilted her head.
"Hawkkit said her first word!" Scorchstar exclaimed.
"She did?" Russetstripe twitched her whiskers. "What did she say?"
"Wind," Scorchstar replied. "And you'll never believe it!"
Russetstripe blinked.
"Redkit spoke, right after that!" Scorchstar looked as if he was an apprentice who just caught his first piece of prey. "He said 'Dad.' Can you believe it, Russetstripe? My kits said their first words!"
"Mm." Russetstripe nodded. "I'm happy for you. But…" Her voice trailed off. "Did Mallowkit say anything?"
Scorchstar's amber eyes darkened, and his voice cracked as he replied, "No."
"Oh, Scorchstar." Russetstripe brushed her muzzle against her brother's shoulder. "I need to tell you something, and I'm not sure you'll like it."
"What is it?" Scorchstar asked.
"ThunderClan has changed the border to the stream," Russetstripe told him. She was prepared for Scorchstar to raise his hackles and hiss out of fury, but instead, the ginger-and-white tabby returned Russetstripe's gaze steadily. Russetstripe's eyes widened. "You… you knew?"
"Russetstripe, that happened right after the battle," Scorchstar replied. "Brambledusk told me. I couldn't fight to get it back. We're still recovering."
Russetstripe flicked her tail. "You could've told me."
"Brambledusk knew." Scorchstar's ears twitched faintly with irritation.
Russetstripe sighed. She didn't want to fight with him. There was no point. She felt bad enough having interrupted his happiness. "Well, I just want you to know ThunderClan is patrolling it more closely than ever."
"Thanks for letting me know." Scorchstar dipped his head. "I'll tell Brambledusk to keep an eye on it."
Russetstripe gave her brother a nod and walked away, deep in thought as she recalled her encounter at the border with Winterfall. Why had Winterfall spoken to her? Why had he brought up their father again? Did he think he could try and rekindle their old friendship, when Winterfall had been the one to turn on Russetstripe, first? What's up with him?