Clans of the Forest:1: Stone and Silver (COMPLETE)

Epilogue

Wickedstar gazed up at the sky, his breath showing in the frost. It would be a hard leaf-bare, but he was prepared to face it. The only problem was that he needed answers. Lots of answers, more answers than he'd ever needed as an apprentice. Was he doing this right? Was he doing anything right? But StarClan hadn't spoken to him, not since his nine lives ceremony.

"You regret it, don't you?"

Wickedstar turned quickly. His deputy, Daffodil, was standing behind him, her pelt glistening. "Hello," He said wearily, breathing out another puff of air. Daffodil leapt delicately over the stream and sat down beside him.

"Hello to you, too. But you haven't answered my question," She mewed.

"What question?" Wickedstar asked.

"You regret it, regret everything Pinebreeze has told you, everything she's been told, why the stars turned out this way, the drive out. You regret it all, don't you?"

"Yes," Wickedstar sighed. "Yes, I do."

There was a silence, and neither cat spoke for a little while.

"Why are you out so late?" Wickedstar asked finally.

"I-I need company," Daffodil mewed, her voice cracking. "It's been so hard since Egretpaw . . ." She let out a choked sob and buried her face into Wickedstar's fur. "You're the closest family I have left." 

"I understand," Wickedstar mewed quietly. "He may have been bad, but he was still your brother . . ." He paused as horrible memories flooded his head. "I'm a mess," He sighed finally. "I'm a mess and I always have been. I wish I could make things better . . . but I keep making things worse."

"Everyone okay?" A voice called from behind them. Pinebreeze slipped out from between the pine trees and sat down on Wickedstar's other side.

"Yeah," Daffodil mewed softly, taking a deep breath. 

"Good," Pinebreeze mewed, her warm amber eyes glowing the dark. The made Wickedstar feel comfortable and happy, they made him feel like everything was going to be alright. Pinebreeze was such a kind, gentle she-cat . . . although she got extremely fierce her loyalty to BlizzardClan. Fierce enough to kill a cat.

"I just need to think," Wickedstar mewed, his breath billowing out in front of him. "I've always trusted you two above all of the others in the Clan. We can do this, right?"

"Yes," Daffodil mewed softly. She stared into the night, and the world seemed to hold its breath in waiting for dawn. "Yes, we can."