"Please wake up," I muttered quietly to myself, staring at the black-and-brown mottled kit. The little tom's sides rose and fell with each breath, more at peace than I seemingly could ever be. There was something almost magical about the kit. He was small and oblivious and calm. I felt a pull deep within me. It wasn't an instinct of fatherhood; it was more than that, and I wanted to know what it was.

Fortunately, I could see the kit stirring. He stretched out his paws and pulled his jaw out into a small yawn. I stayed quiet, not wanting to startle the poor cat. 

He sat up and faced me. "H-hello," the kit meowed, "W-where am I?"

"You're in RuneClan," I responded gently. "I'm Fleetrunner, the medicine cat. We found you stuck in a fox trap. Do you remember that?"

The kit slowly shook his head, then nodded. "I-I'm Stowaway."

A chill raced through my pelt. Bonny and I had always played a game by the same name. I had almost forgotten about my sister, but this little tom was a reminder - a reminder that I never had and never would belong here in RuneClan. I tried to shake off the uneasiness, but alas, it had planted itself deep within the pit of my stomach, and the vines of discomfort were creeping up toward my throat. 

"Hello, Stowaway. Welcome to RuneClan." I could feel the ghosts of my past now inching their way up my neck, a cold shiver passing through my body. "I-I'm Fleetrunner. Did I say that already?"

"You did," Stowaway told me, looking more like the role of a concerned medicine cat than I did. "Are you okay? A-and are you a wild cat?"

A wild cat.

Father had once told me the stories of RuneClan, told me the dangers that lurked among the shadows of the trees and bushes and vines, told me of the wild cats. Father, his tongue an adder that wove a tale dark and mysterious. Father, his striped brown pelt glinting in the pale sunshine of the garden. Father, his teeth digging into my scruff and pulling me away from the forest. Memories rushed back like the overpowering gush of a river, and I was swept off my feet. 

And then the water receded, slowing to the meandering flow of a brook. I sucked in a deep breath and met Stowaway's eyes. "I'm sorry f-for that... I just remembered something from the past. It's nothing important. Anyways... the warriors of RuneClan - well, we're hardly wild. We take care of each other, and we do live out here in the forest, but we don't just survive. We thrive." The river had cleaned away the grip of discomfort and replaced it with my usual calm demeanor. 

Stowaway's little eyes widened. "Oh. I don't know what that means."

A silence hung between us for a couple heartbeats before I pushed on the conversation. 

Is he my brother? Or, perhaps, my nephew? Before my mind could wander off-track, I asked, "What's your mother's name? I used to be a ro-rogue, and I might know where you came from." 

"Well, Father calls Mother Bonny, but I just call her Mother," Stowaway meowed. And there it was - the confirmation. There was still a chance, still a chance that there was another Bonny in the forest, deep in my gut, I knew that this was my nephew. 

"What's your father's name?" I asked, trying not to dwell on the topic of my sister. 

"Weather. My sister's name is London." Stowaway paused for a moment. "Mother once told me that she had a brother. I think his name was Fleeter... you kind of have the same name. Isn't that funny!" The kit stared up at me with wide, begging eyes.

I forced out a small laugh. "That is weird... I'm going to go talk to Rookstar, okay? He's the leader of RuneClan."

I knew that the leader would want to know where we had to return the kit, and it would probably end up being my responsability. So, with my heart sinking low, I left Stowaway in the medicine cat den and padded out into camp.

Luckily, Rookstar was grooming himself in the shade of an aspen tree. I approached him slowly, placing each paw carefully on the ground. "Hello Fleetrunner," he meowed. I jumped a little - I didn't know that he had noticed me.

"H-hi. There's something I need to tell you."

Rookstar nodded. "Did the kit wake up?"

"Y-yes, and he's my nephew."

The leader's eyes widened, and he paused mid-lick of his back. "Pardon me?" he meowed after a couple heartbeats. "He's a rogue kit? Oh, well... do you know where he is supposed to be? If you are related to him... aren't you an orphan? Where did your littermate end up? Oh, sorry if I'm asking too many questions... this is just a bit surprising, don't you think?"

I hesitated. 

I knew that I should tell him the truth to him. I knew I should tell him that I wasn't an orphan, that I had abandoned my family in search for the thrill of the wild. But lying came much easier than telling the truth.

"Well.. the truth is... I was never actually an orphan," I meowed quietly. "I-I lived in a garden with my family - I had parents and a sister. Stowaway is the son of my sister, Bonny."

Rookstar paused, his mouth open as if he was trying to say something but the words refused to come out. I stared at my paws; Rookstar stared at me. 

"It's okay that you lied, I guess. We can't change the past," the leader finally said. "I assume you know where to take him, then?"

And the heat of my lies, of the false life I had built around myself here in RuneClan, was getting to be too much. There was only one thing that I could do, and so I did it.

"I'm going to take him, and I'm going to go with him."

by rio