Post by kinkajou on Jul 4, 2019 20:48:14 GMT -5
A novella about how Wavepaw and Cypresspaw were replaced by Softpaw/pelt, Harepaw/light, Dapplepaw/tuft, and Gorsepaw/claw, and how Lakeheart wasn't listed in the The Raging Storm and Lost Stars allegiances. Takes place between the ending of River of Fire and the beginning of Lost Stars.
I know I'm not a very good writer but I did my best ¯\_(ツ)_/¯
Chapter One
Now that she had time to think, Lakeheart was positive something was wrong.
The past moons had been chaotic, one distaster after another – the evil rogue Darktail and his “Kin” coming to the lake, taking over ShadowClan and Lakeheart’s own Clan, RiverClan; a fifth Clan no one had ever heard of making their place at the lake; ShadowClan’s existence ending all together, its remaining members joining SkyClan; a fire sweeping through RiverClan’s camp.
Lakeheart remembered the heart-stopping fear as her daughter, Softpaw, was caught in the fire. She only survived thanks to the brave ThunderClan apprentice, Twigpaw. As she licked the small gray cat all over, holding her fiercly close as if she could disappear any second, Lakeheart felt a flash of wrongness.
It wasn’t a feeling she was unfamiliar with; she had first felt it when leaving her kits’ first Gathering, many moons ago. Softpaw, Harepaw, Dapplepaw, and Gorsepaw pressed close to her side, excitedly chattering on about all they learned and the new friends they’d met. She pushed the strange feeling aside. She had to be happy for her kits. They had been looking forward to this since the moment they opened their eyes.
Since then, every time Lakeheart was in close contact with her kits, she felt that flash of wrongness. She thought she must be imagining things. Maybe she was coming down with something? None of Willowshine and Mothwing’s herbs worked, though.
She had no time to reflect on it until now, now that Darktail was dead, ShadowClan was back, SkyClan was settled, and RiverClan’s camp was rebuilt.
There’s no way I’m imagining it, she thought. But what explanation could there be? What was it about her kits – the bravest, kindest, and most perfect cats she’d ever met? It made no sense! And yet, she was positive it was true. Something was deeply, deeply wrong with the four young cats. But what? And why was Lakeheart the only one who felt it? She confided in her friends Brackenpelt and Shimmerpelt, the medicine cats, and even her mate Lizardfang. All of them looked at her like she was crazy.
I am not crazy, she thought fiercely. There is something wrong here, and I’m the only one who can fix it.
Lakeheart felt soft fur brush her own as Shimmerpelt settled down beside her. “What are you thinking about?” she asked, the sunlight streaming into the den sparkling on her silver fur. She blinked her friendly blue eyes at Lakeheart.
Lakeheart knew she couldn’t tell her friend what she was actually thinking about. “The weather is really nice today,” she meowed, thinking fast.
Shimmerpelt blinked. “And that’s why you’ve been sitting in your den all day?”
“Oh, I, yeah, that’s what I was thinking. I was thinking the weather is so nice I should go outside right about now.” That’s the most obviously lie I’ve ever heard, Lakeheart scolded herself.
Sure enough, Shimmerpelt didn’t look convinced. “Riiiight. Okay then,” she said with narrow eyes.
Lakeheart stood up. “I have to talk with Mothwing and Willowshine. See you later, okay?” She mostly just wanted to get away from Shimmerpelt, but also had an idea on how to fix her problem.
“Okayyy,” Shimmerpelt said, her head tilted to the side. “I was thinking you, me, and Brackenpelt could go for a swim later? But if you’re too busy...”
“No, no, sure I can, later.” Lakeheart was halfway out the den. “Of course. See you then!” She bounded away, leaving Shimmerpelt watching her, bewildered.
“Mothwing!” Lakeheart ducked under the thorn bush overhanging the medicine den.
The golden she-cat blinked, putting down the sharp-scented leaves the was holding in her mouth. “Lakeheart? What’s the matter?”
“I want to go to the Moonpool,” the gray tabby announced. Her heart was beating fast. Please, please say yes. Oh StarClan, she’s going to say no, isn’t she? Why did I think I could –
“If you really feel like you need to,” Mothwing said.
Thank you, StarClan! Lakeheart’s heart soared. “Can we go now?” she asked eagerly.
“I’ll have to finish sorting my herbs,” Mothwing answered with a glance at the leaves she was holding. “And ask Mistystar for permission.”
Medicine cats need permission to do their job? Who knew, Lakeheart thought. “That’s fine,” she said out loud. “I’ll see if there’s any patrolling needing to be done, or something.”
“Willowshine is gathering catmint, if you want to help her,” Mothwing suggested.
I really don’t, thanks. “Sure, that would be fun, thanks!” Lakeheart mewed. The medicine cat nodded and went back to sorting the herbs.
Lakeheart tried to look cheerful as she went to meet Willowshine. By this time tomorrow, I’ll have this solved.
Chapter Two
“You’re going to the Moonpool?” Harepaw asked. “Can I come?” The white tom blinked his hope-filled amber eyes, the exact shade of Lizardtail’s, at Lakeheart.
“I’m sorry, precious.” Lakeheart licked him between the ears, pushing aside the twinge of wrongness the action brought. “But usually only medicine cats –”
“He can come,” Mothwing interrupted, padding up to Lakeheart’s side. She places two bundles of herbs on the ground. “I’ll just have Willowshine make one more batch of travelling herbs.”
“Are you sure StarClan will be okay with that?” Lakeheart asked.
Something flashed in the medicine cat’s amber eyes for a split second. “I’m sure they won’t mind,” she mumbled.
The tortoiseshell elder Mosspelt lifted her head from where she was dozing in a patch of sunshine. “Back at the old forest, all apprentices had to visit the Moonstone at least once. I miss those days...we left so many traditions behind.” Shaking her head, she settled back down.
“Like she said,” Mothwing said, regaining her composure. “It will be good experience for him.”
“Yay!” Harepaw jumped up and down. “I’m going to the Moonpool!”
Lakeheart rolled her eyes. That cat still acts like a kit sometimes, she thought, love warming her heart. She knew no matter what she found out, he would always be her son, and she would always love him.
-
“Touch your nose to the pool,” Mothwing instructed. “And try to keep still.” Harepaw was quivering with excitement.
“Are you coming with us?” Lakeheart asked.
Mothwing looked away. “No,” she said. “I feel like this is something you have to do yourself.”
“You’re probably right,” Lakeheart murmured, touching her nose to the Moonpool and closing her eyes.
She opened her eyes in an unfamiliar place. An island, surrounded by reeds, dotted with woven dens.
“Where are we?” Harepaw asked beside her.
“This is RiverClan’s old camp.” A huge brown tabby tom with starlight sparkling in his fur padded up to the two living cats. “My name is Volestar.” He regarded Lakeheart with curiosity in his green eyes. “I must say, I never expected to see you here.”
“I was hoping you could give me answers,” Lakeheart explained. She couldn’t help gazing around the camp in awe; she never expected to see this place or be face-to-face with one of the past leaders of RiverClan. She spotted more long-gone RiverClan cats she didn’t recognize gazing at her and Harepaw. “You see, I – I’ve always had this feeling.” She glanced guiltily at Harepaw. She never wanted any of her kits to hear this. “Around my kits. Like something’s...wrong.”
Volestar just stared at her with an unreadable expression. “I see,” he finally said.
“Do you have any idea why?” Lakeheart insisted. “How can I fix it?”
Volestar sat down with a sigh and curled his tail around his paws. “You see...” he began reluctantly. “We – StarClan – made a mistake. You were never supposed to know.”
“What happened?” Lakeheart demanded. Her mind was whirling. How could StarClan make a mistake?
“Keep in mind not all of us were in agreement,” Volestar said. “Now, listen. You were supposed to have four kits.”
“And I do.” Lakeheart knew she shouldn’t be interrupting a leader, much less a StarClan leader, but it was all so confusing!
“Not always. First, you have to know, Heathertail of WindClan is supposed to have two kits in a couple seasons. We...reversed your destinies. You had two kits, and and it was suddenly written into her destiny that she would have four. All the RiverClan cats in StarClan debated for moons on what to do about it. Finally, the decision was made to fix it.”
Lakeheart just stared at him, speechless. “I...I don’t understand,” she was finally able to mew softly.
“I’m sorry.” Volestar dipped his head. “It’s hard for many of us to understand. But it seems,” he continued, “that the love of a mother is impossible to completely erase. That’s why you always knew something was wrong.”
“What about the love of a father?” Lakeheart demanded. “Does Lizardtail not love our kits?”
“Of course he does,” the leader answered. “I know myself how powerful a father’s love is. But Lizardtail is more concerned with what other cats think of him than you are. He doesn’t want to admit to being any different than anyone else. I’m sure he’s always felt the same you have.”
“So,” Harepaw said in a small voice. “I’m not supposed to exist?”
Lakeheart pressed close to her kit, horror filling her heart. “Of – of course you’re supposed to exist,” she tried to reassure him.
“He is; don’t worry,” Volestar said.
“But what about my...original kits?” Lakeheart protested. “What happened to them?” The kits who actually weren’t supposed to exist?
“I want to go home,” Harepaw whimpered. Lakeheart gently licked his ear.
“I understand, sweetheart,” she murmured sympathetically. This was all too much for her; how much worse must it be for an apprentice like Harepaw? “Just wake up.”
Harepaw nodded. He closed his eyes, and quickly faded away.
Another cat, this one small and black-and-white, padded up to Volestar and nosed him aside. “I can explain, if you want,” she meowed.
“Thanks, Echosnout,” Volestar replied. For the first time Lakeheart realized how uncomfortable he looked.
Echosnout turned her sympathetic gaze to Lakeheart. “I’m sorry, but I have to be blunt here. They’re gone.”
“Do you mean you killed them?” Lakeheart forced her bristling fur flat, but couldn’t keep the pure anger out of her voice.
“We removed them from existence,” Echosnout murmured. “There’s a place they go – you remember Great Battle? At that time many StarClan and Dark Forest cats were killed. They go to a place completely disconnected from the living Clans, StarClan, and the Dark Forest. Someplace they can be at peace forever.”
“And you just sent my kits there,” Lakeheart said slowly, “without asking me, my mate, or the kits themselves? Without even telling us after the fact? Without telling Harepaw, Dapplepaw, Softpaw, and Gorsepaw they aren’t my true kits? You crowfood-eating snake-hearts!” Lakeheart’s voice had risen to a screech, her fur bristling and whole body trembling with anger. Her unsheathed claws dug into the marshy ground.
Echosnout was clearly taking great effort to stay calm. “We truly never meant to hurt you,” she said. “Gorsepaw, Dapplepaw, Softpaw, Harepaw – they are your true kits, just as much as Wavepaw and Cypresspaw were.”
“And you never even bothered to tell me their names until now,” Lakeheart hissed.
“If it would make it any better, I can restore your full memories of them,” Echosnout offered.
As if that would help! “Do that,” she growled, “and bring them back.”
“I can’t,” Echosnout said. “No cat can cross from there to StarClan and back. Except...”
“Except?” Lakeheart prompted.
“The five Clan founders,” Echosnout meowed reluctantly. “But they usually aren’t too keen on doing it.”
“I don’t care! These are my kits we’re talking about!”
Echosnout dipped her head in defeat. “I’ll do my best,” she said. “Wait here, okay? This might take a while.”
Chapter Three
Memories came rushing back to Lakeheart. Naming Wavekit, a silver-and-white she-kit, and her brown-and-white sister, Cypresskit. Their eyes opening to reveal bright green and hazel. Playing with them outside the nursery, teaching them to swim. Their apprentice ceremony, their first Gathering. And then it ended. That’s when the replacement took place, when the strange feeling of wrongness began.
Oh, my sweet kits, she thought mournfully. I’ll fix this, I promise. She loved them just as much as Softpaw, Harepaw, Dapplepaw, and Gorsepaw.
A terrible thought suddenly flashed in her mind. When I get Wavepaw and Cypresspaw back, will I have to give up my current litter? She couldn’t imagine it. Please, please, please let me keep both.
“Lakeheart?” Echosnout was finally back, a silver tabby tom behind her. “This is Riverstar. He can take you to the...uh, what’s the name of your hunting grounds again?”
“That isn’t important,” Riverstar said. “Lakeheart? Follow me.”
Lakeheart padded at his side, awed by meeting the greatest RiverClan leader of all time.
He dove into the river, and Lakeheart followed. When she surfaced, she wasn’t in the forest at the other side of the camp. Instead, she was in a wide open field, cloudy stardust under her paws taking the place of grass. Glowing starry lights floated all around in the air. The sky was a dark, inky black. It was beautiful in an eerie way.
There was a sudden, blinding flash of white light. When it faded, Lakeheart found herself in a new field of lush grass with a sparkling river cutting through it. Standing at the edge of the river were two cats: one silver-and-white and the other brown-and-white. Wavepaw and Cypresspaw.
“I’ll leave the conversation to you.” Riverstar sat down and curled his tail neatly around his paws.
Lakeheart padded hesitantly up to her daughters. Wavepaw’s ear twitched and she turned her head. Her green eyes widened. “Lakeheart?” she whispered.
“What?” Cypresspaw jumped to her paws and turned around. Her eyes lit up. “Lakeheart!” She ran up to her mother, and the two she-cats covered each other with licks.
“I missed you so much!” Cypresspaw cried.
“So did I!” Wavepaw ran up to join them.
“I missed you, too,” Lakeheart said, nuzzling each apprentices’ cheek. Ever since those snake-hearted StarClan cats told me about you, at least, she thought, fresh anger flaring in her belly.
“Why are you here?” Wavepaw asked, pulling back. “You’re still alive.”
“I came to get you,” Lakeheart told her. “You’re coming home with me.”
“But don’t you have new kits now?” Cypresspaw asked in a small voice.
Lakeheart felt a pang in her heart. “I have other kits,” she admitted. “But they can’t replace you. I love you two and them the same. You’re all my kits.” Cypresspaw purred, pressing close to her chest.
“You know we can’t go back,” Wavepaw said softly.
“Of course you can!” Lakeheart said. “Riverstar can bring all of us –”
Wavepaw fixed her serious green eyes on Lakeheart’s. “Your other kits only exist because we don’t. If we come back into existence, they will come here. Volestar told us that.”
Lakeheart’s heart broke. It was her worst fear come true. “But I want all of you,” she choked out.
“I want to be with you, too.” Wavepaw rubbed her cheek against Lakeheart’s. “And I would love to meet your other kits. I’m sure they’re great.”
“They are,” Lakeheart whispered. “But so are you.”
“Can you stay a while, please?” Cypresspaw asked, looking up at her mother with tear-filled hazel eyes.
“I would love to,” Lakeheart said, licking her between the ears. “But I have to get back to Mothwing and Harepaw...”
“Just a little while?” Cypresspaw insisted. Looking into her eyes, Lakeheart couldn’t resist.
“A little while,” she promised.
Chapter Four
“I’m ready to go back,” Lakeheart told Riverstar. It was a lie. She didn’t want to lose her kits again. But she had no choice; she had to go back to RiverClan and her other litter sometime.
He nodded, and with a flash, the field went back to what it originally was – clouds and starlight.
“How do you do that?” Lakeheart asked.
“Each cat here has his or her own hunting grounds,” he explained. “It looks however they want it to.”
“I understand,” Lakeheart murmured. All she could think about was losing her kits.
Riverstar crouched, then leaped, diving into the starlight as if it was water. Lakeheart followed.
She suddenly woke up at the edge of the Moonpool.
“You're finally awake!” Mothwing exclaimed. “I almost thought I’d have to go after you.”
“I’m sorry.” Lakeheart looked around for Harepaw. She found him curled up in a normal sleep. “Harepaw?” she mewed, rubbing his shoulder with a paw. He shifted in his sleep and murmured something Lakeheart couldn’t understand.
“He can go back to sleep when we get home,” Mothwing said with an edge to her voice. “It’s already moonhigh. You were asleep for hours.”
“Sorry,” Lakeheart said again, tickling Harepaw’s nose with her fluffy tail. He finally opened his eyes a crack.
“But I don’t wanna go on dawn patrol,” he yawned, rolling onto his back.
“You don’t have to,” Lakeheart whispered in his ear. “You just have to come with me back to your nice, warm nest, and then you can go back to sleep.”
“Okay.” Harepaw got to his paws, remembering where he was. “Let’s go.”
On the journey back to RiverClan, Lakeheart reflected on her kits – all her kits. Silly Harepaw, clumsy Softpaw, optimistic Dapplepaw, brave Gorsepaw, serious Wavepaw, and sensitive Cypresspaw. They were all so, so perfect. She couldn’t choose any over the others.
The three cats dove into the lake, swimming across to RiverClan territory. It was safer than crossing WindClan territory, who had been unpredictable lately.
They finally made it back to camp. All three cats went straight to their separate dens, exhausted.
Lakeheart curled into her nest, next to Lizardtail’s. Her mate opened his eyes. “Where were you?” he murmured sleepily.
“The Moonpool,” Lakeheart answered with a yawn.
“The Moonpool?” he asked in disbelief. “What were you doing there?”
“Getting answers.”
“Answers?”
Lakeheart looked into his eyes. “I know you’ve felt the same about our kits. Like there was something wrong about them.”
“Our kits are perfect!” Lizardtail protested, although Lakeheart could tell he knew what she was talking about.
“They are,” she agreed. “They all are.”
“What are you saying?” he asked.
“I met our daughters,” Lakeheart whispered. “Wavepaw and Cypresspaw.”
“Wavepaw and –” Lizardtail’s eyes widened. “Wavepaw and Cypresspaw!” he exclaimed, sounding excited. Then confusion clouded his eyes. “Wait, but Softpaw and – what...what’s going on?”
It seemed their names triggered Lizardtail’s memories of them. Lakeheart explained what the StarClan cats had told her about their lost kits – and what Wavepaw and Cypresspaw themselves said, that they can only keep one group of kits.
She could see Lizardtail was having as much trouble accepting this as Lakeheart had herself. “What do we do?” he asked.
“Good question,” Lakeheart murmured. I finally know the truth, she thought. Now what do I do with it?
Chapter Five
“I can’t stay here,” Lakeheart told Mistystar.
“You want to become a rogue?” The blue she-cat narrowed her eyes.
“No, no, not like that. StarClan told me I have to,” Lakeheart said, thinking fast.
Mistystar tilted her head. “Really? Did they tell you why?”
“They – they said it would only become apparent during my journey,” Lakeheart meowed.
Mistystar blinked slowly. “Okay,” she finally meowed. “I cannot ignore the will of StarClan.”
“Thank you so much.” Lakeheart dipped her head. “I’ll be back as soon as I can.”
“I hope it won’t be long,” Mistystar murmured. “We need all the warriors we can get.”
“I know,” Lakeheart meowed. “Thank you, again.” She ducked out of the leaders’ den.
She glanced at her kits, play-fighting in the early dawn light. I’ve never seen Dapplepaw up so early without being forced, she thought with a purr.
But her kits were exactly the reason she had to leave. She needed time to reflect on her own away from the Clan and her responsibilities, and especially away from her kits.
Goodbye, my precious kits, she thought. I’ll be back as soon as I can, I promise.
-
Lakeheart took her first steps out of Clan territory. Am I being selfish? she wondered. She shook her head. No. I have to do this. The existence of all my kits – and my sanity – depends on it.
Lizardtail had assured her he could handle the truth as well as carry on with his duties as a warrior and father. I don’t have to worry about him, Lakeheart tried to reassure herself. Oh, but I know I will!
The sun shone on her back, but dark clouds were on the horizon. She would need to find a dry place to sleep before the day was over. She missed the warm, waterproof dens of RiverClan already.
Looking to a distance, she could see the tops of Twoleg dens. She shook her head. I can’t stay there. A warrior rejects the life of a kittypet, and I’m sure every good sleeping place has already been claimed by strays.
She would have to get through the Twolegplace before the storm hit. There was nothing but open meadow at all other sides, no place to shelter. Lakeheart broke into a run.
-
Thunder shook the ground as Lakeheart took her first steps into the Twolegplace. The rain was already pounding on the earth, like the world was under one big waterfall. Lakeheart was used to being wet, but standing around in the rain wasn’t as fun as swimming.
Her belly rumbled, but she doubted there would be any fish – or even land prey – in the Twolegplace. I should have asked for travelling herbs before I left, she thought regretfully.
First in order of importance, though, was getting out of the rain. She dashed through the Twolegplace, paws slipping on the slick stone.
“Hey!” a voice called, but Lakeheart paid no attention. It was probably a kittypet calling to one of its neighbors. “Hey, I’m talking to you! Cat in the road! Gray guy!”
Is she talking to me? She stopped, scanning the Twoleg dens. She couldn’t see anyone; the rain was pouring too hard. She blinked it out of her eyes.
Something crashed into her from behind. “Get out of here!”
Lakeheart spun around with a hiss. “What do you want?” she asked, unsheathing her claws.
It was an orange-brown she-cat with hazel eyes and a pink collar around her neck. A kittypet. “I want,” she said, “for you to get out of the road.”
Lakeheart just stared at her. “What in the world is a road?”
The sound of thunder filled the air once more, the stone shaking under Lakeheart’s paws.
“Come on!” hissed the kittypet. “Just – quit asking questions and follow me! Quick!”
Lakeheart decided to humor the kittypet, dashing across the stone after her. As soon as her tail left the edge of the path, a monster roared by, sending dirty water showering over her fur.
Oh, she thought, staring at the place she’d nearly died. Road is the kittypet word for Thunderpath. What do you know?
“Come with me,” the kittypet said. “I know a safe place. Out of the rain, too.”
Lakeheart took a step back. “Thank you for saving my life,” she began, “but I’m a warrior. I don’t stay in Twoleg dens.”
The she-cat’s eyes clouded. “I don’t live in a housefolk house, if that’s what you mean,” she meowed. “Now come with me unless you want to catch a cold.”
Lakeheart tilted her head. It was like this kittypet was speaking a different language. But if she was offering her free shelter, Lakeheart had no choice but to follow her.
Chapter Six
The kittypet’s name was Copper, Lakeheart learned. Her “housefolk” had died, and from then on she lived in an old, abandoned “house”.
“I’m so sorry,” Lakeheart had said. She couldn’t imagine having such a close bond to a Twoleg, but she imagined it must be like your whole Clan dying.
“Don’t worry about it,” Copper had replied, but her voice was thick with grief.
They reached her house. Copper hopped up to the door. “Come on in,” she urged.
Something else had caught Lakeheart’s attention, a small pond in the yard. “Are there fish in there?” she asked.
“Hm? Oh, yeah,” Copper said, sounding like she had no idea why Lakeheart would be interested. She purred. “I expect their pond will overflow and they’ll take over the yard! Do you think there’s enough rain a fish would be able to breathe out here?”
“I hope not. I have no practice catching fish on land,” Lakeheart replied from the edge of the pond.
“Catch fish?” Copper sounded confused. “There’s plenty of mice in the house, just so you know.”
“Fish is better,” Lakeheart insisted.
“If you say so.” Copper was clearly unconvinced. “I’ll be inside.” Out of the corner of her eye Lakeheart saw the kittypet squeeze through a hole in the door.
She crouched at the edge of the water. The fish looked strange to her; brightly colored, orange and blue and white. But they were plump and obviously had never been hunted before.
StarClan must still be looking after me, she thought with satisfaction. She easily caught and devoured a meal. She knew the warrior code said to feed other cats first, but Copper was obviously capable for hunting for herself and preferred mice to fish. Besides, she and Copper were both outside the warrior code now.
Her belly full, Lakeheart rushed through the hole in the door. Dry at last! She shook out her fur.
“That was quick,” Copper commented. She was lying on something unlike anything Lakeheart had ever seen.
“What is that?” she asked, indicating to it.
Copper blinked. “A couch. And this is a blanket,” she added, touching another object on the “couch” with her paw. “Wow, I don’t envy you.”
“What do you mean?”
“No couches? No blankets? No houses? How do you stay warm and comfortable?”
“We have dens,” Lakeheart said. “And moss and reeds and bracken. And our denmates. It’s more than enough.”
Copper tried to suppress a snort of laughter. “Yeah, right, okay. If you say so.”
Lakeheart just flicked her ears irritably. She didn’t expect a kittypet-slash-loner to understand, anyway.
“Why are you here, anyway?” Copper yawned, curling up on the blanket. “Don’t you have any warrior-ing to do?”
“I came to think,” Lakeheart answered, settling down herself on the floor.
“About what?”
“Nothing you’d understand.” I barely understand it myself.
“Okay then.” Copper rolled her eyes. “You keep your secrets.”
Lakeheart ignored her, tucking her nose under her tail. After her journey, she was too tired to talk to nosy kittypets. Or think about messed-up destinies.
I can figure this out tomorrow, she thought, giving in to sleep.
Chapter Seven
Sun shone through the broken windows of the house, waking Lakeheart up.
She glanced up at the couch. Copper was still asleep.
Now I can think in peace, she thought in relief. But first, she needed to eat.
She crawled through the hole in the door. It was cold outside, the grass wet as the marsh on RiverClan’s territory. Luckily, the fish had not escaped the pond and taken over the yard.
After eating her fill of fish, she went back inside. Copper was gone. She must have gone hunting, Lakeheart guessed.
She curled on the floor. Now what do I do? Isn’t there some way me and all my kits can all live together? There had to be. She wouldn’t give up until she found it.
Why does it have to be this way? she realized. She had just blindly accepted what StarClan and her daughters told her.
I don’t have to accept this, she told herself fiercely. Why would StarClan always know best? Did dying immediately grant you boundless wisdom?
She had to go back. She had to question them. Who cared if it wasn’t an ordinary cat’s place to question her warrior ancestors? These were her kits they were talking about!
Did that mean she had to go back to the Moonpool? It was nearly a day’s journey away.
Maybe I can just dream myself there? She knew StarClan sometimes visited cats’ dreams away from the Moonpool – but that only happened to important cats.
It’s worth a try. She laid down and closed her eyes, willing herself to StarClan’s hunting grounds.
She heard the murmuring of a river. She opened her eyes to find herself in RiverClan’s old camp. It worked!
“Volestar!” she called. In a burst of starlight, the old leader was in front of her. “I have more questions,” she announced.
“Okay –” began Volestar. Lakeheart cut him off.
“Why can’t all six of my kits be with me?”
“We told you,” Volestar sighed. “We reverse your and Heathertail’s destinies –”
“And why would bringing Wavepaw and Cypresspaw back remove Softpaw, Harepaw, Dapplepaw, and Gorsepaw from existence?”
“That’s just the way it is,” Volestar stated.
Lakeheart narrowed her eyes. “Do you even know why?”
“Destiny is a tricky and fragile thing. It would be disastrous to mess with it any more than we have,” he explained.
“It’s a risk I’m willing to take,” said Lakeheart.
The old medicine cat – Echosnout – came to stand beside Volestar. “I think there is a way you can spend some time with your kits,” she told Lakeheart.
“And that is?” she demanded.
“I can send their spirits to you. But no other cat will be able to see, hear, or smell them. They would only exist to you.”
“Why didn’t you do that before?” Lakeheart asked.
“I wasn’t sure it was possible. I spent a great deal of time thinking since you last visited,” she explained.
“Well, do it now!”
The medicine cat dipped her head. “Of course. Wake up; you’ll know when they’ve arrived. I think someone is trying to talk to you.”
“Really?” Lakeheart woke up to find herself staring into wide hazel eyes.
Copper leaped back. “Oh, thank goodness! I’ve been trying to wake you up for ages. I thought you were dead!”
“Well, I wasn’t.” No other cat would be able to see Wavepaw and Cypresspaw. That meant Lakeheart had to distance herself from Copper. “But I’m not feeling well.” She coughed feebly, hoping it sounded convincing. “Is there any place I can go to recover?”
“I can find a housefolk to bring you to the vet –”
“No!” Maybe that was too forceful for a supposedly sick cat. Lakeheart lowered her voice, trying to sound pathetic. “A warrior rejects the easy life of a kittypet.”
“Even vet visits? What happens when you get sick?” Copper asked.
“Our medicine cats heal us with herbs.”
“Medicine cats? Herbs?” Copper tilted her head.
“It doesn’t matter. It’s just a little cough; I’ll be fine.”
“Okay,” Copper said with a shrug. “There are plenty of rooms here. You can pick any to have all to yourself.” Her tail shot up. “I know! You can have one of the bedrooms.”
“Bedrooms?”
“Follow me.”
To get to the “bedroom,” the cats had to climb the “stairs”. It reminded Lakeheart of the path to the Moonpool. The door to the room had a gap in it much like the door to the house.
“The bed is really comfy,” Copper told her. “And you get some nice blankets and pillows.”
“Thanks,” Lakeheart mewed. She didn’t know what half of those words were, but she decided it didn’t matter.
“Get better soon!” Copper called as she left the room.
Lakeheart jumped onto the bed and settled down. Today she would get to be with her kits again!
Chapter Eight
“Lakeheart?” A soft nose nudged the gray she-cat’s cheek.
Copper? she wondered. No, the voice wasn’t right. Lakeheart opened her eyes, realizing she’d fallen asleep while waiting.
Two young cats were sitting on the bed next to her. She could see straight through their fur.
“Wavepaw! Cypresspaw!” she exclaimed. She nuzzled each apprentice. Cypresspaw snuggled up next to her.
“We’re so happy to be here,” Wavepaw mewed, her eyes sparkling.
“I’m happy you’re here too,” replied Lakeheart.
“Echosnout says we can stay as long as we want as long as we don’t return to RiverClan,” Cypresspaw said.
“That’s wonderful.” Lakeheart was too overcome with emotion to think of anything else.
“Is there any good food here?” Cypresspaw blinked hopefully.
Lakeheart nodded. “There’s a fish pond outside. And Copper – the loner who lives here – says there’s lots of mice inside.”
Wavepaw made a face. “Mice? Ew.” Lakeheart and Cypresspaw purred in agreement.
“I can’t wait to go fishing and swimming and exploring and playing together,” Cypresspaw said. “We haven’t gotten to do that in so long!”
“There was that time Lakeheart visited us,” Wavepaw reminded her.
“Yeah, but that wasn’t long enough,” replied Cypresspaw. “We hardly got to do anything.” She blinked at Lakeheart. “Can we start right now? Want to go swimming?”
“Of course,” Lakeheart purred.
The three cats made their way outside to the fish pond.
Cypresspaw peered into it. “Do you think Twolegs built this den by this pond because they like to fish and swim too?”
“Maybe they built the pond themselves,” suggested Wavepaw.
“What? That’s crazy,” scoffed Cypresspaw. “I don’t think that’s even possible.”
“I’m not sure it’s possible for Twolegs to swim or fish,” Lakeheart commented. “They’re too big and slow.”
Cypresspaw purred in amusement. “It’s true, though!” said Wavepaw.
Lakeheart easily hooked a fish in her claws, flinging it into the air. She caught it in her jaws and crushed its spine.
“My turn!” Cypresspaw meowed. A fish flashed near the surface. She easily caught it, despite having only a moon of training.
“Good job!” Lakeheart said, impressed.
“We had lots of practice after...uh...our kind-of-death,” Wavepaw told her.
Lakeheart’s tail drooped. “I’m really sorry,” she murmured.
“It’s not your fault,” Wavepaw assured her.
“And we get to be together now!” Cypresspaw added.
After Wavepaw made her catch, they all ate together. It was the first time they got to do so in so long.
“How much of the Twoleg den have you seen?” Cypresspaw asked after they finished.
“Just two rooms,” Lakeheart answered.
“Then we can explore it together!” Cypresspaw meowed happily.
Lakeheart purred. “Let’s just try to stay out of the way of Copper. She thinks I’m sick.”
Wavepaw looked up from washing her silver and white paws. “In that case, I’m sure she’ll avoid you.”
“You’re probably right,” Lakeheart said. “Let’s go.”
Chapter Nine
Lakeheart didn’t know how many moons it had been since she arrived at the Twolegplace and her daughters had arrived. At first, she thought she would never be happier, but lately she’d been missing RiverClan and her other kits.
“Can you tell us about your other kits?” Cypresspaw blinked at Lakeheart.
“Well, their names are Softpaw, Harepaw, Dapplepaw, and Gorsepaw...” Lakeheart went on to tell them about her kits’ personalities, eye and fur colors, and her favorite memories of them.
“I wish we could meet them,” Cypresspaw sighed. “Why can’t we?”
“That’s right. Echosnout didn’t tell us why,” added Wavepaw.
“She didn’t tell me either,” Lakeheart realized. “I can go back to StarClan and – no.” She knew from experience the StarClan cats wouldn’t give her a good answer, just go on about how dangerous messing with destiny is. “You know what? Let’s go back to RiverClan. All of us.”
“What if something bad happens?” Wavepaw asked.
“We’ll take that risk,” Lakeheart decided. “I see no reason why it's okay for you to be here but not at RiverClan.” What did location have to do with her kits' existence? It must just be old, long-dead cats being paranoid.
Cypresspaw bounced up and down. “I can’t wait!”
“You’ll have to wait for just a second,” Lakeheart told her. “I have to talk to Copper.” She left her kits on the bed to go find the orange-brown loner.
“Copper?” she called. Lakeheart found her in her favorite room – the one with the couch.
“What’s up?” Copper asked.
“I’m feeling better,” Lakeheart told her. “Thank you for saving me and letting me stay in your den, but I have to get back to RiverClan.”
Copper got up and padded up to Lakeheart to touch noses with her. “I understand,” she mewed. “I’ll miss you.”
“Me too,” Lakeheart said.
“Will you ever come back?” Copper asked.
“I might come to visit someday, if you want,” said Lakeheart. “But I’ve found my place is with my family.”
-
Lakeheart, Wavepaw, and Cypresspaw stood on the edge of RiverClan territory. Lakeheart took a deep breath and braced herself. “Let’s go,” she said. The three cats took their first steps across the border.
Nothing happened.
“I wasn’t sure what I was expecting,” Wavepaw commented.
“StarClan must have been wrong,” Lakeheart said.
“I’ve never heard of StarClan being wrong before,” said Cypresspaw.
“I’m sure they have been wrong a lot more often than they’d have us believe,” guessed Wavepaw.
“Let’s stop standing around!” Cypresspaw dashed ahead. “I can’t wait to see everyone again!” Wavepaw and Lakeheart ran after her.
Before long, they made it to RiverClan’s camp. Brackenpelt raised her head from where she was eating a fish and looked at Lakeheart.
“You’re back!” she exclaimed. She ran up to Lakeheart and rubbed her muzzle against her cheek.
“I’m glad to see you too,” Lakeheart purred. “Do you know where Lizardtail is?”
“Lizardtail!” called Brackenpelt. The light brown tom poked his head out of the warriors’ den, then ran up to Lakeheart.
“Welcome home!” he purred. He blinked, looking straight at Wavepaw, then Cypresspaw. “You –”
Lakeheart rested her tail on his shoulder. “We can talk about that later,” she whispered. He blinked at her in confusion, but said nothing.
“Lakeheart!” Her four kits ran up to her and tackled her to the ground.
“We missed you!” Softpaw mewed.
“I missed you, too,” Lakeheart purred.
“Just wait til you hear what’s happened since you’ve been gone,” Dapplepaw meowed, waving his fluffy gray-and-white tail. “There was this major storm –”
“SkyClan left, but Lizardtail helped bring them back,” Gorsepaw cut in.
“Juniperclaw saved Shadowpaw from drowning,” added Softpaw. “But then he drowned instead. If only every Clan learned to swim.” She shook her head.
“Most importantly,” said Harepaw, “we got our warrior names! I’m Harelight.”
Lakeheart’s eyes glowed with pride. “Congratulation!”
“And I’m Softpelt! And these are Dappletuft and Gorseclaw.”
“I’m so proud of all of you,” Lakeheart purred. My precious kits, I missed you so much. Suddenly a thought flashed in Lakeheart’s mind. “Have any of you heard anything about Heathertail?”
“The WindClan cat?” Lizardtail blinked. “I’ve heard she has a new litter of two kits now: Woodkit and Applekit. Why?”
So Heathertail’s destiny has been fulfilled, Lakeheart thought. Wavepaw and Cypresspaw being here along with Softpelt, Harelight, Dappletuft, and Gorseclaw didn't stop that.
She stood up and shook the snow from her pelt. “Lizardtail, I need to speak to you alone.”
“Okay,” he mewed, sounding confused.
He followed her, Wavepaw, and Cypresspaw out of camp.
“These are Wavepaw and Cypresspaw,” she told him.
He nodded. “I recognized them the moment I saw them. But how...?”
“It’s confusing,” Lakeheart sighed. “But basically, Echosnout and Riverstar were able to bring their spirits back, but it seems only cats that remember them are able to see them.”
“So we just have to remind the Clan about them and they can be with us again?” Lizardtail’s eyes sparkled.
Lakeheart remembered how Lizardtail’s memories were restored just from hearing their names. But that was because of his love for them; would it work the same for the rest of the Clan?
We have to try, she told herself. The Clan needs to know the truth.
Chapter Ten
The Clan just stared at Lakeheart. Why did I think this would work? she hissed to herself.
At least Lizardtail stood beside her. “Please try to remember,” he urged in a desperate voice.
Now the cats started murmuring to each other. Lakeheart pricked her ears. The snippets of conversation she was able to hear told her some cats were starting to remember.
Softpelt stepped up shyly. “But how are we supposed to remember them? We’ve never even met them.” She waved her tail at her littermates, and they nodded.
“And who are your true kits?” Gorseclaw twitched his gray ears.
“You all are,” Lakeheart told him. “Because I love all of you.” She directed her attention to Softpelt. “I know. But you...you believe me, don’t you?” The gray she-cat nodded. “Then that will have to be enough,” Lakeheart decided.
“I’d like to have more siblings,” Dappletuft meowed. “I’ll do my best for you, Lakeheart.”
“Thank you.” Lakeheart dipped her head to him.
Cypresspaw pressed against Lakeheart. “I agree with Dappletuft.”
Wavepaw had her ears pricked. “It seems almost everyone remembers us now!” She sounded delighted. Lakeheart noticed most of the gathered cats were looking directly at Wavepaw or Cypresspaw.
“I’m sorry we forgot you two,” Brackenpelt called.
“It’s not your fault.” Wavepaw dipped her head.
“And I’m sorry to you, Lakeheart,” Shimmerpelt added. “For not listening to you.”
“Thank you,” Lakeheart meowed.
Most of the Clan murmured in agreement with Brackenpelt and Shimmerpelt.
Lizardpelt’s eyes shone. “I’m so glad this worked,” he whispered to Lakeheart.
“Me too,” she replied. Their daughters nodded their agreement.
Mistystar stepped up from the front of the crowd. “I apologize on the behalf of RiverClan,” she mewed. “For all –”
“I see them! Finally!” exclaimed Harelight. He blinked, realizing he just interrupted the leader. “Sorry,” he mumbled, hanging his head.
Mistystar just gave him a narrow-eyed glance before turning back to the two apprentices.
“For all you’ve been through,” she continued, “I’m sure StarClan would agree you deserve your warrior names.”
Cypresspaw couldn’t suppress a squeal of excitement. “Thank you, thank you!”
Lakeheart watched with pride as she saw her daughters receive the names Wavesplash and Cypresswind.
She purred as she leaned against Lizardtail and the two new warriors went to join Softpelt, Harelight, Dappletuft, and Gorseclaw.
“You’ll have to sit vigil,” Lakeheart reminded them.
Lizardtail nudged her shoulder. “They can meet their siblings first, can’t they?”
“Of course,” mewed Lakeheart.
StarClan was wrong; she knew it. All six of her kits were together, and both her and Heathertail’s destinies were fulfilled.
Maybe something good did come out of this, though, she thought. Now I have six wonderful kits instead of two or four.
She knew it didn’t matter what her destiny was. All that mattered was her love of her kits, which stretched beyond the limits of destiny. It changed destiny; didn’t that mean nothing was set in stone?
Lakeheart knew that wasn’t fully true. Her love of her kits – all of them – was set in stone. Nothing in the world could ever make her love them any less.
She finally knew the truth, and now she was happier than she ever imagined she could be.
I know I'm not a very good writer but I did my best ¯\_(ツ)_/¯
Chapter One
Now that she had time to think, Lakeheart was positive something was wrong.
The past moons had been chaotic, one distaster after another – the evil rogue Darktail and his “Kin” coming to the lake, taking over ShadowClan and Lakeheart’s own Clan, RiverClan; a fifth Clan no one had ever heard of making their place at the lake; ShadowClan’s existence ending all together, its remaining members joining SkyClan; a fire sweeping through RiverClan’s camp.
Lakeheart remembered the heart-stopping fear as her daughter, Softpaw, was caught in the fire. She only survived thanks to the brave ThunderClan apprentice, Twigpaw. As she licked the small gray cat all over, holding her fiercly close as if she could disappear any second, Lakeheart felt a flash of wrongness.
It wasn’t a feeling she was unfamiliar with; she had first felt it when leaving her kits’ first Gathering, many moons ago. Softpaw, Harepaw, Dapplepaw, and Gorsepaw pressed close to her side, excitedly chattering on about all they learned and the new friends they’d met. She pushed the strange feeling aside. She had to be happy for her kits. They had been looking forward to this since the moment they opened their eyes.
Since then, every time Lakeheart was in close contact with her kits, she felt that flash of wrongness. She thought she must be imagining things. Maybe she was coming down with something? None of Willowshine and Mothwing’s herbs worked, though.
She had no time to reflect on it until now, now that Darktail was dead, ShadowClan was back, SkyClan was settled, and RiverClan’s camp was rebuilt.
There’s no way I’m imagining it, she thought. But what explanation could there be? What was it about her kits – the bravest, kindest, and most perfect cats she’d ever met? It made no sense! And yet, she was positive it was true. Something was deeply, deeply wrong with the four young cats. But what? And why was Lakeheart the only one who felt it? She confided in her friends Brackenpelt and Shimmerpelt, the medicine cats, and even her mate Lizardfang. All of them looked at her like she was crazy.
I am not crazy, she thought fiercely. There is something wrong here, and I’m the only one who can fix it.
Lakeheart felt soft fur brush her own as Shimmerpelt settled down beside her. “What are you thinking about?” she asked, the sunlight streaming into the den sparkling on her silver fur. She blinked her friendly blue eyes at Lakeheart.
Lakeheart knew she couldn’t tell her friend what she was actually thinking about. “The weather is really nice today,” she meowed, thinking fast.
Shimmerpelt blinked. “And that’s why you’ve been sitting in your den all day?”
“Oh, I, yeah, that’s what I was thinking. I was thinking the weather is so nice I should go outside right about now.” That’s the most obviously lie I’ve ever heard, Lakeheart scolded herself.
Sure enough, Shimmerpelt didn’t look convinced. “Riiiight. Okay then,” she said with narrow eyes.
Lakeheart stood up. “I have to talk with Mothwing and Willowshine. See you later, okay?” She mostly just wanted to get away from Shimmerpelt, but also had an idea on how to fix her problem.
“Okayyy,” Shimmerpelt said, her head tilted to the side. “I was thinking you, me, and Brackenpelt could go for a swim later? But if you’re too busy...”
“No, no, sure I can, later.” Lakeheart was halfway out the den. “Of course. See you then!” She bounded away, leaving Shimmerpelt watching her, bewildered.
“Mothwing!” Lakeheart ducked under the thorn bush overhanging the medicine den.
The golden she-cat blinked, putting down the sharp-scented leaves the was holding in her mouth. “Lakeheart? What’s the matter?”
“I want to go to the Moonpool,” the gray tabby announced. Her heart was beating fast. Please, please say yes. Oh StarClan, she’s going to say no, isn’t she? Why did I think I could –
“If you really feel like you need to,” Mothwing said.
Thank you, StarClan! Lakeheart’s heart soared. “Can we go now?” she asked eagerly.
“I’ll have to finish sorting my herbs,” Mothwing answered with a glance at the leaves she was holding. “And ask Mistystar for permission.”
Medicine cats need permission to do their job? Who knew, Lakeheart thought. “That’s fine,” she said out loud. “I’ll see if there’s any patrolling needing to be done, or something.”
“Willowshine is gathering catmint, if you want to help her,” Mothwing suggested.
I really don’t, thanks. “Sure, that would be fun, thanks!” Lakeheart mewed. The medicine cat nodded and went back to sorting the herbs.
Lakeheart tried to look cheerful as she went to meet Willowshine. By this time tomorrow, I’ll have this solved.
Chapter Two
“You’re going to the Moonpool?” Harepaw asked. “Can I come?” The white tom blinked his hope-filled amber eyes, the exact shade of Lizardtail’s, at Lakeheart.
“I’m sorry, precious.” Lakeheart licked him between the ears, pushing aside the twinge of wrongness the action brought. “But usually only medicine cats –”
“He can come,” Mothwing interrupted, padding up to Lakeheart’s side. She places two bundles of herbs on the ground. “I’ll just have Willowshine make one more batch of travelling herbs.”
“Are you sure StarClan will be okay with that?” Lakeheart asked.
Something flashed in the medicine cat’s amber eyes for a split second. “I’m sure they won’t mind,” she mumbled.
The tortoiseshell elder Mosspelt lifted her head from where she was dozing in a patch of sunshine. “Back at the old forest, all apprentices had to visit the Moonstone at least once. I miss those days...we left so many traditions behind.” Shaking her head, she settled back down.
“Like she said,” Mothwing said, regaining her composure. “It will be good experience for him.”
“Yay!” Harepaw jumped up and down. “I’m going to the Moonpool!”
Lakeheart rolled her eyes. That cat still acts like a kit sometimes, she thought, love warming her heart. She knew no matter what she found out, he would always be her son, and she would always love him.
-
“Touch your nose to the pool,” Mothwing instructed. “And try to keep still.” Harepaw was quivering with excitement.
“Are you coming with us?” Lakeheart asked.
Mothwing looked away. “No,” she said. “I feel like this is something you have to do yourself.”
“You’re probably right,” Lakeheart murmured, touching her nose to the Moonpool and closing her eyes.
She opened her eyes in an unfamiliar place. An island, surrounded by reeds, dotted with woven dens.
“Where are we?” Harepaw asked beside her.
“This is RiverClan’s old camp.” A huge brown tabby tom with starlight sparkling in his fur padded up to the two living cats. “My name is Volestar.” He regarded Lakeheart with curiosity in his green eyes. “I must say, I never expected to see you here.”
“I was hoping you could give me answers,” Lakeheart explained. She couldn’t help gazing around the camp in awe; she never expected to see this place or be face-to-face with one of the past leaders of RiverClan. She spotted more long-gone RiverClan cats she didn’t recognize gazing at her and Harepaw. “You see, I – I’ve always had this feeling.” She glanced guiltily at Harepaw. She never wanted any of her kits to hear this. “Around my kits. Like something’s...wrong.”
Volestar just stared at her with an unreadable expression. “I see,” he finally said.
“Do you have any idea why?” Lakeheart insisted. “How can I fix it?”
Volestar sat down with a sigh and curled his tail around his paws. “You see...” he began reluctantly. “We – StarClan – made a mistake. You were never supposed to know.”
“What happened?” Lakeheart demanded. Her mind was whirling. How could StarClan make a mistake?
“Keep in mind not all of us were in agreement,” Volestar said. “Now, listen. You were supposed to have four kits.”
“And I do.” Lakeheart knew she shouldn’t be interrupting a leader, much less a StarClan leader, but it was all so confusing!
“Not always. First, you have to know, Heathertail of WindClan is supposed to have two kits in a couple seasons. We...reversed your destinies. You had two kits, and and it was suddenly written into her destiny that she would have four. All the RiverClan cats in StarClan debated for moons on what to do about it. Finally, the decision was made to fix it.”
Lakeheart just stared at him, speechless. “I...I don’t understand,” she was finally able to mew softly.
“I’m sorry.” Volestar dipped his head. “It’s hard for many of us to understand. But it seems,” he continued, “that the love of a mother is impossible to completely erase. That’s why you always knew something was wrong.”
“What about the love of a father?” Lakeheart demanded. “Does Lizardtail not love our kits?”
“Of course he does,” the leader answered. “I know myself how powerful a father’s love is. But Lizardtail is more concerned with what other cats think of him than you are. He doesn’t want to admit to being any different than anyone else. I’m sure he’s always felt the same you have.”
“So,” Harepaw said in a small voice. “I’m not supposed to exist?”
Lakeheart pressed close to her kit, horror filling her heart. “Of – of course you’re supposed to exist,” she tried to reassure him.
“He is; don’t worry,” Volestar said.
“But what about my...original kits?” Lakeheart protested. “What happened to them?” The kits who actually weren’t supposed to exist?
“I want to go home,” Harepaw whimpered. Lakeheart gently licked his ear.
“I understand, sweetheart,” she murmured sympathetically. This was all too much for her; how much worse must it be for an apprentice like Harepaw? “Just wake up.”
Harepaw nodded. He closed his eyes, and quickly faded away.
Another cat, this one small and black-and-white, padded up to Volestar and nosed him aside. “I can explain, if you want,” she meowed.
“Thanks, Echosnout,” Volestar replied. For the first time Lakeheart realized how uncomfortable he looked.
Echosnout turned her sympathetic gaze to Lakeheart. “I’m sorry, but I have to be blunt here. They’re gone.”
“Do you mean you killed them?” Lakeheart forced her bristling fur flat, but couldn’t keep the pure anger out of her voice.
“We removed them from existence,” Echosnout murmured. “There’s a place they go – you remember Great Battle? At that time many StarClan and Dark Forest cats were killed. They go to a place completely disconnected from the living Clans, StarClan, and the Dark Forest. Someplace they can be at peace forever.”
“And you just sent my kits there,” Lakeheart said slowly, “without asking me, my mate, or the kits themselves? Without even telling us after the fact? Without telling Harepaw, Dapplepaw, Softpaw, and Gorsepaw they aren’t my true kits? You crowfood-eating snake-hearts!” Lakeheart’s voice had risen to a screech, her fur bristling and whole body trembling with anger. Her unsheathed claws dug into the marshy ground.
Echosnout was clearly taking great effort to stay calm. “We truly never meant to hurt you,” she said. “Gorsepaw, Dapplepaw, Softpaw, Harepaw – they are your true kits, just as much as Wavepaw and Cypresspaw were.”
“And you never even bothered to tell me their names until now,” Lakeheart hissed.
“If it would make it any better, I can restore your full memories of them,” Echosnout offered.
As if that would help! “Do that,” she growled, “and bring them back.”
“I can’t,” Echosnout said. “No cat can cross from there to StarClan and back. Except...”
“Except?” Lakeheart prompted.
“The five Clan founders,” Echosnout meowed reluctantly. “But they usually aren’t too keen on doing it.”
“I don’t care! These are my kits we’re talking about!”
Echosnout dipped her head in defeat. “I’ll do my best,” she said. “Wait here, okay? This might take a while.”
Chapter Three
Memories came rushing back to Lakeheart. Naming Wavekit, a silver-and-white she-kit, and her brown-and-white sister, Cypresskit. Their eyes opening to reveal bright green and hazel. Playing with them outside the nursery, teaching them to swim. Their apprentice ceremony, their first Gathering. And then it ended. That’s when the replacement took place, when the strange feeling of wrongness began.
Oh, my sweet kits, she thought mournfully. I’ll fix this, I promise. She loved them just as much as Softpaw, Harepaw, Dapplepaw, and Gorsepaw.
A terrible thought suddenly flashed in her mind. When I get Wavepaw and Cypresspaw back, will I have to give up my current litter? She couldn’t imagine it. Please, please, please let me keep both.
“Lakeheart?” Echosnout was finally back, a silver tabby tom behind her. “This is Riverstar. He can take you to the...uh, what’s the name of your hunting grounds again?”
“That isn’t important,” Riverstar said. “Lakeheart? Follow me.”
Lakeheart padded at his side, awed by meeting the greatest RiverClan leader of all time.
He dove into the river, and Lakeheart followed. When she surfaced, she wasn’t in the forest at the other side of the camp. Instead, she was in a wide open field, cloudy stardust under her paws taking the place of grass. Glowing starry lights floated all around in the air. The sky was a dark, inky black. It was beautiful in an eerie way.
There was a sudden, blinding flash of white light. When it faded, Lakeheart found herself in a new field of lush grass with a sparkling river cutting through it. Standing at the edge of the river were two cats: one silver-and-white and the other brown-and-white. Wavepaw and Cypresspaw.
“I’ll leave the conversation to you.” Riverstar sat down and curled his tail neatly around his paws.
Lakeheart padded hesitantly up to her daughters. Wavepaw’s ear twitched and she turned her head. Her green eyes widened. “Lakeheart?” she whispered.
“What?” Cypresspaw jumped to her paws and turned around. Her eyes lit up. “Lakeheart!” She ran up to her mother, and the two she-cats covered each other with licks.
“I missed you so much!” Cypresspaw cried.
“So did I!” Wavepaw ran up to join them.
“I missed you, too,” Lakeheart said, nuzzling each apprentices’ cheek. Ever since those snake-hearted StarClan cats told me about you, at least, she thought, fresh anger flaring in her belly.
“Why are you here?” Wavepaw asked, pulling back. “You’re still alive.”
“I came to get you,” Lakeheart told her. “You’re coming home with me.”
“But don’t you have new kits now?” Cypresspaw asked in a small voice.
Lakeheart felt a pang in her heart. “I have other kits,” she admitted. “But they can’t replace you. I love you two and them the same. You’re all my kits.” Cypresspaw purred, pressing close to her chest.
“You know we can’t go back,” Wavepaw said softly.
“Of course you can!” Lakeheart said. “Riverstar can bring all of us –”
Wavepaw fixed her serious green eyes on Lakeheart’s. “Your other kits only exist because we don’t. If we come back into existence, they will come here. Volestar told us that.”
Lakeheart’s heart broke. It was her worst fear come true. “But I want all of you,” she choked out.
“I want to be with you, too.” Wavepaw rubbed her cheek against Lakeheart’s. “And I would love to meet your other kits. I’m sure they’re great.”
“They are,” Lakeheart whispered. “But so are you.”
“Can you stay a while, please?” Cypresspaw asked, looking up at her mother with tear-filled hazel eyes.
“I would love to,” Lakeheart said, licking her between the ears. “But I have to get back to Mothwing and Harepaw...”
“Just a little while?” Cypresspaw insisted. Looking into her eyes, Lakeheart couldn’t resist.
“A little while,” she promised.
Chapter Four
“I’m ready to go back,” Lakeheart told Riverstar. It was a lie. She didn’t want to lose her kits again. But she had no choice; she had to go back to RiverClan and her other litter sometime.
He nodded, and with a flash, the field went back to what it originally was – clouds and starlight.
“How do you do that?” Lakeheart asked.
“Each cat here has his or her own hunting grounds,” he explained. “It looks however they want it to.”
“I understand,” Lakeheart murmured. All she could think about was losing her kits.
Riverstar crouched, then leaped, diving into the starlight as if it was water. Lakeheart followed.
She suddenly woke up at the edge of the Moonpool.
“You're finally awake!” Mothwing exclaimed. “I almost thought I’d have to go after you.”
“I’m sorry.” Lakeheart looked around for Harepaw. She found him curled up in a normal sleep. “Harepaw?” she mewed, rubbing his shoulder with a paw. He shifted in his sleep and murmured something Lakeheart couldn’t understand.
“He can go back to sleep when we get home,” Mothwing said with an edge to her voice. “It’s already moonhigh. You were asleep for hours.”
“Sorry,” Lakeheart said again, tickling Harepaw’s nose with her fluffy tail. He finally opened his eyes a crack.
“But I don’t wanna go on dawn patrol,” he yawned, rolling onto his back.
“You don’t have to,” Lakeheart whispered in his ear. “You just have to come with me back to your nice, warm nest, and then you can go back to sleep.”
“Okay.” Harepaw got to his paws, remembering where he was. “Let’s go.”
On the journey back to RiverClan, Lakeheart reflected on her kits – all her kits. Silly Harepaw, clumsy Softpaw, optimistic Dapplepaw, brave Gorsepaw, serious Wavepaw, and sensitive Cypresspaw. They were all so, so perfect. She couldn’t choose any over the others.
The three cats dove into the lake, swimming across to RiverClan territory. It was safer than crossing WindClan territory, who had been unpredictable lately.
They finally made it back to camp. All three cats went straight to their separate dens, exhausted.
Lakeheart curled into her nest, next to Lizardtail’s. Her mate opened his eyes. “Where were you?” he murmured sleepily.
“The Moonpool,” Lakeheart answered with a yawn.
“The Moonpool?” he asked in disbelief. “What were you doing there?”
“Getting answers.”
“Answers?”
Lakeheart looked into his eyes. “I know you’ve felt the same about our kits. Like there was something wrong about them.”
“Our kits are perfect!” Lizardtail protested, although Lakeheart could tell he knew what she was talking about.
“They are,” she agreed. “They all are.”
“What are you saying?” he asked.
“I met our daughters,” Lakeheart whispered. “Wavepaw and Cypresspaw.”
“Wavepaw and –” Lizardtail’s eyes widened. “Wavepaw and Cypresspaw!” he exclaimed, sounding excited. Then confusion clouded his eyes. “Wait, but Softpaw and – what...what’s going on?”
It seemed their names triggered Lizardtail’s memories of them. Lakeheart explained what the StarClan cats had told her about their lost kits – and what Wavepaw and Cypresspaw themselves said, that they can only keep one group of kits.
She could see Lizardtail was having as much trouble accepting this as Lakeheart had herself. “What do we do?” he asked.
“Good question,” Lakeheart murmured. I finally know the truth, she thought. Now what do I do with it?
Chapter Five
“I can’t stay here,” Lakeheart told Mistystar.
“You want to become a rogue?” The blue she-cat narrowed her eyes.
“No, no, not like that. StarClan told me I have to,” Lakeheart said, thinking fast.
Mistystar tilted her head. “Really? Did they tell you why?”
“They – they said it would only become apparent during my journey,” Lakeheart meowed.
Mistystar blinked slowly. “Okay,” she finally meowed. “I cannot ignore the will of StarClan.”
“Thank you so much.” Lakeheart dipped her head. “I’ll be back as soon as I can.”
“I hope it won’t be long,” Mistystar murmured. “We need all the warriors we can get.”
“I know,” Lakeheart meowed. “Thank you, again.” She ducked out of the leaders’ den.
She glanced at her kits, play-fighting in the early dawn light. I’ve never seen Dapplepaw up so early without being forced, she thought with a purr.
But her kits were exactly the reason she had to leave. She needed time to reflect on her own away from the Clan and her responsibilities, and especially away from her kits.
Goodbye, my precious kits, she thought. I’ll be back as soon as I can, I promise.
-
Lakeheart took her first steps out of Clan territory. Am I being selfish? she wondered. She shook her head. No. I have to do this. The existence of all my kits – and my sanity – depends on it.
Lizardtail had assured her he could handle the truth as well as carry on with his duties as a warrior and father. I don’t have to worry about him, Lakeheart tried to reassure herself. Oh, but I know I will!
The sun shone on her back, but dark clouds were on the horizon. She would need to find a dry place to sleep before the day was over. She missed the warm, waterproof dens of RiverClan already.
Looking to a distance, she could see the tops of Twoleg dens. She shook her head. I can’t stay there. A warrior rejects the life of a kittypet, and I’m sure every good sleeping place has already been claimed by strays.
She would have to get through the Twolegplace before the storm hit. There was nothing but open meadow at all other sides, no place to shelter. Lakeheart broke into a run.
-
Thunder shook the ground as Lakeheart took her first steps into the Twolegplace. The rain was already pounding on the earth, like the world was under one big waterfall. Lakeheart was used to being wet, but standing around in the rain wasn’t as fun as swimming.
Her belly rumbled, but she doubted there would be any fish – or even land prey – in the Twolegplace. I should have asked for travelling herbs before I left, she thought regretfully.
First in order of importance, though, was getting out of the rain. She dashed through the Twolegplace, paws slipping on the slick stone.
“Hey!” a voice called, but Lakeheart paid no attention. It was probably a kittypet calling to one of its neighbors. “Hey, I’m talking to you! Cat in the road! Gray guy!”
Is she talking to me? She stopped, scanning the Twoleg dens. She couldn’t see anyone; the rain was pouring too hard. She blinked it out of her eyes.
Something crashed into her from behind. “Get out of here!”
Lakeheart spun around with a hiss. “What do you want?” she asked, unsheathing her claws.
It was an orange-brown she-cat with hazel eyes and a pink collar around her neck. A kittypet. “I want,” she said, “for you to get out of the road.”
Lakeheart just stared at her. “What in the world is a road?”
The sound of thunder filled the air once more, the stone shaking under Lakeheart’s paws.
“Come on!” hissed the kittypet. “Just – quit asking questions and follow me! Quick!”
Lakeheart decided to humor the kittypet, dashing across the stone after her. As soon as her tail left the edge of the path, a monster roared by, sending dirty water showering over her fur.
Oh, she thought, staring at the place she’d nearly died. Road is the kittypet word for Thunderpath. What do you know?
“Come with me,” the kittypet said. “I know a safe place. Out of the rain, too.”
Lakeheart took a step back. “Thank you for saving my life,” she began, “but I’m a warrior. I don’t stay in Twoleg dens.”
The she-cat’s eyes clouded. “I don’t live in a housefolk house, if that’s what you mean,” she meowed. “Now come with me unless you want to catch a cold.”
Lakeheart tilted her head. It was like this kittypet was speaking a different language. But if she was offering her free shelter, Lakeheart had no choice but to follow her.
Chapter Six
The kittypet’s name was Copper, Lakeheart learned. Her “housefolk” had died, and from then on she lived in an old, abandoned “house”.
“I’m so sorry,” Lakeheart had said. She couldn’t imagine having such a close bond to a Twoleg, but she imagined it must be like your whole Clan dying.
“Don’t worry about it,” Copper had replied, but her voice was thick with grief.
They reached her house. Copper hopped up to the door. “Come on in,” she urged.
Something else had caught Lakeheart’s attention, a small pond in the yard. “Are there fish in there?” she asked.
“Hm? Oh, yeah,” Copper said, sounding like she had no idea why Lakeheart would be interested. She purred. “I expect their pond will overflow and they’ll take over the yard! Do you think there’s enough rain a fish would be able to breathe out here?”
“I hope not. I have no practice catching fish on land,” Lakeheart replied from the edge of the pond.
“Catch fish?” Copper sounded confused. “There’s plenty of mice in the house, just so you know.”
“Fish is better,” Lakeheart insisted.
“If you say so.” Copper was clearly unconvinced. “I’ll be inside.” Out of the corner of her eye Lakeheart saw the kittypet squeeze through a hole in the door.
She crouched at the edge of the water. The fish looked strange to her; brightly colored, orange and blue and white. But they were plump and obviously had never been hunted before.
StarClan must still be looking after me, she thought with satisfaction. She easily caught and devoured a meal. She knew the warrior code said to feed other cats first, but Copper was obviously capable for hunting for herself and preferred mice to fish. Besides, she and Copper were both outside the warrior code now.
Her belly full, Lakeheart rushed through the hole in the door. Dry at last! She shook out her fur.
“That was quick,” Copper commented. She was lying on something unlike anything Lakeheart had ever seen.
“What is that?” she asked, indicating to it.
Copper blinked. “A couch. And this is a blanket,” she added, touching another object on the “couch” with her paw. “Wow, I don’t envy you.”
“What do you mean?”
“No couches? No blankets? No houses? How do you stay warm and comfortable?”
“We have dens,” Lakeheart said. “And moss and reeds and bracken. And our denmates. It’s more than enough.”
Copper tried to suppress a snort of laughter. “Yeah, right, okay. If you say so.”
Lakeheart just flicked her ears irritably. She didn’t expect a kittypet-slash-loner to understand, anyway.
“Why are you here, anyway?” Copper yawned, curling up on the blanket. “Don’t you have any warrior-ing to do?”
“I came to think,” Lakeheart answered, settling down herself on the floor.
“About what?”
“Nothing you’d understand.” I barely understand it myself.
“Okay then.” Copper rolled her eyes. “You keep your secrets.”
Lakeheart ignored her, tucking her nose under her tail. After her journey, she was too tired to talk to nosy kittypets. Or think about messed-up destinies.
I can figure this out tomorrow, she thought, giving in to sleep.
Chapter Seven
Sun shone through the broken windows of the house, waking Lakeheart up.
She glanced up at the couch. Copper was still asleep.
Now I can think in peace, she thought in relief. But first, she needed to eat.
She crawled through the hole in the door. It was cold outside, the grass wet as the marsh on RiverClan’s territory. Luckily, the fish had not escaped the pond and taken over the yard.
After eating her fill of fish, she went back inside. Copper was gone. She must have gone hunting, Lakeheart guessed.
She curled on the floor. Now what do I do? Isn’t there some way me and all my kits can all live together? There had to be. She wouldn’t give up until she found it.
Why does it have to be this way? she realized. She had just blindly accepted what StarClan and her daughters told her.
I don’t have to accept this, she told herself fiercely. Why would StarClan always know best? Did dying immediately grant you boundless wisdom?
She had to go back. She had to question them. Who cared if it wasn’t an ordinary cat’s place to question her warrior ancestors? These were her kits they were talking about!
Did that mean she had to go back to the Moonpool? It was nearly a day’s journey away.
Maybe I can just dream myself there? She knew StarClan sometimes visited cats’ dreams away from the Moonpool – but that only happened to important cats.
It’s worth a try. She laid down and closed her eyes, willing herself to StarClan’s hunting grounds.
She heard the murmuring of a river. She opened her eyes to find herself in RiverClan’s old camp. It worked!
“Volestar!” she called. In a burst of starlight, the old leader was in front of her. “I have more questions,” she announced.
“Okay –” began Volestar. Lakeheart cut him off.
“Why can’t all six of my kits be with me?”
“We told you,” Volestar sighed. “We reverse your and Heathertail’s destinies –”
“And why would bringing Wavepaw and Cypresspaw back remove Softpaw, Harepaw, Dapplepaw, and Gorsepaw from existence?”
“That’s just the way it is,” Volestar stated.
Lakeheart narrowed her eyes. “Do you even know why?”
“Destiny is a tricky and fragile thing. It would be disastrous to mess with it any more than we have,” he explained.
“It’s a risk I’m willing to take,” said Lakeheart.
The old medicine cat – Echosnout – came to stand beside Volestar. “I think there is a way you can spend some time with your kits,” she told Lakeheart.
“And that is?” she demanded.
“I can send their spirits to you. But no other cat will be able to see, hear, or smell them. They would only exist to you.”
“Why didn’t you do that before?” Lakeheart asked.
“I wasn’t sure it was possible. I spent a great deal of time thinking since you last visited,” she explained.
“Well, do it now!”
The medicine cat dipped her head. “Of course. Wake up; you’ll know when they’ve arrived. I think someone is trying to talk to you.”
“Really?” Lakeheart woke up to find herself staring into wide hazel eyes.
Copper leaped back. “Oh, thank goodness! I’ve been trying to wake you up for ages. I thought you were dead!”
“Well, I wasn’t.” No other cat would be able to see Wavepaw and Cypresspaw. That meant Lakeheart had to distance herself from Copper. “But I’m not feeling well.” She coughed feebly, hoping it sounded convincing. “Is there any place I can go to recover?”
“I can find a housefolk to bring you to the vet –”
“No!” Maybe that was too forceful for a supposedly sick cat. Lakeheart lowered her voice, trying to sound pathetic. “A warrior rejects the easy life of a kittypet.”
“Even vet visits? What happens when you get sick?” Copper asked.
“Our medicine cats heal us with herbs.”
“Medicine cats? Herbs?” Copper tilted her head.
“It doesn’t matter. It’s just a little cough; I’ll be fine.”
“Okay,” Copper said with a shrug. “There are plenty of rooms here. You can pick any to have all to yourself.” Her tail shot up. “I know! You can have one of the bedrooms.”
“Bedrooms?”
“Follow me.”
To get to the “bedroom,” the cats had to climb the “stairs”. It reminded Lakeheart of the path to the Moonpool. The door to the room had a gap in it much like the door to the house.
“The bed is really comfy,” Copper told her. “And you get some nice blankets and pillows.”
“Thanks,” Lakeheart mewed. She didn’t know what half of those words were, but she decided it didn’t matter.
“Get better soon!” Copper called as she left the room.
Lakeheart jumped onto the bed and settled down. Today she would get to be with her kits again!
Chapter Eight
“Lakeheart?” A soft nose nudged the gray she-cat’s cheek.
Copper? she wondered. No, the voice wasn’t right. Lakeheart opened her eyes, realizing she’d fallen asleep while waiting.
Two young cats were sitting on the bed next to her. She could see straight through their fur.
“Wavepaw! Cypresspaw!” she exclaimed. She nuzzled each apprentice. Cypresspaw snuggled up next to her.
“We’re so happy to be here,” Wavepaw mewed, her eyes sparkling.
“I’m happy you’re here too,” replied Lakeheart.
“Echosnout says we can stay as long as we want as long as we don’t return to RiverClan,” Cypresspaw said.
“That’s wonderful.” Lakeheart was too overcome with emotion to think of anything else.
“Is there any good food here?” Cypresspaw blinked hopefully.
Lakeheart nodded. “There’s a fish pond outside. And Copper – the loner who lives here – says there’s lots of mice inside.”
Wavepaw made a face. “Mice? Ew.” Lakeheart and Cypresspaw purred in agreement.
“I can’t wait to go fishing and swimming and exploring and playing together,” Cypresspaw said. “We haven’t gotten to do that in so long!”
“There was that time Lakeheart visited us,” Wavepaw reminded her.
“Yeah, but that wasn’t long enough,” replied Cypresspaw. “We hardly got to do anything.” She blinked at Lakeheart. “Can we start right now? Want to go swimming?”
“Of course,” Lakeheart purred.
The three cats made their way outside to the fish pond.
Cypresspaw peered into it. “Do you think Twolegs built this den by this pond because they like to fish and swim too?”
“Maybe they built the pond themselves,” suggested Wavepaw.
“What? That’s crazy,” scoffed Cypresspaw. “I don’t think that’s even possible.”
“I’m not sure it’s possible for Twolegs to swim or fish,” Lakeheart commented. “They’re too big and slow.”
Cypresspaw purred in amusement. “It’s true, though!” said Wavepaw.
Lakeheart easily hooked a fish in her claws, flinging it into the air. She caught it in her jaws and crushed its spine.
“My turn!” Cypresspaw meowed. A fish flashed near the surface. She easily caught it, despite having only a moon of training.
“Good job!” Lakeheart said, impressed.
“We had lots of practice after...uh...our kind-of-death,” Wavepaw told her.
Lakeheart’s tail drooped. “I’m really sorry,” she murmured.
“It’s not your fault,” Wavepaw assured her.
“And we get to be together now!” Cypresspaw added.
After Wavepaw made her catch, they all ate together. It was the first time they got to do so in so long.
“How much of the Twoleg den have you seen?” Cypresspaw asked after they finished.
“Just two rooms,” Lakeheart answered.
“Then we can explore it together!” Cypresspaw meowed happily.
Lakeheart purred. “Let’s just try to stay out of the way of Copper. She thinks I’m sick.”
Wavepaw looked up from washing her silver and white paws. “In that case, I’m sure she’ll avoid you.”
“You’re probably right,” Lakeheart said. “Let’s go.”
Chapter Nine
Lakeheart didn’t know how many moons it had been since she arrived at the Twolegplace and her daughters had arrived. At first, she thought she would never be happier, but lately she’d been missing RiverClan and her other kits.
“Can you tell us about your other kits?” Cypresspaw blinked at Lakeheart.
“Well, their names are Softpaw, Harepaw, Dapplepaw, and Gorsepaw...” Lakeheart went on to tell them about her kits’ personalities, eye and fur colors, and her favorite memories of them.
“I wish we could meet them,” Cypresspaw sighed. “Why can’t we?”
“That’s right. Echosnout didn’t tell us why,” added Wavepaw.
“She didn’t tell me either,” Lakeheart realized. “I can go back to StarClan and – no.” She knew from experience the StarClan cats wouldn’t give her a good answer, just go on about how dangerous messing with destiny is. “You know what? Let’s go back to RiverClan. All of us.”
“What if something bad happens?” Wavepaw asked.
“We’ll take that risk,” Lakeheart decided. “I see no reason why it's okay for you to be here but not at RiverClan.” What did location have to do with her kits' existence? It must just be old, long-dead cats being paranoid.
Cypresspaw bounced up and down. “I can’t wait!”
“You’ll have to wait for just a second,” Lakeheart told her. “I have to talk to Copper.” She left her kits on the bed to go find the orange-brown loner.
“Copper?” she called. Lakeheart found her in her favorite room – the one with the couch.
“What’s up?” Copper asked.
“I’m feeling better,” Lakeheart told her. “Thank you for saving me and letting me stay in your den, but I have to get back to RiverClan.”
Copper got up and padded up to Lakeheart to touch noses with her. “I understand,” she mewed. “I’ll miss you.”
“Me too,” Lakeheart said.
“Will you ever come back?” Copper asked.
“I might come to visit someday, if you want,” said Lakeheart. “But I’ve found my place is with my family.”
-
Lakeheart, Wavepaw, and Cypresspaw stood on the edge of RiverClan territory. Lakeheart took a deep breath and braced herself. “Let’s go,” she said. The three cats took their first steps across the border.
Nothing happened.
“I wasn’t sure what I was expecting,” Wavepaw commented.
“StarClan must have been wrong,” Lakeheart said.
“I’ve never heard of StarClan being wrong before,” said Cypresspaw.
“I’m sure they have been wrong a lot more often than they’d have us believe,” guessed Wavepaw.
“Let’s stop standing around!” Cypresspaw dashed ahead. “I can’t wait to see everyone again!” Wavepaw and Lakeheart ran after her.
Before long, they made it to RiverClan’s camp. Brackenpelt raised her head from where she was eating a fish and looked at Lakeheart.
“You’re back!” she exclaimed. She ran up to Lakeheart and rubbed her muzzle against her cheek.
“I’m glad to see you too,” Lakeheart purred. “Do you know where Lizardtail is?”
“Lizardtail!” called Brackenpelt. The light brown tom poked his head out of the warriors’ den, then ran up to Lakeheart.
“Welcome home!” he purred. He blinked, looking straight at Wavepaw, then Cypresspaw. “You –”
Lakeheart rested her tail on his shoulder. “We can talk about that later,” she whispered. He blinked at her in confusion, but said nothing.
“Lakeheart!” Her four kits ran up to her and tackled her to the ground.
“We missed you!” Softpaw mewed.
“I missed you, too,” Lakeheart purred.
“Just wait til you hear what’s happened since you’ve been gone,” Dapplepaw meowed, waving his fluffy gray-and-white tail. “There was this major storm –”
“SkyClan left, but Lizardtail helped bring them back,” Gorsepaw cut in.
“Juniperclaw saved Shadowpaw from drowning,” added Softpaw. “But then he drowned instead. If only every Clan learned to swim.” She shook her head.
“Most importantly,” said Harepaw, “we got our warrior names! I’m Harelight.”
Lakeheart’s eyes glowed with pride. “Congratulation!”
“And I’m Softpelt! And these are Dappletuft and Gorseclaw.”
“I’m so proud of all of you,” Lakeheart purred. My precious kits, I missed you so much. Suddenly a thought flashed in Lakeheart’s mind. “Have any of you heard anything about Heathertail?”
“The WindClan cat?” Lizardtail blinked. “I’ve heard she has a new litter of two kits now: Woodkit and Applekit. Why?”
So Heathertail’s destiny has been fulfilled, Lakeheart thought. Wavepaw and Cypresspaw being here along with Softpelt, Harelight, Dappletuft, and Gorseclaw didn't stop that.
She stood up and shook the snow from her pelt. “Lizardtail, I need to speak to you alone.”
“Okay,” he mewed, sounding confused.
He followed her, Wavepaw, and Cypresspaw out of camp.
“These are Wavepaw and Cypresspaw,” she told him.
He nodded. “I recognized them the moment I saw them. But how...?”
“It’s confusing,” Lakeheart sighed. “But basically, Echosnout and Riverstar were able to bring their spirits back, but it seems only cats that remember them are able to see them.”
“So we just have to remind the Clan about them and they can be with us again?” Lizardtail’s eyes sparkled.
Lakeheart remembered how Lizardtail’s memories were restored just from hearing their names. But that was because of his love for them; would it work the same for the rest of the Clan?
We have to try, she told herself. The Clan needs to know the truth.
Chapter Ten
The Clan just stared at Lakeheart. Why did I think this would work? she hissed to herself.
At least Lizardtail stood beside her. “Please try to remember,” he urged in a desperate voice.
Now the cats started murmuring to each other. Lakeheart pricked her ears. The snippets of conversation she was able to hear told her some cats were starting to remember.
Softpelt stepped up shyly. “But how are we supposed to remember them? We’ve never even met them.” She waved her tail at her littermates, and they nodded.
“And who are your true kits?” Gorseclaw twitched his gray ears.
“You all are,” Lakeheart told him. “Because I love all of you.” She directed her attention to Softpelt. “I know. But you...you believe me, don’t you?” The gray she-cat nodded. “Then that will have to be enough,” Lakeheart decided.
“I’d like to have more siblings,” Dappletuft meowed. “I’ll do my best for you, Lakeheart.”
“Thank you.” Lakeheart dipped her head to him.
Cypresspaw pressed against Lakeheart. “I agree with Dappletuft.”
Wavepaw had her ears pricked. “It seems almost everyone remembers us now!” She sounded delighted. Lakeheart noticed most of the gathered cats were looking directly at Wavepaw or Cypresspaw.
“I’m sorry we forgot you two,” Brackenpelt called.
“It’s not your fault.” Wavepaw dipped her head.
“And I’m sorry to you, Lakeheart,” Shimmerpelt added. “For not listening to you.”
“Thank you,” Lakeheart meowed.
Most of the Clan murmured in agreement with Brackenpelt and Shimmerpelt.
Lizardpelt’s eyes shone. “I’m so glad this worked,” he whispered to Lakeheart.
“Me too,” she replied. Their daughters nodded their agreement.
Mistystar stepped up from the front of the crowd. “I apologize on the behalf of RiverClan,” she mewed. “For all –”
“I see them! Finally!” exclaimed Harelight. He blinked, realizing he just interrupted the leader. “Sorry,” he mumbled, hanging his head.
Mistystar just gave him a narrow-eyed glance before turning back to the two apprentices.
“For all you’ve been through,” she continued, “I’m sure StarClan would agree you deserve your warrior names.”
Cypresspaw couldn’t suppress a squeal of excitement. “Thank you, thank you!”
Lakeheart watched with pride as she saw her daughters receive the names Wavesplash and Cypresswind.
She purred as she leaned against Lizardtail and the two new warriors went to join Softpelt, Harelight, Dappletuft, and Gorseclaw.
“You’ll have to sit vigil,” Lakeheart reminded them.
Lizardtail nudged her shoulder. “They can meet their siblings first, can’t they?”
“Of course,” mewed Lakeheart.
StarClan was wrong; she knew it. All six of her kits were together, and both her and Heathertail’s destinies were fulfilled.
Maybe something good did come out of this, though, she thought. Now I have six wonderful kits instead of two or four.
She knew it didn’t matter what her destiny was. All that mattered was her love of her kits, which stretched beyond the limits of destiny. It changed destiny; didn’t that mean nothing was set in stone?
Lakeheart knew that wasn’t fully true. Her love of her kits – all of them – was set in stone. Nothing in the world could ever make her love them any less.
She finally knew the truth, and now she was happier than she ever imagined she could be.