Frostwind's own words rang in her ears. They were going to unite, not because of the prophecy, but because they had to.
Wars over borders and hunting rights were pointless when they could just be a big, peaceful Clan, and any cat could hunt anywhere. They would have larger numbers to fight off rogues, and four territories to hunt in during leaf-bare.
WinterClan wouldn't have to starve because of lack of fish, they could eat forest prey, or moor prey. And while Frostwind hated the idea of eating fish, it was true that there was fish every moon, and never ran out. There was even fish in winter, even if the ice was there and prevented them from catching it.
All in all... She could do something, make all this right. She could unite SeasonClan and make it whole again. If was her destiny.
She remembered demanding that maybe the destiny wasn't hers, fighting against Honeyleaf who wanted her to be a medicine cat. Poor Honeyleaf. Frostwind hadn't hated her, and the old she-cat had died anyway.
The main problem was Stonestar. They were lucky he'd chosen to run away to Mousestar, but if he'd fled the territories and become a kittypet or something, they would've never been able to track him down. Would Frostwind get her lives then, if Stonestar still breathed?
She suppressed a meow of amusement when she imagined Stonestar with Twolegs, dying and coming back to life, leaving the Twolegs awestruck and panic-stricken, with no clue what had happened.
But her smile faded off her face immediately because there was no reason why she should smile. Skyfeather was dead and it was a catastrophe. They needed to unite soon. Mousestar's Clan was literally becoming rogues only!
"Frostwind?" Amberfrost's quiet mew came.
"Come in," Frostwind meowed, looking around her. She was still unused to sleeping in the leader's den. Would they use SummerClan's camp later, or build another camp in the center of all four territories? But they were split by Thunderpaths. That wouldn't be practical.
"What are we going to do once we unite, assuming we can get past that obstacle?" Amberfrost asked quietly. "Some cats won't want to leave their homeland, Frostwind."
"What did SeasonClan do before?" Frostwind asked.
"I don't know," Amberfrost muttered, looking away. "I was born to Lunarfur and Grassfeather after the Great Divide, which is what we call the split."
"So you're saying Grassfeather knows?" Frostwind asked, perking up. Amberfrost's father was probably old enough and... Wait. Hopeheart's parents were Lunarfur and Grassfeather too. "Wait, hang on, are you my aunt?" She peered at Amberfrost through suspiciously narrowed eyes.
Amberfrost laughed. "Maybe I am, but is that a bad thing?"
She was so... Confident. Amberfrost was a natural leader, in all ways but the fact that she didn't want to be one.
"Even when I appoint Streamlight deputy," Frostwind meowed, "I'll still go to you for advice. Streamlight and I are relatively new warriors, we can't lead the Clan on our own."
"Precisely," Amberfrost purred. "You see, you are growing in wisdom already."
"Oh, I don't know," Frostwind purred back, "I can still be very immature!"
"Oh, don't you dare," Amberfrost growled, "the Clan needs a mature, wise leader!"
Frostwind laughed and laughed and laughed, and some of her worries bled away into the dark night, its calm flooding her with peace and tranquility.
She fell asleep alone in her den that night, and though she shivered from the cold, she knew she and her entire Clan were united with the desire of becoming whole.
And her Clan didn't end with the borders of SummerClan.
~
Birds chirped and the sun rose in the far horizon. Frostwind yawned as she got up, jumping up and looking round. Had Amberfrost assigned her to any patrols yet?
Oh, right. She was leader. That... Was going to take some getting used to. A lot of getting used to, actually. A lot a lot.
"Frostwind!" Shininglight called.
"Yes?" Frostwind asked. She hated answering every cat's call, but she was leader now, she supposed, just a leader without nine lives. And she couldn't be as lazy as Stonestar was or she'd lose all her support. At least everyone knew she was a formidable fighter and could protect them from any threat.
"I think it's time Firepaw became a warrior, Frostwind," Shininglight meowed respectfully, dipping her head to Frostwind.
That was pretty weird. Shininglight was at least twelve moons older than Frostwind, and having a cat older than her, well, bowing in a sort was just awkward, but Frostwind nodded her head respectfully back, hoping that was appropriate.
"It's a little early, don't you think?" Frostwind asked in spite of herself. She hadn't kept track of apprenticeships or anything, and she didn't even remember when they had been apprenticed, but Firepaw and Ivypaw had been kits at the same time as Pebblepaw, and she'd only been training for three moons.
Shininglight nodded, albeit a little awkwardly. "Yes, I do know that. Firepaw has only been training for five moons, unfortunately. However, during the moons since his sister's death, he has been training rigorously, and I believe he is ready."
Oh... Right. Frostwind vaguely remembered Hickorysnarl mentioning something about Ivypaw dying on a patrol. How that had happened, she also didn't know. She probably needed to be more aware of things going on around her Clan, but she'd probably been too busy moping over Skyfeather to realize anything.
"You've given him the assessment?" Frostwind asked finally. Fine, Shininglight could have her way and make him a warrior early, but that didn't mean Frostwind was going to let him pass without a proper assessment.
"Not yet. I was waiting to see if you'd allow it first. No point getting his hopes up," Shininglight explained. Well, that did have reasoning behind it, she supposed. Passable.
"Alright. You can assess him, but don't go easy because he's only eleven moons old. The assessment should have equal difficulty," Frostwind told her. She expected Shininglight to hiss in annoyance and proclaim that she'd always been going to do that, but the silver she-cat only nodded in acceptance and left Frostwind's den with a soft word of thanks.
Feeling disgruntled, Frostwind exited her den. No one looked shocked to see her walking around camp, but her next request of them might be a little bigger.
Frostwind jumped on top of the High Rock. "Let all cats old enough to hunt gather below the High Rock for a Clan meeting!"
The cats gathered around her, tripping over their own paws in anticipation.
"Are we fighting?" Windecho yowled, and Frostwind let out an amused purr. He was the violent type, wasn't he. Too bad.
"No, we are not. I want a small patrol to go with me to SpringClan. There are some things I must discuss with Streamlight and Springstar. Any volunteers?" She looked around, waiting expectantly. She wasn't like Stonestar and wasn't going to force anything on anybody. If she had to go alone, she would.
"I'll go." Dawnfire stepped forward.
Frostwind hadn't talked to Dawnfire recently so she was surprised the she-cat had agreed to go at all, but nodded in thanks. Dawnfire was strong-willed and powerful, and she'd be able to keep Frostwind and the rest of the patrol safe should there be any danger, although honestly, Frostwind could probably handle any threat herself.
"So will I," Hickorysnarl stepped up, flashing a grin at her former mentor. Wasn't it improper to grin at your leader like that? Frostwind didn't know.
"Me too," Windecho offered.
"Very well. Four cats are enough." Frostwind leapt off the High Rock and motioned with her tail for the three cats to follow her.
Hopefully, she'd be able to get some things done in SpringClan.
𝐖𝐨𝐫𝐝 𝐜𝐨𝐮𝐧𝐭: 𝟏𝟐𝟓𝟑
𝙾𝚔𝚊𝚢, 𝚞𝚖, 𝚊𝚕𝚕 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚌𝚑𝚊𝚙𝚝𝚎𝚛𝚜 𝚊𝚛𝚎 𝚙𝚛𝚘𝚋𝚊𝚋𝚕𝚢 𝚐𝚘𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚝𝚘 𝚊𝚟𝚎𝚛𝚊𝚐𝚎 𝚝𝚑𝚒𝚜 𝚕𝚎𝚗𝚐𝚝𝚑 𝚗𝚘𝚠. 𝙸 𝚊𝚕𝚖𝚘𝚜𝚝 𝚎𝚗𝚍𝚎𝚍 𝚒𝚝 𝚊𝚝 𝟻𝟾𝟹 𝚠𝚘𝚛𝚍𝚜 𝚋𝚎𝚌𝚊𝚞𝚜𝚎 𝚒𝚝 𝚠𝚊𝚜 𝚊 𝚛𝚎𝚊𝚕𝚕𝚢 𝚐𝚘𝚘𝚍 𝚙𝚕𝚊𝚌𝚎 𝚝𝚘 𝚎𝚗𝚍, 𝚋𝚞𝚝 𝙸 𝚝𝚑𝚘𝚞𝚐𝚑𝚝 𝚝𝚑𝚊𝚝 𝚠𝚊𝚜 𝚊 𝚕𝚒𝚝𝚝𝚕𝚎 𝚝𝚘𝚘 𝚜𝚑𝚘𝚛𝚝? 𝙰𝚗𝚢𝚠𝚊𝚢 - 𝚑𝚎𝚛𝚎'𝚜 𝚢𝚘𝚞𝚛 𝚌𝚑𝚊𝚙𝚝𝚎𝚛! 𝙸'𝚖 𝚐𝚘𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚝𝚘 𝚠𝚛𝚊𝚙 𝚝𝚑𝚒𝚜 𝚞𝚙 𝚜𝚘𝚘𝚗, 𝚊𝚗𝚍 𝙸'𝚖 𝚒𝚗𝚝𝚘 𝚠𝚛𝚒𝚝𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚒𝚝 𝚊𝚐𝚊𝚒𝚗, 𝚑𝚊𝚑𝚊! 𝙾𝚛 𝚖𝚊𝚢𝚋𝚎 𝙸 𝚜𝚑𝚘𝚞𝚕𝚍𝚗'𝚝 𝚜𝚊𝚢 𝚝𝚑𝚊𝚝. 𝙴𝚟𝚎𝚛𝚢 𝚝𝚒𝚖𝚎 𝙸 𝚍𝚘, 𝙸 𝚍𝚘𝚗'𝚝 𝚞𝚙𝚍𝚊𝚝𝚎 𝚏𝚘𝚛 𝚠𝚎𝚎𝚔𝚜. 𝙱𝚞𝚝 𝚠𝚑𝚊𝚝𝚎𝚟𝚎𝚛!