Wolf and Light [Lighttail]

The rains had cleared, though droplets of water still fell from where they clung to the leaves above as Wolfstar walked through the forest. She couldn't help grumbling a little as a droplet of water hit the back of her neck, a shiver running down her spine despite the late-greenleaf warmth that filled the air.

Today she was patrolling with Lighttail. Reliable warrior, good company. Someone Wolfstar was glad to have at her side. "How've you been, Lighttail?" It had been far too long since she'd spent time among her clanmates just for the sake of it, rather than being consumed with patrolling and hunting.

Lighttail felt at ease with the humidity in the air. She didn’t miss her old clan, but things that reminded her of their territory still brought a feeling of nostalgia.

“Wolfstar,” she mewed, “I’ve actually got something I need to tell you. I don’t think I’ve broken the code or done anything that could compromise my loyalties, but I don’t want to keep secrets from you. There’s a loner, Bianca, who I talk to at the far border sometimes when I’m alone. I don’t share prey, and she doesn’t trespass. But, well… she’s my birth mother. I only recently learned this and reconnected with her. My mother in ShadowClan found me abandoned in the marsh, and it’s been really good to know why I was abandoned. I hope you’re okay with this. I’m just telling you because you’re my leader and closest friend and I want to be transparent.”

Wolfstar matched Lighttail's pace as the warrior spoke, admitting to seeing a loner she-cat on the borders. Her mother... Well, that hadn't been what Wolfstar was expecting. She hadn't known much of Lighttail's former life as a Shadowclanner beyond what details she'd shared in bits and pieces. Wolfstar stayed silent for a moment, thinking over her response before she spoke. "It must have been quite the surprise to find out. Of course you'd be interested in getting to know her."

"My mother was exiled when my siblings and I were brand new apprentice... I think a couple of my siblings hadn't even had his ceremony when it happened." She began, "Not the same situation, of course, but I don't think Briarthorn - Briarstar, then - held it against us when we'd hang around the twoleg fence a little more than most so long as our duties were being done. Her exile was deserved, if I'm being honest. But I can't pretend she wasn't the cat who raised us, no matter how distant she was for most of my life." Lighttail knew the aftermath of their decision to bring Beechfang home, of course.

"We all deserve to get to know our parents, Lighttail. I understand why you'd talk to her at the borders. I don't begrudge you for that. You've built something here, and you're as loyal a Skyclanner as anyone, your mother being a loner or not."