Epilogue

Shadowthorn's entire existence has brought nothing but grief upon the forest for moons. Once he was exiled for the second time, the clans were restored and life moved on as it was supposed to. And suddenly, everything seemed just a little bit brighter than it ever had before. That was Icestar's outlook on it, anyway.

She was yet to forgive herself for what happened in the past despite how many others already have. The terrible things she had done would haunt her forever. But it was just the price she had to pay.

Icestar heard stories of cats attempting to control all four clans lifetimes ago. More cats would most likely try to do the same. However, since someone actually succeeded and showed everyone what a terrible idea it was, perhaps the next few generations would know now to repeat the cycle. The thought made her wonder: was all of this fate? Had all of this happened just for that purpose? There was no way to find out.

Whether that was the case or not, it didn't matter. Life was good and everyone was happy.

For the first few moons, Icestar sent warriors to patrol slightly deeper than their territory stretched out to in search of any sighs of Shadowthorn. It seemed that the blind tom had left the area completely. At gatherings, the leaders' would report anything having to do with him but there was nothing to say. There were no traces of Shadowthorn by any clan. In his condition, they doubted he would ever return.

At first, the clans were expecting him to be lurking around somewhere, waiting to make a feeble attempt at revenge. As the moons passed, he soon became nothing more than a dark memory and the clan life became much more peaceful.

Thunderclan began to flourish after they got a new leader. Starclan chose Brackenpath to become leader, much to his surprise. Thornear was made the deputy after Redshade declined the offer. Apparently, the red tom was still taking a break from leadership but Icestar had a hunch that he would be the next deputy whenever that happens.

"Icestar," Runningshade meowed as she walked into the den.

"Yes?" The she-cat replied to the Windclan deputy.

"Just so you're aware, a dog was spotted in our territory earlier."

"I see," Icestar muttered under her breath. "Was anyone injured?"

"No, the patrol didn't confront it. It seemed to be heading towards the twoleg place," Runningshade answered calmly.

Icestar nodded her head slowly as she processed the information. "Then keep the patrols wary. We'll only deal with the dog if comes back and gets any closer."

"Right away," the dark grey she-cat said before exiting the den.

Icestar smiled to herself. Runningshade was a very capable deputy.

The leader stretched out her legs and left the Nursery. She adjusted her eyes to the warm sunlight and spotted a cheerful Breezetail coming towards her with a rabbit in his mouth.

The tom dropped it by her paws and meowed, "you hungry?"

"Yes, thank you," she replied and sat down next to her mate outside the den.

Before they could start a conversation, three kits bounded over excitedly.

"Welcome back," a young tom said and tackled Breezetail, followed by laughter.

"Careful, Cloudkit," Icestar said to the light grey tom, failing to hold back a smile.

"How many rabbits did you catch?" a small white she-cat asked Breezetail eagerly.

"Four," he answered as Cloudkit climbed onto his head.

"Wow," the she-cat exclaimed. "I want to be a good hunter too!"

"I'm sure you will be, Dovekit," Icestar meowed fondly.

"But I'll be an ever better hunter," the grey tom said with a grin as he pounced on a ball of moss to show off his skills.

"No way, Shadekit," she replied.

"Yeah way," Shadekit shot back with a large smile.

"Alright, alright," Icestar interrupted. "Calm down, you three. You'll all be able to hunt as soon as you're six moons old."

"But that'll take forever," Cloudkit complained as he slid off Breezetail's head and padded over to his siblings.

Before anyone could respond, Ashpaw and Hollypaw walked into camp, following Bramblestripe and Stonepath.

"They're back," Dovekit gasped and the three quickly left their parents and mobbed the apprentices.

"How did it go?" Shadekit asked them.

"Did you fight anyone?" Cloudkit wondered.

"Did anything cool happen?" Dovekit mewed.

"One question at a time," Hollypaw said tiredly, feeling overwhelmed.

Ashpaw sighed. "You three ask the same questions every day. This has been going on for almost a half-moon now!"

The three kits simply giggled and continued to bombard the apprentices with questions. Meanwhile, Bramblestripe left Stonepath to deal with them and padded over to Icestar and Breezetail.

"Your kits are quite something," she commented.

"Yes they are," Icestar laughed.

Cloudkit, Dovekit, and Shadekit were about three moons old. Just like any kit, they were very eager to become apprentices. Watching over them has become a truly blissful experience. Icestar never thought she would be much of a parent until it actually happened. She wasn't sure if she had ever felt happier before in her life.

At times like these, she couldn't help but think about Cloudheart. Her sister would have made a great parent. Thought it was never meant to be, Cloudheart seemed happy in Starclan, watching over her. That was enough to make her feel happy too.

Cloudheart helped her so much, even after death. Icestar went through many difficult challenged in her lifetime even at a young age. She doubted she would have gotten to where she was now without her sister's love and guidance. Cloudheart helped her even when she didn't notice.

Without realizing, Icestar smiled again as she watched her beloved kits laugh and play.

"Icestar?" Breezetail suddenly asked, looking at her in confused. "What's wrong?"

Only now did she notice that her eyes began to tear up slightly.

"Nothing," she assured her mate. "Nothing at all."

Are you watching, Cloudheart? Icestar asked inside her mind. Life is pretty good right now. Thank you for everything.

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(lengthy) A/N: Well that was quite the adventure. I've been writing this little series for over a year now and I don't regret a thing. To my readers, thank you so much for all the support. This wouldn't have gotten so far without you. All the reviewers and silent readers truly kept me going.

But Path of Ice and Icestar's Reign are not perfect. There are many errors in both. There are so many things that I wish I added, fixed, etc. But considering this was my first attempt at really writing something, I think it turned out pretty good overall.

Really, I can't thank you guys enough. This has been a very enjoyable experience for me. Also, the names Dovekit, Cloudkit and Shadekit were all inspired from your ideas but I can't give credit to one person.

-If you haven't already, please vote on the poll at my profile. The story that wins the poll won't be too long and won't be written for quite a while.

My next story is called Cursed. It's all planned out and the first chapter will be out very soon. When it does come out, I will post another chapter here for those who haven't subscribed to me in some way. The story is in no way connected to Icestar's life but please check it out.

Thanks for everything.

Have a nice day~