Super Edition: Briarsong's Renascence

Chapter 10

Briarsong followed Sully quietly as he led the way to a shady spot where they could stay cool. The dirt underneath the large oak tree was a nice change from the suns rays and the two cats lay down.

"I never even knew him," Briarsong said sadly. "I feel so selfish. I've been living with you all in the barn for a while now and I never even took the time to get to know Moose."

"He was a good one. Although he liked to wander pretty far by himself. The little ones think they can do whatever they want and nothing bad will happen. He isn't the first and he won't be the last. I'm just lucky Cookie took Mango and I under her wing when we first came here, and she kept us straight."

"Why didn't she did that with Moose?" 

"Oh she tried." Sully sighed. "But Cookie isn't as young as she used to be and he didn't like to listen so would take off. Cookie takes it as a personal failure whenever one of the younger ones doesn't make it. And sometimes they just wander off and we aren't sure if they wanted to live in the forest, go find another barn, or got eaten. Once a sheep kicked one in the head and the poor thing died instantly." Sully shook his head sadly. 

"You've been here on the Farm your entire life?" Briarsong asked.

"Pretty much. I was taken from my mother and brought here pretty young. For a while they kept me locked up so I couldn't run off but once I got older they would let me out during the day, and then I wasn't locked up anymore. They did the same thing to Mango and Morris. Mango came around the same time as me so we've both grown up here. Morris was older when joined us and says he used to live at another Hay Barn but kept getting attacked by another tom living there, so his old twolegs brought him here. Cookie has been here the longest."

"Must have been hard for Cookie to live here alone for so long." Briarsong mused. "I can't imagine being all alone and then suddenly a bunch of kits show up."

"Cookie had her sister before Mango and I showed up. She doesn't like to talk about her but I do know she and her sister were super close before something happened to her."

"Did she get eaten?" 

"I don't know exactly. Cookie never said what happened to Rosy. When we were kits she talked about Rosy a little but that stopped and we just kind of leave it alone."

"Do you miss your mother and littermates?"

"I don't really remember them." Sully shrugged. "Honestly I consider Cookie more of a mother figure and Mango more of a sister figure. I really love my little family here on the farm. I know its not for every cat, but I think its a nice life. We never go hungry, we never go thirsty, we have a warm place to sleep, and we have each other."

"I didn't really think of it like that." Briarsong admitted. "I kept thinking how because you all didn't live in a Clan you were missing out. I'm realizing that Clan life isn't the only way to be happy."

"That is good to hear," Sully purred, and Briarsong tired not to meet his eyes, afraid she would be drawn in by their warm glow. "What about you? Tell me a little about your clan."

Briarsong hesitated, afraid she would miss them too much. "Well," she started then stopped. "You already know I was a Medicine Cat, and what that meant."

"True. Did you have any family? Tell me about your friends and how you lived."

"I had two littermates," Briarsong started, realizing it was easier to talk about the simple stuff than to go right into the hard stuff. "A brother Sunheart and a sister Ferntail. Ferntail died of Green Cough and Sunheart died when a rock fell on him."

"I'm sorry to hear that," Sully rubbed her cheek with his muzzle. "Do you still have your mother and father?"

"My mother died as well, her name was Creektalon. When I left my clan my father was still alive although very old. His name is Runningtail."