no honor amongst thieves [closed]

To say that their relationship had been tumultuous would be a vast, practically reprehensible understatement. Aside from the obvious wedge that exiling her had put between them, they’d never truly gotten along, whether because of irreconcilable differences or just petty hatred, it didn’t matter. Of course, there had been moments where perhaps they understood one another, forgave each other, even… But Briarthorn thought there was no chance in the Dark Forest that Beechfang would still feel the way she had all those moons ago, when they confessed to perhaps not hating one another. The large tabby honestly harbored no ill-will towards the other she-cat, but she wouldn’t be shocked if Beechfang tried to kill her in her sleep. Maybe she deserved it.

The tension was all too much for the former leader, and the pair had proven once before that they were capable of civil conversation. Much had undoubtedly happened since the last time they saw one another, but Briarthorn thought that perhaps they would be able to speak without malice or anger once again. Though there was a slight rasp to her voice and a twinge in her chest to accompany it, she was still healthy, and the Clan needed to be provided for. Why not kill two birds with one stone? Padding toward the she-cat, Briarthorn dipped her head respectfully in greeting. ”Beechfang… Care to join me for a patrol?” She mewed, tone flat and completely unreadable. Briarthorn was not one for gossip, nor smalltalk, but there was much catching up to do.

Briarthorn's approach had been unexpected, but Beechfang nodded. "Sure." The scarred silver tabby replied, rising to her paws. She took note of the former leader's flat tone, acknowledged with the faint twitch of one ruined ear. Their relationship had been... Well, it had been. Beechfang had hated her at one point, they had fought and bled together, she had watched as she fought Dawnhawk alongside her own mother, and that had earned Beechfang's respect. Then Beechfang had made a life-ruining mistake. Briarthorn had challenged her father to prevent the clan from going to war... And now the clan might be going to war anyways, because Beechfang couldn't say no to her kit. Even though she really should have.

That Briarthorn had been the one to exile her... Beechfang wasn't sure how to feel about it. She had her life, though, and that was better than the alternative. She had lived to see her kits rise to power within the clan, a shock more than anything. Briarthorn, Birdstar... They had done well for Skyclan. Mostly. Briarthorn, she imagined, was surprised to see her face here, even if she had shown up in camp on that day the earth had tried to shake everything off of it like a dog shook water from its' pelt. Exiled no longer.

"It's been a long time, Briarthorn." After several minutes, Beechfang broke the silence between them, eye turned toward the lake in thought.

Briarthorn turned in step with Beechfang, leaving indentations in the light dusting of snow coating the earth underpaw. Now that they were actually together, the thick-coated former leader was at a loss for words, unsure where to start. Birdstar had been so busy between being sick and managing the Clan that the two hadn’t had the opportunity to catch up or really talk about her place within the Clan, leaving Briarthorn to wonder about what had transpired since the last time she’d seen her Clan. Many questions were left unanswered between herself and the molly she now walked in lockstep with as well. They were civil, at least, but that was all Briarthorn knew of their relationship. She was open to conversation on it, but she supposed she’d leave that up to Beechfang to bring up, if she so desired.

The tabby lifted her head and nodded in acknowledgment of Beechfang’s statement. ”That, it has.” She mewed simply. She couldn’t get a good read on her tone, unsure how to proceed. ”I’m sure much has happened, since we last… spoke.” The last time they’d actually spoken was when Briarthorn exiled her from SkyClan. The irony of it was hilarious when you took the individual cats out of the scenario. An outsider, a mixed-blooded cat from ShadowClan, rising to leadership within SkyClan and exiling one of their own, the child of the leader she’d just dethroned. Briarthorn quickly hid the smirk creeping onto her maw before Beechfang had the opportunity to catch on. It truly wasn’t funny, especially considering it was due to a loss of life. No, the irony of all that had transpired was not lost upon Briarthorn. ”Birdstar’s either been too busy or too ill to fill me in on the happenings within SkyClan. Clearly much has happened, more than we have time for I’m sure. Tell me the most important things, though, Beechfang?” A plethora of questions she could ask filled her mind… Who’d lived, who’d died, how Beechfang was back, where was Bloodstrike? But she’d leave it up to her to tell as she saw fit.

Clearly much had happened, and Briarthorn didn't know the half of it. Beechfang knew what the former leader was really asking, though. She had been exiled by her, after all, so why was she in Skyclan? "I did tell Birdstar that you'd been taken during the great shake... And then twolegs captured me and brought me to fourtrees with a bunch of other clan cats and their dogs. Still, Birdstar waited until this past greenleaf to ask me to come home." Which no doubt had been prompted by Bloodstrike and Ravenclaw... And how was she supposed to tell Briarthorn about Bloodstrike?

"If my kits were smart, they wouldn't have asked me to come home. If I was truly callous, I would have told my daughter 'no' and walked away. That's what I kept telling myself I would do, if they ever asked." A tired laugh escaped her. There had never truly been a chance of that, she'd been lying to herself. "I had every intention of not inevitably making Birdstar's leadership difficult. I earned that exile." She shook her head, glancing at the former leader. "Do you know how strange it was, to see Skyclan at peace for more than two seconds? Moons of it. I don't understand how." Not that it lasted, because of course it wouldn't, not in Skyclan.

"Birdstar wound up making an alliance with Perchstar and Mottlestar. Around the time I rejoined the clan. Don't ask me how or why." Beechfang grimaced. She hadn't approved of the idea, but it was not her clan to lead. "I stayed away from the river, I didn't go to gatherings. There was drama at those - Windclan and Shadowclan's former leaders openly attacking each other. Idiots." As if they had learned absolutely nothing about provoking Starclan's wrath during a time of peace. At least it hadn't involved Skyclan directly. "But Skyclan itself was... peaceful. Mostly." The warrior paused, her ears flattening.

"A group of foxes attacked our camp. Nine of them. And the clan fought them off well. Killed nearly all of them, then hunted down the last one before it fled the territory." There was a grim sense of pride in how the clan had pulled that off. Pride, and even deeper a sense of loss. The foxes hadn't killed anyone outright, but given the aftermath it felt like they had.