Heyyy everyone! (if you are actually reading this)

I'm back with another chapter of FotF!!! This is back in Starflake's POV, which means the white-pelted, paw-stomping protagonist is back in telling the story!

Also, if any of you are wondering about the multiple re-publishing of chapters, I found a few mistakes and inconsistencies in the text of previous chapters and had to go back and fix them.

So with all that cleared out, I won't hold you back much longer. On to the chapter!

Bequeathed -

   Making it (barely and out of breath!) to the East Rock, I slumped to my side next to Dark and panted heavily. A far ways away from me, the brown tabby cat was ferociously licking his paw, testing it in every way he possibly could to see if it was broken. At least, that was what it looked like.

   "Oh look, it's Thicket the Outsider," Dark crowed, snapping her head towards the small brown cat. "They say his father, Char, was a traitor to this forest. Won't be long before he follows those pawsteps - "

   "Dark, be quiet," I panted, cutting her off with a tired flick of my tail. Dark could be one of the most reliable friends in the world and then suddenly the most annoying animal in the forest in an instant. "He doesn't seem like he wants to follow in some traitorous pawsteps of your imagination. Besides, how do you know the gossip's true?"

   "Well..." Dark grumbled. She sure was strange to deal with, but she was still my friend. "That's what most of the forest thinks, and it's been circulating for a while."

   "Oh come on, Dark." I rolled my eyes and let out a sigh. "Why don't you go see him for yourself, to get proof for the forest's gossip?" I felt like I should go apologize for the paw-stomping and help out the poor cat a little, so I waited until I regained my breath, then padded cautiously over to the brown cat.

   "Hi," I mewed, and he jumped, screeching, and turned to me. His wide, terrified amber eyes seemed to drill into mine. "Sorry if I scared you - and stomped on your foot. I needed to get you out of that forest of fire," I apologized, and he looked slightly more relaxed and very surprised all at once. 

   I took a sniff at his paw, a twinge of silliness bouncing through my senses. "I didn't crush it that bad, anyways. Give it a good lick. The worst I probably could have done was give you a sprained paw. No running around on three paws for weeks or something. Trust me, I know how effective that is." Gosh, Starflake, don't overwhelm him with so much talk. He must think I'm extremely talkative. By the stars...

   "Um," he stammered, "thanks, I guess...?"

   I could tell he didn't have great social skills. "I guess the forest's gone now," I lamented, changing the topic. I turned my head to the burning forest we fled from, haunting thoughts entering my mind. Seeing the forest on fire triggered something in my heart to crash and tumble down like a falling tree to the wrath of a lightning bolt.

   I heard a bit of shuffling and licking from my right, then the cat said, "Yeah. I don't know where else we're going to go, now that the forest's gone."

   I thought for a moment, then turned back to him. "We could go to a small grove if we keep moving east. That's where I used to live. Then..." I thought a little longer. "Perhaps even farther, if there's not enough space. On the way we could pick up my parents, and Shock and Owlet's parents, and - "

   "And Shade and Jay's parents?" The cat asked, tilting his head, his paw still held up innocently.

   I blinked a few times. "How did you know?"

   He shrugged. "Shade told me."

   We struck a conversation, the tom telling me all about his life before the forest and why everyone hated him so much (I was infuriated) and how he met Shade, me telling him in turn about my family and our grove and my friends.

   "Heh." He chuckled a little as I finished one of my many silly stories about how Shock once ran into a tree chasing a ground squirrel, then stuck out his paw in greeting. "I'm Thicket. You must be Starflake?"

   "Yup, that's me." I butted my paw against his to return the greeting. His eyes trailed to my shoulders. My left shoulder carried a black star printed onto my fur, and my right shoulder had a pale blue snowflake. I wasn't sure what they were for or why they were there, but I'd accepted that they were there and that was it. No use changing what's already done.

   We looked back at the dying forest, now charred with flames and black patches of ash as the thunderstorm ceased and the rain and wind died.

   "No use changing what's already done," I mused, sighing inwardly at the damage to our beloved forest that brought us out together, fighting for the same cause. "We must move on."

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   Thicket and I decided to start searching a little beyond the burned forest, past the East Rock, where a small town sat. We were joined by Fiery - who barreled into me as soon as we approached her - and Dark, who just wanted to trail along and "keep [me] in check." (I think it was because of Thicket.)

   We padded side by side, exploring every nook and cranny in the entire place. It was huge; "houses" lined every "road" and "sidewalk," lined by "lawns" of grass and even dotted with beautiful flowers and "flowerbeds" at times. "Fences" surrounded some of the human homes, "painted" in bright and vibrant colors. (Stars above, I have no idea how Thicket knows all these names for human things! Sometime I'll have to ask him.)

   "I never imagined towns to be this much of a headache," Fiery commented, a slight wobble in her step.

   "I could say the same, Fiery," I replied, my eyes hurting from so many colors at once coming into my senses. "Back in the forest, it  - "

   "Hi there!" A cheery voice rang out, and we all turned our heads towards the new voice. It was a little dog, perhaps a little larger in size than Thicket. She had short tan fur, dark brown eyes, and a smile that seemed to stretch as wide as the sky, with a tongue that hung out at one corner. A dark blue cloth dotted with yellow stars hung loosely around her neck.

   "Hello!" The voice called. "You seem new here. I haven't seen you before! Who are you? My name's Constellation, by the way, but you can call me Stella!" 

   "Stella? What is it?" A cream-colored cat with white speckles on her pelt dragged herself on top of a nearby fence and leaped down next to her with elegance and grace. "Oh. Forest cats. And... is that Dark?"

   "Hey Stella, hi Marble," Dark greeted the two, stepping forward. "How's it going?"

   "Wait, you know these two?" Thicket exclaimed.

   "Of course," Dark replied, turning back to us. "Sometimes they come across me in my part of the forest. They're welcome visitors." Dark turned back to Stella and Marble. "You wanna come with? We're on our way back to the forest."

   Stella's bright eyes widened, if they could. "Gee, the forest? I thought I saw smoke rising from that general area yesterday. Didn't it burn down or something?"

   Fiery, Dark, Thicket, and I all winced.

   "Oh..." Stella seemed to understand that the forest was special to us, and her ears drooped a little. "I'm sorry. I understand now that you've lost your home. I guess I should go help." She turned to the cream cat, her eyes lighting up again. "You wanna come with?"

   Marble shrugged. "I guess." Then her sharp green eyes suddenly turned towards us, making Thicket yelp slightly. "But I still didn't get your names."

   "Well..." I cleared my throat a little. "I'm Starflake. You've met Dark; the orange molly is Fiery, and the small brown tom is Thicket."

   "Ah." She tipped her head to the side a little, inspecting each of us with her eyes. "All right. I'm satisfied. Lead the way."

   "With pleasure," I replied, leading my new acquaintances and old friends towards the forest - er, what was left of the forest.

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   "Starflake!" Clover and Shade exclaimed, running towards me as I returned to the East Rock. Clover came to headbutt me while Shade just skidded to a stop next to his best friend.

   "How'd it go?" Shade asked as soon as Clover got his forehead out of my face.

   "We've brought new friends," I answered.

   "Old friends, in my case," Dark retorted, padding out next to me.

   "...Right," Clover said, narrowing his green eyes.

   "Ooo, these are your friends?" Stella jumped out from behind me, startling all of us (except Marble and Dark). Thicket practically jumped ten feet in the air.

   "Sorry," Marble apologized, stepping out beside the excited dog. "Stella here is very excitable, and is a bit..." Her gaze slowly trailed to meet Dark's. "easily distracted."

   "T-t-that w-w-would have b-b-been helpf-f-ful a l-l-long t-time ag-g-go," Thicket stammered, his fur on end and claws trembling.

   "I can be helpful," Stella answered, calming down a bit and sitting down on her haunches. She stopped moving her tail wildly and kept her mouth closed. Even her tongue was no longer sticking out; it was firmly shut within her jaws. She didn't bark a word.

   "What's the plan?" Flight of Shadow swooped downward in a smooth arc, landing right in front of my paws. "You've brought allies. What's the next part of the plan?"

   I took a deep breath, facing Flight. "Alright. Flight, gather up the others. We're going to wait out the fire, then see what we can do with what's left of our forest." I thought for a little bit. "Find any survivors still stuck in there and bring them out. Could you do all that?"

   "Yes ma'am," Flight cheekily gave me a small salute with one wing and took off, gathering all the other animals and giving them instructions. That dedicated little crow could do anything at all if I told him to, even fly upside down. (That is, if he could. I think only hummingbirds can do that, though.)

   I exhaled, then turned to the animals gathered around me. Fiery. Dark. Marble. Stella. Clover. Shade. Thicket. Stella. All eyes were eerily fixed on me.

   "First, can we get Shock, Owlet, and Jay over here? They might want to hear this." I cleared my throat a little more, glancing nervously around at my little crew as Shade and Clover headed off to find the other cats. Once everyone was assembled I took another deep breath and told them the next part of my plan.

   "We're going to head past the East Rock... to the grove. Where we live..."