Flamepaw's Destination

Chapter 43

As Flameclaw left Barkfern's sisters to pay their respects, she padded happily over to the nursery, excited to share some more of her stories. Kits had been coming less often to hear them, and she found she enjoyed having someone to talk to.

Flameclaw entered the den and found Silverkit and Fogkit waiting excitedly to hear her tales. They looked up at her with gleaming eyes, and their tails moved quickly in anticipation.

"Are you ready to hear a story?" she asked, sitting down across from them.

Both Silverkit and Fogkit nodded eagerly.

"Did I ever tell you the story of when I jumped off the biggest cliff?" Flameclaw asked, supposing that would be a good one.

Silverkit and Fogkit both gasped and shook their heads.

"What? Impossible!" Fogkit retorted. 

Flameclaw shook her head.

"I had found the RiverClan leader and we were under attack. An evil she-cat named Korosu was after us!" Flameclaw exclaimed. "You see a RiverClan cat named Snowheart had been fighting with the she-cat, and her kit, Runningkit, had gone over the edge of a giant cliff. Snowheart had leapt after him. It was then we had a decision to make. The leader, Goldstar, and my friend, Rosepettle, and a kittypet who had joined us along the way named Neko, were going to jump over the cliff to save Snowheart and her kit. My other friend, Mothwing, who was a medicine cat, was going to journey home. I had a choice to make. Leave my friends behind and fail my quest or save my friends? Mothwing left, and I leapt over the cliff. It was a long way down, and I didn't think I would survive. But soon, I touched the ground and saw that my friends were safe too."

Both Silverkit and Fogkit seemed very excited by this story. Silverkit then let out a big grin.

"I want to be a warrior like you when I'm older!" she mewed. She batted Fogkit with her paw. "Grr!" she giggled.

Flameclaw chuckled.

"I've had an exciting life," she admitted. "Butit was dangerous too. My clan was lost to a dark clan. SwampClan failed thoughand my clan was gone...I was a rogue, and I actually lived with some wild dogsand wolves at one time. But I was expecting kits, and I had to make sure theywere safe, so Barkfern and I traveled here, and I've been here ever since."

 Fogkit's eyes widened in disbelief. "YOU LIVED WITH WILD DOGS AND WOLVES?!"

"We were an odd clan," Flameclaw said, chuckling. "It was me, Barkfern, the RiverClan deputy at the time named Troutfin (she died very recently because of her old age). There was Tigerstripe, but he left...And then there was Seven--he was a mutt. And then there was Holly and Rose—two puppies. And then there was Lupin and Breeze—the two were mates. Eventually, Breeze had pups, so that was another five added." Flameclaw grinned, thinking of all those animals. She somewhat missed them.

Fogkit laughed. "That is an odd clan!"

"Imagine if SnowClan lived with dogs! We could win all the battles!" Silverkit declared.

"We won't live with dogs," Fogkit yowled at his sister.

"Who died and made you leader?" Silverkit growled.

"Calm down, kits," Flameclaw said, not wanting to start any fights.

Silverkit sent an icy glare at Fogkit before she finally quieted.

"How about I tell you the story of how I was chosen to go on a quest," Flameclaw suggested.

"I hope I get chosen for a quest!" Silverkit squeaked.