Small Author's Note[]
This is based off the Frostbite Mosskit AU MAP. You can find it on YouTube. I do not take credit for this idea. Please go check out the Good in Me Mosskit AU MAP, it's awesome!
Now that the credit's out of the way... let's begin the short story!
Prologue[]
Bluefur trotted into Fourtrees. As Sunstar hopped up onto the Great Rock, the gray-blue she-cat sat in its shadow. That's when she noticed a cat whom she had never seen before, but there was a faint familiarity about her. But she scented of ShadowClan - that couldn't be anyone she knew. She raked her brain, maybe she had shown up at a Gathering before and talked to Bluefur, but she forgot. No, there was something familiar about the gray-and-white dappled pelt. That was when a realization hit her. It can't be...
Bluefur was shocked. She almost stumbled back. Was that... Mosskit? She shook her head. No, Mosskit was dead, how could she have been brought to ShadowClan? That's when Raggedstar yowled for the Gathering to start. "I will go first," he meowed subsequently.
The clearing fell silent, and he began, "My Clan has been offered a great blessing by StarClan."
The cat she thought was Mosskit looked up, and that's when Bluefur knew. She would recognize that fluffy yet tall cat anywhere. Raggedstar continued, "Yellowfang, our medicine cat, found a kit lost in the snow. She is a skilled and fast-learing apprentice, and ShadowClan has been blessed to have found her. Please welcome Frostpaw."
Mosskit, no - Frostpaw, looked proud. She smiled, and basked in the praise and attention she was receiving. Bluefur shook herself. That can't be her, she's dead. It's just an eerily similar coincidence.
But she knew that was her kit. She just tried to forget, to brush it off. Mosskit was dead.' Gone. Not living. Deceased. Bluefur shook her pelt. She was going insane... right?
Chapter One[]
Frostbite padded through the camp. She picked up a mouse, and strolled over to a shaded spot beneath a tree. She bit into the mouse, letting the taste flow into her mouth. "All cats old enough to lurk in the shadows, gather beneath the Shaderock for a Clan meeting!"
Ugh! Frostbite had just tucked into a mouse, and this is what she got. She snorted, leaving the mouse, and sat beneath the Shaderock. "Today marks a very important occassion."
Frostbite suddenly remembered what this meeting was about. With the battle that had taken place yesterday, the old deputy, Cloudpelt, had died. Frostbite had never been particularly close to Cloudpelt, but it was still a great loss to the whole Clan. "I must choose a new deputy, due to the death of Cloudpelt."
Many cats murmured their condolences and dipped thir heads. Frostbite, however, was ecstatic at the chance to become deputy. She felt selfish. Using Cloudpelt's death to climb the ranks? How awful. But she thought it would be cool to have so much power, being able to organize patrols, and possibly becoming leader. Raggedstar continued, "I have made this decision carefully, and I assure you all, this is the best cat for the rank."
Frostbite strained her ears. This was important. Silence fell over the clearing, making it even more intense. "My new deputy will be Frostbite."
The dappled she-cat smiled widely. "Thank you!" she purred.
"This is a great honor."
Raggedstar smiled softly at her joy - she was his foster daughter, after all. "I hope you enjoy the position. Clan dismissed."
Frostbite beamed. Now that she was deputy, she could organize patrols, and lead them. She had only lead a patrol once, so this was going to be a new experience. She trotted back over to where her mouse was, and finished it. All the while she had ecstatic thoughts about her first day as deputy. A she-cat padded over to her, and she recognized Yellowfang. "Hello!" she greeted.
Yellowfang purred, and gave off a soft smile. "Hello, and congratulations."
Frostbite smiled widely, and purred. "Thank you."
"I can tell you're extremely happy about this," Yellowfang commented.
"Oh, trust me, I am." Frostbite responded.
"And you have good reason to be! Raggedstar made you deputy not only for your intelligence, but also because of your talent. It takes a lot for a cat to be as good at hunting as you are, or to be more well-spoken than you."
Frostbite groomed her chest fur with embarrassment. "I don't think I'm that good," she muttered.
"Believe what you will," Yellowfang snorted.
Frostbite noticed the medicine cat suddenly looked a bit subdued, and meowed, "Is something wrong?"
The ragged gray she-cat looked up, and back at the newly made deputy. "Oh- wrong? Oh, no, nothing's wrong! See you later," and with that, she strolled back to her den.
That was certainly odd, Frostbite thought, watching Yellowfang wander back to her den.
The gray-and-white she-cat attempted to brush it off, but it was still odd for her. Yellowfang had acted like that a couple times before, and when Frostbite had asked her, she had said it was something that she wouldn't want to know. That had only made her curiosity rage more intensely, but she feared what the medicine cat had said was true, and she didn't want to be questioning her life just yet.
Chapter Two
The worry about Yellowfang's 'secret' was gnawing more and more at Frostbite each day, until she had finally had enough. She stormed into Yellowfang's den, where the she-cat was peacefully storing herbs. "Yellowfang?" she meowed.
"Yes, dear?" Yellowfang looked up, and a soft smile crossed her scarred face.
"You can tell me now," Frostbite meowed, getting straight into the topic.
A look of confusion replaced Yellowfang's warm smile. "Tell you what?"
"You know very well. Tell me what you've been hiding from me."
Yellowfang gained a look of recognition, and responded, "I guess you're old enough to know now."
Frostbite sat down eagerly, like a kit waiting for an elders' tale. She had awaited this for so long, and now that peculiar behavior of Yellowfang's would be no more. The medicine cat took a deep breath, and after a moment, she meowed, "You weren't born in ShadowClan."
"What?" Frostbite almost screamed.
"You heard me," Yellowfang meowed.
"Wh-what? Who are my parents? Do you even know? Are they still alive?"
Yellowfang paused, as if thinking for a heartbeat. She finally revealed, "They are believed to be Bluefur and Oakheart."
Frostbite knew who Bluefur was. She was the deputy of ThunderClan. She was quiet a skilled warrior, according to her Clanmates. She also recognized the name Oakheart. Her father was a remarkably skilled RiverClan warrior, and apprentices from RiverClan used to always chat about him at the Gathering. "But... they're both such honorable warriors. I don't know how they could do such a thing."
Yellowfang shook her head. "I didn't believe it either, until ThunderClan announced at the Gathering that they had lost three kits with your description."
"I have siblings?" Frostbite inquired.
"Apparently," Yellowfang snorted.
The medicine cat turned back to sorting herbs. Frostbite's mind raced. Who were her siblings? Would they even remember her? That's when resentment hit the deputy like a clawing to the face. They got to live a happy, normal life in RiverClan together. They grew up together, and were probably very close. She flattened her ears at the thought of Bluefur. "Why didn't Bluefur put me with my siblings?" she thought aloud.
Yellowfang meowed, "You had frostbite when you came into camp. I think she believed you to be dead."
Frostbite hissed, "They didn't think to check whether I was breathing?"
"Nope."
Frostbite's tail lashed. The next Gathering was coming soon. She could confront her so-called mother there. The she-cat snorted. Yellowfang would be more of a mother to her than Bluefur ever was, and Raggedstar more of a father than Oakheart could ever be. She padded out of the medicine den, and noticed the gaze of Raggedstar. She glanced towards her father. The shock in her eyes must have been evident, because the leader meowed, "Yellowfang told you?"
There was sympathy in his tone. "Yes," the deputy meowed, her voice breaking a bit.
Raggedstar walked over to her, and nuzzled his foster daughter. "It's okay," he meowed sympathetically, "I didn't know who my father was either, until about your age. Turns out, he was a kittypet."
Frostbite couldn't help a chuckle. "Well, I guess your reveal went worse than mine. At least my parents are Clan cats."
Raggedstar continued, "And I reacted much worse than you, too."
The she-cat smiled humorously. "Oh, really? What'd you do?"
"I killed my father."
Chapter Three[]
Since Raggedstar had told Frostbite his reaction to the reveal of his father, she had gotten an idea. One side of her would scream that it was evil, and that she couldn't do that. But Bluefur had left her to die. The Gathering was tonight, so the gray-and-white cat had decided she'd attempt to reason with Bluefur first. Raggedstar leaped onto the Shaderock, and called, "Cats that I have chosen to attend the Gathering, we leave now!"
He leaped down, his muscles rippling. Frostbite fell in beside her leader and father figure. "I'm glad you're taking the news about your parents well," he meowed.
She avoided his gaze. "Yeah... I guess."
If wanting to kill one of them is taking it well, I guess that's how I'm doing.
ShadowClan was the second Clan to arrive. The first Clan was ThunderClan. This was perfect. The she-cat made her way over to the deputy's rock to sit beside Bluefur. "Hello," she meowed icily.
"Hello, Frostbite," Bluefur responded cheerfully.
"Funny you'd call me that. I thought you'd call me a more motherly nickname, considering you are my mother."
Bluefur looked shocked. "M-Mosskit?" She stammered. "No, you can't be alive, you died in the snow..."
"No, I didn't," Frostbite hissed, "and yet, you were mouse-brained enough to forget to check whether I was breathing or not." her fluffy fur bristled.
Bluefur took two steps back, bristling with surprise. "Mosskit, I never expected you to be alive... I'm sorry," she apologized.
Frostbite snarled, "I'm not Mosskit, I'm Frostbite!"
She continued, "And 'sorry' doesn't give me a happy life with my siblings! 'Sorry' doesn't give me time with my family! 'Sorry gets me nowhere!" she hissed.
Her eyes teared up. Bluefur hung her head down, shame clouding her gaze. "You're right. There's nothing I can do now, it's over and done with." She looked back up, and smiled at Frostbite apologetically.
"I guess I'm not really your mother. Whichever cat in ShadowClan fostered you is. Think about it that way."
Frostbite huffed. "That's lizard-brained, but leave it to Bluefur to be that way."
The Gathering was pretty awkward for Frostbite after that. Bluefur kept glancing at her, and she would always glare back. She knew that the deputy hadn't wanted this information out there. She perked her ears when Raggedstar announced, "We have a new deputy."
Murmurs of excitement ran across the crowd. Pride flowed through Frostbite. "Our new deputy is Frostbite. We reported to you here when we found her as a little kit, cold and alone with frostbite. She has made great progress."
He smiled warmly at the she-cat, and she smiled back. Bluefur glanced at her, and whispered, "At least you're doing well," in an attempt to lighten the mood.
After the crowd had lost interest and moved on to eyeballing the next cat mentioned, Frostbite shot a piercing glare at Bluefur. "No thanks to you."
When the Gathering ended, the deputy was thankful. She stalked away from her mother, not even saying a word to her. That cat deserved death after all. How stuck up and uncaring she was. Frostbite snorted and lifted her head high, walking with a dignified demeanor. When she reached ShadowClan camp, Yellowfang meowed, "Frostbite?"
She gave Yellowfang a smile. "Yes?"
She's my real mother.
Yellowfang didn't look as happy, however. "Come to my den."
"Alright."
Frostbite padded into the medicine cat's den, where she had always felt comforted, since she was a kit. Yellowfang was such a caring and kind foster mother, and she was grateful for that. She had known Raggedstar and Yellowfang held some affection for each other, but she didn't tell anyone. They were kind to her, and she would return the favor. The medicine cat sat, and Frostbite sat across from her. "What did you need?"
Yellowfang sighed. "I saw your confrontation with Bluefur at the Gathering."
Frostbite's fur bristled. "You were spying on me?"
She couldn't really be mad, though. With the medicine cats sitting so close to the deputies, it would've been hard for her not to notice. "No. I just saw you arguing with her from my seating place."
The deputy sighed. "I guess they are close together... are you mad?"
Yellowfang carefully meowed, "I... don't know. On one paw, I can't judge you. She abandoned you, and didn't even double check whether you were alive. On the other paw, it's kind of rude."
"Leaving me to die in the snow is kind of rude," Frostbite snorted.
The medicine cat laughed at the comment, and even the deputy she-cat cracked a smile at her own remark. Perhaps Frostbite wasn't so evil after all.
Chapter Four[]
It was all a blur for Frostbite. WindClan had attacked, and Raggedstar had asked her to go to camp to get backup. That was when Brokentail had burst through the entrance, claiming WindClan had killed their leader. Now she padded grimly alongside Yellowfang. Frostbite murmured, "Do you think he's really dead?"
"I don't know... he still had lives, but is it possible they killed him completely?" Yellowfang asked quietly.
When they reached the battlefield, Frostbite's eyes widened. Raggedstar's body was limp, splayed out across the grass, blood covering him. "No..." Frostbite whimpered.
She trotted towards him, and crouched beside his unmoving body. "Get up, StarClan, no!" she gasped pleadingly, her voice hoarse.
Yellowfang walked forward tentatively, as if she didn't want to see the body. When she did, her ears flattened against her head. "Not him..."
The two she-cats crouched beside the tom, tears falling down their cheeks. Raggedstar had been a fatherly figure towards Frostbite, and a mate towards Yellowfang. The medicine cat finally looked up, locking gazes with the deputy. "We must travel to the Moonstone."
Frostbite felt a lump in her throat, but she swallowed it back. "Oh, right."
She ordered Brokentail to carry the body, and they walked back home in silence. All she could hear was the crunch of their paws on the grass, and the crickets chirping as the dusk fell. When they arrived at camp, cats were muttering anxiously, and they all turned to look at the limp leader, eyes wide. "Raggedstar is dead," Yellowfang declared.
Gasps of shock echoed through the clearing, and a feline bounded towards them. "Really?" she gasped.
"What do you think?" Frostbite muttered miserably.
Miserable. Yes, that's how she felt. What she had felt when it was revealed that Bluefur had abandoned her was anger. This was true misery. Yellowfang laid the cat down, and she padded to her den, signaling with her tail for Frostbite to follow. "I'm going to mix traveling herbs, and cover Raggedstar's body with lavender and mint to hide the scent."
Her voice broke at the last part of the sentence, and Frostbite pressed up against her comfortingly. "Alright," she meowed, tears still making their way down her face.
The deputy, no, wait - she was almost the leader, sat and remembered her foster father. When she was a kit, how Raggedstar would somehow always make time to play moss-ball with her. Or when she became a warrior, how he had congragulated her so enthusiastically. And when he made her deputy. Her throat tightened again, and she slumped to the ground, a fresh wave of tears falling. Yellowfang licked behind her ears, comforting her foster daughter. "It won't be the same without Raggedstar here!" she cried.
"I know," Yellowfang muttered, "it won't. But eventually, we'll find happiness again."
Frostbite tried to think that, but she couldn't detect a note of hope in the medicine cat's voice. Surely we will, she thought.
Then another miserable thought clouded her mind. Like Raggedstar will ever come back, it sneered.
Frostbite shook her head, and let the tears sink into her pelt. "Can I please have the traveling herbs?" she murmured hoarsely.
Yellowfang nodded briskly and slid them towards her with a paw. "They may taste bad, but it'll get us to Mothermouth."
Frostbite nodded. She ate the herbs, and flinched a bit at the bitter taste. She managed to swallow them, and meowed, "tell me when you're ready."
She sat outside the medicine den, and the night eventually fell. The moon shone, and millions of stars twinkled in the sky. She pinpointed the brightest one. Goodbye, Raggedstar, she thought, gazing up at that star, I'll miss you.
She half-expected the star to twinkle, or have some symbol that her foster father heard, but nothing came of it. What am I living in? A kits' tale? Her mind sneered again.
Yellowfang finally walked out of her den, having finished her duties. "You ready to go?"
Frostbite nodded. "Mhm."
They set off, and the dappled she-cat's head hung low. She'd miss Raggedstar, but now she had a huge responsibility on her shoulders. She had to be strong, not only for herself and Yellowfang, but for her Clan. The night progressed, and the moonlight was the only thing for the felines to see by. She didn't know how long she'd been walking, when she finally reached Mothermouth. "Go inside," meowed Yellowfang.
When Frostbite entered, she immediately noted that the descriptions of Mothermouth were much more mystical than she'd imagined. Instead, she could barely see a thing, not even her own paws strolling below her. That was when they reached an open space, with a giant crystal in the middle. "Wow, thanks for taking me to the most beautiful place in the world."
Yellowfang flattened her ears. "Just wait."
That was when the moon shone through, and the crystal erupted into light. It sparkled through the whole room, lighting up Frostbite and Yellowfang's pelts so they looked like StarClan cats. "I touch my nose to the stone, right?" she asked, breathtaken.
"Yes," the medicine cat responded.
Frostbite padded forward slowly, and touched her nose to the stone. Cold shot through her, but then she felt a falling sensation. And when she landed, she saw beautiful shimmering fields, with rolling hills and mountains beyond them. But, most importantly... she saw Raggedstar.
Chapter Five[]
Froststar had been made leader, but she still felt numb. Since Raggedstar's death, nothing had been the same. "Froststar?" she heard Yellowfang's voice echo across the leaders' den.
"Hmm?" Froststar looked up.
Yellowfang was standing at the entrance to her den, the setting dun casting her long shadow across the den. "May I come in?" she asked.
"Sure," the leader grumbled.
Yellowfang, with a concerned look on her face, entered the den. She padded towards Froststar, and then sat down in front of her. "You've been acting... worrying lately." she began.
Froststar flicked an ear dismissively. "What do you mean?"
Yellowfang looked down at her paws. "I mean... since Raggedstar died, you've been so subdued. I'm getting worried. You need to come outside, mingle with your Clanmates a little, socialize."
The leader chuckled softly. "You'd be surprised what grief can do to a cat."
The medicine cat responded, "I know. I've been through it so many times myself. But what I've learned is that you need to get back on your paws. Trust me, it helps."
Froststar lashed her tail. "So you want me to replace Raggedstar? Is that what you mean?"
"N-n-n-n-no, I was just trying to help you feel-"
"Better?" Froststar demanded. "I won't. Since Raggedstar died, the only cat that has meant much to me is you," she confessed.
Yellowfang stumbled back a bit. "So... you don't care about your Clanmates?"
"I do," she sighed, "but I'm not exactly friends with them."
Froststar had gone through many squabbles with her Clanmates. Whether it be petty or an important issue, the leader had always seen things a little differently. That led her Clanmates to stay away from her, not that she minded. She had always had a foster mother and a foster father. Yellowfang resigned, "I guess I'll leave you to grieve."
The medicine cat turned around and padded out. Froststar put her head on her paws once again. All she wanted to do was sleep, and perhaps scheme to kill Bluefur. Or maybe lead an attack on WindClan. Whichever cat had killed Raggedstar would pay. She chuckled menacingly to herself, and stood up. She knew Bluefur would have to be her first victim. She padded towards the exit, and the guard inquired, "Where are you going?"
"For a stroll," Froststar replied simply.
And then she was off. Her paws felt light as air for the first time in days. Killing Bluefur. What an exciting thing. She would have to find a way to do it, though. That was when she heard dogs barking, an ecstatic volley of yipping that most felines dreaded, but this thrilled Froststar. She stalked towards the sound, making sure to keep her paw steps quiet. The dogs were barking at a squirrel. "Mouse-brains," she grunted under her breath.
She suddenly got an idea. Quite a good one, in fact. For not-so-good purposes, but still a good idea. "Let's see how they'd like a little taste of cat blood," she chuckled.
Froststar rolled in a patch of wild garlic to hide her scent, and then she trotted over to WindClan territory, waiting for a lone cat to come strolling through the moor. Then she saw one. Her eyes narrowed to slits at the tom, and she stalked forward. "Huh?" he turned his head, but before he could make any more noise, Froststar leaped.
She pinned him down, and sliced his throat before he could think. "For Raggedstar," she hissed.
She walked back to where the dogs resided, and placed the feline there. She turned, and scrambled up a tree to watch them. The canines had emerged from their den, and sniffed the dead body. They lapped at the blood, and then began to take bites out of it. "Perfect." the leader purred.
She leaped out of the tree branch, and went hunting for rabbits. She ventured onto WindClan territory once again. She smirked. These hare-brains deserve to starve. They killed my father!
In her blind rage, Froststar leaped onto the closest rabbit. It struggled desperately, but she sunk her long claws into it and it gradually stopped. She visualized it as a WindClan cat, and smirked. "You deserved it all along," she whispered, licking the blood of her claws.
Froststar killed several more rabbits, and created a trail to Sunningrocks. "Eat up," she purred.
The dogs followed, wagging their tails ecstatically. She leaped from tree to tree, stalking them. They arrived at Sunningrocks, and she saw a ThunderClan cat's mouth open in a scream. Others peeked out from the forest, and their eyes widened. Froststar beamed. This always needed to happen.
Chapter Six[]
Blood. Dogs, snapping at every cat's heels, but most importantly, Bluestar, hanging off a cliff in front of Froststar. Bluestar struggled, and gazed pleadingly up at Froststar. "I'm sorry!" she cried.
"You should've thought about that before abandoning me," Froststar snarled.
The leader's paws were gradually slipping off the edge, and the gray-and-white she-cat liked to watch her mother's agony. "Maybe you'll truly regret it once you're in the Dark Forest, but then again, you're stubborn."
"You're the one who's going to the Dark Forest!" snapped Bluestar.
Froststar blinked. Am I? she wondered, having a moment of sanity.
Then, she snapped back to her unforgiving state. "If I do, I'm taking you with me," she growled.
Bluestar's claw-tips were the only things left hanging onto the rock. Froststar slowly pushed them off, little by little. The leader gave one last pleading look, and whispered, "You'll regret this."
Then she fell, tumbling down the rock into the lake. Froststar smirked. "Good riddance," she snorted.
That was when she noticed a ragged gray pelt stumbling towards her clumsily. Could it be? No. Froststar shook her head. But she'd recognize that lump of fur anywhere. "Yellowfang?" she hissed.
The medicine cat gave her a disapproving glare. "What have you done?" she snarled.
"I got rid of a burden," Froststar retorted.
"Can't you see? She abandoned me! She deserved this," she continued.
Yellowfang's glare strengthed, and she shook her head. "However bad it was, there's nothing you could've done other than live your best life in ShadowClan and forget about it. Yet, you couldn't be satisfied, could you? You were bloodthirsty all along," the she-cat snarled.
Froststar stumbled back, reeling. Her own foster mother, who she thought loved and cared for her, scolding her for something like this? "That's what would've happened to me if she'd left me!" she snapped.
Yellowfang unsheathed her claws. "But we got you. I should've never told you!"
Tears formed in the medicine cat's eyes. "You can't be crying over that rat?" Froststar meowed, shocked.
"Not over her," Yellowfang snapped, "but you."
"Why?" the leader breathed.
"Because I didn't want you to turn out like this!"
Froststar looked down, scuffling her paws shamefully. "I'm sorry, mother," she gasped.
A wave of regret surged over her. If she hadn't done that, her foster mother would still love her, and all would've been well. She closed her eyes, grimacing. "What's done is done," Yellowfang snarled.
Froststar looked over the cliff edge, trembling. "And I can't reverse it. Should I go?" she asked softly.
"No!" Yellowfang snapped. "Then you'll never know the consequences of your actions."
The medicine cat gestured with her tail to the destruction all around them. Dead bodies lay, contorted and limp. Many warriors moaned with pain, injured. Blood spattered the clearing, and the rocks. "You didn't just kill Bluestar."