Gray Wing and Bristlefrost

Movement caught his eye. In the shadows behind Clear Sky, stars seemed to sparkle. The walls of
the gorse den shifted as a new face appeared, a face Gray Wing recognized at once. “Bright Stream!” He could see her as she stopped beside Clear Sky. Two kits stood at her paws, one tabby and one
pale gray.

She blinked at him, then touched her nose to the kits’ heads. “They are the kits I was carrying
when I died,” she whispered.

Gray Wing’s gaze darted to Clear Sky. “Did you hear that?”

“Hear what?” Clear Sky tipped his head.

“Bright Stream! She’s beside you. With your kits.”

“My kits?” Clear Sky shifted his paws uneasily. “Can you see them now?”

“Yes! She was carrying them when she died.” Joy filled Gray Wing’s heart. “They’re . . .
beautiful.”

Bright Stream purred, stars twinkling in her whiskers. “They will be with me always.”

Another cat stepped from the shadowy depths of the den. Shaded Moss! Gray Wing recognized
him with joy. And Rainswept Flower! More dead cats from his past gathered around the living,
making the den walls sparkle with their starry pelts. Storm, whom both he and Clear Sky had once
loved, stood with her kits. And Stoneteller, her eyes softly welcoming as she met Gray Wing’s gaze.
Quiet Rain, too, and his tiny sister, Fluttering Bird. Moon Shadow dipped his head, his pelt lustrous,
with no sign of the pain that had tortured him in his final moments.

Turtle Tail!

She blinked at him, her eyes sparkling with sadness as her gaze flitted to White Tail, Black Ear,
and Silver Stripe. “I wish you could stay with them, Gray Wing,” she whispered. “But it’s their
destiny to know you only as a memory.”

Pain gripped Gray Wing’s chest. His breath was so shallow that he could hardly breathe at all.
And still, familiar pelts glimmered from the shadows—Hawk Swoop and Jackdaw’s Cry, their tails
entwined. And Wind Runner’s tiny kits, pressing close to Turtle Tail. Every cat he’d known was here.
All the friends he’d lost—on the journey, in the Great Battle, from illness or from accident. They
were all here, waiting for him to join them.

“Gray Wing?” Slate’s mew ruffled his ear fur. “What are you looking at?”

Gray Wing took a shuddering breath. “They’ve come for me. They’re not dead. They’re just
waiting for me to go with them.” He nuzzled Slate’s cheek. “Never forget how much I love you.” Then
he touched the heads of his kits one by one. “Silver Stripe, be brave and take care of your mother.
White Tail, learn all that you can so that one day you will make your Clan proud. Black Ear, forgive
any harm you’ve been done and show kindness to your Clanmates. For we are all fighting a hard
battle, and sometimes kindness is all we need.”

Black Ear blinked at him, his eyes clouding with confusion. “You sound like you’re saying goodbye.”

“I am.” Gray Wing lapped his cheek.

“No!” Black Ear scrambled over his flank and began pummeling his shoulder.

“Don’t go!” White Tail’s cry faded as Gray Wing felt his last breath leave his body. The tightness
in his chest eased as the invisible jaws finally let go.

Drawing in a deep breath, Gray Wing got to his paws. Lightly he stepped from his nest. He
glanced back and saw Slate, Silver Stripe, White Tail, and Black Ear clinging to the body he no
longer needed. “I will always be watching you,” he whispered.

He turned toward the starry cats, and they moved aside and let him pass. Padding into the
shadows of the den, he felt their pelts brush his and heard their welcoming purrs. He walked at their side, deeper into the darkness, until the gorse walls opened onto a vast horizon of rolling hills. In the distance, the sun was rising, sending dazzling streams of light spilling over the earth.

I have traveled so far and loved so much, and yet I am still following the Sun Trail, heading for my new hunting grounds.

Bristlefrost turned and glanced back toward the surface. It looked very far away now. Her struggle with Ashfur had dragged her body down into the very depths of the dark water, and she felt the last of her strength ebbing out from the gash in her neck. The surface, the living world, the Clans--they were out of her reach.

Her body relaxed, and the pain of her wounds eased. The dark water no longer horrified her; it felt warm and soothing, engulfing her like an embrace. 

It's time to rest.

But she looked up once more at the vanishing surface. Were those faces, peering in? She couldn't be sure. Violetshine? She thought she saw black-and-white fur moving beyond the water, and a yellow pelt beside it. Rootspring? Her heart ached with love, and she felt a stirring inside her. How could she leave him? She tried to reach out a paw and pull herself up, but there was nothing to grip but water, and the water would never let her go. Grief pierced her heart, not for herself, but for Rootspring. Her work was finished, but he had loved her, and now he would have to live without her. I'm sorry. Her mind grew hazy. But we beat him. We destroyed Ashfur. We saved the Clans.

Thoughts of Rootspring filled her mind. He was pressing beside her beneath a spreading willow, the warmth of him seeping into her fur. Was it a dream or a memory? She couldn't tell. Now they were hunting, running through the forest, side by side, so close their pelts touched. And then she saw herself cocooned with him in a nest. Had they shared one after all? Surely they had, she thought, with a rush of love. Tails entwined, they were gazing proudly at three tiny kits. Of course it was real. Of course these were memories of the life they must have shared. 

The cold that gripped her seemed as last to let her go. She closed her eyes and in her last moment felt only warmth. Only love.