A forbidden romance. Again.

Maybe that's why a lot of people don't like the ship.

But let me ask you something. Is it rushed like most forbidden ships?

No. The answer is no.

For StarClan's sake, they aren't even mates yet. Well...they never will be now. Bristlefrost had her entire spirit and soul destroyed. Which is honestly really dark.

Anyways, they never acted upon their feelings because they were too conflicted on their loyalties and worried about being labeled as a traitor. Additionally, they had so much going on and it was up to them to save the Clans from Ashfur's horrifying reign.

They're relationship was unlike any other forbidden romance in the series. Sure, it ended up tragic, like Graystripe x Silverstream, or Moth Flight x Micah.

But they never were even together. Never had kits. But you could tell how much they loved each other. Their relationship actually had a perfect paced development throughout the Broken Code arc.

And eventually, Rootspring had made up his mind to move to ThunderClan to be with Bristlefrost after the final battle.

Unfortunately, he never even got to mention that to her. She sacrificed her life to save Shadowsight. In the end, she ended up taking Ashfur's life, but at the cost of her own. Not even being given the chance to get into to StarClan because she died in the Dark Forest Waters.

I also love Rootspring and Ivypool's relationship. In River, the recent book, the two of them are shown to be cuddling during a gathering.

I think it's cute that Ivypool has accepted Rootspring as her son-in-law, even though he never really was with her daughter. A nice little moment in the book that I enjoyed, even though I'm still upset over the tragic death of the former main protagonist.

So, I think Rootspring & Briskfrost would've been a great couple. Their kits would've been cute too.

It's a shame it had to end this way. But that's why I made a canon au!