Whiteriver's Truth

Chapter 20

   "I caught you a bird." Bravepelt put down a thrush beside her as she was lapping at a small pond.
   "Thank you." She meowed, licking away the droplets of water off her muzzle. She bent down and started tearing pieces off the bird. It was silent for a moment and Bravepelt seemed to be staring at her and shuffling his paws like he was itching to say something to her. She lifted her head back up, finishing the bite. "Is there something you want to say?" She pushed.
"I'm just waiting for you to finish." He responded.
"Have you eaten something?"
"Yes I have. Don't worry about me." He meowed.
She looked at him for a few more seconds and then went back to eating until she finished it off. Once she was done, she licked her jaw and looked back up to her mate. "What is it?" She asked again.
"I just wanted to make sure you're okay." He looked down at the ground.
"What do you mean?" She pushed.
"You left the den last night and you seem more upset than you usually are." He explained.
Whiteriver thought about the dream she had that night and sighed. "It's nothing." She sat up and started to walk away. "We better get going now."
   Bravepelt followed her a little behind, his concern still obviously showing. She eventually stopped under the shade of a tree and sighed, turning to fave him.
   "Are you going to let me know now? I know there is something wrong. You can tell me anything." He pushed, his tone comforting as he gazed at her.
   "Last night..." She started. "I had a dream."
   Bravepelt titlted his head with curiosity, eager to listen.
   "Bramblefoot visited me." She told him.
   "What did he say that has you so troubled?"
   "He told me to turn around and go back." She finally said, but she kept the rest of it to herself. "He knows about Harley. He says that if everyone knew that he was my father, leaving would make it seem like my loyalties lie beyond the clan." She sighed.
   "That's fox-dung. Everyone knows you are loyal and they should after everything you've gone through." Bravepelt let out a slight growl from behind his teeth. "I didn't know what it is you are exactly looking for, but I know once you find it we'll be home and I trust you." He purred.
   Whiteriver purred as well. "Thank you, Bravepelt." She brushed up against him. "What do you think we should do?" She asked him.
   "Go find what you're looking for." He smiled at her.
   She looked up at him feeling more love than she thought she ever could from one cat. "Okay."

***

   They walked until the sun was high in the sky.
   "Should I go hunt again?" Bravepelt asked.
   Whiteriver sniffed the air. "I smell other cats around here. I don't want to get in a fight with a rogue. Maybe later." She responded.
   "Okay." Her mate nodded, continuing to walk on.
   Suddenly, a bush near them rustled. Then a tiny voice screamed out from it, "Watch out Aster!" And a small grey kit tumbled out hitting Whiteriver's leg. Then kit slowly looked up with more of a curious glance than worried. Quickly, a tortoiseshell cat jumped out with a smaller black kit behind her.
"Who are you?" The she-cat hissed, shielding her kits behind her.
   The she-cat was clearly mad that she had touched her kits. She looked like an old experienced queen and in no condition to fight. She's too weak to fight, but she still puts on a good show to protect her kits. She said to herself. She looked at Bravepelt hoping he would have an idea of what to say, but his blank stare said that he was thinking the same as her.
   She didn't want to start a fight so she knew just to be honest, whether the queen believed her or not. "We aren't going to hurt your kits, we're just looking for someone who might live around here." She explained to her.
The fur on the old queens neck began to lie flat, but she didn't back down. "That doesn't answer my question. Who are you?" She growled.
   Whiteriver stood there for a moment thinking of what to say, but she knew it would just be right to answer the old she-cat's question. Rogues and Loner weren't too fond of clan cats and she wasn't ready to turn back yet, but she had to take the risk. "My name is Whiteriver and the cat beside me is my mate, Bravepelt." She flicked her tail towards him. "We are from ThunderClan, just past the twoleg place." She explained.
   The fur on the queen started to lie completely flat and she sat down, wrapping her tail around her kits, but her face gave away that she was still uneasy with them around. She scoffed. "A clan cat. I know of you. You have no sympathy for any cat that doesn't live in your territory." She licked her paw and brought it over her ear. "I once wondered into your territory. They called themselves RiverClan I believe, not ThunderClan, but I'm sure you're all the same." She looked off into the distance as if she was remembering old times. "I was hungry and so were my kits and I caught that mouse fair and square." She hissed.
   "I'm sorry. It's just the way of the clans. We aren't very welcoming, but that doesn't mean we are all unsympathetic." Whiteriver explained trying to make her understand that they weren't a threat.
   The old queen huffed. "Well I won't ever be going back there so it doesn't matter now." She stood up and turned away flicking her tail for her kits to follow. She then suddenly stopped. "Wait." She turned back around to face the two cats. "You said your name was... err... River, right?"
   She chuckled and shook her head. "Close. It's Whiteriver." She responded.
"Oh... right. Well I've heard of someone that had the name River and she came from the clan." She spoke looking to the ground. "Who did you say you were looking for?" She looked back up with a curious expression.
"We are looking for a cat named Harley." Whiteriver stepped forwards, excitement and nervousness building up inside her.
The queen's eyes suddenly grew wide. "That's my son. H-how do you know him?" She eagerly asked.
Whiteriver looked down at the ground feeling a little embarrassed. "He's my father."
"F-follow me." One-eye purred, a smile growing on her face as she turned around and flicked her tail for the two new cats to follow.
   Whiteriver gave Bravepelt a quick glance, smiling at him. He smiled back and rubbed his head up against her cheek and then they started to follow the old cat and her kits around the bushes.