[MillietheWarrior]

Splash’s eyes glowed and she nodded quickly, her tail twitching in anticipation. “Oh yes. I remember all of it!” She leapt to her paws, her fur bristling with excitement. She swung her muzzle around to her parents, and she could see Fern’s soft smile and Storm’s resigned eye-roll. “So, does this mean we’re going? It won’t take too long. I promise. And I’ll hunt every single day, and I’ll catch so many mice, you won’t know what to do with them. And I’ll find the best sleeping spots! And-”

She was silenced by Storm’s tail covering her muzzle, and she spit out a mouthful of fur, shooting him a cross look that quickly melted into one of joy when he mewed; “All right, all right. We’ll go. Keep your fur on.” he purred and butted her with his head, nearly sending the small she-cat sprawling across the ground.

[MillietheWarrior]

“Oh thank you!’ she squeaked, sounding like a mouse in her excitement. “This is going to be great!” She bounced on her paws, already itching to get going. Storm shared a look with Fern, and the she-cat nodded as she rose to her feet, her belly heavy with kits. Storm touched her shoulder with the tip of his tail, and nodded to Midnight.

“Thank you, midnight. You’re all right by me,” he said with a dip of his head. Fern followed suit, her eyes glowing contentedly.

“Yes,” she purred, feeling that perhaps they’d been too quick to judge the badger; not all of her kind were so horrible, apparently. “Thank you for your help. I hope to see you again someday.” Storm and Fern padded past her, their pelts brushing as they scrabbled up the rocks towards the path above the cliffs.

[MillietheWarrior]

Splash stopped her bouncing, looking after her parents, before she turned to Midnight. “Thank you,” she mewed earnestly. “All those stories about how brave they were to make the journey, about their new home, and the leaders and the Clans!” Her eyes shone with the memories of the stories, and she fixed her gaze on Midnight, whiskers twitching excitedly. “Will I see you again, Midnight?”

The badger shook her head slowly, then lifted her keen, beady gaze up to the stars. “Maybe in dreams, but no. Not see me again here.” She lowered her head, fixing the she-cat with a hard look. “Clans dangerous sometimes. Much suspicion. Easy road not always best. Sometimes things get hard, and sometimes little cat want to give up. But it get better. Always does.” She nodded resolutely. “Sometimes path clouded, but all become clear in time. Follow heart, and it tell you where paws go on path.”

[MillietheWarrior]

Splash looked confused, head tilted at an odd angle as she stared at the badger. Her cryptic words were baffling, and Splash wasn’t exactly sure she understood what she was talking about, but accepted it with a shrug of her shoulders. There didn’t seem to be much that concerned this young cat, Midnight decided, a rumbling chuckle sounding deep in her throat. She watched as Splash touched her tail tip to Midnight’s shoulder, dipping her head briefly with another hurried “Thanks for everything!” before she bounded off after her parents.

The badger watched the three cats until they were no more than dots on the horizon. Shuffling her paws, she made to head back into her den, when the sound of a voice behind her stopped her.

[MillietheWarrior]

“She is the one, I presume?”

Midnight turned to the two gray she-cats behind her, one with bright yellow eyes, and the other with deep blue. The yellow eyed she-cat had a ruffled looking pelt, her flat face set into a scowl as she watched the cats disappearing into the sunset. Stars sparkled in their pelts as the blue eyed she-cat stepped forward, her gaze fixed on Midnight. “She is the one?” she repeated, doubt dripping from her voice.

“She is young,” the other she-cat remarked, her pelt bristling at the thought. “How could she be the one to find them?” Her eyes darted back to Midnight, almost accusingly, as if the badger had done something wrong. “How can you be sure she won’t be another ‘Sol’?”

[MillietheWarrior]

Midnight shrugged her broad shoulders, looking unconcerned. “No darkness in her heart, no bad thoughts in eyes. Is pure, like deep water. Good choice. She is one.” She nodded her head, as though the decision was finalized.

“We shall see,” the blue eyed she-cat mewed, sniffing disdainfully. “We can’t be sure the badger would choose the right cat. But if she is the one, then her time in the Clans will be short. We must do all we can to be sure she knows what her destiny is before she sets her paws on the right path,”

[MillietheWarrior]

“What lies ahead-” the ruffled she-cat mumbled, tail flicking irritably. “-is not a burden I want to place on the shoulders of such a young cat. But they have been lost for so long. Even here, they fade like shadows, flickering in and out of existence, lost to memory and to all. There is hardly anything left of themm Bluestar. Of what they used to be.”

“I know, Yellowfang,” Bluestar meowed, looking troubled. It seemed they’d forgotten Midnight was there, and the badger blinked patiently as the two StarClan cats conversed together. “But there is nothing we can do. Nothing, except hope that she truly is the one to bring them back from the edge of darkness. If she cannot…” Her gaze lifted to stare into the distance as the stars of Silverpelt began to wink into existence, the moon vacating the sky for a single night to allow them to shine brighter than ever. “…If she truly cannot, then MistClan will be lost…forever.”

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[MillietheWarrior]

The journey passed almost agonizingly slowly for Splash. It seemed that every few minutes they had to stop and wait for Fern to catch her breath. Storm padded alongside his mate, carefully nosing her along and hovering about like a protective mother with her kit. Splash understood his coddling nature, but she really wanted to make it to the Clans before…well, before nothing, really.

It wasn’t as if they were going anywhere, but Splash felt a tingling in her paws whenever she pointed them in the direction of the Clans. Her pelt felt like it was on fire, and she was sure that if she’d tried, she could outrace the sun. She couldn’t understand this strange feeling of excitement; it was far more profound than any she’d ever experienced.

[MillietheWarrior]

She didn’t try to explain herself to her parents; they wouldn’t understand her need to get where they were going as fast as possible. But it was difficult holding herself back from racing ahead every few seconds.

Splash did exactly as she’d promised; she hunted every chance she got, and brought her parents whatever prey she could find. They hardly stopped for anything, save for resting at night, and even then, Splash stayed true to her word and brought them the softest moss she could find.

[MillietheWarrior]

They made good time, and in only a few days flat, they’d made it as far as the barn and the horse place just outside of the Clans’ territories.

“My pads are killing me,” Fern grumbled, lifting up her front paw and tucking it under her chest. “Can’t we rest?”

Splash felt her fur prickle with apprehension. Rest? Now? But they were almost there! She could practically feel it. She swung her head around to stare back at her parents; Storm was pressed up against his mate, their pelts brushing as he tried to encourage her to go on. A sigh ripped itself from her muzzle, and Splash bounded back along the trail to her parents’ side. “Come on, Fern,” she mewed encouragingly. “Not much farther.”

[MillietheWarrior]

Storm peered at her anxiously, then back to his mate, before his gaze settled heavily on his daughter. “How would you know how far?” he asked curiously, though there was a spark of amusement in his eyes.

“I-I just know,” Splash replied, shuffling her paws nervously. “The Clans are close, and I-”

“The Clans are indeed close. But what, may I ask, do you need them for?”

[MillietheWarrior]

The deep, rumbling voice cut smoothly across Splash’s explanation, and she gave a start, fur bristling as she whirled about to face a large gray and white tom who was gazing at them curiously from down the path. The grass rustled beside him, and a small, pale gray and white she-cat appeared, looking surprised to see the three travelers. She blinked, before her eyes warmed, and she stepped in front of the tom.

“Excuse Smoky’s rudeness. He isn’t always the most welcoming sort.” She twitched her tail in his direction, and the tom rolled his eyes, though he smiled fondly at the she-cat. Splash decided they must be mates; they shared the same kind of looks that her parents did. “I’m Floss,” the she-cat continued, stepping forward and dipping her head briefly. “And of course, this is Smoky. What brings you three all the way out here?”

[MillietheWarrior]

“Something about the Clans,” Smoky rumbled, peering cautiously at the three travelers. “Are you looking for them?”

Splash nodded hesitantly, sharing a thoughtful look with Storm before she mewed; “Yes. I’m Splash, and that’s my father Storm, and my mother Fern. We’ve traveled a long way, from the deep water to the forest of the Clans. We’re searching, to be more specific, for ThunderClan. Do you know of it?”

[MillietheWarrior]

Floss’s eyes lit up, and she nodded. “Oh yes,” she mewed, looking excited. “We have friends in ThunderClan. But listen-” She swept her gaze over Fern, her eyes taking on a sym pathetic glow. “Your mother looks tired, and if I’m not mistaken, heavy with kits. That’s no way to travel. You three must rest. Come.” She beckoned with her tail as she turned. “You can rest in the barn with us for the night, or for however long you need. Then you can find ThunderClan after you’ve recovered your strength. It won’t do to go stumbling around in those forests.” Floss shared a look with Smoky, and something unspoken seemed to pass between them. “Not all the cats there are so friendly.”

[MillietheWarrior]

Splash gulped, feeling, for the first time, trepidation. Had she made the right decision by asking her parents to travel to this place with her? What if they found ThunderClan, only to find that they weren’t welcome? What if they weren’t wanted? Splash couldn’t bear the thought; Midnight’s stories had been amazing, so full of wonder and adventure and beauty. She wanted to see that for herself, to be a part of those adventures and to see what it was like to be a Clan Cat. A warrior.