The clan of a shadowy forest

As the stars came out and the last dregs of warmth were sapped out of the ground, she saw him. He padded along the same scent trail she had followed to get here, humming idly to himself. Scorch slipped out from under the fallen long she had been waiting by and leapt up on it, raising her tail and glaring imperiously down at him.

“You’re far from home, aren’t you, Ghost?” 

He stopped in his tracks, tail bristling as he rose up on his toes instinctively. When his eyes found hers, his jaw fell open. 

“Scorch?” he asked dumbly. 

She narrowed her eyes and crouched low over the tree trunk to hiss, “Surprised? Imagine how I feel.” 

Ghost squared his shoulders and squinted back at her. “I wouldn’t have expected you to stay so close to the city.” 

“No, you wouldn’t have, would you?” she sneered. “But you never were very bright so don’t be too hard on yourself.” She nearly grinned as he scowled. It felt good to use her tongue as a weapon again. 

“What do you want?” he glowered, tail starting to lash.

“I want you to go home and never come back,” she spat. “This Clan is mine,” and as she said it she arched her back and raised her bottlebrush tail, “and if you had any sense you would stay as far away from your beloved Smokyrose as you can.” She scoffed as the mediator’s name fell from her lips, laying the disdain on thick. Ghost’s teeth flashed under the moonless sky as she did. 

“So that’s where you’ve been! You joined this RisingClan and what? Are you planning to bring your savage warriors back to the city? Or… or what?”

Scorch felt her own blood boil at that remark. “You idiot!” she snapped. “I want nothing to do with Razor and his city anymore, that’s my point! If you keep coming around here you’re going to draw their attention and he will stain these fields with their blood.” Ghost’s face darkened and she continued. “Surely, you’re smart enough to have seen that? Or do you just not care? I suppose that would make it easier for you to forget about your most recent conquest.” She scoffed again, tail lashing, and sat up straight to look down her nose at him again. She still couldn’t believe it, Smokyrose and Him - well, she could. Smokyrose was entirely too trusting and sweet. She would have had no defenses against Ghost and his tricks. Perhaps she had just expected more of him although she wasn’t sure why.

Ghost, to his credit, surprised her when he growled, “Don’t pretend you know how I feel about her. I’m really considering being there for her and the kits this time.” 

Scorch scoffed again and he bristled. “Then you really are stupid. If you really love her, you’ll leave and never come back. Even if Razor spares her, she’ll never forgive you if you bring him down on her Clanmates and you know it.” Ghost looked over his shoulder, back towards the camp where Smokyrose was surely settling in for the night. Scorch narrowed her eyes and jumped down to shove her muzzle in his face and get his attention again. 

“Think this through,” she whispered fiercely. “She’ll be fine without you. They always are. But if you keep coming back here, or if you disappear suddenly, cats will come looking. And if they find this place they will take it and they will slaughter anyone who stands in their way. Trust me.” They stood there, nose to nose for a tense moment, before he looked away darkly.

“Fine,” he said. “You won’t see me again.” 

She shifted to find a more comfortable position that still allowed Barleykit, who had taken to sitting with her during her studying time, to cling meekly to her foreleg. Sagetooth narrowed her eyes with a frown - not at Barleykit’s presence, she’d largely taken to ignoring the kit, but at Oddstripe’s claim. Oddstripe had grown used to her teacher’s lack of trust when it came to competence. Every skill was checked and rechecked before she was allowed to perform it on her own, every piece of knowledge quizzed constantly to keep her sharp. 

“Are you sure you remember where the patches are?” Sagetooth asked.

“Oh, yes,” purred Oddstripe, eager for the chance to handle her new duties without supervision. “For the sage and borage at least!” 

Sagetooth didn’t seem convinced, sitting back on her haunches to look Oddstripe up and down. “And you remember what I taught you about preserving the plants for later?” 

“Mhm! I’ll make sure to leave plenty for next time. Seriously, Sagetooth, I’m ready! You can trust me.” She grinned with what she hoped was her most trustworthy smile. Barleykit squeezed her leg tightly. 

After a moment of humming dubiously, the noise in Sagetooth’s throat turned into the words, “Alright. Take Branchbark with you, he’s a good assistant gatherer.” 

“Yes!” Oddstripe cried, startling Barleykit who squeaked. She winced and curled her tail around the kit as she added, “Thank you, Sagetooth, you won’t regret this.” 

“Mm,” the older cat heaved herself to her feet. “I’ll get the borage, you collect the sage.” 

“Yes, ma’am,” Oddstripe bobbed her head excitedly as Sagetooth passed, then turned to her daughter and said gently, “Okay, sweetie, time to let go. Mama has work to do.” She tried to smile, but her discomfort with parenting clearly shone through, she could tell. She just hoped Barleykit didn’t notice. 

The little kit looked up at her, still clinging to her leg, and mumbled into her fur, “I wanna go with you.” 

“I know,” sighed Oddstripe, “but I have to leave the camp and it's not safe for kittens out there. Besides, I bet the boys would get lonely without you.” 

“No they won’t,” Barleykit looked down. “They don’t like me.” 

“That’s not true!” Oddstripe cooed, heart breaking for her kit, “They love you!” 

“No they don’t, they think I’m boring,” pouted Barleykit. 

“Oh, they just like to play rowdy games,” said Oddstripe, giving Barleykit a few good licks around the ears. “But you know what? I bet Ospreymask knows some games you can all play. Doesn’t that sound fun?” Barleykit shrugged, unable to hold Oddstripe’s gaze. 

“Let’s go see, yeah?” she continued, standing and disentangling her foreleg from Barleykit’s grasp. Barleykit nodded shyly and Oddstripe purred in response. “Yeah, let’s go see.” She led Barleykit out into the sunshine, squinting her sensitive eyes against the light, and looked around to try and find Ospreymask, hoping dearly that she didn’t have to disappoint her daughter. Poking her head into the warriors’ den, she sighed in relief at the sight of her favorite kitsitter curled up next to Branchbark, their heads laid next to each other as they dozed. Oddstripe almost felt bad interrupting them but knew that she had to.

“Excuse me,” she said gently, causing Branchbark’s ear to twitch and his eyes to open, “I need to go herb gathering and I was hoping Ospreymask might be able to watch the kits for a little while.” Branchbark grunted sleepily and blew air in Ospreymask’s face to wake her. She flinched and shook her whiskers, glaring at him a bit. 

“What was that for?” she huffed but when he gestured to Oddstripe with his nose her gaze softened. “Oh! Hey, did you need me to watch the kits?” 

“Yeah,” Oddstripe winced in embarrassment. “If it’s not too much trouble.” 

Ospreymask rolled to her feet and smiled widely, “Not at all!” She noticed Barleykit, hiding under Oddstripe’s belly, and leaned down to speak to her directly. “Hey, sweet thing, how’re you doin?” 

Barleykit looked at her with big wide eyes and mumbled. “I’m okay.” 

“I’m glad to hear it!” Ospreymask purred, “Let’s go see what your brothers are doing, yeah?” 

Barleykit didn’t respond and Oddstripe felt the need to add, “She’s worried they’ll want to play rowdy games, I was thinking you might have something more her speed.” 

“Oh, for sure!” grinned Ospreymask, “I’ve got some great games. Have you ever played StarClan Says?” Barleykit shook her head mutely and Ospreymask said, “Oh, I bet you’ll be so good at it! Let’s go find the boys and I’ll teach you how to play.” Barleykit gave Oddstripe one more look, searching for some sort of encouragement. Oddstripe nodded and pushed her forward gently with her back paw. Carefully, Barleykit slipped over to follow closely beside Ospreymask as they headed out.

Oddstripe glanced over at Branchbark, who was stretching with a yawn, and said, “I’m so sorry to bother you some more, but Sagetooth said I should take you with me to gather the herbs. Would that be alright?” 

Branchbark nodded and stood. “Sure thing, I wouldn’t mind getting out of camp for a while. What are we gathering?” 

“Sage,” said Oddstripe, turning to pad with him out of the camp. 

“Sounds good,” purred the warrior. 

“I’m sorry for interrupting your nap,” Oddstripe said again, tail swishing. She hated imposing on him like that. Despite the guilt she was feeling, Branchbark smiled and shrugged as they walked. 

“That’s alright,” he said, “I’m always happy to help the healers uh…” he paused, searching for an alliterative word, “hunt for herbs.” He accentuated the h sound on herbs and Oddstripe laughed. 

“Well, I appreciate it,” she purred, “and I appreciate Ospreymask’s help with the kits. I have no idea how I would manage being a healer and raising them at the same time without her.” 

“I guess that’s why healers aren’t supposed to have kits,” Branchbark nodded. Oddstripe felt another pang of guilt. Sagetooth had assured her that she wasn’t in trouble, that she hadn’t broken any rules because she was pregnant before she swore to be a healer, but she still felt bad. To her it just felt like another reason she wasn’t a proper Clan cat. 

“Y-yeah, I suppose so,” she tried to laugh it off but Branchbark winced.

“Oh. Sorry, I didn’t mean to-”

“No, no, it’s okay,” she assured him. “I know what you meant.” 

“Alright,” he frowned sympathetically. “I’m sure it’ll get easier once the kits are apprentices. Then they’ll have their mentors to take care of them too.” 

“Yeah,” Oddstripe nodded. “That does sound nice. Sometimes I wish I were their father instead so I could still raise them without so much of the responsibility.” She blushed, tail starting to swish idly. 

“Yeah?” asked Branchbark, tilting his head. “I mean you could be if you wanted.” 

Oddstripe laughed, then realized he wasn’t joking. “Oh, I’m sorry, what?” 

“You could just be their dad,” he said, as if it were that simple. 

“But… I’m not,” she frowned. “She-cats are mothers not fathers.” 

Branchbark shrugged again. “I guess, but you don’t have to be a she-cat, you know.” 

Oddstripe stopped in place, tilting her head in confusion. “Huh? I- I’m sorry, I feel like I’m missing something.” Sure, she thought, it would be wonderful if she could just change like that, but it wasn’t possible. Although… Perhaps StarClan had powerful magic that could grant wishes or something. That was an exciting thought. 

What Branchbark said was a lot less grand. “You can just decide you’re a tom. Cats do it all the time.”

“Really?” she asked in disbelief.

“Yeah,” he smiled, straightening up. “She-cats decide they’re toms, toms decide they’re she-cats. Some cats even decide they feel somewhere in between.” 

Oddstripe couldn’t wrap her head around the concept. “And then…? How do they become a tom once they decide?” 

“They just are,” he said warmly. “If you say you’re a tom, cats will believe you. There you go.” He shrugged again, and Oddstripe was again baffled by how simple it seemed. 

“So it's not magic?” she said, ears wilting. 

“No, it's just…” he hesitated before suddenly grinning as he caught a metaphor in his teeth, “it’s like a ceremony. There’s nothing that changes about a cat when they become a warrior except for the fact that everyone agrees they are one. It’s words. It’s courtesy. Does that make sense?” 

Oddstripe hummed and licked her whiskers. “I suppose.” She wasn’t sure she fully understood but it was an intriguing idea. 

“It’s alright, I know I’m not the best explainer,” laughed Branchbark. 

“Oh, don’t worry about it,” smiled Oddstripe, propelling herself forward again. “We should probably hurry though. I’m sure Sagetooth will be upset if we spend all day talking instead of harvesting sage.” 

“My Ghost,” she purred, slinking over the waning stream into the shadow of the log where he sat. “I’ve missed you.” She butted her forehead firmly against his, letting the purr rumble out from her body and into him. He responded in kind, bestowing gentle licks upon her brow and over her ears. 

“I’ve missed you too, sweet Miss,” he rumbled in such a charming way it made her blush. “I’m so glad you stopped by tonight.” Smokyrose settled down next to him and began to groom the back of his neck warmly. He closed his eyes to enjoy the feeling, still purring. 

Between licks, she said, “Same. I hope you’ve been staying safe.” 

“Don’t worry,” Ghost assured her, “I’ve mostly been hiding under cars and otherwise staying out of the heat. It’s been terrible lately.” 

“I know!” she cried, “I haven’t gone out in the sun all week, I spend my days in the den.” 

“That sounds terribly lonely,” he said, looking down at her. “Maybe I’ll stick around and keep you company this time.” His tail brushed over her haunches and she chuckled, ducking her face away shyly. 

“It’s really not so bad,” she said, “I have Songdust to keep me company.” 

“Songdust,” he hummed darkly. “You’ve mentioned her before, right?” 

Smokyrose leaned against his shoulder and sighed contentedly. “Yes, she’s an old friend. Nothing you need to worry about.” She chuckled and swiped playfully at his nose and he laughed, a low deep laugh that sat in the back of his throat - stars, that laugh made her dizzy! 

“That’s good,” he said, and they fell into silence as he laid his head over hers. She closed her eyes and sat there in his embrace for a good long while, trying to press every feeling into her memory like a paw in mud. 

After a while, as her thoughts began to wander, she spoke up. “You know, maybe you should stick around and keep me company anyway.” 

“Oh?” He sat up, his ears perking excitedly. “Really?” 

“Yes!” she sat up too, feeding off his excitement, “You should stick around for good! My Clan has been making a lot of changes lately to be more welcoming to strangers. You should ask to join! You wouldn’t even have to change your name or take on any duties unless you wanted to, you would just sit with me and Songdust in the elders den and advise the younger cats. Wouldn’t that be lovely?” 

Ghost smiled lopsidedly and said, “That does sound lovely, but I can’t, I’m afraid.” Smokyrose frowned.

“Why not?” she asked, ears folding back. 

“I’ve got cats waiting for me back in town,” he sighed, pressing a gentle lick to her forehead. She closed her eyes and leaned into his touch, feeling as if she would never see him again, as if this was goodbye. “I can’t just run off, even with a pretty dame like yourself.” 

“They can come too,” she said, “We’re short pawed after the plague, we’d be more than happy to take in a few new warriors.” 

“No,” he said firmly and suddenly. The sharpness of it made her jump. Was he afraid? 

“Oh, I’m sorry,” she said, looking down at her paws. “I didn’t mean to-”

His tone was much more gentle as he stretched a paw out to comfort her. “No, no, no, I didn’t mean it like that,” he said, snuffling at her cheek in worry. “I’m sorry, Miss Smoke, I would never-” He cut himself off and sighed and she looked up to meet his eyes, scooting closer. 

“These cats aren’t the kind I’d want you to meet,” he continued solemnly. “It’s better they don’t know about you.” That only served to make her worry more. What kind of cats were waiting for him that frightened him so? 

“It’s alright,” she said. “You don’t have to stay… although I wish you would.” He smiled at that, a gentle, melancholy smile. 

“I would if I could,” he murmured. “It does sound lovely, living with you.” 

She blushed. “Well, you could always come visit me. Goldenstar announced that cats are welcome to come and go as they please.” 

“Maybe…” he said carefully. “I’ll think it over.”