A/N: I wrote this story on a different website, Warriors Fanfiction Wiki, under the username Cloverfang. This is still that story, but heavily edited and with some plot issues addressed. This is also my first Warriors story on this site. Enjoy! ~PierceTheBre
If Spottedleaf Had Lived
Firepaw turned from the ShadowClan warrior, hissing. Spottedleaf's yowl of agony had caught his attention.
"Firepaw!" she screeched, tearing at Clawface's ear. The large tom was looming over her, prepared to deal a killing bite.
Firepaw's face grew hot with rage. Letting out a battle cry, he leaped onto Clawface's back, swiping his claws down his spine. Clawface yowled, trying to roll over and stun Firepaw. As he jumped off of Clawface's back, Clawface bit Firepaw's paw, tearing the skin. Spottedleaf growled and lashed a paw out at his face. Clawface screeched again, and ran out of camp like a terrified kit.
"Firepaw, thank you," said Spottedleaf. She seemed surprisingly calm for one who had nearly been killed only seconds before. She touched her nose to Firepaw's wound.
"You're welcome, Spottedleaf. My paw is fine. I need to continue to help ThunderClan!"
Spottedleaf laughed. "Look around you, Firepaw. The battle is finally over."
Firepaw obeyed the tortoiseshell medicine cat. He glanced around ThunderClan's ravaged camp. There were no ShadowClan cats in sight. "Did they retreat when Clawface did?"
"Yes, they did. Come on, you need that paw taken care of."
As Firepaw padded into the medicine cat den, the strong smell of herbs overcame him. Spottedleaf pulled out some Coltsfoot from the wall, and chewed it up, squeezing the poultice onto the scarred pad. She then took some cobwebs, and pushed them gently towards Firepaw. "Can you put it on yourself? I need to check the others."
"Sure. Can you check on Yellowfang first, please?" asked Firepaw, hoping the blunt, mother-figure she-cat had not been harmed.
"I'll be on it," Spottedleaf said.
Spottedleaf felt like crying out to StarClan because of what she had done. She'd broken the warrior code! She... she wasn't sure...she and Fireheart, who had just recently gotten his warrior name, had gone out to the Sunningrocks late at night. They had looked at the moon, and no one had figured out. But...certainly she wasn't...?
Mousefur suddenly barged in, interrupting Spottedleaf's thoughts. "Hey, Spottedleaf, I think I have a belly ache." The old brown cat then dropped down to the den floor, mewling in pain. Spottedleaf felt her ear flick. Something about this seemed rehearsed...
"It'll be okay, Mousefur. I'll give you some juniper berries, and no more patrols for the rest of today...understood?"
Mousefur continued to mewl in agony. "Good. Now, after I get these for you, I have to go see someone," said Spottedleaf, reaching for the precious blue berries.
Mousefur stopped mewling. She looked at Spottedleaf questioningly, as though she was interested in what Spottedleaf would say next. She suddenly seemed to be fine. "Got your eyes on a young tom, eh? I won't tell anyone. Now, as for me, I'd prefer not to have a mate..." explained the wiry brown she-cat. Spottedleaf let Mousefur trail off for a moment.
"Do you still want these juniper berries?" Spottedleaf asked.
"What? Oh, sure." Spottedleaf gave Mousefur the berries, and the cat padded out of the den. Spottedleaf sighed. She needed to talk to Fireheart later...
Spottedleaf padded out of camp, trotting over to the Sunningrocks. Fireheart was standing there, staring at her with loving eyes. Spottedleaf ran over to Fireheart, and touched noses with him. "Oh, Fireheart, I have wonderful news." She let the excitement build up, and Fireheart's eyes gleamed with interest. "I am going to have our kits."
Instead of yowling with excitement like Spottedleaf thought, he just slowly turned away, avoiding her eyes. "Spottedleaf..." he muttered, "I didn't think this would happen."
"Me either. But what's done is done. We can't change the past," mewed Spottedleaf, gently letting her tail tip rest on his shoulder.
"I know," he sighed. "I...I didn't realize what the consequences would be. If Tigerclaw found out, he'd-"
"But he won't," Spottedleaf cut him off. "No one will ever know."
"How will you feed them?"
"I won't. I can always say I found them by the Thunderpath, that maybe a Twoleg dumped them."
Fireheart sighed again. This was not a safe situation for ThunderClan. He then turned to Spottedleaf, and licked her cheek. "If you say so," he said.
Spottedleaf screeched in pain as a spasm shook her body. Her kits were coming! She had to get somewhere no one would find her...to Four Trees! Another spasm sent pain through her, down her legs and all throughout. She grabbed the strengthening herbs, and ran out of the den, only to run directly into Graystripe. In her hurry, the herbs went flying everywhere.
"Spottedleaf, what's the rush?" he asked as he helped her pick them up. Spottedleaf ignored him, quickly trying to grab the herbs with her teeth, only to drop them again. When Graystripe once again tried to help, Spottedleaf hissed, and swatted her paw at his face. Graystripe just barely dodged the blow.
Graystripe's eyes widened. "Calm down. Can I help?" asked the hefty gray tomcat. Spottedleaf contemplated this. He was Fireheart's best friend...he could be trusted.
As they padded out of camp together, Spottedleaf poured out everything she had been hiding. Graystripe had looked only faintly surprised.
"I can't go much farther. I'm stopping at Four Trees," muttered Spottedleaf. The two jumped over the log, Spottedleaf barely making it, and she lay down in a slew of moss Fireheart had prepared for her. They had created a plan for this moment.
Pain immediately took control of Spottedleaf. She weakly tried to chew up the herbs she had brought.
"Don't be scared, Spottedleaf," Graystripe cooed. "You're so strong for a medicine cat."
After it seemed many moons had passed, Spottedleaf could finally feel a kit coming out! She quickly told Graystripe what to do, and at once, Fireheart and Spottedleaf's kit was welcomed into the world.
"Lick it-aargh!" screeched the medicine cat over the pain. Graystripe obeyed, licking the young kit. Graystripe stood up and gave the kit a once-over. Its pelt was dark ginger, similar to its father's.
"Is it over?" Graystripe asked. The tom was anxious. He had never seen a she-cat give birth, until now.
Spottedleaf shook her head vigorously.
"Then hang in there, Spottedleaf!"
Spottedleaf groaned as another chain of spasms came. If I could barely handle the first one, she thought, how could I handle the second one? The pain shook the beautiful tortoiseshell as Graystripe watched her helplessly. There was nothing he could do to spare her the pain.
Then, all at once, the sense of feebleness left the air. There was another kit, a tortoishell. Spottedleaf slowly pulled herself up, but felt pride fill her heart when she saw them. She lay back down and had Graystripe put them down where they could feed.
"They're both she-kits. Fireheart will be proud of them," he declared. He looked at the kits lovingly, as though they were his own.
"He will. I wonder what paths they'll have?"
"They need names before they can have paths."
Spottedleaf thought for a moment. She looked at the dark ginger she-kit. Squirrelkit. She shifted her gaze to the other one. It looked a bit like her. At that moment, the perfect name came to mind. "Squirrelkit and Leafkit," said Spottedleaf matter-of-factly.
"Don't you think that would be too obvious?" inquired Graystripe. "I wouldn't think so. Why would they be?"
Graystripe didn't respond.
Spottedleaf glanced at her kits. She immediately felt more love than even she knew was possible. She hoped that Fireheart would love them too...
Spottedleaf carried Leafkit back to camp, while Graystripe carried Squirrelkit. Leafkit's short fur kept tickling Spottedleaf's nose. As they made their way into ThunderClan's camp, Sandpaw bound up to the medicine cat and warrior.
"Kits? Whose kits are those? Not mine, nope!"
Spottedleaf set Leafkit down as she laughed at Sandpaw's energy. "We know they're not yours," she chuckled. "We picked them up near the Thunderpath. Graystripe and I think a Twoleg or rogue dumped them."
Sandpaw bowed her head in grief, not knowing that what she thought was a sad story was actually a lie.
Graystripe set Squirrelkit down, and jumped into the conversation. "But it's okay, Sandpaw, because ThunderClan are going to take care of them. Oh, and we decided to give them names. The tortoiseshell's name is Leafkit, while the ginger's name is Squirrelkit."
Sandpaw twisted around, all excited again. She leaped down next to one of the tiny, mewling kittens. She stuck her tail up beside Squirrelkit's little one. "Hey! We look alike! Hi, Squirrelkit! Wanna be friends?"
As Sandpaw continued to coo over the little kit, Spottedleaf made her way over to Bluestar's den. Of course she had to ask her Clan leader to welcome what everyone would think were kits of rogue cats, or kittypets! At least it's better than them knowing about Fireheart and I, she thought quickly, to try and subdue her own guilt.
"Bluestar!" she called, "Bluestar, can I ask you something?"
A soothing middle-aged voice called back, "Of course you may, my dear Spottedleaf."
Spottedleaf walked through the tangle of lichen, nodding at Bluestar as she sat down beside her. "Graystripe and I found some abandoned kits beside the Thunderpath. They will die if we do not take care of them. Can't one of our queens take them in?" Spottedleaf asked. She was suddenly tired of lying, especially to her good friend, Bluestar.
"How many did you find?" Bluestar asked calmly. When Spottedleaf answered two, something secretive in Bluestar's eyes flashed, something no one alive knew but herself. "Of course we may." Bluestar's voice shook when she answered, and Spottedleaf sensed there was something Bluestar was choosing to keep to herself. She dismissed the thought and left the leader's den.
Which queen should I give them to? Speckletail? No, she'd be too hard on them, thought Spottedleaf sullenly, then something snapped in her head. Brindleface! I'm sure she's upset with the death of her kits, but it doesn't seem we have many other options. Spottedleaf found Graystripe, who was watching Spottedleaf's daughters crawl around in search of milk. "Graystripe! We need to ask Brindleface to feed these kits."
Graystripe looked unsure, but Spottedleaf convinced him that it would be okay. They then proceeded to pick up the two kits and carry them into the nursery. They found that Brindleface was sleeping on the nursery floor. Spottedleaf and Graystripe set down the still-mewling kits, who were now beginning to crawl over each other.
"Brindleface, Spottedleaf and I found these kits abandoned by a thunderpath. We're almost certain that they're rogues's kits. Could you feed them?" asked Graystripe. He prodded Brindleface's face with his paw to make sure she was asleep.
Frostfur saw this, and padded over to Brindleface. She whispered only slightly loudly in her ear, so she wouldn't embarass the young queen. "Stop ignoring them, Brindleface. Those cute kits will die without you. You're the only queen who isn't either too old or has too many mouths to feed already," whispered the young white she-cat.
Brindleface nodded, her eyes still closed, and muttered, "Give 'em here." She scooted them roughly towards her belly, and the pitiful kits greedily drank the warm milk. As soon as Brindleface understood, she brightened up, and started gently stroking Squirrelkit's fur with her tongue.
It was at that moment Fireheart padded in. He mewed a greeting to Spottedleaf, his one love. He watched the kits suckling on Brindleface. He, Spottedleaf, and Graystripe exchanged glances, knowing the future of ThunderClan may lie in the paws of these cats - the paws of two kits, whose kin may hold the power of the stars in their paws.
Squirrelstar stared lovingly at her kit, Blazekit. The fire in his pelt, the green eyes of his grandfather...Blazekit was beautiful. Squirrelstar's deputy, and mate, Ashfur, watched as Blazekit played with his cousin, Whitekit. Squirrelstar licked Ashfur's ear. "Go get some rest, my love, for the Gathering is tomorrow. You know I won't be able to travel with you."
"No. I want to stay with my kit...and my mate." Ashfur shifted his gaze from Blazekit to Squirrelstar and back again. Ashfur stroked Blazekit's back with his tail. No matter what the Clans said, he or Squirrelstar would mentor this adorable lump of fur.
Blazekit turned, the flame dancing in his eyes. "Papa, I'm playing! I'm playing with Whitekit," he growled.
"I know." Ashfur stood up, nuzzling Squirrelstar's cheek. He padded out of the den. Blazekit was the only grandkit of Firestar, for Leafpool was much too obsessed with her medicine cat duties to ever even attempt breaking the warrior code. Blazekit looked a lot like Firestar, who had recently passed. In fact, too much like Firestar. Was his kit the reincarnation of the fiery leader? Certainly not...but then again...
A/N: Thank you for reading! Constructive criticism is welcome! ~PierceTheBre