Oakheart's Promise - A Warriors AU

Epilogue

I am Oakstar, leader of RiverClan.

My son, Stonefur, became a full warrior while I was still deputy. We lost Brambleberry first. She died peacefully in her nest surrounded by her Clanmates. I only wish I had taken the time to thank her for raising me more than Rainflower did.

Crookedstar was the greatest leader RiverClan had ever seen. He used all nine of his lives nobly, protecting his Clan with each one. Eventually, he used his last one to protect me in a battle against ThunderClan. He was killed at Sunningrocks by a warrior named Tigerclaw. It's a name I won't forget any time soon.

After the battle, I felt as if I had lost everything. My brother, my parents, my mate, and my daughters. But all of them would have wanted me to continue, so I went with Mudfur to receive my nine lives.

My lives were given to me by nine cats I knew in life. Bluefur, Graypool, Hailstar, Brambleberry, Shellheart, Ottersplash, Crookedstar, Echomist, and Rainflower. My mother seemed hesitant to speak to me again, but I'm glad she made it to StarClan. I would never wish the Dark Forest on any loyal cat, and even she didn't deserve such a fate.

Of course, I chose Stonefur as my deputy. He seemed like an obvious choice. However, while I was near Sunningrocks, I spotted him across the border with a ThunderClan warrior. I believe the warrior's name was Graystripe.

At first, I was afraid that Stonefur would experience the same tragedy that I had in life. I confronted him, and he told me that the warrior code allowed cats to have friends from other Clans. It reminded me of words Hailstar had spoken to me many moons ago.

Reluctantly, I allowed Stonefur to continue meeting with Graystripe. It seems that no harm can come from their meetings, and my deputy wouldn't be in a hurry to abandon me for a ThunderClan cat.

However, I also remembered that I had tried to do the same thing. I was fully willing to leave RiverClan to help Bluefur, but we knew that wouldn't fix everything.

I'm excited to see her when I join StarClan.

Whitestorm, now Whitestar, became the new leader of ThunderClan. Brokenstar of ShadowClan and Tallstar of WindClan stand with me at gatherings. Every time I see them, I can only think about how Bluefur deserves to be there with us.

My story is long and treacherous, full of grief and death and regret. But one thing that I had an abundance of was love. Every cat who died cared for me. I didn't deserve any of it. After all, I was betraying them every night by training in the Dark Forest.

To all of the cats that my training with Mapleshade harmed, I'm sorry. I'm sorry I caused so much grief and sent you all to early deaths. I'm sorry that I was so selfish and blind. But I'll do better. I'll take care of RiverClan and the entire forest with all of my lives. I will be a leader like Crookedstar, a father like Shellheart, a caretaker like Brambleberry, a Clanmate like Graypool, and a protector like Bluefur. I promise.