'Cause Little Waves Turned to Flooding Waters

Minkstar led the patrol with practiced ease through the sunlit-glimmered forest, the ground dry and laden with twigs that threatened to crackle under an incautious paw. His, though, had long since learned the ways of this place, and the familiarity of this particular path only let him slip more easily into silence.

He cast a quick glance over his shoulder at the four cats following in his wake. They've probably figured out that something's up by now. A quiet murmur to each - a request for a patrol, and they'd come. But there was no denying the oddity of it.

As they broke out of the forest's depths, the dusty trail leading to a spray of green beside the rippling waters of the river, he slowed. Turning, he faced each of his kits as they followed, a flicker of a smile touching his maw - a hint of nostalgia like golden sunlight. They'd grown so much; brave warriors and soon-to-be warriors who'd borne the strikes of a hard forest and come through far better than he'd ever managed to. A fleeting glimmer of sadness marred the moment, though, the absence of a ginger pelt and bright green eyes alight with mischief leaving a hole he still couldn't help but feel.

A quiet breath slipped from his maw, and he shook his head slightly, laying the thought gently to rest. Wherever she was.... Still love you, kit. Hope to see you again some day.... Expectant looks met his gaze, and he paused for a moment, feeling that he'd forgotten something. They were out here for... Ah, right. That was why he'd chosen the river; the burble seemed to help him recall things better, sometimes. Certain things, anyway. Quit stalling. A part of him wished he'd held this meeting in the medicine den instead, with Bat, but... Although her support would have helped, this was something he needed to get out, needed to say, and needed to face the cold, hard realities of. Besides, if they hated him after this - and some small part of his mind worried about that - they would have at least one parent they could go to; feel comfortable with.

"I'm guessing you've figured out that I didn't exactly have a hunting patrol in mind." He took a deep breath, sitting down and curling his tail around his paws. "There's something you all need to know, and I wanted you to hear it from me before the rest of the Clan does."

---

Sablepaw trailed along with the rest of her siblings, a feeling of curiosity buzzing at her paws. This was... well, kind of weird, honestly. Their dad had summoned all of them and led them along this trail to the river, leaving the whole Clan with only Dovefrost in charge. Are we gonna swim and play in the river or something like we did when we were kits or something? Now would be a really strange time for a family outing....

She almost spoke up, asking what they were doing, but kept her tongue still, instead shooting Kestrelswoop a questioning glance as they filed out to the river's banks. Do you know any more than I do? But Minkstar's voice soon broke into the quiet of the burbling river, and she felt a quiver of unease tingle down her spine. Had something happened with Batbite? No, that couldn't be it; there wasn't any point telling them before the rest of the Clan if that was it, was there? She glanced at the rest of her siblings, the tip of her tail twitching slightly, nervously.

Quaildock followed after his father and siblings, confusion in his eyes. He felt that this wasn't supposed to be a hunting patrol. His father's voice then filled his ears. "What is it dad?" He asked. Whatever his father keeping from them, and the clan, must be serious.

At the back of their patrol, Thrushnose’s broad paws skated across the well-trodden earth. When Minkstar had brought up the idea of a hunt, she’d agreed without hesitation, momentarily forgetting their shared responsibilities. Everything but her youngest kits, Batbite, and deputyship had fallen by the wayside as of late; a quarter moon’s freedom from the nursery later, she was still struggling to make up for lost time. Certainly Dovefrost could manage ThunderClan for part of an afternoon. She’d approached the camp’s exit to find Kestrelswoop, Quaildock, and Sablepaw already there, cementing her decision further—how long had it been since they’d had a day like this?

As Minkstar led them further from camp without a whisker’s twitch at any of the scents wafting past them, Thrushnose began to suspect this was neither a family outing nor a hunting patrol. That suspicion had congealed into near certainty by the time they stopped. Though she was no expert at reading cats’ faces, she couldn’t miss the vague tension her father wore.

The tabby warrior fell into place beside her siblings, her tail collecting and tossing grains of sand as it swished behind her. Something their father hadn’t told them. Something he hadn’t told the Clan. Either Batbite already knew, or—no, she had to know, otherwise they would have gathered at the medicine den instead of the riverbank… Thrushnose un-scrunched her muzzle with effort and tried to pluck one question apart from the others. “‘The rest of the Clan’?” Things that mattered to ThunderClan were rarely personal; things that necessitated a private trip out of camp had to be. It didn't make sense.

Kerath knew something was up the moment Minkstar gathered them all and told them they'd be going on a patrol, promptly leading them along a trail heading toward the river. He could see that his siblings were just as perplexed as he was and that slightly put him at ease, but not by much. Their father was acting rather strange and Kestrel wasn't sure he liked this whole situation very much.

As he closely followed his father's pawsteps, he noticed the questioning glance Lirista shot him from his peripheral vision. Unfortunately for them both, he had no idea what was even going on. His answer came in the form of a shrug and a tiny apologetic smile. Their questions and concerns would soon be tackled just a few moments later, at least, it's what he was hoping would happened.

Uh oh. This was certainly foreboding. Kestrelswoop felt a bit nervous hearing Mink speak those words. "Dad... What's going on?" Like Quaildock and Thrushnose, he decided on vocally expressing his worry. He chewed on his tongue -a habit of his he had when anxious- while he awaited whatever their father had to reveal to them.

He could see the anxiety in their faces as they reacted to his words, and he couldn't blame them. The same feeling of unease roiled deep in his own gut, but he forced himself to nod calmly in Mermurr's direction, choosing to answer her question first. "I'm planning on making an announcement about this tomorrow." Opening his gaze up to the rest of them, he let a slightly melancholy smile tug at his maw. "It's... about my past. I didn't think it was worth telling when I first came, or to you when you were kits. I didn't want you to have the burden, and it didn't really matter back then." The burble of the river murmured in his ears, cascading in a familiar tune over the rocks, and he could see the reflection of sunlight dancing over its surface rippling in the shade beneath the trees' leaves here, and sparkling in the eyes of his kits. "And it doesn't matter that much now, either. Not where all of you are concerned, but... I want to let you know in private first."

He took a deep breath, recognizing that he was probably stalling, memories flickering in the corners of his mind. "I wasn't exactly the loner that most of the Clan thinks I was. My parents were a couple of cats named Starlord and Littlestream: a loner and a RiverClan warrior - Your grandparents. I grew up in RiverClan, spent my apprenticeship there, and long story short I left when most of my remaining family died to... well, to run out to the abandoned twoleg barn with Bat, like we told you in all those stories." A light, soft snort escaped him - not quite amused and not quite bitter. The naivety of those days.... "I abandoned my Clan, cut ties with them, and joined ThunderClan instead. Now that I'm leader, it's probably best that everyone knows where I came from, just in case...." Honesty. He couldn't build a Clan on lies, even if they happened to be silent. "Not that I'll ever compromise for ThunderClan or its safety, since this is my home now, but I can't ignore the river that runs through my veins."

As he looked into their eyes, he couldn't help but wonder, the coil of tension in his gut tightening ever so slightly. Would those expressions show disgust? Hurt? Acceptance? He'd love them anyway, but a part of him quietly put up a barrier to protect his heart from the threat of claws ripping over its surface. Not that it would do much good.

---

Sablepaw caught her brother's shrug, the gesture making her ears angle backwards slightly as the tingle of nervousness gnawed at her, spiked by her father's words. Her siblings' questions came out quicker than she could get around the sudden tangled form of her tongue, ears angling further back. What was he talking about? She glanced from Thrushnose to Minkstar to Daris to Kerath, her voice dying in her throat, her paws shifting on the ground. I can't add anything they haven't asked anyway.... Still, a part of her was frustrated that her voice wouldn't come, that she couldn't get out a single question.

But it wasn't needed. Her dad's words answered, and she listened in silence, eyes widening as he went on. RiverClan? Wha-? But- She blinked, a vague whirling feeling spinning in the corners of her vision. That... makes sense. Somehow, it did, even though she'd never looked at it before. He looked kind of like a RiverClan cat; she'd seen the webbing on his paws - which she shared - but... the barn had a river beside it, and Batbite could swim, and.... She shook her head slightly, trying to de-scramble her thoughts as her dad finished talking.

As usual, words struggled to form, and she looked at her siblings, wondering if they'd make any more sense of it than she could. We're part RiverClan? Dad grew up there? So our leader is... RiverClan? ThunderClan's oldest enemy? And he was planning on telling everyone in their Clan about it? Her mouth suddenly felt a little dry.

Quaildock took in everything his father said. In utter desbelief, might he add. His father, the leader of the clan, was part Riverclan? It made sense? How would he know how to swim if he wasn't Riverclan? It was still unbelievable though. "Sooo we're techinacally part Riverclan?" He asked, his eyes wide with confusion, like how he was as a kit.

Shock broke over her—and receded moments later, pulling her confusion and worry into the depths with it. Relief rose in its wake. A secret, that was all. Being raised by two cats who seemed to know a little bit about everything, Thrushnose had never thought to question how their lives intertwined with the river; how their father’s stories never included life before the barn, though he couldn’t have grown up there; how her pelt, despite its length, shed water so easily. RiverClan. She hadn’t asked, yet the answer filled in the gaps near-perfectly. Like their names, it set them apart. Nothing more.

Movement caught her eye, and she looked aside at Sablepaw, then her brothers, forcing the relief to the side. Cats cared about things like this. Why, she’d never understood—blood didn’t teach warriors how to climb or swim or dig; when it came down to it, blood didn’t even determine family—but not understanding didn’t make the impact any less real. A memory of the long-dead warrior she’d spoken to seasons ago burst into her head, and her ears flicked back. It didn’t change anything for her, but for the rest of ThunderClan…

Her paws (not fully webbed, but wide; another clue) tightened against the sand. The only way forward was through. Better for ThunderClan to hear this from Minkstar’s own mouth than to be blindsided later on; whatever might come after, she couldn’t imagine well enough to prepare for. Still, she needed a plan. Some form of damage control, should the need arise. “Okay.” She blinked. “Does anyone in RiverClan know?” Unless StarClan gave them a miracle, Thrushnose would be sitting in her mother’s place come the next Gathering; she couldn’t rule out the possibility of someone using this as ammunition.

Strangely enough, he felt his anxiety fall away the more his father continued on. What he was saying... made sense, in a way at least. He'd never stopped to think much about his own appearance but now that he was freely evaluating himself, he certainly did share some similar traits with RiverClanners, like his webbed paws and the way his pelt shed off water more easily than others. He never really noticed because... well... he just wasn't one to notice something like this unless it's relevant to his current task. He... should probably start keeping an inquisitive eye out for more surprises like this.

He could tell that his siblings were slowly making sense of this reveal and what it meant for them all. Kerath never had an issue with his origins. Even now that all of this information was brought to the light, his feelings would be staying steady as they have always been. His siblings seemed to be taking this as just as well as he was, which was a giant relief. The thing he worried about was how the clan was going to take this information. Most would most likely be alright with Mink being from RiverClan but there were some who that would not sit well with... Hopefully they'd realize that a leader's lineage does not define their character nor their competence.

"...but I can't ignore the river that runs through my veins." Kestrelswoop's gaze softened. "Then don't ignore it. There's no need to keep that part of you hidden anymore, and it's good that you realized that. I'm very glad that you decided to open up about your past instead of keeping it hidden. However, before you let the clan know, the answer to Thrushnose's question is one that we need to know. There's always the possibility that this information could be used against us, against you."

The tension eased slightly from his shoulders as confusion and surprise met him. Confusion, surprise, and... understanding? A smile creased his maw at Kestrelswoop's words, letting out a breath he hadn't known he was holding. He nodded to them all, raising a paw and spreading it to the show the familiar webbing common to RiverClanners. "Yeah. Not much, but there's definitely a strain. As for the answer to your other question, I still have a sister in RiverClan you might have heard of, though technically she's my cousin. Her name is Ivystar." He paused for a moment to let that sink in, Sablepaw's jaw dropping in reaction, before adding quickly, "She shouldn't use this against us. We were on... good terms before I left, and she doesn't resent me." Anymore.

His eyes drifted for a moment, remembering that encounter on the river bank - or what little of the blurred, fragmented scene would come, concerned eyes flashing in it. Brother. "No one else, apart from..." He frowned, trying to remember the name of that grey she-cat with the piercing amber eyes. "She was a former deputy - one of Ivy's mates, I think - with piercing amber eyes and a scar on her throat. I think she recognized me as RiverClan. She didn't seem like the type to say anything, but secrets are... hard to keep."

---

Sablepaw found herself struggling between a range of emotions as Minkstar went on. Ivystar of all cats? The whole leader of an entire other Clan who absolutely hated them? Maybe she didn't hate him personally, but she probably did hate the rest of them! RiverClan hates ThunderClan, that's just what they do! And their leader is my aunt? That was a strange, strange thing to think of.... Especially since she was always so stern and blunt every time they went to gatherings.

She finally unstuck her tongue. "Are you going to tell the other Clans, too?" She managed.

Daris took in his sibling's reactions, as Minkstar confirmed his question. Daris himself looked to be more of a Thunderclan cat, taking more from his mother, but his paws were always a bit wide, where webbing could easily fit into. And now to add on top of that pile of leaves, his aunt was the Riverclan leader herself. Lot of birds dropped on me today. Daris thought, flicking his ear as he tried to sort through it all.

As he did though, his gaze drifted on over to Lirista, and her question. Would he tell the other clans? Could he?