Owlwhisker's Choice Epilogue
Briarstar slowly opened her eyes. She felt the misty, humid but not heavy air. She recognized the wet scent around her. She smiled and rolled on her side. She no longer ached. She no longer felt a tightness in her chest or the sickness of fever. She had died a final time. Now was her time to walk with StarClan.
Since Owlwhisker died she was excited to have that last life snatched from her. The sickness ravaging the clans gave her the opportunity. She just let it take her. Hawknose begged her to eat, to take herbs, but she refused. It was just time. Time for her to finally see her son. Her lost Clanmates. Hawknose would probably join her soon and then she’d be complete. Her son, her friend, everyone. Her place among the stars.
She shook her pelt and rose to her starry paws. Her smile faded as she looked around her. It was dark and no stars shone. They twinkled in the distance. She was confused. “I thought Owlwhisker would be here to greet me,” she rumbled, confused, “Stupid tom, he must have gotten lost.”
“He’s not here.” A firm, harsh voice echoed from the distance. Briarstar turned over her shoulder and saw the speaker was a small blue-grey tom with long ears and angry eyes. She smiled softly.
“Jaypaw,” she breathed, “You look so well. What do you mean, Owlwhisker isn’t here?”
“He’s not HERE,” Jaypaw meowed, “And the way you talk to him no wonder. Listen to yourself.”
“Just because we are together in StarClan now doesn’t mean you get to talk to me like that,” Briarstar tutted, “Now tell me where my son is. I want to see my son.”
“What if he doesn’t want to see you?” Briarstar rolled his eyes. “What if he really really didn’t want to see you?”
“What are you blathering about?”
“He’s gone. He went with her.”
“Gone where? Went with who?” Jaypaw approached his former leader and sadly pointed with his tail to the darkness behind Briarstar. The former leader gasped at the tangled darkness, deep purple and red hues twisting with thorns and mushrooms. Her ears flattened.
“What’s that?”
“It’s the dark forest,” Jaypaw moaned, “We didn’t know about it before but I guess it’s good...bad cats have somewhere to go.” Briarstar looked puzzled.
“Owlwhisker wasn’t a bad cat,” she growled, “Owlwhisker was a dullard and thought too much with his heart. But he was not a bad cat. He thought of his clanmates before himself, he fought hard when he needed to. Why would he ever need to end up in that place?!”
“Don’t you get it!?” Jaypaw yowled, “He didn’t get SENT there! He CHOSE to be there! Be there so he could be with...her…” Briarstar’s eyes narrowed. She could hear Owlwhisker’s voice among the trees, sounding happy, happier than he’d sounded in life. Peering through the brambles, Briarstar gasped to see who her son was with.
That murdering medicine cat, Blossomfeather.
His mouth dripped with saliva, his eyes black as night. But he looked happy. Her ears dropped and her jaw followed.
“This is wrong…” Her voice quivered and was dark, low.
“No shit,” Jaypaw hissed, “We’ll never see him again. How does that feel?” Jaypaw was going to continue scolding but he stopped when he saw Briarstar’s head drop, her body shuddering.
“I was going to apologize.” She sniffed. “I was going to tell him I was sorry. Sorry for being absent...sorry for being cruel. Sorry for...making him weak and broken and...vulnerable.”
“He wasn’t-”
“He was WEAK.” Briarstar shook her head. She smirked. “You know, he always hated me for calling him Owlwhisker...you know? The whisker part? You know why I named him that?” She sniffed again. “He had this stupid little game when he was a kit. He played alone. Always. Anyway I caught him one day and he introduced me to his ‘warriors.’ The first one’s name was Rockwhisker.” She pawed at her face and turned to Jaypaw.
“I’m not a bad cat either, Jaypaw,” she said, “I didn’t want to be a mother. It was an accident.”
“Well you were,” Jaypaw snorted, “Cute story but if it were up to me? He’d be here and you’d be there.” He paused. “Would you have really apologized to him?”
“For turning him into an attention starved kit? Yes,” she said, “It’s my fault he was so weak.”
“You’re literally not getting it,” Jaypaw said, “You abused him! You hurt him! Don’t you see that? You made him ripe for Blossomfeather’s picking! I just hope she loves him as much as he deserves. StarClan knows you didn’t.” Briarstar’s ears flattened and she hissed in his direction. She turned back and looked into the brambles again. Owlwhisker was snuggling with Blossomfeather, pressing against her, their tails entwined, their fur brushing. Briarstar sighed and turned, walking in the direction of StarClan. She’d never apologize to him, never get the chance to. She could live her life without apologizing to her son...could she live her entire afterlife without doing it?
