"Quailflight's giving birth!"
Startled, Elmwood blinked. The young warrior would have spoken but he couldn't speak through the fish held in his jaw. Luckily, Snowpaw was too excited to wait for a response either way.
"She started going into labor after you left camp at sunrise," the apprentice added, blue eyes glowing. In her excitement the white she-cat had ran to share the news with Elmwood and Swanpaw just as the pair was returning from hunting practice. Elmwood wasn't Swanpaw's mentor – in fact, they had trained as apprentices together – but he had agreed to take the apprentice out because her own mentor had been busy that day.
Elmwood gently set his catch down at the fresh-kill pile as Swanpaw did the same before turning back to look at Snowpaw. "Is Wolfpelt with her?" he asked, none of his hesitation seeping in his voice. He felt Swanpaw's blue eyes boring into his pelt but he didn't glance at her, keeping his own yellow eyes leveled on Snowpaw.
"Yes," confirmed Snowpaw. "It was getting crowded in the nursery, so Brookwater wouldn't let me in, but Wolfpelt's with her." The white apprentice smiled gently, "Don't worry, she's in good paws."
Elmwood's jaw tightened. "That's good." He couldn't believe Snowpaw was so oblivious. It wasn't concern he felt, not quite.
"Hmm," murmured Snowpaw. "I'm going to check on Honeybird's kits," the white-furred she-cat informed them, looking over her shoulder as she walked away. "They were so confused when Brookwater barred them from the nursery," she purred, whiskers twitching in amusement. "I'll see you in a little bit."
"Bye," Swanpaw called flatly after her sister. The longhaired silver she-cat turned to Elmwood, her expression softening. "C'mon," she nudged him gently, squinting up at the bright sky. "Let's find shade." She began sauntering away, leaving Elmwood to trail after her.
It was leaf-fall now, but there were only a few moons between that and leaf-bare, although it still felt deceptively like greenleaf. Elmwood knew he'd be wise to appreciate what little time they had left. The last winter – the only winter he had lived through thus far – had been frigidly cold, and had also brought prey shortages and disease with it. Even the hardest cats had struggled to push through those wretched moons.
The pair found a spot under a tall willow and sat down together at the base of the tree, settling their bodies over the soft green grass. Swanpaw looked content, happily prattling on about mindless things, while Elmwood only pretended to listen. His thoughts were still on Quailflight and Wolfpelt, and their new children.
Eventually Swanpaw noticed his lack of interest, and she paused, her expression turning sour. She fell into a thoughtful silence for a short number of heartbeats before an idea seemed to come to her. "Thank StarClan Quailflight's finally giving birth," the silver she-cat yawned; suddenly forgetting about the piece of gossip she had been sharing heartbeats before. "She's been complaining and whining for weeks." Swanpaw was watching him carefully through half-lidded blue eyes, searching.
Elmwood didn't humor her with a smile or a glance, but his ears had pricked in new, cautious interest.
She continued. "Everyday it was: 'Go get this' and 'go fetch me that'." Swanpaw's mouth twitched, "I never let her boss me around, but she had Snowpaw running on her paws all day everyday."
Swanpaw had trailed off in silence again, and as the heartbeats passed the instinctual pressure to say something began to creep up upon Elmwood. Luckily Elmwood was saved from having to respond because Snowpaw suddenly came bounding back, three fluffy kittens following at her heel.
"Back so soon?" Elmwood said instead, turning to face the white-furred apprentice. Swanpaw's gaze finally left him, moving onto her sister instead.
"Quailflight just finished giving birth," Snowpaw was eager to share. "Two kits – a tom and a little she-kit. Brookwater's allowing visitors now."
Elmwood blinked. "Have they been named yet?" He gently lifted his tail into the air as one of Honeybird's kits dropped into a crouch and made the young warrior's tail his target for pouncing practice.
"Isn't it too early for them to be named?" Swanpaw interjected. It wasn't unusual for a litter to be thinned out within the first few weeks of leaf-bare. Swanpaw might have not been outright with her words, but the meaning was implicit.
Snowpaw frowned, disturbed. "I don't think so," the white she-cat mumbled softly, unsure now. "Either way, she wants to name them as soon as possible."
Honeybird's oldest and biggest kit – Tigerkit – suddenly spoke up, "Can we go see the kits now, Snowpaw?"
Snowpaw's smile returned as she looked down at the tabby kit, "You know they're too young to play with, right?" Honeybird's kits were only two moons old but already their play was quite rough. "You'll have to ask your mother."
"Okay," Leopardkit, who had previously been occupied with trying to "hunt" Elmwood's tail, agreed reluctantly.
Snowpaw looked back at Swanpaw and Elmwood. "So, are you two coming?"
"Oh, okay fine," agreed Swanpaw flippantly, rising gracefully to her paws. She came to stand beside her littermate, looking down at Elmwood expectedly.
"Elmwood?" Snowpaw prompted.
"Just for a little while," Elmwood conceded, rising to his own paws. "Lead the way, Snowpaw." He could see that the younger cat was quite possibly more excited about the kits than even the new parents themselves.
With Snowpaw walking ahead, the others followed in silence. As they approached the nursery, Leopardkit, Lionkit, and Tigerkit broke away to join their mother who was waiting patiently by the entrance. Honeybird gave the visitors a polite smile before turning to greet her excited kits.
Elmwood entered the nursery last, giving its interior a curious glance. The dark warrior hadn't been in the nursery since he was a kit himself – which in the grand scheme of things hadn't been all that long ago, although the memory was only a distant blur in his mind now. A half-smile rose to his face, as he recalled the days of playing with Quailflight, Snowpaw, and Swanpaw when they had all been only kits. Of course the nursery had appeared much more spacious then and not the cramped space it seemed to him now.
Standing quietly at the back of the group that stood huddled around Quailflight's nest, Elmwood glanced over the heads of the cats in front of him, his yellow eyes catching sight of the two small bundles of fur curled up beside Quailflight's belly.
The young queen looked beautiful, tired and proud. Her pale green eyes were filled with a softness that hadn't been directed at him for many moons.
"Have you named them yet, Quailflight?" Snowpaw asked, smiling good-naturedly down at the newborns.
Swanpaw had dropped back from the group to stand beside him, her shoulder pressing against his in a manner meant to be reassuring. She had her moments of softness too.
"Not yet," answered Quailflight, her head lifting up to smile at Snowpaw. "I promised to wait for you, didn't I?" She didn't see him, too distracted by her new happiness. "Wolfpelt," she looked to her mate with bright eyes. "Should we name them now?"
The silver tabby answered, "If you're ready." Wolfpelt scooted closer to the nest, looking over the kits with a thoughtful gaze. "I like 'Redkit' for the she-kit," he decided, pointing to the kit with faint tabby markings.
Quailflight was nodding slowly in thought, "Alright, and perhaps 'Palekit' for the tom-kit? After my father?" She nudged the grey kit with her nose.
"Sounds good," agreed Wolfpelt.
"Those are wonderful names," purred Brookwater as Snowpaw nodded her agreement. The medicine cat nudged blue flowers with hairy green leaves to Quailflight. "Now, these are borage leaves, Quailflight," she began instructing the queen.
As Brookwater spoke, Wolfpelt suddenly looked up, pale green eyes locking on Elmwood's. The older warrior frowned, a clear message in his hard gaze.
Elmwood was loathed to back down but he also didn't want to start a row in the nursery. Turning to Swanpaw, he muttered an excuse, "I have to go make dirt. I'll see you later." When she nodded her understanding, Elmwood quickly left the nursery in silence, striding out into the open camp.
It was not quite sundown yet but the camp was relatively empty. It looked like Honeybird had decided to introduce her kits to Quailflight's later, when the well-wishers vacated the nursery. The queen and her litter were sitting together in a quiet corner of camp, having relocated from their original spot by the nursery's entrance for privacy. The queen was eating a mouse and offering small pieces to her kits. The young kits seemed to regard the fresh-kill more as a novelty or a toy than food despite their mother's soft scolding.
Feeling a bit hungry himself after his hunt with Swanpaw, Elmwood picked up a silver-blue fish as he passed by the fresh-kill pile. He was scanning the area for a comfortable spot to eat when his name was suddenly called out.
"Elmwood!" Nightfall was sitting beside a blackberry shrub picked clean, a silver fish at her paws. The black she-cat gave him a warm smile, "Come eat with me."
Glad to see his mother, Elmwood nodded before dutifully padding over to join her. He set his meal in front of him and sat down, making himself comfortable on the soft grass.
The RiverClan deputy smiled at him once more before continuing to eat her food, pausing to say, "Thank you for taking Swanpaw out hunting today. She's been working really hard lately, helping around the elder's den without being asked – I wanted to do something more engaging with her today but business got in the way."
Elmwood swallowed the bite of fish he had been chewing. "No problem," he shrugged easily. "It was my pleasure." Elmwood continued eating, curious about the business his mother had mentioned. He might have been Nightfall's only surviving kit but Elmwood knew better to pry. She would only share the information at her own accord.
Luckily though, his restraint seemed to pay off. "Leaf-bare's coming," the black she-cat added meaningfully, taking another bite of her fish. "With Honeybird's kits and Quailflight's new litter, we have more mouths to feed but no new paws to help provide."
Elmwood grew tense. Conflicts always broke out around this time of the year – as food supplies dwindled, claws were always quicker to unsheathe. He continued eating though, simply listening in growing interest.
"We let ThunderClan keep Sunningrocks before, but now that Greenleaf is over, our generosity is thinning."
Elmwood nodded, quick to agree with his mother. The fighting was always brutal but he felt ready and more than willing to do whatever had to be done to provide for his clan. He finally spoke, "Has an attack already been planned?"
Nightfall nodded. "Your father and I were discussing today, and after some thought, we've decided to attack two sunrises after the next Gathering. First, we'll see how ThunderClan is faring at the Gathering, but I don't doubt that the attack will continue on as planned." After another bite, the RiverClan deputy added, "We haven't shared the plans with the senior warriors yet, but I trust that you know to keep this information to yourself." She gave her son a fond smile.
"Of course, mother." Secretly, Elmwood half-hoped that he might be assigned command of one of the offensive forces to take back Sunningrocks. Although he was young – or perhaps because of it – the dark warrior felt that this was the chance to prove his capabilities to his clanmates. He didn't want to be defined solely by his parents' ranks for the rest of his life.
Nightfall didn't disappoint. "I will be leading the support patrol, in case the situation calls for reinforcements, but we want you to lead the offensive patrol."
Author's Note: I do not own Warrior Cats.
The Allegiances will be released with the next update, most characters have already been planned but I'll be willing to take OCs (nothing higher than deputy) – please only include name, appearance, preferred clan, preferred ranks, and personality. And, please use prefixes and suffixes similar to the ones used in the original books (i.e. no "Sparklefairy", etc..). Thank you for reading the first chapter - feel free to leave a review, I always appreciate constructive criticisms. My story is also up on AO3 - I usually update first on AO3 and check in that site more often. So if you want to contact me, I'd recommend you do so on that site.