My first story, hope y'all like it!

Death seemed imminent in the dark nursery. Sorrelfur drew her kits closer to her body. She licked their pelts, desperately trying to warm them. It seemed a lost cause in the bitter cold night that froze her to the bone. Her body ached from kitting, and her heart fluttered with fear for her new family in the freezing cold night.

The medicine cat, Bluewhisker, stood close beside her. He'd looked after her since she'd contracted whitecough just a few weeks ago, and he'd been at her side throughout her difficult kitting. A few paces back sat Leafbreeze, the leader's mate, and one of her closest friends. They were so close, in fact, that they had birthed kits only four days apart. Her mate, however, was not there. Redfall, the former deputy of ThunderClan, had slaughtered like a rabbit over a pointless border skirmish weeks earlier, leaving her alone to raise their kits.

The kits had not yet been named, and Sorrelfur began to worry that she would be sending them to StarClan without names. The smallest two, both snowy furred she-kits, were becoming stiller by the moment as the cold overtook them. They let their brother push and kick them around without so much as moving a paw. Fear gripped her heart and threatened to swallow her, and she licked their pelts in desperation.

"Please, please," she gasped. She pawed at her daughter's pelts, on high alert for the slightest tail twitch, or a stretch of a paw. Sorreltail nuzzled them, but they only fell limply from the curve of her stomach. "No, no, no," she gasped to herself. A mournful screech split the air, though she hadn't even remembered raising her weary head to cry out. Please don't be dead, please don't be dead, she thought, but she knew they were.

"I'm so sorry," Bluewhisker said, brushing his thick tail against her cheek. Leafbreeze looked on with grief-glazed eyes. Even though she loved her friend, Sorrelfur wanted to get up and scream at her. She wanted to know why the little tabby queen got two healthy kits and a living mate, while she lost everything.

Sorrelfur clenched her eyes shut as the most intense sorrow she'd ever felt boiled inside her. She'd spent moons dreaming of being a mother, and after all this time, it was over. The little kittens that she should've seen grow into great warriors were nothing but wet scraps of fur. She buried her face into her kit's flanks for a moment. They were too young to go to StarClan, she thought with a pang.

The prick of a claw against her bare underbelly brought her back. One kit remained, a golden-red tabby who squirmed and squealed and fought for life. He parted his little pink mouth, and let out a high pitched cry that pierced through the dark room louder than any of the cries coming from outside the nursery. Sorrelfur gasped, overcome with emotion. She pulled the kit closer to her, letting life course through him. Her son was going to live, come Hell or high water, she decided.

A cough racked her body. She was still weak from giving birth. Bluewhisker pushed a catmint polluce towards her, but she couldn't muster up the strength to lap it up. Leafbreeze offered a soothing mew of support, and groomed her soft white ears. Sorrelfur curled herself tighter around her son. He kneaded on her soft underbelly with surprising strength for a newborn.

"I'd like to name him Redkit," she told Bluewhisker, not taking her eyes off her son. "After his father." She purred slightly, and ran her sandpaper tongue over his body.

Bluewhisker dipped his head slightly. "An honorable choice," he said.

She coughed again, feeling weaker by the second. This wasn't whitecough, it couldn't have been. She was suffering from greencough. Bluewhisker's wide eyed gaze was enough to prove her right. He pushed the herbs a little closer to her, and she relented, lapping up the polluce. Swallowing was a painful ordeal. Her throat had been rubbed raw from the endless coughing. Despite Bluewhisker's attempts, she was going to die, and she knew it.

She closed her feverish eyes, and thought of Redfall. I'm coming, my love, she thought. Darkness set in all around her, and slowly, her weary muscles relaxed. She felt nothing but the gentle kicks of her son against her stomach, and her daughter's cold bodies. Together in StarClan, she thought.

o - o - o - o - o

Cloudstar pressed his nose to the dead queen's pelt. "May we meet again," he murmured quietly. Beside him, his mate pressed against him, her fur bristled against the bitter winds. He and Leafbreeze muttered their goodbyes to the queen. They'd both lost more than just a clanmate today. They'd lost a dear friend. Cloudstar remembered just weeks ago, when he'd sat beside her mate's body for vigil. Redfall would've been a loyal deputy, as Sorrelfur would have been a great mother, and their two daughters would've been great warriors.

His mate pressed her slender body to his, and he welcomed the warmth of her flank against his. "She named her son Redkit, after his father," Leafbreeze meowed comfortingly. Despite the circumstances, Cloudstar could manage a purr. "Goldenpool is looking after him, along with Silverkit and Sunkit." In all the tragedy, Cloudstar had nearly forgotten that he was a father now. In the wake of so much death, celebrating new life felt taboo.

"He'll be a great warrior, just as great as his father," Cloudstar said. Leafbreeze let out a mew of agreement. His heart twisted when he saw the dead kits laid out beside her mother. Nothing in this life was fair.

"It's been a rough couple of days," Leafbreeze muttered, and she moved closer to him. "A little rest would do you a lot of good."

"I'm on vigil," he retorted. She didn't reply, just sat there, their pelts touching. He felt his eyelids growing heavier, no matter what he did to fight it. Just as fast as he had promised not to sleep, he found himself lulled into it.

Moonlight shone down on his face, and he woke up in a starry clearing. Everything was shrouded in mist, and he was filled with a sudden and intense sense of peace and clarity. He was dreaming with StarClan, he realized with a jolt. Cloudstar felt less alone now that he was among the ancestors. The ground beneath his paws had been tread upon by his descendants since the dawn of the clans. He scanned the clearing for Redfall, Sorrelfur, or the two little white kits, but there wasn't a soul around. The ache in his chest returned.

"Cloudstar?" The meow came from Bluewhisker. Just like that, the mystical trance had been broken. Cloudstar looked up at his medicine cat, and padded over to him. Dread filled for what seemed like the hundredth time that day. Nothing about the situation seemed right. His fur pricked with anticipation, and he kneaded his claws into the soft earth beneath him.

"Larkpool!" Bluewhisker's exclamation alerted Cloudstar to the presence of a lithe grey and white tabby behind them. She had cool blue eyes that sparkled in the starry clearing, and long, soft fur. She'd been the medicine cat before Bluewhisker, the one who'd trained him. Bluewhisker purred and rubbed against his old mentor. "I've missed you so much," he told her.

"And I've missed you both," she replied. The ancient cat had been a loyal advisor, and dear friend to both of them. "Bluewhisker, you've grown into a remarkable young medicine cat. You've served your clan extraordinarily. And Cloudstar," she turned her stunning blue gaze onto him, "you've become a great and honorable leader." He dipped his head in gratitude. "Unfortunately, I come with a warning," she said. "Today was a grim day, we welcomed Sorrelfur and her newborn daughters into our ranks today."

Cloudstar nodded solemnly. "It was a hard loss."

"But her son, Redkit, lives," she said. "You must be careful, Cloudstar. A kit born in blood will spill blood."

Cloudstar bristled. "I'm sure any son of Redfall will be a great and honorable warrior."

"Don't be a fool," Larkpool growled. "The birth of this kit has been foretold for generations. There's a fire in his soul, greatness in his heart. He could go down in history as one of the most honorable warriors in all of history, or one of the most ruthless. Tread carefully, Cloudstar, guide him to choose the right path."

"He's just a kit," Cloudstar reasoned.

"You walk on delicate ground, Cloudstar. I promise you, this kit will one day have the power to raise ThunderClan to the stars, or drive in into the ground. You must show him the right path, make him into a valiant, hardworking, and brave warrior. I have faith in you, Cloudstar." His fur itched with contempt, but Cloudstar swallowed his doubt, and nodded respectfully. Who was he to question the will of StarClan?

"I have to go now," Larkpool murmured. Cloudstar nodded cooly.

"No, stay for just a bit," Bluewhisker pleaded. His blue eyes were wide with longing. It had only been a few moons that he'd had his full medicine cat name. Cloudstar knew that his medicine cat's heart still ached for the guidance of his old mentor. Cloudstar was still not used to ThunderClan without Larkpool himself, but he had trust in her replacement.

"Goodbye," Larkpool murmured. "And remember, beware the kit born in blood." The words chilled Cloudstar to the bone. Redkit would be an exceptional warrior, no matter what Larkpool said, he told himself. The starry clearing began to fade, and he savoured the image of Larkpool that burned behind his eyelids. It could be a long time before he saw her face again, he thought.

When Cloudstar awoke, he was still pressed against his mate's side. He could hear the mewls of kits from the nursery. Larkpool's prophecy weighed him down, the pit in his chest threatened to swallow him. Redfall had been an honorable warrior, and he would do all he could to lead his friend's son. He wasn't going to let the kit be anything but honorable and great, he promised himself.

o - o - o - o - o

Allegiances

ThunderClan:

Leader: Cloudstar - pale white tom with long fur and blue eyes

Deputy: Stonepool - grey tabby tom with amber eyes

Medicine Cat: Bluewhisker - stony grey tom with green eyes

Warriors: Squirrelclaw - reddish brown tabby tom with blue eyes

Volefoot - black and white tom with amber eyes

Tangleclaw - black tomcat

Littleear - pale tabby tomcat

Apprentice, Marshpaw (brown tabby tomcat)

Mistfur - silver tabby she-cat with blue eyes

Sharpfang - orange and with tabby tom with yellow eyes

Doeleap - tabby and white she-cat

Rainheart - grey tabby tom with blue eyes

Icetail - white she-cat with amber eyes

Apprentice, Fernpaw (smoky grey tabby she-cat)

Cherrypelt - pretty tortoiseshell she-cat with green eyes

Applesplash - dappled tawny tomcat

Berryfur - cream tabby tomcat

Brambleflight - brown tabby she-cat

Adderleaf - black tom with yellow eyes

Queens: Leafblaze - small tabby she-cat with yellow eyes

(Silverkit - silver tabby she-cat with yellow eyes, Sunkit - grey tabby tom with yellow eyes)

Sorrelstripe - tortoiseshell she-cat with yellow eyes

(Redkit - red tabby tomcat)

Elders: Goldenpool - light willowy silver tabby she-cat with blue eyes

WindClan:

Leader:

Sagestar - small white she-cat with green eyes

Deputy: Yellowclaw - raggedy black tom

Medicine Cat: Grousefoot - small brown tabby she-cat

Warriors:

Copperclaws - smoky grey tabby tomcat with copper eyes

Fallenheart - large grey tabby tom

Beetlejump - small black tom with yellow eyes

Dockfoot - brown tabby she-cat with yellow eyes

Lichensong - small tabby she-cat with green eyes

Harepelt - mousy brown tabby tom

Thrushleap - sandy tabby tom with amber eyes

Woollypool - smoky grey tabby tomcat

Poppyspots - tortoiseshell she with sky blue eyes

Apprentice, Sootpaw (sooty grey tabby she-cat)

Hickorysplash - brown tabby tom

Palenose - cream colored she-cat

Apprentice, Ryepaw (light brown tabby tomcat)

Fallowleap - fluffy white she-cat with yellow eyes

Archstep - black tomcat with yellow eyes

Antfur - reddish tabby tomcat

Pouncetail - rowdy black tomcat with green eyes

Elders: Heavyfoot - broad shouldered black tomcat

Moorshine - dainty white she-cat

ShadowClan:

Leader: Timberstar - muscled brown tabby tom with amber eyes

Deputy: Hazelfall - brown tabby she-cat

Medicine Cat: Fennelnose - small grey tabby tom

Apprentice, Ivypaw (silver and white tabby she-cat with blue eyes)

Warriors: Rowanpelt - ginger tabby tom

Mudsplash - brown tabby tom

Alderfrost - silvery tomcat with amber eyes

Deerskip - brown tabby tom with yellow eyes

Apprentice, Brackenpaw (reddish brown tabby tom)

Mudshade - tabby and white tom

Quietstep - silvery tabby she-cat

Runningwing - black and white patched tomcat

Mapleheart - orange and white she-cat

Apprentice, Snailpaw (smoky grey tabby tom)

Brindlerun - tabby and white she-cat with green eyes

Mallowfrost - soft grey she-cat

Sleekpelt - sleek black tomcat

Oneclaw - big, battle scarred tabby tom

Cindercreek - small black she-cat

Queens: Nettletail (russet tabby she-cat)

Elders: Firefur - ginger tabby tomcat

RiverClan:

Leader: Minnowstar - sleek grey she-cat with yellow eyes

Deputy: Reedfoot - black and white tomcat with amber eyes

Medicine Cat: Feathershine - silvery tabby tomcat

Warriors:

Perchpool - strong black tomcat

Otternose - brown tabby she-cat

Apprentice, Sweetpaw (grey and white spotted she-cat)

Hailfeather - strong grey tabby tomcat

Troutsplash - patched black and white tomcat

Lakeshine - orange and white she-cat

Toadstrike - black tomcat

Barkfur - brown tabby tomcat

Beechstorm - pale brown tabby tom with blue eyes

Amberear - ginger tabby she-cat

Brushflight - brown tabby tomcat

Seedfur - pale brown tabby she-cat

Apprentice, Smudgepaw (black and white tomcat)

Foxface - ginger and white she-cat

Sandstripe - pale ginger tabby she-cat

Creekrun - small black tomcat

Queens:

Slatestorm - black she-cat with green eyes (Perchkit - black she-cat, and Brightkit - orange and white she-kit)

Elders: Shellstorm - grey tabby tom

Thanks for reading! Remember to leave a review!