Chapter 43, Last One Over

“Robin.”

The cheetah opened his eyes and leaped to his feet. He looked around wildly.

“Robin! It’s me, Shadowflight!”

They had traveled for a little while longer that night when they had admitted their feelings for each other, but had finally just decided to go to sleep.

“Follow me,” Shadowflight said quietly, and started leading the way downstream. She clambered over rocks and plants, and finally stopped, by a small cave. Moss and ferns grew on the inside of the cave.

Shadowflight padded into the cave. The ground was smooth rock, cold beneath their pads.

Shadowflight bent her head in front of one place in the cave completely hidden by shadow. There was a tiny, innocent mewling. Shadowflight took her head back into the light, and dropped a very young dark tabby kit with black paws by her paws.

“This is my kit,” She whispered, “I just had him born. Right at midnight.”

She smiled slightly as the kit blinked in the bright moonlight, looking confused. Then it raised a curious face to Robin, whose face split into a wide grin.

“Is he mine too?” He asked.

“Yep,” Shadowflight said. Robin looked down into the kits eyes. They were a bright, dark blue color. The kit was his son.

“What’s his name?” Robin asked, gently turning the kit with his claw to face Shadowflight.

Shadowflight smiled and looked down at her son. She was trying to think of a good name. She looked at his eyes, his pelt…and suddenly it hit her.

“Robinflight,” She meowed softly.

She heard a sharp intake of breath from Robin and looked up.

“What?”

“That’s both our names combined!” He meowed, “Robin, that’s me, and flight, that’s you.”

“I know,” She said softly.

Robinflight looked from both his parents, looking wonderstruck that he had a name.

“I don’t want him,” Shadowflight meowed suddenly, and the smile vanished from her face in an instant. “I am not a mother and never will be. And I don’t want to have a kit destroying the alone time you and me will have.”

“Then what are you going to do with him?” Robin asked, fearing that she would kill him.

“Nothing,” She said, “I’m just going to leave him here.”
Robin ignored the sadness that had just filled up his heart. “Okay.” He murmured. He sniffed Robinflight and nudged him, then turned and padded out of the den.

Shadowflight looked back at Robinflight one last time as she left the cave. His wide blue eyes met hers. Then he disappeared as she left the den completely.

XXX

Shadowflight suddenly felt a jerk somewhere in her navel, and then she was being flung into the golden oval, as red light flowed from her scar. She was getting very close to the oval now, and suddenly…she was through it.

She was standing in the place between the dimensions. She looked around, lost, then sat down.

“Which world do you choose?” Came the booming voice she had heard earlier, and she felt herself being flung again. Now she was standing on the bridge. Several small cracks were in it. As she stood there, it shook violently.

“I choose Eris!” She shouted as she sunk her claws into the golden material to hold on.

“Good,” said the voice, “But if you stay on Eris, Robin will die. If you stay on Earth, Robin won’t die, but you will not be with him.”

Shadowflight shouted in anger and frustration. Their plan of living alone was not going to work!

She sat down on the rocking bridge and thought for a second. Should she let Robin die, and handle another death, or should she let him live, but not be with him?

She knew she could not handle another death. She would miss Robin beyond anything if she went to Earth, but at least she would know he was alive.

I’ll stay on Earth, she decided, but I won’t be in the Clans at all.

“I’ll do Earth!” She shouted, then instantly started crying, even as everything vanished and she fell through darkness. She landed beside Robin and opened her eyes.

He was sleeping quietly.

“Robin!” She yowled, poking him hard.

He shouted as he woke, then focused his dark amber eyes on her face.

“Yes?”

“I c-can’t stay with you!” She sobbed and burst into tears. She cried hard as she told him all that had happened. “And n-now I’m going t-to leave y-you!” She looked up at him.

He looked horribly sad and empty.

“Did I do the r-right t-thing?” She rasped.

“Yes,” He said, “You spared my life.”

They sat down next to each other, and were silent for a long time.

“Goodbye,” Shadowflight whispered, and she licked his cheek slowly.

“Goodbye,” He said back, and now he was crying, not hard, but he was definitely crying.

“We’ve been through so much,” He whispered, “And now you’re leaving.”

Shadowflight continued crying. She cared so much about Robin, and this was almost to much for her.

“I love you,” She said softly, and suddenly she stopped crying, opening her eyes to the fact that they would still live on, even without each other.

“I love you,” He returned. He twined his tail with hers for the last time.

“Goodbye,” She whispered again.

“Goodbye,” He breathed.

She stood up and turned away from him. He watched as she padded over the stones and out of sight.

He turned around and continued crying, but he was watching the sky for the first signs of dawn, knowing his life would go on.

Shadowflight continued walking up stream. And, before she thought the words she knew would take her home, she lifted her face to the Starlit Sky.

Sad, very sad, but for the next book they can’t be together. Well, please, please, please review!! And for any of you who care about the sequel: REVIEW!! I’m really not kidding about this!! The sequel is called Map of the Worlds! I’m not going to have a contest thing.

Remember, Map of the Worlds!