Whiteriver's Truth

Chapter 21

   They got to a little den made of stone and sheltered by bushes. "I'm sorry for being so hostile towards you, but an old she-cat like me can't help, but want to protect her kits. I'm very thankful you didn't try to fight me. I don't have much energy left in me." The she-cat explained lying down in a bed of leaves and grass. "Harley isn't here right now. He's probably out hunting or with his little group of cats." She snickered. "Oh toms." She looked up at Whiteriver with a playful smirk.
   Whiteriver looked over to Bravepelt and let out a small giggle. He flicked her playfully with his tail. "Hey!"
   She turned her attention back to the queen. "You know are names, but you never introduce yourself." She said.
   "Oh." Her ears perked up. "How rude of me. Everyone calls me One-eye." She meowed.
   "Well it's nice to meet you, One-eye." She meowed back and Bravepelt nodded beside her.
   Whiteriver felt something paw at her leg and she turned around to see the little grey tabby kit that bumped into her when they met.
   "What's living in a clan like?" She asked.
   "Why are you so curious about the clans, Aster. Mama says they're nothing, but trouble." The black kit growled at her sister, giving her and Bravepelt an untrusted glare.
   "Well I like living in a clan. We are just very protective over our territories." She purred giving One-eye a nervous glance.
   There was no emotion on her face, she just flicked her ear. Suddenly, a bush rustled and a brown patched tom emerged. He dropped three voles on the ground and gave her and Bravepelt a confused look.
   "Who are you?" He asked.
   Whiteriver's chest began to flutter and she suddenly felt very hot. She knew that this was her father and she had to say something. She opened her mouth, but nothing came out, she was too nervous to speak, so Bravepelt stepped forwards.
   "I am Bravepelt of ThunderClan and this is Whiteriver." He explained, resting his tail on her flank. "We came looking for you."
   "Me?" He meowed, his ears perking up with surprise. "Why me?"
   One-eye stepped forwards and stood in front of him with a happy grin, purring. "You remember your mate... uhh... River? I think that's her name."
   "It's Riverleap." He rolled his eyes clearly annoyed that his mother kept forgetting his former mate's name. "Why wouldn't I forget." He muttered looking sadly down at the ground.
   "Well she was a Clan cat, remember."
   "She never wanted to be a clan cat. She said she wanted to live with me in the forest. With us." He meowed, not looking up. "She said we were having kits and I begged to go with her. I wish I didn't listen to her and just went with her. I haven't seen her since then." His voice became more sad as he recalled the memory.
   "She didn't want to abandon you." Whiteriver spoke up taking a few steps towards him.
   He quickly raised his head and looked at her with confusion. "What do you mean?" He asked.
   "She passed away." She said, sadness now welling up in her heart. "She loved you until her last breath, I know of it." She meowed.
   "She-she's dead." He toppled backwards, his words coming out as simple breaths. "H-how do you know who she is?"
   Whiteriver sighed and looked directly into his eyes. "She was my mother."
   He stared at her with a surprised look not saying anything for a while, then he started to grin and tears started forming. He pushed himself forwards until their pelts were pressed against each other. "You're my daughter." He cried. He stepped back and looked at her with love. "You have your mother's eyes." He purred.
"I'm so happy to finally meet you." She purred.
"Have you come to live in the forest with me?" He asked hopefully.
She looked down at the ground suddenly feeling guilty. "No." She mumbled.
"Oh." His happy tone suddenly disappeared into disappointment. "Then why are you here?" He asked.
She looked back up at him. "To tell you the truth so you don't live the rest of your life wondering what happened." She explained.
"Oh." He responded. "So this is it? You're going to leave now?" He looked at her with sadness filling his eyes.
"Oh you could probably stay the night, can't you?" One-eye asked.
"I'm sure we can, but we'll have to leave tomorrow." Bravepelt answered.
"Please stay. At least just for the night." Harley pleaded.
"Okay." Whiteriver nodded with a smile.
"You and your mate can have these, I'm sure Harley wouldn't mind going to get us some more." One-eye purred pushing the voles towards them.
"I can go instead. You guys stay and catch up." Bravepelt offered.
"Thank you." Harley nodded towards him before he bounded away to find them some more food to eat.
   Harley stared at her for a moment and then spoke. "What's it like... living in a clan?" He asked.
   "Oh you kits always asking about the clans. Sometimes it's just best to stay curious. Living out here is fine." One-eye growled with annoyance.
   "I wish I went with your mother." Harley said ignoring his mother's complaints.
   "It would've been difficult. Clan cats don't exactly accept cats from outside their clan." Whiteriver told him.
   "I would've done all I could if it meant I could stay with you and your mother." He purred. "Do you have any siblings?" He asked.
   Whiteriver thought about her brother and the fear of him finding out was brought back to her. "Y-yes." She stuttered out. "His name is Birchblaze."
   "Did he not want to come see me?" He asked with sadness in his eyes.
   She looked at the ground and thought about what she was going to tell him. She then sighed. "We believe that another cat was our father. She didn't want us to have a hard time fitting in because of who our real father was. I didn't find out until recently." She explained.
   "Oh." He looked down to the ground.
   "He wasn't really happy when he found out. He's always been proud of being a ThunderClan warrior." She only told part of the truth.
   Harley sighed. "Well at least I got to meet you."
   Just then, Bravepelt returned with a rabbit and a thrush and plopped it down. "Now we can all eat." He meowed.