|  | Silverkit |
The time following Meadowlark’s passing was a blur. Silverkit did little. Threw the occasional fit. Avoided the nursery as often as was physically possible. Kept to himself– with the exception of Pineblossom.
She stayed around. He wasn’t entirely sure why. There was nothing for her in the nursery anymore– she’d recovered from her own tragedy, and she’d taken up some of her duties as a warrior again. He didn’t understand why she didn’t just return to warrior life entirely. But… he couldn’t, and wouldn’t, complain. Silverkit was grateful, that she stayed– stayed with him. It was comforting. It was easier to sleep, easier to think, easier to be. At least he wasn’t entirely alone.
Her voice pulled his attention. Blinking his eyes open, Silverkit quieted the circular thoughts and looked towards Pineblossom, ears turning towards her. He was quiet, careful not to interrupt like he usually might. Though she didn’t truly say much, weight filled his chest. She'd said everything, too.
Silverkit pushed himself upright when she finished, blinking down at her. His first thought was
So I’ll have a family? It burned, the quiet knowledge that he didn’t know what that was supposed to be like. He’d always just had a Meadowlark– a fresh loss that still ached terribly, but not family. Second was the want to ask
Why me?He was quiet for a long while, staring fixedly at his paws and the soft ground they rested on while he thought. He already knew his answer– he couldn’t really say no, could he? He’d spent the majority of his time with Pineblossom before everything, and he liked her more than anyone else in ShadowClan.
He would have a family. Something like a father, even an older brother. A proper mother.
It just felt like he’d be betraying Meadowlark in some way. Would she scorn him from StarClan, watching him accept Pineblossom’s offer? He thought and thought and… No, she couldn’t. Everything about the last half-moon suddenly made sense. Pineblossom had lost her kits, and he his mother. It was a cruel way of fitting their pieces together, but it must have been the will of StarClan themselves. This was the family each of them were meant to have, even if it came together in mourning.
Releasing a deep breath, Silverkit eventually spoke,
“If I’ll be an apprentice soon… I shouldn’t need someone to look after me, right? I mean, I’ll be… I’ll be able to take care of myself. And I’ll have a mentor to keep an eye on me.” He laughed, and for the first time since Pineblossom’s litter came, it didn’t ring hollow. A sudden light filled his eyes, and his tail waved with a rush of energy. It felt like so long since he'd really felt lively. And why was he fluttering around the answer? He’d figured this whole thing out. This was the way things were meant to be. He didn’t have to mourn anymore. He’d figured it out, and things were going to be good now!
He’d tell himself that until it fully set in. He could already feel it working. He just had to believe in this.
Smiling with teeth, Silverkit crept closer to Pineblossom to knock his head gently against hers.
“Yes– is that what I’m supposed to say? I mean– I mean sure! Yes? I don’t really know. Is that– does that make me your son? Like Honeylight is? So– so is he my brother? And Forestbreeze? I haven’t talked to him a lot yet, I like him though– does he like me? Does that make him my dad, kind of?”
