SantaClaws Gift For RedAndCalico: Forgiveness
He decided to start off easy.
“I’m sorry.”
“It wasn’t - you didn’t...”
“No, sir. I’m sorry. I killed her.”
“Graystri-”
He grew to twice his passive size as he raised his hackles. “I killed her, Crookedstar! Your only daughter is dead because I killed her! And...and she didn’t tell you!”
Crookedstar used all his energy to hold himself back from snarling at the tom standing in front of him. With a deep breath, he said, “You didn’t kill my daughter, Graystripe.” He stared at the ThunderClan cat, his expression unreadable. “She died in the paws of StarClan. Cinderpelt did all she could. She was just an apprentice. You couldn’t have expected much.”
Graystripe looked away angrily. “I loved her,” he meowed, “and now she’s gone.”
“You weren’t the only one who lost her,” Crookedstar meowed lightly, raising his head. “And besides, you have Millie now. She needs you, too.”
The leader began to fade.
“Crookedstar!” Graystripe yowled. “Do you forgive me?”
Though the leader was already just a star in the sky, Graystripe was sure of the words he heard in the wind: “I always knew you were different, Graystripe. I’d have no one else for a son.”
“Gathering tonight,” a female voice wafted to the tabby’s ears. “Hey, fish-breath, there’s a Gathering tonight. Hello?”
“Huh? Oh, yeah, thanks Bluestar.” He sighed. “I’ll be there.”
The pale female moved to walk away, but stopped, and narrowed her eyes at the RiverClan cat. “Crookedstar?”
“Hmm?”
“You can’t just...are you okay, Crookedstar?”
The tom sighed and met her eyes. “Graystripe thinks he killed Silverstream.”
“But he-”
“He didn’t, but he won’t take it from me.” Crookedstar moved his gaze back to the pool of water he sat in front of. “He lost Feathertail. He doesn’t know about Lark and Pine. He probably feels like he’s betraying Silverstream. He just needs to leave the past behind him.”
Bluestar settled down beside Crookedstar, their blue and brown furs meshing with the starlight. “Are you watching the mountains?” she meowed after a long silence.
The tom nodded. “It’s snowing today,” he meowed, as a moving picture of Stormfur and Brooke appeared in the pool. They leaned into each other, their tails entwined. In front of them, their kits, Lark That Sings at Dawn and Pine That Clings to Rock, pawed at the falling flakes with childish innocence. Bluestar purred, the vibration physically warming Crookedstar’s heart.
“Their first snow?” Bluestar meowed.
Crookedstar nodded. “Their first snow.”
Bluestar stood up and stretched as the picture in the pool faded. “I watched the first time they left the cave, too. And I saw them when they first tried hawk. And I was here when Stormfur let them touch the waterfall.” Crookedstar paused and met Bluestar’s eyes. “I watched it all, Bluestar. I’ve seen their whole life, and Graystripe doesn’t even know they exist.”
“Sometimes not knowing what will make you sad will make you even happier,” Bluestar said. “No. Not sometimes. Always.”
Crookedstar looked down. “You might be right. I’ll leave him alone.”
Bluestar was silent as she stared at the tom. After a while, she spoke what had been on her mind for too long. And she realized as she spoke that her words could be the answer to the RiverClan leader’s problems. “Do you ever wonder what your life could have been like?”
“How so?”
“If you hadn’t fallen. If your mother hadn’t turned away from you. If you hadn’t made a promise with Mapleshade.”
“I’ve thought about it some.”
“Your life could have been so much better.”
Crookedstar looked up abruptly, very aware of his injury, his eyes hot. “There was a life laid out for me. StarClan has a destiny for all cats.”
Bluestar nodded, biding him on.
“You had a lot of ‘what ifs’ too,” Crookedstar meowed, narrowing his eyes. “Moonflower’s death? Your kits? Raising Whitestorm? Do you think about that?”
“You’ve figured it out yourself, Crookedstar,” With a purr, the silver cat rose and began to walk away. “StarClan has a destiny for all cats.”
“What now? Come to tell me I’m wrong again?”
“Anything but.”
Graystripe blinked. “Then what?”
“I’m sorry you’ve gone through so much, Graystripe. But there’s so much more for you.” Crookedstar gulped. He wasn’t good at talking. “Good and bad. You have no idea.”
“And who does? Who knows?”
Crookedstar flicked his tail. “Haven’t you realized?”
Graystripe shook his head.
“Look around you, Graystripe,” he meowed as cats flowed down from their starry ranks and writhed around the gray tom in celestial pattern. Each mystical body took a turn nudging Graystripe’s muzzle or tapping his back with their tail. And when every star had taken it’s turn, the clearing was dark and silent again, until Crookedstar’s voice spoke up from the middle of the plain. “StarClan, Graystripe. StarClan holds the key.”
“My past is behind me,” he mewed. “I get it now. Thank you, Crookedstar, for showing me the true meaning of forgiveness.”
“We musn’t forget. That is the ultimate crime. But forgiveness...”
Graystripe picked up the lead. “I’m sorry for what I said to you Crookedstar.”
“You’re still a son to me,” the RiverClan cat meowed as he faded into the darkness.
Finding it oddly comforting, Graystripe circled around in the wake of Crookedstar’s scent, before finally coming to a rest, his nose tucked neatly under his tail in a well-practiced fashion. “I’d be honored to be your son,” he murmured. “Say hello to Silverstream for me.”
redandcalico Enjoy! Hope it isn't too short or too rushed ^^ Have a happy and safe holiday season :3 May StarClan guide your path!