Thunderclan:
Leader: Dapplestar- A cream and white tabby
Deputy: Sandnose- A tabby with a brown spot on his nose
Apprentice: Snowpaw
Medicine Cats: Blossomtail- A pretty tortoiseshell
Mintpaw- A pretty striped she-cat
Warriors:
Dawnsky- A pretty cream-color she-cat
Apprentice: Moonpaw
Sparrowfeather- A wild and young gray warrior
Apprentice: Seedpaw
Pebblefur- A spotted tom
Firestreak- A orange tabby tom
Blazefur- A bright orange tom
Apprentice: Patchpaw
Whitewhisker- A white tabby tom
Apprentice: Twigpaw
Raindrop- A pretty tortoiseshell queen.
Apprentices:
Twigpaw- A pretty cream and brown striped she-cat
Seedpaw- A pretty spotted she-cat
Patchpaw- A patched tortoiseshell tom
Moonpaw- A shy white she-cat with amber eyes
Snowpaw- A strong white tom
Queens/Kits:
Cherryfur- A dark red she-cat
Mate: Whitewhisker Kits: Rosekit, Sunkit, Cloudkit
Appleleaf- A tortoiseshell she-cat
Mate: Pebblefur Kits: Cedarkit, Elmkit
Elders:
Cloudwhisker- A grizzly old silver tom
Circus Cats:
Sunlight (Sunny)- A ginger she-cat who can be stubborn
Sebastion- A large brown and white tabby tom
Tempest- A black she-cat with intense blue eyes
Taylor- A pretty tortoiseshell
Maxzene- A mottled brown tabby with green eyes
Paws- A talented siamese tom
Milkyeyes- a blind old tom with colorless eyes
Twoleggeds:
Mr. Greane (owner)
Mrs. Greane (wife/acrobate)
Christy Greane (daughter/acrobate)
Angelia Greane (daughter/horse rider)
Max Greane (son/clown)
Joe Carver (animal worker/janitor)
Prologue
Cherryfur lapped up the cool water from the moss that one of the apprentices had brought. Cherryfur guessed it was Moonpaw or Snowpaw. Those two could be so thoughtful!
And besides, Patchpaw was out trying for the hundredth time to please his demanding mentor, and Twigpaw and Seedpaw were doing assessments. They were close to being warriors. Whitewhisker would be pleased. He had worked hard to train his eager apprentice, who was doing quite well. Cherryfur herself had been given Seedpaw, but her belly was now swollen with unborn kits.
It was a chilly morning, and Cherryfur huddled lower in her nest, closing her eyes again. Just then, a squeak startled her, and she looked up just in time to see Elmkit tumble out of her warm spot next to her mom and brother, and down close to Cherryfur. The kits were almost two moons, and curious with their newfound gift of sight. Cherryfur licked Elmkit comfortingly and picked the little tortoiseshell up. She placed the kit next to her brother beside her mothers warm belly.
Appleleaf hadn't stirred. Cherryfur felt sorry for her old mentor, who was often tired after the long days of caring for kits. Cherryfur tried to help out, but had quickly discovered it was tiring work. She also discovered her old mentor was feircly protective, a trait that had almost caused unwanted tension between the two old friends.
Eventually, Mintstripe had conviced Appleleaf to let Cherryfur help more, and told Cherryfur to also give the mother some space. It was only natural to be protective, she'd said.
To Cherryfur, Appleleaf was beyond protective. Maybe it was because Appleleaf had almost lost one of them at birth. Little Elmkit wasn't breathing normally. Cherryfur had stayed up with her mentor and Mintstripe all night, watching over the little kit.
Now she was as active as a beehive in the springtime.
Elmkit hadn't woken her mother, but when she batted her brothers head, Cedarkit awoke with a squeaky cry. Cherryfur looked up to see if Appleleaf had stirred, but thankfully, she was still fast asleep.
"Hey little ones..." Cherryfurs whispered greeting got their attention and they started to crawl over. They touched noses with Cherryfur and Cedarkit licked her cheek. They knew her well enough by now, and they were beginning to speak instead of whimpering and mewling all the time.
"Cherrybur!" Cedarkit squeaked, making his sister giggle.
Cherryfur casted Appleleaf another glance. "Shhhh..." Cherryfur said, though she laughed softly too. They were wide awake now.
"Berrybur!" Elmkit meowed. Cherryfur narrowed her eyes. Giving a soft growl she nipped at Elmkit, but allowed the kit to dodge her teeth. She would never actually harm them, though they could be quite obnoxious.
Appleleaf yawned. The kits looked back at her and scampered over. "Mommy!" They mewed.
"Morning." Cherryfur told her former mentor.
"Morning Berrybur..." Appleleaf said mischieviously. Cherryfur narrowed her eyes and gave a low growl, but she couldn't keep a straight face. She laughed as Appleleaf started licking her paws. After grooming herself, she started on the kits. They giggled and move away, getting ruffled everytime they were partly done. Eventually, Appleleaf gave up.
"Morning you two." Called Pebblefur cheerfully as he entered the den. "And how are my precious kits this morning?" He meowed, adopting a kitish tone. Elmkit and Cedarkit crawled over and greeted him with licks and purrs. Pebblefur laughed.
"Shouldn't you be hunting?" Appleleaf growled at him. Pebblefur looked hurt.
"But I want to play with the kits!" He protested.
"Perhaps you might also like to feed, wash, and watch them as well?" Appleleaf asked, looking serious. Pebblefur knew he was defeated.
"Bye kits, by Cherryfur." He said, purposefully not saying anything to Appleleaf.
"Stubborn tom!" Appleleaf called after him. Cherryfur laughed. Appleleaf turned to her. "What? He is you know."
"I thought all toms were." Cherryfur meowed.
"Oh great, here comes trouble..." Appleleaf said, looking outside the den. "At least he's bringing breakfast."
"Huh?" Cherryfur poked her head outside the den. Whitewhisker was approaching, a vole and chaffinch in his mouth. Cherryfur took them and set them down so Appleleaf could have her pick. She took the vole.
"Hows my beautiful Cherrfur?" Whitewhisker asked pleasantly.
"Good, thank you." Cherryfur said. "Whitewhisker, are all toms stubborn?" She asked.
"Not me, I'll just let you have your way." Whitewhisker said sweetly.
"There like this until the kits are born, you watch, he'll be singing a different toon then!" Appleleaf warned. Cherryfur looked at Whitewhisker, waiting for his reply.
"Well, I'm not like Pebblefur, Appleleaf I'm the tom every she-cat wants!" He bragged. Cherryfur gave him a look. He quickly added, "but I found the love of my life in Cherryfur." He said quickly.
Appleleaf rolled her eyes. Cherryfur licked Whitewhiskers ear affectionately. "How's Twigpaw doing?" She asked him.
"She'll become a warrior tonight Dapplestar says, along with Seedpaw." Whitewhisker announced.
"Thats great Whitewhisker!" Cherryfur said.
Whitewhisker smiled. "As a matter of fact, I'd better take them out for one last assessment, I'll see you later Cherryfur!" Whitewhisker called.
Cherryfur settled into her nest again. She was finding it harder and harder to get comfortable with her swollen stomach. She suddenly felt a spasm run down her belly. She wondered if it was time, but then shook her head they weren't due for four more days!
Another spasm though, told her this was no joke. "Appleleaf... I think..." Cherryfur broke off as she whinced with pain.
"I'll get Blossomtail or Mintstripe, stay put." Appleleaf instructed, guessing easily what was going on. Within moments, she was back with both medicine cats in tow. They instructed Cherryfur to lie on her side and breath deeply. She did so. Another spasm raked her body and she was told to push.
Within a few minutes, two she-cats were being licked by Appleleaf and Mintstripe. One was ginger with darker stripes and the other was a ginger and white tabby. Another spasm ran down her spine and she scrunched her face in pain. She was told again to push, but Cherryfur was tired and something felt wrong. She pushed, but nothing happened.
"Hang on." Blossomtail told her, feeling her belly with her paws. "The kits stuck, I'm going to push down to try to turn it." She told Cherryfur. "It'll hurt, but try to lay still."
Blossomtail pushed down on Cherryfurs stomach, and Cherryfur gave a cry of pain, but she lay still. Within moments, another kit appeared. It was all white besides splashes of red on its ears and tail.
Cherryfur laid her head down, exhausted. She heard Blossomtails voice, faintly, as if it was coming from far away. "Mintstripe, fetch some borage root, chamomile, and juniper berries." Ordered Blossomtail. "Appleleaf, can you look after the kits. Hang on Cherryfur, don't fall asleep yet." She ordered. Cherryfur kept her eyes closed, but managed to stay awake. She was fed some herbs and fell into a deep sleep afterward.
When she awoke, Whitewhisker was licking her fur. She opened her eyes and put her head up.
"Thank Starclan!" Whitewhisker said, looking at her anxiously.
"Where are the kits?" Cherryfur demanded weakly.
"Appleleafs got them, don't worry." Blossomtail said from behind Cherryfur. "Just relax for a little while."
Whitewhisker came around so he was laying behind Cherryfur and licked her head soothingly.
"Did you name them?" She asked Whitewhisker.
"What? Without you? No way!" He declared. Cherryfur was grateful he'd waited for her. She could tell it was getting dark outside. "Did you have any ideas?" Whitewhisker asked.
"Did you see the ginger one... with the stripes?" Cherryfur asked.
"The one that looks exactly like Sunlight? Yea, I saw." Whitewhisker said.
"What about Sunkit?" Cherryfur asked.
"I agree." Whitewhisker said solemnly.
"What was the last kit?" Cherryfur asked, she could hardly remember it.
"A white tom with ginger spots on its ears and a ginger tail.
"What about Cloudkit?" Cherryfur suggested.
"Cloudkit." Whitewhisker purred. "I love it! What about the last one? The white and ginger tabby."
"Hmmm... I don't know..." Cherryfur admitted.
Dawnsky suddenly came into the den. She looked at Cherryfur with relief. "Did you see that one kit?" She asked quickly.
"Sunkit?" Cherryfur asked.
"No, the other she-cat, it looks just like my mother, Rosetail." Dawnsky said. Cherryfur hardly remembered Rosetail, but this gave her a wonderful name idea.
"What about Rosekit?" She asked Whitewhisker.
"Perfect." He agreed. The two mates lay side by side, but Dawnsky looked down at the three kits nestled besides Appleleaf's own. They were beautiful, but reminded her painfully of Sunlight and Rosetail. Rosetail was dead, but Sunlight had choosen a different path then that of a Thunderclan warrior. Dawnsky closed her eyes, blocking unshed tears. Now her daughter Cherryfur had a family of her own! Dawnsky could hardly believe it.
Little did the clan cats know that elsewhere another cat had recently given birth to a pretty brown tabby. It was curled up at its mothers stomach, sleeping peacefully. A few other cats looked on as the mother licked its small head.
"What are you going to called it?" Breathed one, a large brown tabby.
"Don't you want to have a say?" The ginger mother asked with a smile.
"Well, I... I don't know." He said.
"Whats it look like?" Called one cat. His eyes were colorless and sightless.
"Its a brown she-cat." Replied a pretty tortoiseshell she-cat.
"What about Brownkit?" Called the sightless cat. "I mean, Brownie." He quickly corrected himself.
"Brownie." Breathed the ginger mother. "Perfect."
The large brown tabby licked his daughters head affectionately. "Brownie suits her." He said.
"Of course." Snapped the blind tom. "Its your kit."
The new father growled, but it was an amused purr that came out instead.
"I can't wait until she opens her eyes." The ginger she-cat said.
"Oh yes you can, the second they open their eyes their trouble!" Called a siamese tom from next to a brown-gray she-cat.
"Oh they are not!" Argued the tortoiseshell she-cat.
"Shhh." The large brown tabby hissed. "Lets give Sunny and Brownie some peace." He said. The cats backed off, besides the blind tom, who was laying in a nest beside Sunny.
"Is she cute?" He whispred.
"She looks like Brownroot, Milkyeys." Sunny admitted.
"Better then looking like me." Milkyeyes joked.
Sunny let out a mrrrw of amusement. Then she curled her tail around the sleeping kit and laid her head down, falling asleep quickly. Milkyeyes stayed awake though, breathing in the scent of this new kit. He loved her already. She was his granddaughter, a beautiful little she-cat who reminded the mother of Milkyeyes dead son, Brownroot. Milkyeyes missed Brownroot desperately, but now he lived with his other son, the large brown tabby tom, and his mate, Sunny. Now he had more kin, Brownie. Who would've guessed Milkyeyes could ever end up so happy. He certainly hadn't!
TBC
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