"Frostwind!"
"Yes?" Frostwind whipped around, facing Amberfrost.
"The SpringClan cats. They want you to get your nine lives."
Frostwind had actually been thinking about that recently, but she shook her head. "No. I will not be the true leader of SeasonClan until I have united all the Clans."
"Frostwind... They need faith, and someone to put their trust in. That's you. But they'd feel safer if you had nine lives." Amberfrost's eyes were pleading.
"I can fight well enough with one life," Frostwind said, and sighed. "You don't understand. Amberfrost... Not everything depends on StarClan."
"What are you talking about?" Amberfrost demanded.
"Streamlight had a destiny, but StarClan couldn't help her to fulfill it. I want to trust StarClan, and I do, but we cannot depend on our ancestors. They cannot impact today unless we allow them to. You get it?" Frostwind glanced at her deputy.
Amberfrost stared back, clearly struggling to process what Frostwind had just told her, before eventually nodding, albeit hesitantly.
"I have trusted StarClan my entire life," she mumbled. "Suddenly stopping doesn't..."
"I'm not saying not to trust StarClan," Frostwind clarified. "They're not evil, and we can still turn to them for advice, but we should not depend on them to decide our destinies. We decide our destinies. Where we want to end up. And I don't want to lead half of SeasonClan. I want to lead the whole Clan, united as one."
"And I will lead them beside you," Amberfrost promised. "If you want me to, of course."
"Yes," Frostwind promised. "When I become leader, I will name you my deputy. In fact, you already are."
Amberfrost smiled slightly. "Thank you, Frostwind. Seeing you up there, leading the Clan... It reminds me I was never meant to be there."
"You would be a good leader," Frostwind protested.
"But I don't want to be."
"I know," Frostwind meowed softly, "and that's what makes you a better one."
Amberfrost smiled again, a soft, hesitant smile. "Well. We're not waiting long, are we?"
"No," Frostwind said. "I'll work out a plan, then we attack."
"A plan?" Amberfrost raised her eyes. "We need one? Don't we just send you in and watch you single-pawedly destroy them?"
"Oh, maybe," Frostwind meowed, grinning as she flicked her tail.
Amberfrost exited Frostwind's den, leaving her alone to ponder.
She would have to kill Stonestar and Mousestar and Snowstar. If Snowstar had appointed a new deputy, she would have to kill that cat, too. Mousestar's deputy didn't matter. Whoever it was, he or she was a rogue.
"Frostwind! Someone is here to see you."
Who? Frostwind wondered, exiting the den and looking around.
It was like she'd stood before a pool of water.
A cat stood there, old but majestic, her fur sleek, shiny and snow-white, her eyes a deep violet.
Just like Frostwind's.
"I am Peaceheart," she murmured, "the sister of Summerstar, Autumnstar, Winterstar and Springstar. How far have they fallen, such that WinterClan is siding with AutumnClan?"
"Very far," Frostwind meowed, staring at the legendary she-cat in wonder.
Peaceheart caught her staring and purred. "I'm alive, yes. I don't have much time left, and my... My mate died seasons ago. But I am here to warn you of one thing."
"Yes?" Frostwind asked, a little too excitedly.
"Trust no cat."
"What... What are you talking about?" Frostwind asked quietly.
"Who did you leave behind at the SpringClan camp?" Peaceheart asked quietly.
"A lot of cats," Frostwind meowed, confused. "Dawnfire, Shininglight, Dewfrost, Brightflame, Firespark, Redleaf, Windecho, a couple of others and the recovering SpringClan cats."
"Do you really think he forgave you?" Peaceheart whispered. "He held a grudge for moons. Only to overcome it when you became powerful? Think twice, Frostwind. Think twice. Trust no cat."
The old she-cat departed after that, leaving Frostwind deep in thought. Finally, she stood up. "Cloudbeam? Talonflame? I want you with me, now."
"Where are we going?" Cloudbeam asked.
"SpringClan camp. I need to talk to Windecho."
~
"Frostwind? What are you doing here?" Windecho's voice had a slight edge to it, and he looked a little hostile.
And the SpringClan cats... She couldn't see them.
"Where are the SpringClan cats?" Frostwind asked quietly.
"In the dens."
"Take me," she meowed firmly.
Windecho glanced at her, confused, and then realization dawned on him. But he didn't say anything and led her to the medicine den. Mottledpelt and Redleaf were working on the injured.
And the SpringClan cats... They were looking to Windecho, not her.
"What happened here?" Frostwind asked, and she looked directly at Windecho. He wasn't worming his way out of this one.
He relented and stopped keeping up the facade. "You're a weak leader, Frostwind. You're a good superweapon, but not a leader. I can only trust you to fight and win. Leading? No. You're pretending to mature but you're transparent. You're a mouse-brain and a fox-heart, and it's time someone proper took over."
Frostwind snorted. "And that someone proper is you?"
One of the SpringClan cats stepped up uneasily. "He said you manipulated Streamlight."
"I did, did I? We're both in a prophecy that he isn't in. So we came together and talked about uniting SeasonClan. When would I have manipulated her?"
Uneasy looks continued spreading around the SpringClan cats, and Frostwind watched with satisfaction as Windecho began to panic.
"I didn't lie!" he spluttered, but they were turning their backs on him.
"Windecho, you-"
"Fine!" he shouted. "If you won't listen to me, I'm going to WinterClan!"
"Disloyal!" one of the SpringClan cats snarled, his hackles rising.
Frostwind grinned. Spectacular.
"I'm not! I'm proving a point!"
"By being disloyal," Talonflame said flatly, then glanced at his father.
Cloudbeam shifted uncomfortably, but his mate, Twilightmoon, walked up to him and they twined tails, giving him a new surge of courage.
"Leave, Windecho," Cloudbeam spat.
Frostwind fought down jealousy. She'd once had a cat to do that with her. Skyfeather. She missed him, more than she wanted to admit. She was used to working alone, to flying solo, but being without him was just...
Painful.
She turned to face Windecho and almost told him to leave again when he spun around, his tail slapping a SpringClan cat in the face and stormed away, bristling.
"You'll regret this when WinterClan wins the war!" he snarled.
"He thinks they'll win because of him?" Dawnfire snorted in derision, and Frostwind had to agree.
Although... She felt a twinge of sorrow. He was her family, and she'd thought their bond had been remade, but he had fooled her and Cloudbeam together. He had manipulated her. She should never have given him a second chance.
She'd tried being like Skyfeather and had paid the price for it.
So... Maybe, she should just stick to being herself. Paranoid. A killer. She felt sadness well up in her. She was never going to be the mother Pebblepaw deserved. Pebblepaw deserved someone who cared for her and looked after her. That cat wasn't Frostwind. Frostwind loved her daughter but she could only protect her, not bond with her.
She was a killer and a monster. That was all she was good at.
At least she was good at something, though.
"Are the SpringClan cats well enough to travel?" Frostwind called.
"No!" Redleaf scrambled for more herbs. "It's been a day, Frostwind! Okay, some of them are. But that's it! Here, these three."
They were still a little ragged and patched up with cobwebs, but they stumbled to their paws.
"They're not done being treated yet, but they can get to our camp. Hawkfeather and Pebblepaw can continue treating them there," Redleaf explained.
"Alright. Cloudbeam, Talonflame, stay here; Dawnfire and Firespark, you can come back to camp. I'll send some other warriors to relieve the rest of the SummerClan warriors. No, SeasonClan warriors." Frostwind smiled with pride at the name.
"Frostwind?" Twilightmoon asked. "May I request to remain here with Cloudbeam, Talonflame and Redleaf?"
She wanted to stay with them, as a family. Frostwind could respect that, even if she'd never had a true family to rely on. No, she had Pebblepaw and Cloudbeam, at least. She gave Twilightmoon a nod and the she-cat beamed at her mate before bidding her sister goodbye.
Dawnfire and Firespark followed Frostwind back to camp, their pelts pricking with anticipation. "So, Windecho's a traitor," Dawnfire meowed warily. "Who next?"
"No one, I hope," Frostwind meowed, and she meant it.
"Yeah," Dawnfire muttered.
"Dawnfire-"
"It just seems weird, isn't it?" Dawnfire asked quietly. "Everyone had their families broken up, but my siblings are all alive. Duskcloud and Twilightmoon are fine. Healthy. But... I don't know if it'll stay that way."
"Of course it will," Frostwind meowed, baffled.
"But can you promise me that, Frostwind?" Dawnfire asked. "Can you promise me they won't die in battle?"
No. No, she couldn't.
"No, I can't," Frostwind murmured.
"You see? There. You can't promise me. They're going to die, I know they will. Duskcloud and Shimmerpelt and Twilightmoon and Cloudbeam because war divides families." Dawnfire took a deep breath. "Can't we do this differently, Frostwind? Can't we make a difference, change our ways? Can't we assassinate Mousestar and Stonestar and Snowstar and leave it like that?"
"Dawnfire..."
"We're cats, Frostwind. We're not monsters."
"I think you're mistaken," Frostwind meowed heavily. "I am a monster, and when you put a monster at your head, you have to become monsters to follow."
"No, we don't." Dawnfire met Frostwind's eyes. "We don't have to. We are who we want to be. You said it yourself, Frostwind! We can choose our own destinies. Cloudbeam told me you said that, and... I believe you, Frostwind, can inspire them. To be different. Not like me."
"No," Frostwind meowed with a small smile, "you've inspired me, Dawnfire."
Dawnfire shifted slightly. "I hope so. I just.... It's too much killing. Doesn't it do anything to you?"
"I hardly feel it anymore," Frostwind meowed quietly. Maybe wistfully.
Dawnfire looked away, nodding. "Yeah, just... Keep it in mind. Killing isn't the only solution."
"Yeah. Yeah... I know."
𝐖𝐨𝐫𝐝 𝐜𝐨𝐮𝐧𝐭: 𝟏𝟓𝟕𝟗
𝐖𝐡𝐨𝐚! 𝐈𝐬 𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐦𝐲 𝐓𝐇𝐈𝐑𝐃 𝐜𝐡𝐚𝐩𝐭𝐞𝐫 𝐭𝐨𝐝𝐚𝐲?! 𝐎𝐤𝐚𝐲, 𝐈'𝐦 𝐨𝐟𝐟𝐢𝐜𝐢𝐚𝐥𝐥𝐲 𝐢𝐧𝐬𝐚𝐧𝐞. 𝐁𝐲𝐞!