Willowbounce's Tale

Epilogue

Epilogue

    The pale gray and white she-kit sat up as she listened to Splashine tell a tale that always captured her interest. The old ginger she-cat could hardly move, but she found it in her own strength to still tell stories to her kin about things from her time.
    Laying beside her was her sister, Lynxkit and on the side of her was their blind brother, Quailkit.
    "She had faced many troubles in her time, yes...But she never gave up hope that she could change." Splashine said, her voice dry and cracky. The she-kit still listened with her eyes round in awe as she listened to the tales of her ancestor.
    "Splashine, is all of this even true?" Lynxkit asked. The she-kit flicked her sister with her tail in annoyance.
    "Of course it's true!" Her and Splashine said at the same time. Lynxkit huffed and flicked her ears.
    "With all do respect Splashine, how do you know any of that is true? She never told me about any of those things..." Darkrose said. The kit's mother was sitting off to the side of the den, listening. Instead of having a snappy response, which was what the she-kit expected, Splashine responded with a soft tone.
    "Your mother loved you dearly, Darkrose...But she never told me any of this either. It was only after her passing that she told me. She came to me in a dream, but-" Splashine was cut off as she broke into a bout of coughing. Darkrose touched her tail-tip to the she-cat's shoulder.
    "You should rest now. Kits, you can listen to more of Splashines stories later..she needs to rest." She said, getting to her paws and gathering her kits with her tail. But the she-kit didn't want to leave.
    "Why do we have to leave?" She asked, not budging her paws even as her mothers tail nudged her on.
    "Palekit, stop fussing please. Splashine isn't exactly young and she needs more rest than you." Her mother said, her violet gaze boring into hers, ice blue. Palekit nodded, then dipped her head in apology. Padding out into the camp with her siblings and mother, Palekit gazed around. So many cats were all around! How could something as evil as Deathclan or the Dark Forest even exist? She thought. With so much joy and peace in the camp, Palekit found it hard to believe. As they were heading into the nursery, Palekit thought she saw something at the edge of the camp. Her mother didn't seem to be paying attention, and so with hesitance at first, Palekit padded over to the edge of the camp. She inspected the spot among the brambles and thorn thickets where she thought she had seen something, but now there was nothing.
    Palekit turned her head back to the nursery when another thing appeared at the very edge of her view. It was looming in the entrance tunnel to the camp. Palekit whipped her head around to look at the creature, but as soon as she looked directly at it, it vanished. Palekit flicked her folded ears in curiosity. She padded through the entrance tunnel, inspecting the roof of the space as she went. I know you're hiding somewhere...She thought. Palekit then appeared at the very entrance of the camp ; the open forest was spread out as far as she could see. She gazed in amazement at its beauty. Palekit's eyes lit up as she thought she saw a tail waving as it disappeared behind a tree. But something was off about the tail. It definitely belonged to a cat, but something was off about it. It didn't look...full..She thought, puzzled. Suddenly Palekit felt herself being picked up off the ground by her scruff.
    "You shouldn't be wandering out of camp, little one." The voice of Birdclaw murmured in her ears. Palekit huffed.
    "Shouldn't you be in the elders den?" She asked, feeling prickly that her plans of exploring had been stopped. The tom mrrowed as he turned and brought her back into the camp.
    "Yes, I should be..But keeping an eye on you kits is something important too. Especially when someone can't keep track of her own kits..." He said as he put her down at his paws, glancing at Darkrose who was standing outside the nursery.
    "Yeah, yeah...Come, Palekit. You should stay inside the nursery.." She said. Birdclaw nudged her towards her mother, pushing her to her paws. Palekit still wanted to explore, but her chances of doing so were harshly dampened now. As she padded into the nursery, Lynxkit padded up to her shoulder.
    "What were you doing anyway? There are Deathclan cats outside the camp! They could've taken you away!" She chided. Palekit ignored her sister's scowls.
    "I thought I saw something.." She murmured. Lynxkits ears pricked.
    "What was it?" She asked. Palekit thought about how to describe it.
    "It looked like a cat, but it didn't look like you or me. It looked empty.." She said. Lynxkit cocked her head in confusion.
    "What do you mean 'empty'?" She asked. Palekit thought hard trying to put words to her thoughts.
    "It didn't have any fur, or a body! It was just..an outline!" She said. Lynxkit burst into laughter.
    "Yeah right! Not even Dark Forest cats look like that!" She said. Palekit flicked her sister with her paw and trotted forward to walk beside her mother. I did see it..I know I did...She thought.