Prologue

"Watch out! There are HoneyClan warriors in camp!"

A tiny kit's yowl broke the silence in the camp. The warriors' ears lifted in alarm, but glanced over to the source and saw little Snowkit with his siblings. "Silverstar!" Snowkit meowed. "You'll never get away with this!"

"We're going to take over MudClan, Patchstar!" Lionkit sneered to his brother, acting as HoneyClan leader, Silverstar.

Cherrypaw looked away from the kits' play battle. Out of the corner of her eye she saw Sandflower and her mate, Stripedbelly, sharing a magpie. She strained her ears to hear their conversation.

"...and she's getting bigger every day. How many kits do you suppose she'll have?" Stripedbelly's deep growly voice stood out. Cherrypaw knew they were talking about her. She was the youngest cat in the history of the Clans to have kits.

"Only StarClan knows. She's been getting uncomfortable because of her large belly and being so young. I wonder how she'll cope with this large litter at such a young age." Sandflower's eyes flicked over to Cherrypaw for one moment, then rested back on her mate.

"She'll have to, or give them up to you. Our kits are nearly apprentices, and Pinestep can give you herbs to help you make more milk, like she did when they were first born."

Cherrypaw's mind went back to before she was expecting kits. How easy it was, being an apprentice, without the eyes of her Clanmates watching her, judging her. She was so innocent then.

Her mind went back to the present, and she saw her brother Rockpaw pad towards her. "Don't worry about what they say," he mewed into her ear. She purred when he sat down next to her, happy her brother still loved her. Ever since she had become mates with her mentor, Patchstar, the Clan was always scrutinizing her. Patchstar wouldn't admit to being mates to her, not yet.

"I'll wait until you're a warrior," he always told her. "Then I'll tell them."

He won't even share a piece of prey with me any more! Things didn't work out like he planned. Rockpaw nudged a mouse toward her. "I caught this for you."

"Thanks." She clawed at the mouse, then started to eat it. She finished it in only a heartbeat. Rockpaw purred. "It's not long," he said, then padded towards the entrance where Stripedbelly sat now, waiting.

Cherrypaw sat up, feeling sharp pains in her belly. Wait. This is it.

She watched in dismay as Rockpaw left the camp, wishing he could be with her during this important time. She tried to walk, but her legs wouldn't carry her through this pain.

"Pinestep!" she cried, hoping Pinestep was in the camp. Sandflower rushed over from across the clearing.
"I'll take you into the nursery!" Sandflower meowed, taking most of Cherrypaw's weight for her as she trudged across camp.

As she slumped into her nest, Sandflower left to get Pinestep.

The pain was getting unbearable, and Cherrypaw let out a wail. She blacked out from the pain, but heard Sandflower rush back in.

"She's coming, hang in there Cherrypaw!" she cried.

Cherrypaw's jaws slipped open and let out another ear-splitting screech. The tangy scent of blood filled the air, and she heard Pinestep enter.

"Bite this!" Pinestep shoved a stick in between Cherrypaw's teeth, but another wave of pain ripped through her body and the stick turned into splinters. She spit them out.

Patchstar's voice sounded. I didn't hear him come in. "Is she going to be alright?" he asked Pinestep.

"She will if she keeps pushing!" She felt Pinestep's paw against her flank.

"Come on, Cherrypaw," she urged. "You have to survive this!"

Cherrypaw couldn't speak, all she could do was yowl. She heard a bundle of wet fur hit the moss in her nest.

"Four more." Pinestep meowed, with her paw still pressed against Cherrypaw's flank.

Can I really survive this long?

Another wet bundle hit the moss. Sandflower was licking the first one, and Patchstar joined in.

"She's not doing well." Pinestep muttered to Patchstar. "You need to stay here."

Cherrypaw realized Patchstar was trying to leave. Flea-brained coward! Can't even face what he caused! Cherrypaw could only moan in pain, all the energy left her body.

"Should I do a procedure that might cost her life, Patchstar?" Cherrypaw heard Pinestep whisper. "It would save the kits, but Cherrypaw would be lost."

"Do it," he whispered back. "We need this kits for MudClan."

I can't be selfish. My kits come first. Cherrypaw thought to herself, blocking out the pain. I can't be selfish. My kits come first.

"This is my fault," he whispered into Cherrypaw's ears. "I'm sorry."

Please, StarClan! Let me live!

"She might be able to heal from this, knowing she is young and capable," Pinestep added.

"Do all you can." Patchstar continued to lick his kit. "Cherrypaw, if you can hear me, you have 2 sons waiting for you, so far."

Pinestep held her breath. She heard little voices at the entrance to the nursery, and Sandflower shooed them away. It seemed as if the whole of the Clan was holding it's breath.

Pain, once again, though not as potent, filled her belly. One slicing line down her midsection, from Pinestep's claw. Is this what dying feels like?

The pain started to ebb, and she felt numb all over.

"Another tom and two she-kits," Patchstar whispered, with horror edging his voice. Sandflower helped lick the other kits dry. They were mewling with hunger.

"If she survives, she cannot nurse. Sandflower, you can still nurse; will you nurse these kits?" Pinestep meowed, putting cobwebs on Cherrypaw's belly. "I am already," Sandflower mewed from across the den. What a good friend!

Cherrypaw felt a tickle in her throat, and coughed. "She's alive!" their leader gasped.

"So far." Pinestep was grave. I am going to be able to raise my own kits!

"I am going to make her a warrior right now, so that if she dies, she will die as a MudClan warrior, fighting all the way to the end."

He paused, thinking, for a moment. Cherrypaw's pain started to return.

"I, Patchstar, leader of MudClan, call upon my warrior ancestors to look down on this apprentice. She has trained hard to understand the ways of your noble code, and I commend her to you as a warrior in her turn." There was now fear edging Patchstar's voice, tinged with love. He still loves me.

"We know that she promises to uphold the warrior code and to protect and defend her Clan, even at the cost of her life," he mewed. "By the powers of StarClan, I give Cherrypaw her warrior name. Everyone, from this moment, Cherrypaw will be known as Cherrydrop. StarClan honors her endurance and courage, and we welcome her as a full warrior of MudClan."

"Cherrydrop, Cherrydrop!" Pinestep and Sandflower yowled. The kits mewled in protest against the noise.

"...Thank...you..." she managed to gasp. Patchstar licked her cheek as she lay. "I am pardoning you from vigil," he added. "StarClan will see that you need your rest."

"You are going to live, Cherrydrop," Pinestep mewed happily. "You are going to be able to raise your kits."