Chapter Three

Chapter Three

“...what about us?” She silently snipped while slowly rising to her paws to stare at him dead in the eyes. Which was quite ironic seeing as she was three inches shorter than he was.

Nighthawk met her gaze with a steady gaze of his own, “We’ve been at this for moons, Starfleck. Always arguing on how to raise Kestrelkit.” He said slowly.

Eyes slowly drifting towards the ground as she tried processing what he was saying, Starfleck narrowed her eyes before scrunching up her face. “Are you…are you saying you’re leaving me?” She whispered softly while lightly pawing at the ground in growing frustration.

“I-I know we’ve had our differences in opinions on how to raise our son, but….” Canting her head to the right, Starfleck was trying to rationalize everything that was happening. Leaving her so soon? After all this time? 

“That’s not all,” Nighthawk interjected.

‘Oh great, there’s more.’ She silently growled

However, Nighthawk didn’t continue speaking. Instead, he just stared up at the ceiling of the den as though seeing something that she couldn’t

It was as if the air suddenly dropped to leaf-bare temperatures, the air around them grew thick with silence and tension. Even the shadows around the face of Starfleck seemed to choke her. However, Nighthawk pressed on as he began walking away.

“I remember the first time meeting you when we were both apprentices,” Nighthawk finally spoke with a soft voice. 

“So full of life that the rumors about your parents didn’t stop you from being who you were or allowed anything to stand in your way.” A soft smile began to tug at the edge of his mouth, while Starfleck felt as though the chokehold was getting tighter to the point where she could feel it in the pit of her chest.

“That’s the Starfleck that I knew. The one I fell in love with regardless of everything. But," Here his eyes began to water with the ghost of something dark

“I could tell, no, StarClan warned me that you weren’t ready for kits. At first, I didn’t believe them, but ever since Kestrelkit came into this world; we’ve been arguing non-stop.

Nighthawk’s voice broke, but he didn’t continue. 

The silence between them grew heavy, pressing down like the forest in leaf-bare.