Chapter Text
“Jay? Jay! You! Hands off of her!” A woman’s voice shouted.
Spiderstar looked up, drying his tears. Immediately, the old Prezes could see a woman with scars on her face, aiming a crossbow at him. “How do you know her name?” He rasped.
Jay gasped in realization. “Aunt Snowfall!”
It took the former SkyClan leader a few moments to register this. “Aunt Snowfall? This is your family?”
“Yes! Aunt Snowfall, he’s okay! Spiderstar and his people brought me back to find you!”
“Jay, step away from the old man. And you.” Snowfall’s eyes narrowed as she motioned for him to rise.
Spiderstar did so, raising his hands up. “Can I speak with your leader?”
Snowfall’s eyes flashed warily for a moment, before she looked down at Jay, who nodded. “...okay,” the arbalist conceded. “Miriam will want to know why you have her daughter with you.”
When Spiderstar, Snowfall and Jay continued down the street, the old leader of SkyClan was astonished to find a forest before him.
“Is this the Clans’ territories?” He whispered. “But how? These lands were lost so long ago to my ancestors…”
Snowfall glanced at him, and a twinge of confusion could be seen in her face. “Well, we know nothing of these Clans. You were part of a group, too?”
“I am part of SkyClan.” Spiderstar proudly declared, letting the air sink in before melancholy took his heart once again. “...I was.”
Sympathetically, Snowfall nodded. “When we get to our camp, you’ll probably want something to eat. You look hungry, both of you.”
“Thank you.” Spiderstar murmured.
The snow and uneven ground made the veteran leader wobble as he tried to find his footing. The awkward plodding of his feet were all that broke the silence, save for the howl of the wind.
Soon enough, however, past the biting cold which nipped at the face of the SkyClanner, the three could see the warm glow of a campfire up ahead.
Emerging towards it, they could see the light reflecting off of several tents.
“Sisters! I’m back!” Snowfall yelled. “Maisie! MAISIE!”
Silence came as people started going out of the tents. “Snowfall?” A voice called, getting gradually louder as a diminutive woman walked forward, blue eyes in her gaze. “Who are these-”
The blue-eyed woman hesitated, looking at Jay.
“Mom!” Jay squeaked, running up and embracing the legs of who Spiderstar thought was Miriam.
“I…” Maisie gasped. Emotion, then tears of joy flooded her eyes. “My little girl! Jay!” She let out a sob before scooping up her daughter into her arms. “JAY!”
Snowfall let out a sigh of relief, as did Spiderstar.
“Snowfall, you found her,” Maisie cried out, still hugging her child close. “Thank you.”
The Sister who had found Spiderstar and Jay shook her head, awkwardly glancing at the old man who stuck out like a sore thumb. “Maisie,” she began. “This is Spiderstar. He says he belonged to a group called SkyClan.”
“I was its leader.” Spiderstar corrected gently. “Jay was lucky to have found us first- we brought her back to find her family.”
Maisie nodded, blinking her tears away. “How can we repay you? Do you need help returning to your people?”
Spiderstar raised his hands. “We don’t believe in repayment.” At the thought of SkyClan, he hesitated, then shook his head. “There’s no need. The Republic of SkyClan… is split.”
“Split?” Snowfall repeated, raising an eyebrow. “Are they gone?”
“No.” This time, it was Jay who spoke. “They’re with StarClan now. Swallowflight. Towarsysz Honeyleaf. Oakstep.”
Spiderstar’s mouth dropped open as Jay began to memorize the names of all his Clanmates. His vision began to become blurry.
“Frostclaw.” Jay’s voice began to break. “Rowan… Rowanfur… Brac… Brac…”
“Brackenheart.” Spiderstar whispered. His throat felt tight. “They were my people. I failed them.”
“No.” Jay’s little voice answered. She sniffled. “No, you didn’t.”
The Sisters all glanced at each other, then to Maisie, who was obviously their leader.
“You must have quite a story to tell,” Maisie whispered. “Would you like to stay with us for the time being?”
Spiderstar didn’t seem to hear. He looked like a mess as he remembered his Clanmates. How they had all put their lives on the line for this one last mission.
Jay was no Clanborn. She wasn’t SkyClan, but Spiderstar knew the reason that SkyClan had come to save her.
This was their duty. This was the Clan’s duty. To defend those unable to defend themselves.
Despite the tears flowing down his face, Spiderstar found his voice even. He straightened up and nodded.
“SkyClan’s last mission is complete. I no longer have any other purpose.”
Jay looked at her mother, who slowly let her back down on the ground. The Sisters watched as Jay walked back to Spiderstar, taking the calloused hand of the elderly man. “You helped me, Spiderstar. Now we’ll help you.”
And with those words, Spiderstar smiled. “You don’t have to do this.” He wiped his eyes.
“I think she’s right.” Maisie answered. “You can stay with us for as long as you need.”
“So how’d you find her, anyway? And what happened from there?” Snowfall butted in. The people around them seemed to lean in as Spiderstar cleared his throat.
“Well.” The former SkyClan leader awkwardly started. “It began after we attacked a camp of bandits…”