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| - WILLOW HAD NO IDEA where she was when she woke up. Actually, the feeling in itself was familiar. During the moons they had been away from the brokewoods, her sisters and her had taken shelter at a wide array of places, seldom staying in one for more than seven nights. They key difference between those wakings and this one, though, was that they never returned to any of those other places more than once. But this place she had woken in before, in what felt like a lifetime ago. "Not me. I made mine huge. Riverfur and Treepaw helped me add heaps of grass." "No, really? I wonder why that is."
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| - WILLOW HAD NO IDEA where she was when she woke up. Actually, the feeling in itself was familiar. During the moons they had been away from the brokewoods, her sisters and her had taken shelter at a wide array of places, seldom staying in one for more than seven nights. They key difference between those wakings and this one, though, was that they never returned to any of those other places more than once. But this place she had woken in before, in what felt like a lifetime ago. She crawled out from under the holly bush, wincing at her sore muscles. "We've outgrown our old nests," she said to Aurora, who was sitting in the middle of the clearing and attempting to pick bits of grass out of her pelt. "Not me. I made mine huge. Riverfur and Treepaw helped me add heaps of grass." Willow smiled; after Blackbird and Riverfur had gotten over their initial shock at seeing them, they'd gone to fetch their two younger brothers. That half of the reunion involved a lot of screaming and yelling -- mostly Treepaw and Aurora -- and a few tears -- mostly her, Violet and Stonepaw. "Maybe your ridiculously grassy nest took up all the room, and that's why it was so cramped," she told Aurora. Aurora wrinkled her nose. "Maybe it was too grassy," she conceded. "My pelt is now more grass than fur." "Here, let me help." Willow sat beside her sister and began helping her groom herself. "So what do you think?" asked Aurora expectantly. Willow frowned. "What do I think about what?" "What else? The toms! What do you think about the way they've grown up?" Tilting her head to the side, she thought for a minute. "They seem... older." "No, really? I wonder why that is." "Oh shut up," said Willow, blushing. "I mean they seem to have aged a lot mentally. Maybe not the younger two, but Blackheart's eyes look ancient -- he looks so tired." "I did notice that. I wonder what they've been through since we've been gone. Besides Mothfly's death," added Aurora ruefully. She hesitated, a small smile twitching at her mouth, as if she was debating whether to say what she was thinking. Then she blurted, "They've gotten cute, haven't they?" Willow blinked. "They what?" "Blackbird and Riverfur. They're cute. Good-looking." "Aurora! That's gross!" "How is it gross? They're not that much older than us; it just felt like they were when we were kits." "I mean because they're like our brothers," Willow protested. Rolling her eyes unconcernedly, Aurora said, "Well, it's not like I expressed a desire to become mates with one of them. I'm just pointing out a fact about their physical appearance." "I guess. It's just weird. I've never thought about them like that." "We haven't really had the chance. We were just dopey kits when we lived here, and we haven't seen them in moons. I wonder if they have girlfriends or mates." "It's possible. Well, Riverfur might still just like to flirt, but Blackbird is probably still with that other she-cat -- Rosepaw -- dunno what her name is now." "Yeah," agreed Aurora. "Isn't that strange? I'm still so happy to be around them and everything, but there's so much we don't know about each other." "It's going to take a while to bridge that gap," said Willow, "but hey, we are like family. Family sticks together. We'll get through it." "Violet didn't sleep under the holly bush," blurted Aurora abruptly. "What? What do you mean? She's under there right now." "She came back this morning, when the sun rose, but she spent the night outside." Willow's brow furrowed. "Why would she do that?" she said, but even as the words left her mouth, the answer came to her. "Mothfly." Aurora bit her lip and nodded. "Ghosts always come closer in the dark," she murmured. "I think she just couldn't bear being under there." She saw the doubts rising in Aurora's eyes, the questions about whether things would ever return to normal here, and she was eager to avoid them. She had never told her sisters -- it wasn't worth complaining about, as there was nothing they could do about it -- but constantly moving around and never settling down had driven her nuts. She wanted a place where they belonged, and though the brokewoods wasn't exactly a dream home, what with the fact that they were outsiders to the Clan and had also killed the Clan's old deputy, it was the closest thing she had to an anchor. If only it could stay this way. But it might not. They hadn't told the brothers the real reason for their return. Violet hadn't seemed to want to spoil the happiness of yesterday. Perhaps she too had wanted to pretend they were simply prodigal daughters returned home, rather than remember their complicated past.
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