Warriors || Rose's Path

Chapter 13

The crescent moon hung in the deep blue sky, ominously, overhead. The night air was still, as if waiting for an answer, focusing only on the conversation between the WindClan cats, nothing more. As if nothing else mattered.
Roseblossom turned her head to her former mentor, alarmed at the words the russet  tabby had just spoken. They were oddly familiar. . . I want you to stay away from Brackenpaw, he's too much of a distraction. An icy chill traced over Roseblossom's spine. Crookedwing was in on her sister's plan all along . . . But why do they want to keep me from my closest friends?
She turned her gaze back to Crystalflame, but she could feel herself backing away, ears back in alarm. Why? She wanted to ask, but she couldn't form the words. As if Crystalflame understood, she began to speak again.
"We only want to keep you from him because we don't want you to make the same mistake as Addertuft's friend," Crystalflame explained, voice calm and green gaze level.
Roseblossom pricked her ears, but her tail still flicked anxiously. What mistake? What mistake did the cream she-cat make?
Crookedwing stepped between Roseblossom and her sister again. Her usually annoyed gaze was glazed over with wisdom. "Enough. How could she make that mistake? It's in the past, Crystalflame, and you need to let it go," for the first time, Roseblossom heard understanding and respect in Crookedwing's voice. "You shouldn't blame Roseblossom, just because she carries her name with her. You should respect her, and remember her through Roseblossom. Everyone makes mistakes."
Crystalflame looked distraught and undecided. The russet tabby glanced back at Firepool, who dipped her head, grief in her amber eyes. "I miss her, so much, She was such a good apprentice to me. I blamed myself when she left."
Roseblossom flicked her ears in confusion. Are they talking about the cream she-cat? Why did she leave? And if she was Firepool's apprentice, that means she was a medicine cat. So many unanswered questions washed over Roseblossom, and she wanted to know more about this cat who she had been named after.
Roseblossom watched in surprise as Crookedwing wrapped her tail around Firepool in comforting and grief. Crystalflame watched, green eyes round, not knowing what to do or say. Crookedwing glanced up at her sister, beckoning with her tail for her to join them. Crystalflame gave an apologetic smile, before embracing her sisters. Roseblossom's tail twitched. She had to find out more, and suddenly the prophecy didn't matter to her at all.
                            •*•*•*•*•*•*•
Roseblossom settled down next to Ambernight, who rested his brown tail over her shoulders. She remembered her meeting with Firepool, Crookedwing, and Crystalflame, and felt warmth surge through her at the thought of the sister's love for each other. They had all missed the cream she-cat when she left, which brought them together in the end. Firepool had mourned the cream she-cat because she had been her apprentice, Crystalflame because she was her daughter's best friend, and Crookedwing the ginger she-cat cared for her Clanmates, even if she didn't always show it.
Roseblossom gave a drowsy, satisfied blink, but she still longed for more information about the cream she-cat. No cat seemed to talk about her, it was like they didn't remember her at all. Not even Addertuft had mentioned her friend. Roseblossom welcomed sleep as it washed over her, like the long green grass flowing in the breeze.
Roseblossom blinked open her eyes. Right away she recognized where she was. Tall grass surrounded her, swishing to reveal a familiar cream cat. Her ice blue eyes caught Roseblossom's gaze. Stars twinkled faintly at her paws.
Roseblossom gazed at the tall grass, expecting Driftfrost to follow the cream cat, but he didn't come. Roseblossom gazed at her paws, shyness creeping over her; she could feel the emotionless ice-colored gaze upon her, and it made her fur stand on end. She didn't like attention.
Finally, to Roseblossom's relief, the she-cat spoke. "You have a lot of questions for me, don't you?" Roseblossom pricked her ears in surprise. How does she know?
"I can answer them," the cream cat whispered. "If you want."
Roseblossom relized she had a lot in common with the cream cat. She was quiet like Roseblossom. But while Roseblossom was generally quiet because she was shy, the cream cat was quiet because she was a loner, and reserved her feelings to herself. That's why she never reveals anything in her expression. Roseblossom knew that's where they were different. Her actions always gave away her emotion, while the cream cat could hide her thoughts beneath an unbreakable mask.
Although Roseblossom knew this was a StarClan cat, she seemed more real than the wise tom Driftfrost. She seemed closed off, not quite living, but not quite StarClan. Roseblossom knew she'd have to be the one who did the talking, even though she didn't want to.
"Who are you?" Roseblossom let her first ever question slip through her jaws.
The cream she-cat's gaze was unmoving. "My name is Aspenrose."
Understanding flowed through Roseblossom. So that's where the 'rose' part of my name came from. She flicked her tail, moving on to the next question she had wondered about. "If you're a StarClan cat, how did you visit the waking world?"
Roseblossom remembered the night she saw a cat watching the WindClan camp. She was sure it had been Aspenrose. Before Aspenrose could answer, a gray tom with long fur and green-blue eyes pushed through the grass to sit beside his fellow StarClan warrior.
"StarClan has allowed Aspenrose to visit the lake," Driftfrost started to explain. "She is the only one who has done it before. We allow her because when she died, she was not among her Clanmates. Now, she watches over them every chance she gets."
A new surge of questions poured over Roseblossom, but she picked one out carefully, knowing she didn't have much time left. The WindClan cats knew Aspenrose had left, but maybe they don't know why. Maybe they don't know she's in StarClan. Roseblossom studied the grass behind them, transfixed. Then, sure of what she wanted to say, Roseblossom cast her gaze upon the icy eyes of Aspenrose.
"Aspenrose, how did you die?"