✧ Devious Fates ✧ | COMPLETE WARRIOR CATS FANFICTION STORY |

// Epilogue

A beige figure with large, pointy ears and a broad chest studied the ripples that traveled through the puddle as drops fell down from the willows above. It was astonishingly beautiful; if only the figure didn't look so pitiful and filled to the brim with grief.

He shook his head as a droplet landed on his nose, flinging it off. He sighed, his breath trembling with fear and sorrow. The pool's water undulated and reflected his worn-out look. His torn up face gleamed with scars and blemishes, and as he gazed deeper, tears started to well up on his eyelids. He cocked his head to look away as the memories started to gush through his mind.

A sleek, blue-grey figure slid out from in between the thickets. He shook out his pelt of leaves and brambles, noticing the anxious tan shape that loitered beside the pond. He padded over, concern and confusion in his gaze. He blinked and gave a small smile; a look of recalling old friends and family.

"They banished you, too?" the beige tom rasped. He stared anxiously into the other tom's optics. He quivered with fear as he realized how faint the old leader appeared. His presence was vague, and with a quick enough glance, he could go unnoticed to the regular eye.

The blue-grey tom responded in a slight nod. "They were brutal," the blue-grey tom gasped. "I never thought they could become that fox-hearted."

"I wish I could've saved them," the other tom hissed. "But I died too early. I left Lightgaze to fend on his own. He has grown up well, but, he couldn't save us.. because of me. If I had just been there to defend my Clan!"

The blue-grey tom watched helplessly as regretful words spewed from the other tom's jaws. A growl started to build up inside him. "This isn't your fault!" he exclaimed. "It's the other Clans' doing. It's StarClan's fault. They were the ones who drove us out."

"How could they become like this?" the beige tom huffed, his tail twitching. "How could they exile us, Waterstar? We didn't even do anything to harm their precious legacy."

Waterstar shook his head, trying to clear the unwanted flashbacks. "Because they are trying to hide their unruly actions from the future generations," he reasoned in a disgusted tone. "And they didn't give us a single chance because they didn't trust we'd keep the secret. It is absolutely unjust." The beige tom met desperate gazes with the older tom.

"What can we do?" the tan tom asked.

"Do you seek a change, Birchstar?" Waterstar responded wisely. His expression was thoughtful, and his gaze was pointed towards Birchstar. Birchstar sat wordlessly for a moment.

"Maybe it would be demanding too much," Birchstar puffed. He pointed his tail around the forest. "There isn't anything we can do. This place isn't that bad anyway, is it? It looks just like the old territory."

"Yes," Waterstar presumed. "It does. Maybe it isn't a punishment to be here. StarClan doesn't even know about this." He lifted his paw as he spoke, panning out the paradise amplified before him. But his eyes still were wistful, hoping for something more; longing to see his friends and family.

"But it still feels... weird," Birchstar continued. He couldn't find the words to describe it. Waterstar blinked at him.

"I feel the same," Waterstar meowed. He looked over at the pond, signalling Birchstar forward with his tail. "I mean, look what they did to us.." They were covered in many wounds that were chiseled over their body. "Wouldn't they of sent us to some place worse if they cared so little? Or did they not know of this place?"

"All of this turmoil just to protect their legacy," Birchstar remarked, shaking his head. "StarClan claims they didn't want this. They claim they weren't a part of this, but it's all false. Most of them just want to protect their legacy, when they were as apathetic as the Clans when they drove us out."

"But not all of them," Waterstar added. "I knew many cats that were true. I watched Nettlestar take in many of our cats. She knew what we had been through."

"RiverClan was pretty generous," Birchstar mewed. "They gave mercy to the elders and kits they could from SkyClan. But they still have been banned from the truth. It's hard to say what the territories are becoming. I've heard of great tales from all five Clans being binded together."

"Those prior times are a great blur," Waterstar opinionated. "The legends of the past have almost completely stopped from being told. I'll bet the ones who drove us out didn't even know about them. I didn't even know about those old tales until my medicine cat told me. But StarClan seems to be stop even passing down the stories to the medicine cats."

"But.. maybe they do have plans," Birchstar stated. "I-I guess we have to stay here to become forgotten and hope for the best."

Waterstar nodded. The two leaders sat in silence, grimly comprehending the reality of their presence. A wave of mist hovered above them, and everywhere in the distance seemed hard to perceive. Birchstar's mind was racing, while Waterstar seemed quite calm, closing his eyes and taking long breaths to try and settle his thoughts. For a heartbeat his body vanished as it was blocked by heavy mist.

Birchstar didn't know how much time his successor had left. But Waterstar didn't panic. He stayed wise and tranquil through even the hardest times. Birchstar honored the old leader, even if while he was living all he heard about him were old elders' tales.

A voice jolted them from their lonely thoughts. "I've heard you don't want to be forgotten," it rasped. Birchstar whisked around, where he discovered a muscular and scarred faded she-cat standing behind the mist. She was too hard to see behind the sheets of fog, but her voice was clear. No answer came from either Birchstar or Waterstar.

"I can let you achieve that goal," the she-cat continued. "And the Clans won't just remember you; they'll fear you."