Hope ✓

Chapter Twenty-six

I was scarcely aware of time passing.

After we had buried Flick just outside Mistclan's border, I hardly ever left it for awhile. Bella brought food to me, encouraging me to eat even though I didn't particularly want to.

That dreadful day was the last day it snowed before Newleaf. The sick cats began to heal and there were no more deaths in Mistclan. Prey grew more plentiful, and the clan was thriving. Everyone seemed to be growing more cheerful from Newleaf finally arriving - besides me.

Nothing seemed to matter anymore. I ate without tasting the prey, I wanted to stay in camp but felt restless. I got less and less sleep from the nightmares that haunted my mind.

Soon enough, I couldn't take it anymore. I didn't want to stay in Mistclan, not with the haunting memories that kept following me.

"Bella, we need to leave Mistclan, I can't stay here anymore. I keep having these dreams, and I feel restless when I want to rest. I just feel like I need to get out of here."

The cream and white she-cat gave me a sympathetic look. Without answering, she began to look me over. I assumed she was just making sure I was healthy before we left, but her following words surprised me.

"Lavenderbreeze, you're expecting kits."

I couldn't believe what I had just heard. "What? Are you sure? How many? How long till they're born? Are they Flick's?"

Bella smiled a little. "Slow down, it's okay. It's too early to tell how many, but I am certain your expecting. I can guess it'll be just less than two moons, but like I said, it's still early. Also, who else's would they be?"

I sat down and looked at my stomach. Kits. Flick's kits. At first, this made me want to cry again - I thought this fact would throw me deeper into despair - but it didn't. Instead, it's what began to pull me out of it. I was expecting Flick's kits, I would still have a part of him with me.

After that, I began actually doing my warrior duties again. I helped hunt for the clan, I could taste the mouthwatering prey again, and the nightmares didn't seem so scary anymore. I wasn't fully healed, but I was trying again. I had regained hope. Only one thing didn't change.

I still felt the need to leave Mistclan.

Amberblaze had become Amberstar with the death of Fogbreeze, even if she didn't have nine lives. I learned from the warriors they had lost connection with Starclan, which meant Amberstar only had one life. That didn't stop her from leading her clan, though. She wasted no time appointing her deputy, Moleflight. The brown tom had adjusted well to his new role.

I approached the idea of me leaving to Amberstar and Moleflight. The deputy mentioned seeing some cats feeling down, restless, and even scared or nervous just to stay here as well. He said he wasn't going to pinpoint anyone, but Fogbreeze's reign had left them on edge. Amberstar protested that she was their new leader and was nothing like Fogbreeze, but she wasn't going to force any cat to stay when they didn't want to.

That's when I had an idea.

I remembered the story Blizzardrain had told me, about how he came over from Leafclan when they were destroyed. Two clans were always better than one, so that's what I told Amberstar.

"Let all cats old enough to catch their own prey gather here for a clan meeting!"

Amberstar's words rang throughout camp, and cats began to emerge from their dens. The fiery leader had waited until sunhigh when all patrols were back in camp. This was something everyone had to hear.

Amberstar turned to me and nodded. I was in one of the branches of the leader's tree. When it was my turn to speak, I looked out at all the cats to see them staring back.