Flamepaw's Destination

Chapter 42

More moons passed after Barkfern's death. Flameclaw was slowly getting used to the loneliness, but she still often longed for her mate to be by her side. It was hard waking up in the morning with no warm body pressed up against hers.

She and her kits were slowly moving on, but she knew it was easier for her kits. They had mates of their own. Even Goldnose's kits had mates of their own. No doubt they would begin families soon. Flameclaw still wondered if her daughters would ever have kits.

Nevertheless, they did not suffer like Flameclaw did. They had their own duties to keep them busy while Flameclaw lazily sat in the elders' den all day. It was a tiring task, and she was bored out of her mind half the time. No one went on walks with her now or shared squirrels in the morning. Sometimes kits would visit, though it seemed that was becoming more of a rarity.

One morning, Flameclaw laid out in the sun, picking at a mouse. She glanced up at the sky, wondering if Barkfern was ever looking down at her with her other loved ones in StarClan. She let out a sigh and picked some more at her breakfast.

She turned and noticed two kits--a gray tabby she-cat and a dark gray tom--playing happily with each other. She immediately recognized them as Mistyfrost and Speckledfoot's kits, Silverkit and Fogkit. She smiled a little watching them, remembering her own kits playing.

Flameclaw suddenly watched their mother, Mistyfrost, tense up. Flameclaw turned and stood up slowly, watching two unknown she-cats pad into the camp. One was pure white with gray around her muzzle while the other was more of a golden color. They appeared her age, and Flameclaw knew she shouldn't be frightened of them, but her mind raced back to the MoonClan's attack, and she tensed, wondering if they were under attack.

Flameclaw turned and watched Mistyfrost wrap her tail around the two kits while Cloudstar immediately approached the cats.

"Who are you?" Cloudstar hissed. He too seemed to fear these were MoonClan cats.

"My name is Snowgaze," the white she-cat said. "And this is my sister, Fernstep. We heard that our brother recently passed. His name was Barkfern."

Flameclaw pricked her ears and immediately padded over to the two.

"You're Barkfern's sisters!" she gasped. "Fernstep, Barkfern asked for his warrior name to be named after you. Our kit, Snowripple, is named after you, Snowgaze. Have you come to join the clan?"

Immediately she was filled with excitement. Perhaps she wouldn't be alone anymore. Perhaps she'd have more friends in the elders' den. And even better, they were related to Barkfern! They wouldn't replace him, sure, but it'd be nice to talk to his relatives.

The sisters, unfortunately, shook their heads.

"We have come to show our respects," Fernstep explained.

Suddenly, Flameclaw watched as Silverkit squeezed out of her mother's grip and ran over to them.

"Hi!' she mewed, her tail waving back and forth.

"Silverkit! Come back here!" Mistyfrost called from the nursery.

Fernstep let out a mrrowl of laughter watching Silverkit. 

"Where are you from?" Cloudstar asked. "RiverClan? I know Flameclaw and Barkfern are from RiverClan."     

 Snowgaze shook her head. "No our mother left us three in the small clan of LightningClan moons ago. It was a small clan, consisting of a few warriors, us three as the apprentices, and a crazy medicine cat who fell in love with the leader. One day, dogs attacked the camp, and Barkfern led them away. He never returned. We always believed that he had died until fairly recently," Snowgaze sighed. 

Flameclaw gasped. "I remember him speaking about leaving LightningClan on the quest. My, that was many moons ago. I can't believe I still remember it." 

Fernstep let out a nod. "We left LightningClan shortly after and lived as rogues. Not once did we leave each other's side. We had no mates or kits, and we only had a small flicker of hope that our brother was alive." 

Silverkit's eyes widened. She was obviously intrigued by the story.

"It's a shame you didn't get to spend a lot of time with him," Flameclaw sighed. She then paused, realizing something. "Oh my! I forgot to introduce myself! I'm Flameclaw. I am...or I was Barkfern's mate. When I was on my giant quest in RiverClan, Barkfern leapt out of the bushes, and that's how we met! It's scared me so much! He asked to join us. He was a RiverClan member for a fairly short time since our camp got raided on. We were rogues, and then I was expecting his kits, so we joined SnowClan and we've been there ever since. KITS!" Flameclaw yowled.

Snowripple, Daisyfern, and Goldnose exited the warriors den and came to their mother in confusion.

"This is Snowripple," Flameclaw said, pointing to the white she-cat. "And Daisyfern, and our only son, Goldnose."

Goldnose dipped his head.

"Oh, they're lovely!" Snowgaze exclaimed. "We're your father's sisters. It's a pleasure to meet all of you."

Cloudstar tilted his head, glancing at Silverkit.

"Silverkit? How long have you been here?" he asked.

Silverkit waved her fluffy silver tail. "My mom was born in RiverClan too!" she squeaked

That's when Mistyfrost padded out. "Silverkit, it's not nice to eavesdrop. Nowapologize to these nice cats." 

Silverkit groaned. "But Mommm! I wanna hear their stories!"     

Mistyfrost licked Silverkit's ear. "I'm pretty sure they want to be alone." Mistyfrost dipped her head to Cloudstar. "Sorry about that. It's not like I can actually watch them, right?" she chuckled. Flameclaw laughed slightly, realizing she was making a blind joke. Mistyfrost had been blinded as a young kit, though it didn't seem to keep her from being a warrior.

"Aw, let her hear some stories, Mom," Daisyfern said. "I know you have lots of interesting ones to tell."    

Flameclaw smiled, absolutely thrilled to share stories.

"Yes, I do have a lot. Do you want to hear some, Silverkit? ?If you do, head to the elder's den. I'll be there in a second. I just need to point Barkfern's sisters to his grave first."

Silverkit's icy blue eyes brightened. "Can I mom? Pleeaassseee?" 

Mistyfrost just couldn't say no. "As long as you bring your brother with." Silverkit ran to the nursery to get Fogkit. Mistyfrost laughed a bit, then followed her speeding kit.

"Rambunctious things," Fernstep said as the kit padded away. "I'm somewhat glad I didn't have any."

"Oh, but they're a joy," Flameclaw assured her. "Let me show you Barkfern's grave."

She padded with them to the recently dug graves and found Barkfern's in a heartbeat. She glanced down at it and tapped it lightly with her paw.

"I am glad he lived a long life. We didn't hear all the details of his death though. What happened?" Snowgaze asked.

"Camp invasion," Flameclaw sighed. "There were only elders and queens and kits in the nursery when they attacked. We tried our hardest to protect the camp, but it became difficult."

"I'm glad he died courageously," Fernstep said.

Flameclaw nodded. "Me too."

There was a silence among them, and the sisters sat down.

"I'll leave you two to reflect," Flameclaw told them. She was saddened once more by Barkfern, but her heart lifted to think of the two kits waiting to hear stories.

She padded away from the sisters and happily padded to the elders' den, ready to relive some of her memories.