Froststar's Destiny

Chapter Twenty-one

Stormkit laughed, the sound like the tinkling of tiny bells. "You and I think alike! Ha!"

Frostkit grinned at Stormkit, feeling all worry evaporate on the spot. Stormkit was leaving soon to become an apprentice. Did it ever have to end? She stared at her best friend, wanting nothing more to play with her forever and never grow up.

"So, why do you want to be a warrior?" Stormkit asked curiously.

Frostkit frowned. Why was Stormkit being so nosy? Of course, she couldn't keep anything from her best friend. "I don't know. I mean, medicine cats are important too but I don't want to be stuck in the medicine den all day. I want to help the Clan, you know? Hunt for them, feed the kits and elders, and protect them!"

"You know you may have to kill sometimes to protect, right?" Stormkit asked softly.

"Nah. I'll avoid killing. It isn't in the warrior code! I'll let them surrender. I'll be the great... um..."

"Frostmouse?" Stormkit suggested with a grin.

Frostkit gave her a flat look. "Not that again. I'll be the great Froststorm, and everyone will fear me! They'll run at the very sight of me, then I won't have to kill anybody."

"But to get that kind of reputation, you need to be scary," Stormkit pressed. "Maybe it's best to become a medicine cat. You avoid the battles, and-"

"You're just trying to keep me safe," Frostkit accused. Stormkit giggled.

"Okay, I am. But promise me, you aren't going to kill anybody."

Frostkit grinned. "I promise. Why would I kill anybody, anyway?"

***

It all flashed back in that moment, that day from when she was a kit, where she'd promised her sworn sister she wouldn't kill anybody. She'd forgotten that promise. It was layered underneath many other shattered promises. She'd made a similar promise to her mate, and she'd failed to uphold it. Now she was the monster she'd become, and she had to put up with it.

"Fine." Her voice collapsed. "I'm a monster like you say. But I don't want to be one."

"If you don't want to be one," Stonestar said, his voice softening, "you have to start by following orders, and mending the bonds you broke. I'm willing to trust you again and let you stay my bodyguard, but you have to complete the task for me. Kill her."

So I didn't hear him wrong! Frostwind thought furiously. "No," she said. "The way to mend bonds is not to kill more cats. I don't want to kill anybody else but I'll do it if it's inevitable." She gave Stonestar a glare. "And if that necessary cat to kill is you, be reminded that I will show no mercy."

"Haven't I only given you kindness and graciousness, Frostwind?" Stonestar asked. "I gave you a position when nobody dared to trust you. Aren't you a little grateful at all?"

"No." Skyfeather stepped up. "That's untrue. I trusted her. I never stopped."

All around him, Frostwind's Clanmates stood up. "We didn't trust her before," Shimmerpelt announced. "I didn't think I could after all she'd done. I thought she couldn't make the right decisions anymore and she was just your dangerous pawn. But I was wrong. She can make the right choices at the right times, and she's done it here. I trust her more than ever."

"You saw what she did to your daughter!" Stonestar choked, unable to stand being roasted by his sister. "Hickorypaw fainted!"

"She did not, she was merely exhausted is all," Shimmerpelt stated coldly. "She was fine after a few hours of sleep. You, I put up with. I thought you'd change back to my lovely brother, the perfect candidate for Clan leader. But you haven't changed. You need to be that Stoneclaw that Sunstar wanted for her deputy, but you can't be him anymore. Too much has changed. Is it the responsibility that changed you? I don't know. Maybe it's the stress. Maybe you could never handle the leadership at all."

"I can handle the leadership! I am a great leader!" Stonestar shouted.

"... Stoneclaw?" Hawkfeather asked gingerly. "I think it's time for you to tell everyone what happened at the Moonstone."

***

"I was given only one extra life, and I lost it in the AutumnClan battle. StarClan said I wasn't ready, but I had to last for a little while, because the Clan would break apart without a leader. The rightful leader was Silverlight and she went berserk when it didn't become her. That's when our ancestors realized that Silverlight was the wrong choice and Sunshine had always been fit for it. Sunstar became leader earlier on than that but she died during the civil war, a victim to Silverlight. Then, StarClan crowned me Clan leader with bitterness in their hearts.

"They didn't want me to be Clan leader, but they made it so. They said the right cat was Amberfrost. They told me that, told me flat-out because they didn't want me to bring destruction to the Clan. But here I went and almost got her killed. They never told me a second choice if Amberfrost died, and I got carried away with the prospect of being leader. I never told anyone, and I had the medicine cats keep the secret.

"Tonight... oh, StarClan save me. Honeyleaf spoke against me, so I had to quieten her before she told everyone the truth. She's been threatening to. And I didn't know what else to do."

"Oh, Stonestar," Frostwind sighed, and that was all she could say.

Word count: 2166

I don't know if that was boring. I may need a few filler chapters because the action MAYYYY be coming up soon. The real action. Hehe. I have big plans. It's drawing to an end... kind of.