Run Away Bravely (Stormwind)

Heathertail closed her eyes, purring quietly as she dropped off to sleep. She was still exhausted from giving birth the day before.

Lionblaze settled beside Heathertail and his kits, figuring he had earned his rest for a little while. The Tom rested his head on his forepaws as well, his tabby tail draping itself over his mate’s back.

Leafpool nodded, quietly slipping away through the undergrowth back to the camp. She doubted she’d be able to get any more thinking done while knowing Crowfeather was so near. 

Heathertail gave his muzzle a lick before resting her head on her paws, her tail curling around the three kittens.

Crowfeather nodded. “I’ll come to the medicine den when I’m ready.” The tom didn’t say anything else, and was still glancing longingly out at his territory. The emotions that swirled through the tom were powerful, though, and any reminiscing he had been doing was now replaced by the tom trying to quell the conflict inside him.

Purring, Lionblaze gave each of the tiny kits a quick, gentle lick. “That’s great,” The tom replied with a murmur, pulling his head back a little bit and simply taking in the sight of his family.

Leafpool blinked once, then again, opening and closing her mouth a couple of times. The she-cat was lost for words, wondering why her former mate was inviting her to go along with him to his old camp. Clearing her throat, she finally managed to speak after several long moments. “I would like that,” she said quietly. 

“They’re perfectly healthy and doing fine, according to Kestrelflight,” Heathertail said, nearly glowing as she beamed down at their kits. 

(This fine?

Morningkit: A small, sleek, lithe, golden-brown tabby she-kit with a bushy tail and heather-blue eyes. Named after Morningflower. 
Barkkit: A light-brown-tabby-and-white tom with long, soft fur and emerald-green eyes. Named after Barkface. 

Ravenkit: A small, lean, mottled, gray tabby she-kit with a white chest and paws, and amber eyes. Named after Ravenpaw.)

Crowfeather’s gaze did not leave his homeland, even as Leafpool spoke. For several moments the silence dragged on, the tom allowing the She-cat to take her time and reminisce about her own territory. Eventually, the tom Mewed “I’m going back tonight. To our old Camp. You should come with me.”

Lionblaze purred loudly, simply rubbing his muzzle against hers when he was pushed away for his grooming. “How are they?” He murmured softly, glancing past her shoulder at their three kits.

Leafpool slid her gaze upwards to look at Crowfeather, mildly surprised to find him in a tree. “Yeah, I do,” she murmured. “I miss ThunderClan.”

Heathertail giggles and gently batted at his face with a paw, pushing it away after several seconds.

No cat had snuck up on Leafpool. Rather, it seemed she had passed under Crowfeather, who was sitting in a branch on a nearby tree, his gaze on Windclan’s shores.

Lionblaze purred loudly, padding up to Heathertail and beginning to cover her face in affectionate, purposefully sloppy licks.

Leafpool started, whirling around to look at the cat that had snuck up on her. 

Heathertail looked up when she heard pawsteps and her smile brightened at the sight of her mate. “Lionblaze!” She said happily, keeping her voice low in order to not disturb her kits or any of the other cats in the nursery.

Lionblaze did his best to shake out his frustrations before entering the nursery. The Tom had been waiting alongside the four leaders as they had considered Kestrelflight’s plan for capturing an infected cat alive. Once again, his vote had not even been needed, as only Onestar had voted in favor of his old medicine cat’s plan. They had been unable to even muster one other leader’s support for the idea, which frustrated the golden brown tom to no end. How can we ignore the directive of Starclan like this!?

Finally, The tom took a few calming breaths, did his best to put on a convincing smile, and let his troubles slip away as he entered the warm den, making a beeline for Heathertail’s nest.

“So you want to go back too.” a voice came from somewhere behind Leafpool, interrupting the long silence on the less frequented side of the island.

(Half moon it is!)

Like with all large skips of time, cats had died within the next half-moon. Ashfoot had been killed during a patrol and Whitewater, who had been on the same patrol, had later died when her wounds got infected. Heathertail had also birthed her three kits just the day before with the help of Kestrelflight. 

Leafpool stood at the shore in one of the less-traveled sides of the island, the water Lapping at her white forepaws as she gazed out across the lake at ThunderClan’s former territory, amber gaze sad. 

Jayfeather sorted through the herbs that he had just got back from collecting, escorted by Applefur. Gently running a paw over the juniper berries that he had found, he moved them to join their brethren, not having to remove any dried-up herbs. Herbs were never unused long enough to go bad anymore. 

Heathertail nursed her two daughters and one son in the nursery, blue eyes soft as she gazed down at the tiny forms next to her belly.

(Maybe a quarter or half moon?)

(How long, so you think?)

(Sure.)

(Time skip?)

Willowshine was not confident that Flamepaw was telling the whole truth, but she didn’t press the young tom. “Very well.” She mewed softly, at which point the conversation seemed to come to an abrupt end.

Flamepaw cringed slightly when all their attention was suddenly on him. “Littlecloud didn’t really say anything you guys haven’t already said.”

“Maybe it involves-“ Kestrelflight ventured, clearly not enthusiastic about the idea, “-Capturing one.”

“It could be something different as well,” Willowshine reminded the gathered cats before another ruckus erupted. “What did you learn, Flamepaw?” Asked the She-cat gently, casting her gaze over to the youngest member of the medicine cat group.

“Why couldn’t our visits have been helpful-ish like that,” Jayfeather grouched. “Not that that’s all that helpful either. It doesn’t tell us how we’ll supposedly make a ‘blinding light.’”

Kestrelflight said that he hadn’t even had a dream. Meanwhile, Willowshine was the first positive report.

“Together all four clans will bear down upon the darkness enveloping their land, and leave in its place a blinding light.” repeated the medicine cat formerly of Riverclan.

Jayfeather went first, anger laced in every word, and Leafpool quietly added in what she’d been told after her son finished talking. Naturally, no one liked the fact that Spottedleaf had essentially told Leafpool to tell the leaders to sacrifice their warriors on the off-chance a living infected might be able to give them a way to heal the infection.

Finally, the medicine cats were assembled in the huge Darkclan medicine den, each cat laying in their nest and facing the center of the room to discuss their visions with one another.

Jayfeather rolled his blind eyes, huffing silently at the feelings rolling off of his two biological parents. It happened every time the two saw each other, and honestly, he was getting sick of it. He didn’t know how he hadn’t noticed before he’d been told of his parentage. Probably because they used to not see each other a lot.

Crowfeather looked away as well. Strong feelings of shame, regret, and even a little bit of love rolled off of the tom.

Leafpool held Crowfeather’s gaze for a moment before looking away, swallowing. She hated it when they caught each other’s eye and she was reminded that she couldn’t have him. Pinning her ears back briefly, the small tabby ducked into the den and waited for all of the medicine cats to gather.