Warriors: The Trail of Centuries

Chapter 35

A/N: bippity boppity i almost missed my upload schedule haha whoops :,) next week is the epilogue!
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     Many sunrises had passed since Spottedpath had first regained consciousness. Atop the fallen tree stump, Hollystar sat with her head inclined toward a whispering Heatherstar. The BlazeClan leader had arrived shortly after Spottedpath's awakening, but oddly enough, she hadn't spoken a word to the warrior yet.

     Spottedpath held back a puff of air as she helped Juniperstorm and Mosspuddle with some easier tasks—things like collecting and organizing the gathered building materials, or sorting the moss piles and herbs just outside the medicine den. Now, the three mollies were brushing snow from the center of the clearing with their tails and pushing it into small piles.

     "It's so weird to be back to my warrior duties, now that my kits are apprentices," Juniperstorm mewed quietly with a few flicks of her tail. 

     "Well, I bet it was nice," Mosspuddle retorted with a light, dreamy tone, "bein' in the nursery all the time."

     "Oh, StarClan, no!" Juniperstorm responded with a chuckle. "Those three were so restless, I rarely got any sleep myself!"

     Spottedpath let out a soft laugh and nudged Mosspuddle. "If I didn't know any better, I'd say you're daydreaming about having to move into the nursery yourself!"

     Mosspuddle shuffled her paws and flicked her ears in embarrassment. "M-Maybe once I find the right cat! I wouldn't mind havin' a family."

     Both Juniperstorm and Spottedpath burst into laughter at the light grey warrior's verbal fumble. They started sweeping snow away again, but were quickly interrupted by Heatherstar. The BlazeClan leader cleared her throat deliberately, catching their attention.

     "Spottedpath, may I have a word?" Heatherstar nodded in the direction of Hollystar as she spoke. Spottedpath gave her SwiftClan companions a nod before following Heatherstar to the fallen tree stump. Once she stood before it, Heatherstar climbed onto it and stood next to Hollystar.

     "I'd like to offer a permanent residency to all of the survivors from the Gorge," Hollystar spoke, her blue eyes kind. Meanwhile, Spottedpath was painfully aware of the searching gaze that Heatherstar had fixed on her.

     "Actually, there's something I have to do—with them, preferably."

     "What is it?" Hollystar leaned forward curiously.

     "I need to rebuild MistClan—properly. What happened during the Great Rift will never happen again." Spottedpath resisted the urge to shuffled her paws anxiously and tried to hold her head up confidently.

     "Oh?" Heatherstar leaned back, her whiskers twitching. "Will you be its leader, then?"

     "What do I know about being a leader?" Spottedpath muttered with a dry laugh. Why do they all expect me to be the leader of MistClan?

     "It would suit you," Hollystar urged gently. "The cats of the Clans may have followed their leaders into battle, but it was you who made it possible in the first place."

     With a sigh, Spottedpath thought back to her conversation with the late leaders of SwiftClan and MistClan. "Well, I was thinking we could add a new role, actually. I'd help the leader with important decisions to make sure they stay within the boundaries of the warrior code, and if there are any issues with it I could come to the leaders with possible changes to the existing code. This way, there's a better chance at peace, and I could continue to carry out the daily warrior tasks with my Clanmates."