Family Reunion[CLOSED]

Flamewish padded along the edge of the territory, passing by the old Twolegplace barn. She stopped and stared at it for a while, debating wanting to hunt there. She was alone, and had split off after her border patrol was done. The red sun created a bloody landscape, evil and dim. As the cold winds began to blow, the night had grown emptier, but the day remained warm. For now. She kicked a pebble and continued on. Some cats thought she should still be a prisoner by the name Flickerpaw. Why did they focus on her, a simple warrior who'd made a mistake as a young apprentice, when Lichenmask was the obvious villain? Lichenmask...

And Shade. Shade had forced Spotfur to be an elder, killed Duckpuddle, hurt Featherpaw, tried to kill Scorchclaw, and took the eye and ear of the tom Cinderfall. Who had gone missing... They hadn't ended up being able to track his scent far enough, because blood and Twolegs masked it up. The evil tabby was still out there, and they focused on her? And then Lichenmask. He'd taken all of Littlestar's lives, and probably wanted to kill everyone. of impure blood. Would he make her go back to Thunderclan if he won? Or would she just simply be executed? It was a horrible turn of events if it ever happened. Half her friends would be gone. Leopardstar would be gone.

No, no, she didn't care about Thunderclan anymore. Riverclan was her home. She couldn't help but wonder, though... There was nobody left there for her. Wisteriapaw, Featherheart, Dappledpaw, and Wildfire had died. Specklefang had died. Sharptooth? Exiled. So where was she in all of this? Where did Flamewish fit in? If she hadn't killed Fawnsong... Would she be dead like her siblings' curses?

Sharptooth- tired, cold, ragged, positively exhausted, plodded around the side of the Twoleg Barn where she was temporarily staying. She preferred the other barn to this one because it was further from the clans, but she found that she liked watching the last of the fireflies dance along the riverbank, their lights flickering as gusts of cold wind disrupted their complicated patterns.
The river...
She shivered despite her thick, winter pelt as she stared at the gray, ice-cold water below her. Distant screeches and flashes of scarlet made her eyes glaze over, and for a moment, she was lost in the boiling heat and endless roar of battle.

"Thistlepaw!"
Mother... no, why are you crying...
"My baby! You... you killed my baby girl!!"
Leafstorm..? Wh-what?
Blood, fur... A large Riverclan tom with his jaws sunk deep into Thistlepaw's neck.

Sharptooth's eyes opened with a snap, her fur fluffing. "No!" The words erupted from her mouth before she had time to stop them. She sat down heavily and put one shaking paw on her chest, trying to catch her breath. Thistlepaw...
Suddenly, a faint rustling from nearby made the brown tabby she-cat look up. An achingly familiar orange pelt was barely visible, and Sharptooth felt her heart begin to race once more.

"Flickerpaw." The large she-cat stood up, staring at Flickerpaw with disbelief. Her daughter, now a member of Riverclan... A fate worse than death.

Flamewish turned her head. She knew that voice, however long it had been since she heard it. It was her mother! "Sharptooth!?" She knew the answer. She began to walk closer. "I've got a new name now. Flamewish."

ooc: mobile so short rip

"Flamewish..." The words felt strange and alien in her mouth as she struggled to stride toward daughter smoothly. Suddenly, she managed to get a clear look at her daughter's face- tired and aged beyond her years.
She shook her head, her whiskers trembling. Surely, surely her last remaining baby daughter had made it back to the place of her birth. "That doesn't matter... how's Thunderclan? How did you make it back from Riverclan?" She had certainly become a warrior quickly, especially since she must've only just returned from her imprisonment in Riverclan.

Flamewish's smile dimmed. "I... I don't know. I didn't. I'm still in Riverclan. Ever since Ivystar died, they've been letting me be an apprentice... It wasn't actually that long ago that I had my warrior ceremony. I'm honestly afraid of what might happen to me if I go back to Thunderclan. I vowed to cut off all ties with Thunderclan a long time ago, so I can at least live a little normally. But all of my siblings... They stayed, and they died. What would happen to me? I can't go back. Jaystar could wage war on Thunderclan... And he's been so kind to me despite what I did. It seems everyone's lost faith in me, and escaping back would make everyone lose faith. I... Don't think I can be a Thunderclan cat ever again." She knew it sounded horrible. "I've come to like some of them... Everything I cared about in Thunderclan is gone. And I've finally begun to care about other cats again, and I can't leave them all behind. I know you're dissapointed in me- Riverclan is probably your mortal enemy for taking me. But I can't just live like that."

"You... what?" Sharptooth's hopeful face fell instantly. Flickerpaw had accepted Riverclan. She had decided to stay with them instead of fighting tooth and claw to get back to her family.
"You're a warrior? Of Riverclan?" It was nearly unfathomable to the older she-cat. Her last remaining daughter was now a member of the worst gathering of cats the Forest had ever known. Her baby had sided with murderers instead of choosing her own family. "Flickerpaw... don't you remember what they did?" Her eyes dimmed as she spoke, and her gaze moved past the smaller orange she-cat, toward the river. It was clear that she was gone; Sharptooth had been transported to a different world. A nightmarish place where the apprentices' bones stuck out of their ragged pelts and kits passed in their sleep, stolen away by frost that touched their hearts and could never be melted, no matter how hard their mothers tried. "They killed my baby sister. Ivystar, Jaystream... they stood by and watched while he tore her heart right out of her chest. When Ivystar came back... when she demanded justice for her fallen clanmates, she failed to take into consideration the most unfair injustice of them all."
Slowly, she turned her dull eyes back to her daughter's face, searching without seeing for some kind of link to her sister.
"And Jaystream did nothing. You speak of him like he's something to be loved, to be respected, but you've forgotten the other side of him. You're living a lie, Flickerpaw. Do you think that just because he hasn't killed you yet doesn't mean that he won't sacrifice you the second his clan is put in danger? A cat is only as good as his word, and I'm afraid that Ivystar's deputy is one of the worst liars in the forest."

The large she-cat blinked, her gaze becoming more clear as she spoke. She stepped closer to her daughter, trying with all her might to awaken her to the truth. Then had brainwashed her somehow- she just had to figure out how to undo it. Sharptooth drew closer, staring deep into her daughter's eyes, so similar to her own mother's.
Thistlepaw had Specklefang's eyes too.

"Come with me, Flickerpaw. You can stay with me until we figure out how to get you back to home. It'll be like it used to."

"I..." She had forgotten how much her family hated Riverclan. There'd be no convincing her mother, but she had to at least try. "I killed his sister. And yet he's trusted me enough to let me out alone, to give me a warrior name. Jaystar has allowed me my own life when my own family would rather take it from a cat who is dead now. Otterleap and I did the same thing and yet... I understand that there's bias, but I don't think you have any real depth to this hatred. So one Riverclan cat killed someone. I have too. Every clan has their fair share of murderers. So Ivystar was a harsh leader. That doesn't mean Jaystar is evil. Right know, that is my leader. And according to why you're out here, you did the same thing." She paused, thinking. Like before, it hurt on the inside. Something no medicine cat could ever recover. Pain, that her mother didn't- couldn't- understand. If Dappledpaw were still here... Would he get it? Or would he turn away and treat her like the rest of her innocent clanmates?

"Nothing can be like it used to. Like I said; there is no one I care about in Thunderclan. All of my siblings are dead and you are out here... Who, by the way, let Specklefang die for your sins. Don't act like you're better than they are... Riverclan cats step up for their own crimes.

There are cats I care about in Riverclan. Cats who are nicer to me than Thunderclan ever has been. I'm not going back. Leopardstar would hand me right back over. And living the life of the rogue is for those who have earned it. I'm staying in Riverclan. I'm sorry you don't understand, mother. But I never thought my own family would be small-minded as this."

"Flickerpaw... sometimes I forget how young you were."
Sharptooth shook her head, a sorrowful look casting her face into shadow. "There are some things that you were, and are, too young to understand. Sometimes sacrifices have to be made, even if it's a difficult thing to do. Specklefang knew what she was getting herself into." Her daughter's view of the world was so clouded... Perhaps she was too far gone to see the light.
"Starclan exists because you can't just forget the past. Jaystar has to be held accountable for his actions, and the fact that he stood by while countless warriors and apprentices were killed because he didn't want to relinquish his clan's hold on a pile of rocks. As for you..." The large exile flicked her tattered ears.
"You killed a fully-trained warrior. Otterleap killed an apprentice on her second day of training. There's a difference. At least, in the end, I atoned for my sins. Otterleap kept his close to his chest until he died."

Sharptooth turned and began to walk away. She couldn't stand to see her daughter like this.
Before she disappeared behind the barn, she looked over her shoulder one last time.
"I'm disappointed in you. You've forgotten your family. Leafstorm, Darkflight, my grandkits... they all still live. And although you may not deserve it, I know that they'd fight tooth and claw for you, if you chose to return home. You're a Thunderclan cat at heart, Flickerpaw. And try as you might, you will never erase the past."

With that, she vanished into the tall grass behind the barn.

Flamewish blinked. How young she was? That didn't have to do with anything. Sure, Specklefang had known she was innocent, but... "And yet, you still stood by and let her die. Wouldn't that be as good as murder? Her death was no sacrifice. You were exiled anyway." She tilted her head, somehow managing to keep a calm, quiet voice. "Have you not seen how large Riverclan is? Half of us... Even kits of my own could suffer and die this winter... Those rocks could hold the prey that saves my life. It's been moons since all of these murders. Riverclan has moved on past Fawnsong's murder. I think it's time you moved on over Thistlepaw's." She hadn't met Thistlepaw personally. She just knew she'd been killed in the battle for sunningrocks in early Leafbare. Of course, Sharptooth was her sister.

But still... "Fawnsong was Ivystar's granddaughter. She had cats who cared about her too, and I feel horrible about taking that away from them. Otterleap felt terrible too. And what of Rowanpaw...? Do you regret killing him? I doubt it. Maybe only because it resulted in the murder of your mother and daughter, but then still...? I'd always known you to be stern. Now, I believe that it is past that. If you were leader, you'd take back those 'stupid rocks' and not care how many get absolutely slaughtered in the process... As long as you get your vengance, it'll be just fine."

Flamewish was angry now. Angry at Sharptooth, at Starclan, at everyone. "Do you know where this scar came from?" She asked, gesturing to the seven-clawed scar that polluted the side of her face. "One of your kin who is obviously just as monstrous as you are. Who, just because I was Riverclan, brutally attacked me. I was pracitcally blind and already hurt. I'm not Thunderclan. I'm not your daughter anymore. I'm an honorable cat now. I've changed. You, evidently, have not. My heart now belongs with the Clan who accepts me and wouldn't let me go without so much as a fight." Flamewish hissed, trying to ignore the tears and hurt that tried to overwhelm her. "I can't erase my past, but I can make up for it by being a good cat. You can't understand, though.


You never will.