Mama Blazefang pt. 3 (Goldenpaw)

Just because her kits were leaving the nursery didn’t mean Blazefang was done being their mother. Today, she was checking up on one of her recently-apprenticed daughters. “Hey, sunshine,” she purred. “How’s training? Do you like your mentor?” The queen wanted to make sure everything was going well. After all, Goldenpaw had been one of the slower ones to hit various milestones.

"um, it's okay..." Goldenpaw mewed softly as she fidgeted with her paws. She didn't mind being an apprentice, and Mottledstar was very kind, but everything was so strange and new...

“Hey, it’s okay,” the queen purred, sensing her daughter’s apprehension. “It can be pretty scary when you’re first starting out. I had to share my mentor with an older apprentice at first, and I always felt like Brackenpaw was so far ahead of me in her training. But you know what? Just about everything gets easier with practice. By the time I was a warrior, I was so brave I fought the Dark Forest itself to protect the tom I loved!”

the tom she loved? "You fought the Dark Forest to protect Dayquill, even though he came from a different clan? ... or were you in love with someone else?" Goldenpaw couldn't help but ask, her amber eyes wide. she always thought fighting was a viscous, dangerous thing... but maybe it could be used for the better good too.

Blazefang chuckled a bit, thinking back to her own apprentice days. “No, that was long before I met your father,” she mewed. “At the time I was head-over-paws for this one tom named Ryepaw. We’d been friends since we were kits, and by that point everyone just kinda assumed we’d be mates. Actually, all the apprentices and young warriors were pretty close at the time. We all teamed up to protect each other!” Of course, Blazefang (then Blazepaw) had been knocked unconscious for much of the battle, but nobody needed to know that. She tried, and they won. That was what mattered.

... "well, what happened to Ryepaw? What changed?" Goldenpaw asked, her mind wandering at all the possibilities: Ryepaw found another mate, Ryepaw went missing, Ryepaw just wasn't for her mother... but somehow, none of them fit. If you were close to a cat, how do you just stop loving them?

Blazefang’s demeanor shifted just slightly. “Well, to be honest I don’t know. He and his brother both went missing without so much as a goodbye. Ryepaw’s brother actually had a kit with my sister, and he didn’t even say anything to either of them. Some cats thought they went in search of their mother who went missing just before, while others thought the Dark Forest had something to do with it. That was a long time ago, and we still don’t have answers.”

Goldenpaw was silent for a long time. They just... disappeared? She knew it could happen; in fact, it was quite common for Clans to report one or two cats missing every gathering. Every gathering.... was there a link between all of these cats' disappearance? Were these just coincidences? How many moons have cats been disappearing? "Do you miss him?" she asked at last.

Blazefang could see the worry on her daughter’s face. Times had been rough lately, maybe bringing up the Dark Forest wasn’t ideal. “I… well, I certainly was torn up over him at the time. Now, though? I guess deep down I still love him and hope he’s safe and happy wherever he is, but I’m not in love with him anymore. If Ryepaw were to return today, I’d stay right here.”

Goldenpaw nodded slowly, her questions answered. Of course, her mother never stopped caring for her friends, but she moved on with her life. "I just hope if one day I have to go my friends never forget me," she murmured.

Blazefang pulled her daughter in for a hug. “Don’t worry, sunshine. You’re pretty unforgettable. I have the feeling you’ll be remembered for a long time, even when you walk with StarClan.”