Chapter Forty-One: The End

"Five have been Chosen, born in the darkest of times, blessed by the purest of hearts, soiled by the harshest lives. They will cast out the shadows and bring back the light; but not without hardships, for all victories must be won with loss. In the end, when the sun has died, two will stand against Her, the strongest of those Chosen. Yet the darkness will continue to corrupt, stalker of shadows will rise against the elements, and an era will die. Only with death shall peace be found."

"Is that it?" Bramblekit shouted, slipping off Snowflight's head. She peered at her with a deep frown. "That can't be it."

Snowflight licked her forehead and purred, "there's no more just yet because we're still living the story. Maybe when you're older you'll do something great and add to it."

The she-kit gaped, eyes wide, and turned to her siblings. "Did you hear that? We have to make sure we do something super important when we're older so we can be part of the story too!"

Birchkit shook his head. "I think I'd like to live a quiet life instead," he said solemnly. "That all sounded rather scary."

"We'd protect you, wouldn't we, Swallowkit?" Bramblekit demanded. Her sister, Swallowkit, nodded.

"Perhaps," Snowflight said, "it would be best to just wait for adventure to come to you instead."

Swallowkit pouted. "But that sounds boring."

"Boring's fine as long as Crimson doesn't come back," Birchkit retorted. "Would you like to fight her? I wouldn't."

"If Crimson did come back the Chosen would deal with her," Bramblekit grinned.

"Yeah! Sunheart would beat her up!" Swallowkit agreed.

Snowflight huffed out a quiet laugh and spotted Inara leaving the medicine den, a pleased smile on her face. "You three better get ready, your mother's coming to take you back to ThunderClan."

"Do we have to leave yet? I want to hear more stories," Birchkit whined.

"I'm afraid I'm out of stories," she replied. "Ask Shiverstar if she has any, she's been all over the world."

"Have you three behaved?" Inara inquired, leaning down to run her muzzle along Bramblekit's back.

She shot her mother an innocent smile. "Of course we have!"

"Now why do I not believe that?" Inara snorted.

"Is Thrushstep okay?"

"Your father's fine, Birchkit. Rainleap and Marah are taking very good care of him. If you behave we might come and see him again tomorrow, but only if you three are good," Inara warned. "Thank you for watching them, Snowflight."

Snowflight twitched an ear. "They were on their best behaviour," she said.

"She told us the story about Crimson and the Chosen!" Bramblekit chirped. "When I grow up I'm going to do something as cool as that."

"For all our sake I hope you don't have to," Inara said while shepherding her kits towards the forest.

Snowflight watched them go, a content feeling settling into her bones. With a sigh she rolled onto her back and let the sun warm her belly. Greenleaf had brought nothing but happiness to the Clans this season. The prey was running thick, the air was warm, and the valley was thriving. After moons of suffering under Crimson's rule, Snowflight suspected the older warriors were more than pleased at the long stretch of peace they'd had. After all, hunting and patrolling were a lot more easier when there weren't enemies behind every tree.

Her stomach rumbled, and she shifted onto her paws in search of fresh kill just in time to see her brother trot into camp with a very appetising rabbit. "Stormfrost!" she called, "come share that rabbit with me." Flicking an ear in reply he made his way over to her.

"Actually, you can come and share that rabbit with your father," Cyrith interrupted sleepily, stirring from where he lay against Icestar's flank.

Willowclaw squinted at the gray warrior. "That means me as well," he added. Icestar rested on his forepaws, and his fluffy tail was tossed haphazardly over Cyrith's side. "Probably you're mother too because she's awful at faking being asleep."

"I am fantastic at acting," Icestar grumbled.

Snowflight huffed, "well what am I supposed to eat then?"

"Something that isn't the rabbit your fathers have decided they want," Icestar supplied. "You know how they get when they are denied food."

"Here, you can have this. Stripefang caught it while we were out patrolling but didn't feel like plucking all the feathers off." A fat starling dropped by her paws, neck neatly snapped.

"Thanks, Sunheart!" Snowflight purred.

Sunheart flicked her head with her tail as she walked by, heading towards the fresh kill pile. "Come and join us," Willowclaw said to her.

"I was going to eat with Breezepool," Sunheart answered.

"He can join us," Cyrith offered.

Sunheart laughed as she sifted through the fresh kill pile. "Whenever he spends any time around you three you end up embarrassing him," she said, tugging a mouse out from the pile.

"We promise we won't embarrass him now bring your mate over here, I know he's listening I can see him from here," Icestar purred. "It's family time; Stormfrost, Snowflight, you get over here too."

Stormfrost groaned. "Family time is the worst time. You just demand to know everything that goes on in our lives like you aren't our leader and don't already know."

"There's a difference between knowing as you leader and knowing as your mother, now sit down," Icestar ordered.

"Yes, mother," Stormfrost rolled his eyes and threw the rabbit at Willowclaw. It hit him in the face and he squawked, tail lashing Cyrith in the face.

Sunheart leaned over, peeling the rabbit off his face with a teasing grin. "You need to work on your catch a little more," she told him. "It's very bad."

"I'm hurt, Icestar, exile them both now," Willowclaw frowned.

Cyrith nipped at his ear. "Shut up and eat your rabbit."

"Do as your other mate says," Icestar waved a paw dismissively. "Family time means no exiling, we have discussed this before."

"Does it even count as family time if the other three are busy?" Snowflight asked. She'd sat down next to Stormfrost, poking him till he took her starling to pluck the feathers out.

Sunheart took a mouthful of the rabbit when Cyrith wasn't looking. "What are they doing? I know Thrushstep's still injured, but the other two?"

"Blossomfur's sleeping with her kits, and Rainleap's sorting herbs for Marah." Breezepool crouched down beside Sunheart and nuzzled her. "If any of you say anything even slightly embarrassing I'm leaving immediately."

"He knows us far too well." Cyrith shared an alarmed look with Willowclaw.

"So!" Icestar said loudly. She smiled widely at Stormfrost. "Where were you all morning, dear son?"

Stormfrost stiffened, dropping the feathers in his mouth. He sent Snowflight a look that screamed help. She merely dragged her featherless starling back and took a bite, nodding expectantly towards their mother. Looking thoroughly ruffled he spoke while staring at his paws. "WindClan."

"He was with Gullstrike." Breezepool winked at him.

Cyrith clambered over Icestar to thrust his face right into Stormfrost's. "Did he ask you? I bet he asked you. Come on, I have a bet to win here."

He opened his mouth then closed it with a frown, "what bet?"

"That doesn't matter!" Cyrith exclaimed, "did he ask you?

"Yes," Stormfrost mumbled.

A loud, victorious shout echoed from Cyrith as he whirled around to paw annoyingly at Icestar's face. His smile was so wide it looked like it might split his face in two. "You owe me two voles!"

"No, no. I only owe you two voles if Stormfrost said yes," Icestar reminded.

"Ah yes after six moons of pining after him he asked me to be his mate and I said no," Stormfrost spat. "Of course I said yes!"

Breezepool leant over and whispered not so quietly into Sunheart's ear, "how did you survive growing up with those three?"

"Surprisingly," she replied dryly, "they were a lot more serious back then."

"We are wonderful parents, and I'm very happy that Stormfrost finally has the love of his life," Willowclaw sniffed. A gust of wind picked the half eaten rabbit up and flung it into his face. "Sunheart!" His cry was muffled. Beside him Cyrith stifled laughter.

She licked the side of a forepaw and dragged it over an ear. "What? That wasn't me. It was just the wind."

Giggling, Snowflight leaned her weight onto Stormfrost. "I'm glad he finally asked you," she said.

"So am I," Stormfrost sighed. "What about you? Do you have your eye on anyone?"

She cast her eyes around the camp, surrounded by thick pine forest. Owlshadow and Foxfeather were sharing tongues contently. Their kits Bumblepaw and Tigerpaw were tussling nearby. Over by the medicine den, a hollow in a fallen tree, Marah was sleeping in a patch of sunlight. The sun caught the gray streaked in her fur. Threading more brambles into the nursery to fix a leaking spot Stripefang hissed as he stepped on one. Her own apprentice, Duskpaw, looked forlornly at his playing siblings. His sprained paw would keep him away from training and playing for a few days longer. There was nothing else she wanted in life other than what she had now; a home, a family, and peace.

"No. Not yet, not ever maybe."

"Speaking of mates and happily ever afters," Icestart said slyly. Immediately Sunheart scowled at her. "When are you two having kits?"

Breezepool blinked a few times, then opened and shut his mouth like a fish. At his side Sunheart's scowl deepened. "Is nothing in this Clan private?" she seethed.

"You can't tell me you don't want kits. I heard you two talking about it the other day," Cyrith purred.

"Cyrith, the great ex-Elemental, reduced to eavesdropping on private conversations," Sunheart snarked. "Whether or not we decide to have kits is none of your business."

"Don't talk to your father like that," Willowclaw scolded through a mouthful of rabbit.

Sunheart rubbed her head with a paw. "This family is mind numbing," she muttered.

"We didn't even get a 'he's not my father' this time. She's accepting us," Cyrith gushed.

"I don't know, the fact that both of you are brown and I'm golden sort of ruins that for you," Sunheart retorted with a teasing smile.

Cyrith opened his mouth to reply, face pulled into a frown, when he was interrupted. "Are we leaving for the gathering soon, Icestar?" Rainleap asked.

"Yes," she answered, "we are. How's Thrushstep?" There was genuine worry in her voice, the concern of a mother for her injured kit.

Rainleap eyed the jagged scar trailing up the back of Icestar's neck, the traces of the wound that had stripped her of her first life. "He'll be fine. If it weren't for you he'd probably be a lot worse." He met Snowflight's eyes and in them she what had happened that day; the blood, the badger, the shocked silence as their leader - their mother - had fallen still. It was not something either of them would forget easily.

"It's my duty as a leader to protect every member of this Clan." There was more to it though, unsaid words that spoke of just how many lives she'd be willing to forfeit to save her kits. "How long till he can return to warrior duties?"

"A while. We have to be sure the wound has healed completely before he does anything or it might get infected or open up even more. He is very lucky to be alive," Rainleap said solemnly.

Icestar shifted to her paws. "He's very lucky to have a medicine cat like you looking after him. Now," she said. "Everyone except Blossomfur and Stripefang get ready to leave."

"Is family time over already?" Stormfrost looked relieved. "What a shame."

"Family time is never over in this Clan," Sunheart snorted. "Quick, Breezepool, if we run quick we might be able to escape them for the walk to the Isle."

With a loud gasp Breezepool jumped to his paws. "Race you!" he shouted and took off. Sunheart bounded after him laughing high and loud, wide smile reaching into her eyes.

Snowflight watched Willowclaw's eyes follow them, a soft sort of contentment settling over his face. All the times she'd told their story she'd never been able to quiet recreate the love and affection the Chosen had for Sunheart, the daughter of their greatest enemy. It wasn't something that could be summed up in a few words. It was in the sadness and grief in their eyes when Sunheart began to wake them all with nightmares of disappearing over an edge of darkness. It was in the pure joy when Breezepool softly asked Sunheart to be his mate, and in the following nights of silence instead of screaming when they woke each morning to cast a loving smile over their brave Sunheart tucked neatly up against her mate. It was in the laughter, the worry, the quiet questions about her powers. It was in everything they did.

"You coming?" Willowclaw asked, pulling Snowflight out of her thoughts.

She looked up at him and smiled. "Yeah."

Walking through their forest felt nothing but normal. There was no underlying sense of fear towards what could be lurking in the growing shadows. Snowflight had been too young to truly understand the fear that had come with Crimson, and with the Elementals. But the stories she'd heard from other cats were enough scare her. She couldn't imagine half the things they'd been through, half the things her parents had done to save the valley. She told their story often and she suspected she'd tell it many more times in her life, but it still seemed so surreal.

From the shadows of their territory they emerged to meet WindClan by the stepping stones. It was hard to believe that there could have been a world without them, without the Clans, had the Chosen failed. Stormfrost broke away from their Clan line to meet Gullstrike in the middle, smile gentle, eyes soft. Just like that they stopped being two Clans and became one, melting with each other, friends greeting friends like borders didn't exist. They didn't really exist, not in the way they had for the ancient four.

On the Isle, in the clearing in the middle where a hill sat empty, ThunderClan and RiverClan waited. Willowclaw bounded up to his brother and the two played like kits, tussling with each other. Shiverstar picked her way through the crowd to bump heads affectionately with Icestar. At her side Arrow nipped teasingly at Sunheart's ears. Quiet Heatherstar earned a foreleg tossed over her shoulder and an excited Cyrith in her ear, no doubt gushing about Stormfrost and Gullstrike.

Though only two of the Chosen remained in the valley their powers still remained strong, though they went unnoticed by most. In the rivers the song the water played as it dragged over the pebbles was one that told a tale of loss and victory. In the wind when it howled, dragged through the trees, stories of glorious battles and those that had not made it were on its tongue. In the valley the Clans would always roam, a vitality that had and would fight against the fiercest of leaf bares. In the cats that carried their powerful blood; Swiftsong twitched an ear and her pale brown pelt shifted into one of silky silver; Alvar sighed heavily and tiny flickers of lightning gusting out with his breath. Snowflight shifted her eyes to where Rainpatch's star-flecked form sat beside his mate, unashamed love burning bright in his eyes. Their power would live on for generations until, like all things, it faded away and left the world without even the slight presence of those that had saved it.

She watched Rainpatch till another caught her eye; Eaglestrike padding slowly alongside Shiverstar one ear flicked towards her the other flicked towards Inara as she spoke about her kits. A pleased grin spanned his face. Crouched down beside a group of elders, Littleflame listened to the story they told about a brave CedarClan she-cat that had gone to save the world but never made it home. On top of the hill where only four patches of faded grass told a story about four stone thrones sat a battle scarred she-cat, her pelt a glossy sheen of black and dotted with numerous stars. Her eyes, green like fresh leaves, scanned the gathered Clans and settled on Sunheart. A beautiful smile spread across her face.

A chill gathered by her side, a feeling Snowflight had come to associate with StarClan. Glancing that way she found Eaglestrike standing by her. He twitched a black-tipped ear and took one last sweeping glance around the Isle before settling on her face.

"If anyone asks," he said, "tell them we're doing okay."

The End