|:| once there was a way |:| [closed for bunny]

Emberheart lay down, the remains of a mouse resting between her paws. She sighed, nudging them gently away. The sun felt warm and comforting on her back, and she had a sudden urge to roll over. But she couldn't—something was nagging, pulling at the back of her mind. She had to let it out—afterall, Markedpaw deserved to know. She'd known when she was her daughter's age—albeit, she'd asked for it, but to Emberheart, her kit deserved to know her origins—and besides, when Markedpaw got older, what if a cat commented on it? Her grey patches obviously looked nothing like Emberheart or Pinewhisker.

Markedpaw bounded happily over to her mother, a squirrel in her jaws. She didn't have training for the rest of the day, and wanted to share a meal with her mother. She'd not been able to sit and talk with her for a while, and it felt good to have some mother-daughter time. Sitting down next to her, her pelt fluffed up against the cold winds, she meowed
"It's been a while since we last talked properly! My training's going great but I'm sooooooooooo tired. Anyway, how are you?" She took a large bite, before hurriedly remembering to send Starclan a silent 'thank you' for the meal. Prey was getting less rare, as the forest came out of it's leafbare sleep, but something about the atmosphere seemed colder than usual, more unfriendly. Markedpaw cast a glance at her mother, something seemed off about her. Unsure, she decided against asking her about it. She'd tell her in her own time

"Hey, Markedpaw." The russet warrior greeted, flicking her white-tipped ear towards her daughter. She purred, excited for the young calico, memories of her own apprenticeship flitting back. "I'm doing perfectly fine—I was a troublesome 'paw, myself." She giggled childishly, rolling back onto her side to gaze at her daughter. "Pinewhisker can tell you all about it."

The warrior frowned suddenly, shifting. "Marked…would I…can—can I tell you…something?" She was unsure how to begin, but decided to just continue once the apprentice replied. Afterall, she would thank her for letting her know, right?

Markedpaw couldn't help finding it a bit strange. Mating with your old mentor? Well, if she was apprenticed to him when he was a newly appointed warrior it was a little less odd. But hearing her question she sensed nervousness in her voice, uncertainty. And nothing good ever came after 'Can I tell you something?' Still, she couldn't just put it off and say no. Her mother wanted to tell her something, so she had to listen
"Y-yeah! Sure!" she did her best to sound positive, but couldn't help nervousness creeping into her voice. Suddenly no longer hungry, she pushed away her food but still did her best to seem casual about it, not wanting to be rude

"Well," Emberheart said, gulping. How do I best say this? "When I was around your age, Mistywater told me I was adopted." She paused, letting her words sink in for a moment. "She'd found me on the forest floor, abandoned. But I remember." Closing her eyes, the warrior began. "She said she'd love me like her own kit no matter what, no matter where I came from or what my background was.

"You're not adopted, Markedpaw. I am your mother, through and through. But Pinewhisker is not."

She kneaded her claws into the sand, ready for the backstory. "When I was a young warrior…just around when Pinewhisker asked me to be his mate—it was before or after, I don't remember—I met a Riverclan warrior. His name was Sleetfang."

This was harder than she thought it would be. "He was charming and smart and young, much younger than Pinewhisker, and I think that's what I fell for. As I said before—this was around the time Pinewhisker became my mate—and when my relationship with Sleetfang broke off…a few moons afterward I had kits." Emberheart paused to steady her breathing. "You…Cypresspaw…and Amberpaw. The lights of my life." She smiled faintly, trying to be uplifting. "Your two littermates are offspring from me and Pinewhisker, but…I can tell by the patches of grey, the same color as his pelt on your fur…you are his daughter."

She dipped her head. "I want you to know that this doesn't matter in any way. Pinewhisker and I will love you the same, just as the clan will. But—I look different too—if anyone says anything about what you look like, I don't want you to be left in the dark." She looked up to her daughter hopefully. She'd taken it well as an apprentice; it was obvious she looked nothing like her adoptive mother. Wouldn't Markedpaw understand, too?

Throughout Emberheart's confession, Markedpaw felt her blood run cold and tears prick her eyes. Emberheart lied to her, Pinewhisker lied to her, but that wasn't even what hit her hardest. She was half Riverclan. Her father was some, disgusting fish-eating cat from a different clan. That was what horrified her most. She was struggling to process it, surely it wasn't true? She looked the other she-cat up and down, struggling to keep the contempt out of her voice when she said

"Funny joke Emberheart. You're kidding right? This is a joke isn't it?" although her tone was cheerful the undisguised horror in her eyes showed that she didn't believe a word of what was coming out her mouth. Yes, Emberheart may have been okay with not being Thunderclan, she was probably even grateful that Mistywater had plucked her from the floor, but Markedpaw couldn't help being mortified by the Riverclan blood in her veins. They were her enemy just like the other clans, they had always been her enemy, and she was one of them. She didn't belong in Thunderclan, in this camp, she didn't deserve to eat this prey at her feet. Standing up slowly, pain in her eyes that sparkled with tears, she backed away slowly

"No... no you aren't joking..." she grit her teeth and couldn't help anger boiling up inside her. But then, she exploded, what else could she do when her whole world had just been changed in the worst way possible? "And you're wrong! The clan couldn't possibly love me as one of their own! They couldn't! They accepted you because you were a kit in need but I... I have the blood of the other clans in me! I don't deserve to be here because of you!" She wasn't thinking straight, everything seemed different now, everything. "So don't you dare say you will still love me, that Pinewhisker will, because you won't! You must prefer the other two over me! Cypresspaw, always being so mature and perfect! Amberpaw all young and kit-like! And both of them made better by their full Thunderclan parents! We aren't even true sisters!" She felt jealousy run through her veins as well as her poison blood, and suddenly it was Emberheart's fault this happened


"You should have just obeyed the warrior code! You should have just stayed away! I don't care how young and charming he was, you betrayed your clan! It's your fault! This is all your fault! Because of you I'm not even part of this family, I'm an outsider! Beause of you my sisters aren't my sisters, my father isn't my father! The only one I share blood with is my traitorous mother." She knew she was probably drawing attention to herself, other cats might overhear, but she didn't care anymore. She wanted Emberheart to say something, anything. At this point in time she just wanted to hear pain in the other's voice, she wanted her mother to feel the betrayal that she did, and she wanted to hear every bit of it

The russet she-cat's ears pressed back against her skull as Markedpaw screeched, fear running through her veins. Starclan, what have I done? "It doesn't matter who—"

"I'm sorry!" Emberheart cried, shoulder muscles tense as she braved the storm of her daughter's stinging words. "I know it was stupid of me—I was young and dumb—it was my fault—but there's nothing I can do about it now! I thought you'd want to know." Her last word was quieter, as she gazed at the apprentice with unblinking dust-colored eyes, emotions flaring up in them.

OOC: I only just saw this I'm so sorry!

IC: Markedpaw stared at her mother hard, tears blurring her vision. How could she be so calm, so unwaveringly certain that this was what Markedpaw wanted. Because it wasn't.
"Don't you dare, for one second, tell me what I do and don't want. Don't you dare for a second pity yourself now, after all you've done. Don't you dare tell me it'll all be okay!" She had to squeeze her eyes shut and look down, feeling a tear slip down her cheek and into the dirt. Gritting her teeth, he did her best to hold herself together when all she wanted to do was fall apart. She would not give Emberheart the satisfaction of seeing her cry.
"You're disgusting" she choked out as she slowly back away, looking at Emberheart with her eyes burning with rage. "You don't deserve to be a mother... and you sure as Starclan aren't mine" With that, she turned and ran as fast as she could to the camp entrance, hesitating for just long enough to cast one last pained glance at the cat who used to be her mother before shaking her head and running.

She ran, without stopping, through the branches and underbrush. She forced her way through nettles, although didn't even notice the stinging it caused in her paws. She didn't notice the cold air biting her tear-stroked face or the cracking of the branches underneath her. All she heard was the pounding of her heart in her ears, pumping blood around her body that she didn't want to be hers. 'She did this, Emberheart did this to me'

Had she known, however, that those would be her last words to her mother, she would have said so much else. Something so much better. And if she knew that she was running to her death, she wouldn't have let her paws carry her there, even if she wanted it.