looking to the future [c]

Emberheart had been a ThunderClan cat so long, now, that she rarely stopped to recall that she hadn't always been. Once she'd been a kittypet kit, with two whole ears instead of one half-missing, small and scarless. It felt like thinking about a stranger, looking back; she'd dreamt of battle with a hazy quality to it, grand conflicts where no blood was spilled and every cat fought honorably.

It was only when a new cat joined their ranks that she remembered - the days of others reminding her were, more often than not, behind her. Now, though, there was reason to recall this fact again, because a cat not born to ThunderClan was with them once again. Dacepaw, she recalled - a former RiverClan cat. Though the fish-smelling furballs still left her on edge all these seasons later, no cat could control where they came from, and what mattered now was that Dacepaw was with them. It wouldn't do at all to treat her poorly for where she came from. Besides, there were cats who had judged her for similar things, once upon a time.

She would, however, like to get to know their Clan's newest addition - and perhaps offer some support, as someone who knew how hard it could be - and she wondered briefly if Dacepaw could be found in the camp today. The elder stretched, supposing looking for her wouldn't hurt, and stepped out of her den. She didn't go far, but settled herself not far from the fresh-kill pile, looking around to see if she could spot Dacepaw. Perhaps to share a story, if the apprentice was willing to listen, or just offer some advice.

Dacepaw rolled around sporadically in her mossy nest, one of the only apprentices remaining in the den this late in the morning. She wasn't sleeping, though; she was playing, lazily wrestling with her nest and pretending it was a big squirrel that she was fighting. Duskpaw and Houndpaw both left early, and Dacepaw knew she'd be on the night patrol, so she didn't bother getting up and instead sat with her thoughts. Many of her thoughts recently had been occupied with RiverClan since the Gathering had passed, and the apprentice hoped that, if anyone had guessed as much, they weren't too upset with her. The thoughts didn't stir from a desire to return; they simply existed from a desire for them to understand. Dappleshine did. She always did. That was the most important one.

Dappleshine was safe and happy, and Dacepaw was safe and happy, and they would see each other again soon - no later than the full moon. Sparkfrost, though... The fluffy tortoiseshell stopped playing by herself at last when the thought of missing her father became too much. She hoped that StarClan had heard her prayer for him the previous night as she left the apprentice's den behind. StarClan, please tell daddy I'm finding my happiness, if you can.

The multi-colored cat stepped into the sunlight and blinked, looking around with her friendly green-hazel gaze. Her fur was tufted out this way and that, for in her rush to get away from the thoughts that she suddenly didn't know what to do with, she forgot to give her fur a quick once-over before stepping out into everyone's sight. Dacepaw thought nothing of it, only watching the bustle of the camp. Her gaze landed on Emberheart, one of the new elders, and Dacepaw's thick tail immediately flicked into the air. Was the she-cat expecting her? The way their eyes quickly met it seemed like she might be! The apprentice began to scamper towards the grizzled tabby cat.

"Hi Emberheart!" Dacepaw purred with her thick thunder-rumble of a purr echoing slightly off the ravine walls. "Do you need something?" she asked cheerily as she presented herself before the she-cat.

"Nothing so pressing," Emberheart assured the apprentice. "Though I will admit that I was hoping to see you. Those of us who weren't ThunderClan cats from birth should stick together, don't you think?" Stretching out slightly, she continued to speak, more softly this time. "I just thought that maybe you could use some support, Dacepaw. Or a story, or advice, or any combination of those things, really."

Emberheart's pretty frame stretched out a little, looking quite at ease as she lay in the camp gazing at the apprentice before her. Dacepaw was pleased that she'd been able to read the elder's face a little bit, and glad that she was able to present herself to perhaps offer help. The she-cat explained that she was, in fact, looking for Dacepaw, and went on to add, "Those of us who weren't ThunderClan cats from birth should stick together, don't you think?" "Prr? You're not from here either?" Dacepaw asked with surprise, blinking a few times and tilting her head with curiosity. Her purr softened a bit in thought. Emberheard continued gently and kindly that she thought she could use support.

"Like a friend?" Dacepaw asked, her grin quickly returning. The thick-furred she-cat nodded enthusiastically. "I'd love to be your friend. Do you want me to get you some fresh-kill? O-Or maybe you need me to look for fleas or ticks?" Dacepaw offered, and then she explained brightly, "I just don't want anyone to think I'm not doing my duties today."

"I'm not," Emberheart confirmed. "I was born in the Twolegplace. But I came to ThunderClan and became an apprentice here so long ago, I can hardly remember it now... It wasn't easy at first, though, and that I do remember. I don't know if you'll have as much trouble as I did - I'd like to believe times have changed, and you were at least born a Clan cat - but everyone could use some support. And, well... If it will make you feel better, feel free to bring me a squirrel," she purred. "But yes, like a friend. We could all use more of those, don't you think?"

Dacepaw listened with heightened interest to the elder she-cat's words. "Twolegplace!" she echoed; there wasn't even a hint of disdain or annoyance or anything other than wonder at the thought of a cat having come from somewhere other than the forest - least of all where twolegs supposedly roamed. Emberheart said that times had changed and that things seemed to be different. Still, it was good to have a friend, and Dacepaw agreed with that sentiment wholeheartedly. When the she-cat asked for a squirrel the tortoiseshell was eager to oblige, sprinting off to the pile without a word. She sniffed for a good one for a few moments before retrieving it and returning to sat it in front of Emberheart.

The thick-furred apprentice then settled herself next to the elder, her wide eyes fixed on the she-cat. "Why aren't you in Twolegplace anymore? How did you come to be a Clan cat? Did you have friends?" Dacepaw asked, chattering curiously. She added, "I didn't when I got here, but Duskpaw and Houndpaw are real nice to me. I think they're my friends now! At least, I'm theirs."

Emberheart purred at the squirrel before her, and the apprentice listening closely. "Well... I'd heard tales of honorable cats that lived beyond the walls of Twolegplace," she explained. "And I'd dreamt of becoming one of them all my life. My mother had promised she'd go with me, when the time came to leave... But something happened, and she couldn't. So I ran off into the forest all by myself when I realized she couldn't come too. I was... Oh, almost the age of an apprentice, but not quite. Close enough, though." She paused every so often to take a bite of the prey. "So there I was, lost and alone, when an actual ThunderClan apprentice found me. He brought me to the leader at the time - her name was Blizzardshine, but she was Blizzardstar then - and she allowed me a chance to prove myself as a warrior, by training as an apprentice. And so I became Emberpaw, and then Emberheart - but that is part of the next story!"

When Dacepaw asked about friends, Emberheart closed her eyes. Faces she hadn't seen in ages appeared before her, as they so often did these days. "Yes, I had friends. None in the Twolegplace, really, but I didn't mind it then. When I became a ThunderClan cat, though... For much of my apprenticeship, I only had one friend. Dawnpetal; though she wasn't yet Dawnpetal then, just as I wasn't yet Emberheart. Once, I recall, we snuck out of camp and fought off an owl; and then we brought it back to camp. But there were as many difficulties as there were good things."

The apprentice listened with complete fascination as Emberheart described how she came to be a Clan cat. Dacepaw was surprised that news of the Clans traveled all the way to the walls of twolegplace, but it filled her with pride. Their stories weren't the same at all, but there were enough similarities - leaving without her mother, being of barely apprentice age, being found and taken to see the leader - that the apprentice was enthralled throughout. Dacepaw had already been a 'paw when she'd arrived in ThunderClan, but it was a different experience in her new home. She longed to hear tales of Emerpaw, but her curiosity about the she-cat's friends came out first.

Dacepaw listened with awe as Emberheart spoke of the friend she'd had, a cat named Dawnpetral. She gasped at the mention of fighting an owl, though she had no idea what it was. She merely mewed, wowed, "Wow, you fought it all by yourselves?" The idea of "difficulties" barely registered to her in the excitement of whatever an "owl" was.

"We did! It was difficult, but I'm sure everyone appreciated the extra prey that day. But owls were the least of my worries then, really - they could be fought off with claws," Emberheart explained. She didn't pick up on Dacepaw's lack of knowledge regarding owls, and so pressed onward. "Clanmates couldn't. I often felt as though my mentor hated me for things beyond my control - though there are no hard feelings now, and her life was hard enough, truly - and some of the other cats thought I didn't deserve to be here because I wasn't born in the Clans..." A rather distinct memory of Weedblaze's words to her, on the day she'd finally had enough of him, came to mind. Though he'd later become a friend and mate to her, there had been plenty of conflict along the way. "So, because of them, I was determined to succeed. After all, if they thought I was weak and soft, I just had to prove them wrong by becoming stronger, right? So I trained, under my mentor's guidance and without her. And, eventually... Well. You were a RiverClan cat, weren't you? You know about Sunningrocks, how there have been... Disputes about its ownership for some time now. Well, towards the end of my apprenticeship, we tried to take it back once more - prey was short that leaf-bare; though our leader refused to fight before suggesting a compromise."

That had gone about as well as most cats expected it to. Though at the time Emberheart had been eager to avoid conflict wherever possible, looking back now she honestly believed they should have just fought to take it back from the start. It had been clear that RiverClan wasn't going to compromise, after all; and it had simply opened them all to attack.

(What she wouldn't do, for a do-over of so many things... That day included. Though she doubted it would make a difference. Perhaps it would just be reliving one of the worst days of her life... And also one of the best.)