Shining Confrontation

Flurryshine gazed over at the nursery. She knew that Dewshine had been just recently moved there from the medicine den. She never got the chance to talk to her the day after her warrior ceremony as much as she had wanted, but now that she had fully recovered her stamina from resting after the long night and fulfilling all her immediate warrior duties, she couldn't think of a better time to talk to her. She made a detour to the fresh-kill pile, picking up the perch she had caught earlier that day from the river, and carried it to the nursery. Giving a soft meow around the fish in her mouth, she entered.

She spotted Dewshine's light gray coat immediately, and she approached her former mentor to deposit the fish at her paws. "I thought you might be hungry. I caught it myself today." She licked her lips to savor the leftover taste of the fish she had just carried, and after giving her fluffy chest fur a quick groom she looked up at the expecting queen again. "Dewshine, you and I need to talk."

The silver she-cat was settled in the nursery den. Grooming her own soft fur with care from the exertion of earlier. She hadn't expected simple clan tasks to become so much harder in pregnancy, but each time she did something, she had to be aware of what could affect the tiny kits. Finally, she sighed and rested her muzzle on her paws. Gingerstripe was out there... but he wasn't allowed in the nursery. Her paws ached too much to go out into camp. Her ears twitched as she heard the sound of fur scraping the den entrance.

The bright white coat she would always be able to identify met her eyes. Slowly Dewshine sat up from her position, then almost immediately sank back down. She was no longer Flurryshine's mentor, it still stung that she hadn't been able to make it through.
"I am sorry." She murmured gently. Her eyes caught the silver scales of the fish as Flurryshine set it down. A soft smile on her muzzle. "I am very proud of you. You've come a long way from being an young apprentice."

"It's only thanks to you that I've become who I am today," Flurryshine meowed gently, a soft twinkle of affection in her bright green eyes. "But before you go into any apology speeches, I need to tell you something. Do you remember Sweet, the mother of Shade who had been banished for taking on a ShadowClan cat as a mate, just like what you did? Do you know why Sweet lost her son's love and respect? Because she didn't tell him the truth about his origins. Someone else had to tell Shade who his true father was, and that was after he had become a warrior."

The newly appointed warrior fixed the expecting queen with a serious look. "Now, we both know no Clan needs another Shade running around out there, attacking and killing innocent cats. You are making the same exact mistakes Sweet made -- even Gingerstripe used to be from ShadowClan. If you don't tell your kits everything they need to know, and make sure that they receive all the love and care that they need, and ensure that the rest of the Clan doesn't look at them the same way they look at you and Gingerstripe now, you're going to lose them. Do you understand what I'm saying, Dewshine?"

A rush of pride surged through Dewshine's pelt at her former apprentice's first words. She listened patiently through the warning, the same one she'd been given already by Jaystar. Did the whole clan believe she would lie to her kin? Probably, it was the cost. She shook her head sadly as the realisation sank coldly into her chest. No cat would trust her anymore than they trusted Gingerstripe, at least, that was how it felt as she looked Flurryshine in the eye. Green meeting blue meaningfully.

"I would never lie to my kits." She meowed firmly. "Although our relationship has coincidences, make no mistake Flurryshine, we are not the same cat. My kits will know the full truth, why would I lie to them? Their father no longer resides in ShadowClan and as he is among us it should make no difference anymore. They will grow up with both their father and mother, where Sweet raised them without her mate." Her tail lashed behind her, conviction in her voice even as her heart broke at the thought. "If any of my kits were to follow Shade, I will kill them myself."

She paused in thought for a moment, her blue gaze sinking down to the reed wall by her paws.
"I couldn't do this alone Flurryshine. If Jaystar had said no, I would have left with Gingerstripe. My kits will be no liars, nor murderers. I just hope the rest of the clan is willing to give them the chance to grow without discrimination."

Seeing genuine resolution in her former mentor's blue eyes, Flurryshine smiled. "Good. I'm... I'm really glad you're still here, Dewshine. I may not be fond at all with your decision, but you still mean a lot to me, too much for let something like this drive a wedge between our relationship. You were more than a mentor to me; you were like a second mother. I do trust you, I just want to make sure that the kits of my dearest friend will grow up in a safe and loved environment." She rasped her tongue over Dewshine's ears affectionately. "Even if most of the rest of the Clan are disappointed and angry, I'll still do all I can for you and your kits. Who knows, maybe I'll even be able to mentor one of them. I can't promise I'll be half as good a mentor as you were, though."

Relief flooded through Dewshine's chest at Flurryshine's words. She tilted her head towards the white she-cat with a fond smile once more as she nudged her shoulder gently.
"I'm sure Gingerstripe will grow on you. He really is a great cat and he'll do the clan well if they give him the chance to." She purred softly as she rose to her paws and pressed her head to Flurryshine's chest affectionately before she pulled back with the familiar gentle expression she had often worn as a mentor. "You will be a great mentor Flurryshine. Just take it one pawstep at a time... and never be afraid to ask for help if you need it. You may be a warrior now, but I will always be willing to help you when you need it, as if you are my own kit." She looked down at the fish and gently pushed it towards Flurryshine. "Have you eaten? It's large enough to share between us."

Flurryshine's chest rumbled with a loud, happy purr at the affection, and for a few moments she felt no older than a newly-appointed apprentice, spending quality time with her beloved mentor without any real-world burdens weighing anyone down.

She looked down at the fish, then shook her head. "Not yet at least. You need all the strength you can get, and I'm still a warrior, so I have to eat last. Even if you eat all of it, I can just catch another one." She nudged the fish back over to Dewshine, and she gave a soft gasp. "Oh! Did you know that during my journey to the Moonstone I had fallen underwater due to a sudden wave in the river? But I wasn't scared at all. I was able to open my eyes underwater and everything! Though, truth be told, one of the things I'm going to miss is you licking the water out of my eyes like how you used to when you trained me." She gave her bushy tail a sheepish swish.

Dewshine purred happily as she kept it between them. She wanted to insist, but she also didn't want to get her young apprentice... no, her kit in trouble. Instead, she began to eat as she listened to Flurryshine tell her about the adventure. Her head lifted at the mention of being able to keep her eyes open under the water and smiled. Rewarding the younger she-cat with a lick on her forehead.
"Flurryshine... I am so proud of you." She purred, her own tail wrapping around her paws gently. "You've come a long way... truly. Do you still keep the rock safe?" She asked curiously. Since Flurryshine was a warrior now, she wondered briefly if the lovely rock she had worked so hard to get was safe. It would have been a shame for Flurryshine to lose it.

"Of course I do, that rock means so much to me," the fluffy white she-cat meowed, eyes arching happily. "It reminds me so much of you. I like to think of it being as beautiful as our relationship is strong." She suddenly fixed Dewshine with an affectionate look, her green eyes sparkling. "With all that being said, whenever you need any help of any kind, whether it be with your kits or with anything else, just come to me, okay? And remember that, even if some of our Clanmates may need some time to restore their trust in you -- hopefully... -- I'll always be here rooting for you. I love you so much, Dewshine." She rested her forehead on her former mentor's for a few moments, drinking in her familiarly sweet scent, as well as the subtle scent of expectancy with a dash of milkiness. She knew the queen would make an excellent mother, and she would make sure her kits felt just as much love and affection as she herself had and more.

With a soft sigh, she stood back up with reluctance. "I have to join a patrol very soon, and then I need to work on reinforcing the elders' den after that branch fell in the back during last night's thunderstorm. I'll see you later, okay?"