Unexpected Reunion [Wrenspring]

OOC: Directly follows this thread.

Birdsong stumbled, shaking her head as her vision cleared. She'd been fighting, there had been blood and pain and darkness... All that had seemed to fade away in a heartbeat, strangely. The gray tabby crouched, body tense. The smell of fox and Thunderclan had faded, but that did little to quell the sense of uneasy dread she felt as she stared with wide eyes at unfamiliar, starry surroundings. Starlight glittered on the grass, on the trees, in a dark sky above. She recalled seeing a starry landscape in a dream once-

No. No no no. This couldn't be Starclan. She had a life to live, kits to feed and protect. Turtlefur. She couldn't be in Starclan, not now! Fur lifting, Birdsong spun, catching sight of her own fur that was no longer bloodstained yet studded with shimmering starlight.

"Foxdung!" She hissed under her breath, tail lashing back and forth in agitation. She couldn't stay here, she needed to go back! Starclan couldn't- They had to let her go back!

"You can't go back but... you're safe here."

Wrenspring's throat was dry and, while his throat cracked slightly, the words were warm. A bittersweet emotion had swept through his chest as he stared at the pelt of his kit. No parent wanted to see their kit die, to watch them feel the pain of things left behind. But that feeling was still relatively fresh within the late Skyclan warrior. He'd died with a certain amount of peace and yet so much that was shattered moments prior to his last breath. His kits hated him. To stand before Birdsong now was a terrifying relief.

"I know I'm probably the last cat you want to see, Birdsong, but I'm... here."

Birdsong's ears flattened at the exact words she didn't want to hear coming from a familiar voice, head turning to gaze at her father in dismay. His pelt was different than the last time she'd seen him in Beechface's den, cleaner, groomed and free of the scent of infection. Starry, just like hers. Everything was coated in that same starlight, from the smallest blade of grass to the trees around them. It was disappointing, and Birdsong wished that she was anywhere else.

"Safe." She scuffed, how comforting. What about her kits who had just lost their mother? What about Turtlefur and the rest of her newfound clanmates?

Wrenspring spoke again, and Birdsong's tail lashed, anger simmering just below the surface. Maybe she'd inherited more of Beechface's personality than she wanted to admit, but how could she not be angry with him? "Well no, not really." She muttered, "I'm not sure why I would be, after what you pulled. I thought I could look up to you!" Her tone rose with heated indignation, "You're every bit as bad as Beechface is, at least Ravenclaw tried to be a mother to us. I don't understand how she could deal with either of you."

"I'll leave if you want but I doesn't do us any good to not talk. I messed that up while I was alive and I'd like to change that now if you're willing to give me the chance." He didn't make any motion towards her - feeling a lump forming in his throat. For so long Wrenspring had reminisced on those final moments, a regret that lay heavy on his shoulders. Ultimately it was his own selfishness that had fractured the lives of those he loved. Maybe it was his own warped perception that lead him to believe Beechface needed him, and for that reason alone he had failed to stay away - broken a code he'd sworn to live by.

Shoulders slumped and his head fell forward slightly in defeat. There was never going to be a good resolution, no matter ho desperately he longed for that perfect family he'd dreamed about. Given her own short-lived motherhood, Wrenspring figured she probably understood the love and joy that he felt. But to her, his feeling were a terrible venom that had poisoned their veins. His tail whisked as he raised his head to face his kit, "Sorry won't cut it - I know that. Nor will any excuse. I messed up, let my selfishness ruin lives without even considering it. But I'll never regret bringing you kits into the world.

"I know, I know. I just..." Birdsong muttered after a moment, taking a breath. Being bitter and angry would do her no good, she knew that. Being bitter and angry was something Beechface would do, taking grudges to the grave was her thing. Birdsong didn't want to be like that. It was already bad enough that she was directly related to her lying, murderous self.

Not being bitter and angry was harder than it should've been.

"I don't understand how you see anything in her." She snorted, tail lashing once more in disgust. Beechface was brash, rude, judgmental... She'd been intimidating, more than Bloodstrike or even Dawnhawk had been at some points, in Birdsong's opinion. "And why keep it from us? You let us believe in a lie our entire lives!" Beechface was intimidating and insane, but Birdsong had thought she was honest. She'd thought Wrenspring was honest. She and Shadewing had left Skyclan over it. Birdsong had swore to never lie to her own kits about something so important. At least she'd always have the peace of mind knowing that she'd always been truthful to them.

His eyes were soft, regretful, and pleading as he read her expression. The she-cat's words were soft, seemingly taming the harsh bitterness that had saturated her tongue. It would have been a relief if the tom believed that he deserved anything other than anger. There was an odd pain associated with the longing for his offspring to be well, and knowing a bit root of that inability was his own fault - the sensation was one that would likely never effectively fade. As she piped up once again it wasn't a forgiving thing. Wrenspring's tail flickered, waiting for her to air her frustrations and prod him with questions there hadn't before been time to answer.

"I... I loved her. I think I still do. Before I even knew it was happening, my paws were swept up in caring for her. I never intended to fall in love, and with the clan's medicine cat. But for so many moons she seemed so lost. Being able to bring her joy, to find those pieces of Beechface that, were bright it... it was the greatest thing to me. Other than you kits, really. Selfish, I know." As he spoke, his ears that had once been fallen in defeat pricked up. Across his maw there was a genuine smile, and green eyes glossed over, remembering tossing leaves in the medicine cat's face. He'd treasured the simplicity of that moment for so long.

"I'm not sure you would have hated me less if I told you. I didn't want you to have to carry that around, it should have never been a burden you had to hold. I didn't know what to do, Birdsong. What is there to do when you've done something so wrong and there's no way to heal it? The very thing you love a venomous secret. I would have been better off if I hadn't survived Redfall's attack. Maybe we all would have been, I don't know." Wrenspring had never been a creature of regret and often shouldered through the many lows of life. Now his words were a low, confused muttering. But it was filled with condemning honesty that reflected his conflicted fears.