for my mistyfoot-in-the-fox-trap au.
mistyfoot does not tell anybody what happened that day, when hawkfrost intended for brambleclaw to kill her. who would help? she cannot forget how her clanmates turned on her, the sneering remarks about her heritage. she cannot forget that leopardstar appointed her deputy only to push tigerclan into the past. she cannot forget riverclan's compliance in the moons of hawkfrost's scheming and undermining and stirring trouble.
so she cannot tell. she can only hope to outlive leopardstar. she can only hope that, once she's leader, riverclan will be receptive to change.
years later, bramblestar's life is stolen by a vengeful ghost. good riddance, mistystar thinks, relieved to never sit beside him in the great oak again.
but squirrelflight is shattered, and mistystar respects squirrelflight. the daughter of her old friend, brave and loyal. moreover, mistystar sees herself and blackclaw in squirrelflight's own tumultuous relationship.
and... if she's being honest... mistystar understands her birth mother a little more, after watching squirrelflight's life fall apart and be put back together again.
so mistystar approaches the grieving cat to offer her condolences. but squirrelflight hasn't forgotten those arguments over hawkfrost, those nights spend burning with anger. she hasn't forgotten hawkfrost's mysterious death or the way brambleclaw avoided her gaze after. she hasn't forgotten what her mate has been hiding from her.
the question slips out. what happened?
