Hey guys, welcome to Frozen Twilight! It is my first actual fanfiction, although I have written a one-shot or two, so check them out too! Actually, I'm writing this with my friend, who is currently anonymous, for reasons unbeknownst to you all (Gasp, big word Seer!). OH NO WAIT, THERE SHE IS!
Blue: *waves awkwardly*
You should check out her stories too! They are amazing. But we sincerely hope you enjoy. Enough rambling from me, ladies and gentlemen (although I find guys to be an endangered species on this website) we present to you: Frozen Twilight!
~FROZEN TWILIGHT~
ALLEGIANCES
LEADER
Flightstar- Pale red she-cat with cream spots and paws and yellow eyes
DEPUTY
Sharpthorn- Dusty brown tom with flinty blue eyes
MEDICINE-CAT
Sweetberry- Dappled red, brown, and white she-cat with blue eyes
WARRIORS
Snowfall- Thick-furred white she-cat with front black paw and icy blue eyes
Hawkpath- Dark brown tabby tom with dark gold spots and amber eyes
Ravenclaw- Sleek black tom with amber eyes
Hollybreeze- Red-brown she-cat with white paws and green eyes
Hareflight- Dark brown tom with amber eyes. Apprentice - Frostpaw
Sparrowheart- Light brown and white tom with blue eyes
Gingerleaf- Ginger she-cat with green eyes
Echofall- Light brown tom with darker paws and green eyes. Blind in one eye.
Blackstorm- Long-furred black tom with white chest, underbelly, muzzle, tail-tip, paws and blue eyes
Goldenpelt- Golden brown she-cat with amber eyes
Whitetail- Skinny black-furred tom with white tail and blue eyes
Tigerfur- Grey, white, and brown tabby tom with white paws and blue eyes
APPRENTICES
Frostpaw- White and grey tom with brown eyes.
QUEENS
Acornflower- Silver tabby she-cat with brown paws and ears. (Mate. Echofall. Kits- Icekit, Whitekit, Shrewkit, Dewkit
Featherbreeze- Silky silver she-cat with white flecks and amber eyes. Mate-Sharpthorn. Kits- Duskkit, Bouncekit
KITS
Shrewkit- Small light brown tom with green eyes
Dewkit- Grey-blue tom with a white muzzle and underbelly. Green eyes
Whitekit- Fluffy pale ginger tom with grey patches and a white splash on his forehead
Icekit- Fluffy, lithe white she-cat with pale silver tabby marks and light, ice blue eyes
Bouncekit- Ginger tom with brown tail and paws and amber eyes
Duskkit- Dusty red she-cat with streaks of gold and dark brown ears and amber eyes
Prologue
"Sweetberry! Sweetberry, Acornflower's having her kits!"
A dappled red, brown, and white she-cat poked her head out of the thorny entrance of the medicine den before disappearing again. She came out again with a bunch of herbs in her jaws before bounding across the frosted clearing and entering the nursery. Upon entering, the she-cat was met by a writhing queen, who was flailing in her nest and letting out screeches of pain that could be heard across camp. Widening her eyes, the medicine cat dropped her bundle of herbs and tried to comfort the queen by licking the area between her ears with soft, soothing strokes. As soon as the queen had managed to pull herself together for the time being, Sweetberry peeled open the leaf wrap she had been carrying and picked out some dandelion plants before delicately offering them to the silver queen who lapped it up quickly.
"Is she okay?" A worried mew sounded towards her left. Swinging her head around, she glared at the brown tom beside her and ordered him to get out. The larger tom refused to budge and merely continued asking on the welfare of his mate. Sweetberry rolled her eyes.
"If you want to do something useful, go fetch me a stick!" She snapped. A groan from the kitting queen caught her attention and she chewed some raspberry leaves into a pulp with chamomile before spitting it out onto a birch leaf and sliding it into Acornflower's mouth. She gently massaged her chest till she swallowed. Pricking her ears, Sweetberry heard the sound of swift, running pawsteps approaching and peeped outside, nodding gratefully at Echofall before grabbing the stick and turning back towards the kitting queen. She bent her head down and Acornflower lifted hers up with grace, taking the stick in her mouth and easing back down again until she was lying on her back.
"Bite down when I tell you to." The dappled she-cat said, placing a paw on her bulging stomach. "One, two, three!" The sound of splintering wood could be heard from the far side of the nursery. Pushing hard, the silver queen gasped as a slippery white bundle came out. A gust of wind came from nowhere, and Sweetberry flattened her ears against her neck to keep warm. It racketed through the thick gorse den and chilled the air. Again, Sweetberry wondered where it could have come from, for the nursery was packed airtight with snow for warmth.
Nipping the sac, Sweetberry licked the kit's fur the wrong way before placing it beside the queen's belly. "A she-kit." Three more bundles came out directly after and Sweetberry had some trouble tending to them but she got all three of them out and breathing, placing them at the crook of Acornflower's stomach. "Three toms."
After giving the new mother some borage to help with the milk, the dappled she-cat gave a curt nod before exiting the den, to be almost trampled by a tragically worried Echofall. From the corner of her eye, she watched a grumbling Hareflight pad into the medicine den. From this distance, she could see the scratch on his flank that needed tending to. Shooting Echofall a half-amused half-angry look, she began to walk after her patient. "Congratulations Echofall," she purred sweetly. "You are now a father of four healthy kits." She then padded into her den as yet another gust of frosty cold wind buffeted her fur, sending shivers along her spine. It was almost… ominous.
Letting out a relieved sigh, Echofall padded into the warm nursery, purring as he caught sight of four kits cuddling up to his beautiful mate. His breath hitched in his throat. "They're beautiful!" He purred before adding, "What shall we name them?"
Acornflower looked up tiredly before purring as well. "I was thinking of Shrewkit for the light brown one." She said. Echofall nodded. "Why don't you name the next one?"
Echofall paused as his eyes roamed over the next tom. It was a dark, grey-blue with a white underbelly and muzzle. His eyes narrowed thoughtfully. "Dewkit..?" He asked. The new mother smiled.
"How about Whitekit?" She mused, flicking the tip of her tail towards the single tom left: a fluffy, pale ginger tom with grey patches, save for the white splash on his forehead. "I can't think of anything better," she admitted truthfully.
"Me neither," Echofall purred. Green eyes wide, he turned his good eye towards the his last kit, the firstborn. Without realizing it, they had gone up from the runt of the litter to the only she-kit. She was completely white, when he looked closer and made out the temporarily faint, yet shining, silver tabby marks that were so beautifully crafted into her fur. She looked almost exactly like…
"Icekit." Echofall and Acornflower meowed in unison, their eyes alight with warmth and love as they gazed proudly at their first litter of kits.
Echofall got up gently from beside a very sleepy Acornflower and bid her goodnight, licking her cheek and touching his nose to her ear gently before exiting the den. Almost immediately an icy blast of wind hit him and he stumbled. Looking above him, he failed to see the night sky. The thick, dark, snow-filled clouds obscured the stars from view. A haughty, rumbling purr rose up from the pit of his stomach as he realized that; the blizzard had only started when his first kit was born. Reveling in the warmth of his mossy nest, his last thoughts were solely on his offspring as he drifted into a dreamless sleep.
o0o
The blizzard that had raged around camp for two days only just died away and they were able to hear the sharp, high-pitched wails of Featherbreeze as Sweetberry tended to her in the nursery. Sharpthorn sat calm and rigid right outside the nursery entrance, although his lashing tail and blazing eyes told otherwise. Inside the nursery, Featherbreeze was painfully chewing raspberry leaves and lapping up water from a ball of moss near her head.
"Bite, Featherbreeze!" Sweetberry gasped and a slithery sac slipped out. The sound of splintering wood was heard, but the medicine cat was hard at work and in no time Sweetberry had placed the newly born kit near its mother's belly and frowned. It was getting dark, but last time she checked it was still sunhigh.
"What's wrong?" The kitting queen asked – she wasn't oblivious to her surroundings exactly – and Sweetberry was forced to murmur something along the lines of "Sunset… Strange… I'll check…" As she did, she poked her head out and back in with an even deeper crease on her forehead, just as she heard Featherbreeze let out a high-pitched wail. The sun had lowered far too much and too quickly in the sky. The winds kicked dust into the air. It hovered there, like a cloud of gloom. Like a dark sunset.
The medicine cat kept an eye on the entrance as she helped Featherbreeze deliver the last kit. Almost as soon as the kit came out, the dust settled, and the sky regained its normal brightness as the sun resumed its position.
Featherbreeze was too tired to remember anything as she settled down with her two kits. Softberry dipped her head after giving the new mother some borage. She expected no thanks, and she received none. She flicked her tail at a rather agitated Sharpthorn and murmured. "A tom and a she-cat." The medicine cat took one long look before deftly moving out of the way and weaving across camp, presumably - although not so subtly - checking for strange signs of... she came up empty-pawed.
Sharpthorn nodded, slightly dazed, and ducked through the entrance to the den. He padded over to Featherbreeze, and at the sight of his two kits curled up in the crook of her belly, visibly relaxed and purred. He nudged his mate and licked her ear before settling down next to them. "Shall we name them now?" He asked gently.
The sleek silvery queen pointed at the tom-kit. "How about Bouncekit?" She asked. Sharpthorn looked down. His gaze met a plump ginger tom with large brown paws and a brown tail. Fitting. Blinking in agreement, he let his eyes roam over the next kit. His daughter. She was a dusty red color with golden streaks in her fur and dark brown ears. She reminded him of a sunset in green-leaf. Long, and dark, and red.
"Duskkit…" he murmured. "They'll make wonderful warriors." With a last sweep over the mossy nest, Sharpthorn bid Featherbreeze goodbye and exited the nursery. Outside, he sharply inhaled the cold air and padded over to the thorn barrier. Then he slipped outside with a curt nod to the guard for a celebratory hunt.
o0o
In a gorse-studded den, Sweetberry sat shivering in her nest. The cold breeze bit at her paws and ears. She huddled and drew her paws tighter together as the days flashed before her and she closed her eyes.
A raging blizzard… A dark sunset…
Was it so wrong of her to be suspicious? Was she the only one who felt an aura of darkness surrounding the camp lately? No, she was probably hallucinating. The kits visited her for a reason, you know, other than to raid the store or help with healing and stuff, like story-telling, or something equally extravagant. Sighing, the petite dappled she-cat waited for the dreams filled with no light or comfort to come. Her nightmares seemed a little more than just nightmares. They were glimpses of some sort, she reckoned. Glimpses of what… she did not know, nor did she want to. But it wasn't her choice when the dread washed over her and rooted itself into her heart.
All she could do was await those days to come.
Cliffhangerr! I hope you guys liked it, please tell us! All you have to do is click that alluring, attractive button down there and type in your review. Cookies to those who favorite and follow, too! See you next chappie!
~Seer, out.