DISCLAIMER: I do not own, nor make any profit, from warrior cats.
So, because this story is slightly AU, I'm going to have to change a few things with the cats. This will mostly just be ages nothing major. I'm not planning on the whole Crow/Leaf thing happening, as much as I do ship them. There are many possible ships I'm thinking off for Hollyleaf in The future, but I'll wait and see. Anyway, on with the story. Please, review and follow.
A young ginger she-cat with a white paw lay panting on the forest floor. Moon-high was near, but she made no move to return to her Clan, and the safety of the warriors den. Instead she focused on her current predicament. Kitting.
Apart from the nocturnal prey that scurried around, hiding in the cover of the foliage, the only observer to this natural phenomenon was a pale grey tom with darker flecks in his pelt. His head was bent, preoccupied with the task of licking the pelt of one of the two newborn kits situated between his front paws. His kits.
So far, the she-cat had kitted two toms. One was a golden-brown tabby. Even though he was just born, the adult tom could already see he was a sturdy kit, especially compared to his sleeker brother. The other tom was smaller and thinner than his brother. He was a mottled gray tabby, close but not quite like his own colour.
"Ashfur," a slightly weak voice interrupted his thoughts. "That's the last one. A she-kit."
The pair of dark blue eyes lifted, to find a pair of forest-green looking back. Ashfurs diverted his attention to the small she-kit by her mothers' stomach. A daughter. He had a daughter. She was a startling black, almost like the night itself. That confused him slightly. One tom looked like him, the golden-brown resembled the mother, but the she-kit looked like neither of them. The closest she came was the slightly bushy tail; no where near as squirrel like as her mothers, but it was the only resemblance he could see. Maybe her eyes would be the same shade when they opened, but he would never know it seemed.
Ashfur wanted to remember every detail of the three kits. This was the last time he ever expected to see them. Unless he accidently stumbled across a carcass of one. That's what he expected to happen to them.
"Squirrelflight…do we really have to do this? Couldn't you take the kits and raise them with Brambleclaw as their father? At least then they would know their true mother." Squirrelflight shook her head.
"No, Ashfur, I can't and I won't. Brambleclaw would know the kits weren't his. He's my mate; it would break his heart to know I had kits that aren't his. All because of one stupid mistake we made when we thought we loved one another."
"You," Ashfur hissed, seething with sudden anger. "You thought you loved me. I did love you. Sometimes, even though my heart appears to have been torn from my chest, I feel I still do love you Squirrelflight. Yet, now you are mates with Brambleclaw. I will not try to separate the two of you for my own gain. He was one of my closest friends once." Squirrelflight sighed as the subject came up again. She curled her bushy tail around her black she-kit, licking the top of her head.
"Can't we take them back," Ashfur said, trying to reason again. "Say we found them in the forest. What about the warrior code, No warrior is to ignore a kit in need?"
"I will not lie to my Clan, or my kits Ashfur. We leave them by the closest border, as planned. It is in our StarClan ancestors paws now, to decide whether they live or die. If ThunderClan finds them, so be it. Another queen will take hem in and raise them. They will live their lives peacefully, and become true warriors. If another Clan finds them and takes them in, then we will see glimpses of them at gatherings, and hear about them."
"And if they die, because of this mouse-brained plan you want to act on?" Ashfur interrogated.
"Don't make me sound so fox-hearted. If they die, it was StarClans will. Even if we took them back to the Clan, they could just as easily die of greencough, as they could die out here." With an agitated hiss, Ashfur struck out at the air in-between him and his former love. However he made sure his claws went no where near he tired queen. Or, at least, temporary queen.
"Tell me Squirrelflight, what's stopping me taking our kits back to the Clan myself?"
"If you love me so, you won't. You'll take the two males and hide them, while I hide the female. We'll leave them near to the WindClan border. Let's go." Without looking back at the grey tom once, she lifted he she-kit and carried her off. Ashfur couldn't help but smirk. She was so confident that he would just leave his kits without any hope. He wanted his kits to grow up in the Clan, around him. Even if it was just the two of them. Instead of heading in the general direction of WindClan territory, he headed back towards ThunderClan camp, stopping on the way to cover the two kits in mud.
Meanwhile, Squirrelflight was busy hiding the little she-kit. Even though Ashfur didn't believe her, she did love these kits. Every mother had to love their kits in some way, she believed. That's why she was doing this. For them. It would be much better for them to grow up without all the chaos this would cause. Without the looks and whispers, for their parents not being mates, yet them being born when one did have a mate. It wasn't fair on them. Any life was better than that life. The gingers green eyes searched for a good place to hide her kit. Then it caught her eye. A holly bush. It was withering slightly, but it would do. Gently, she placed her black kit beneath it, just in the WindClan territory hoping she would be found. Grief filled her, as se licked her daughters head one last time. "I love you. I hope you live a full life."
Then, she ran off, leaving the hungry kit mewling for her mother.
XXXXXXXXXXX – LINE - XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
When Squirrelflight entered the camp, I was a mass of confusion. Cats were surrounding something; almost the entire clan seemed to be there. She looked around, trying to see above others. Unable to, she searched around, before spotting the familiar pale ginger stripped pelt of her mother, Sandstorm. "Sandstorm!" she called, quickly padding over to her. "What's going on?"
"Ashfur found some kits in the forest. Their absolutely filthy and it seems their newborn. There was no mother, or scent of a mother nearby. We believe their abandoned. Firestar is deciding what o so with them." She didn't notice her daughters' eyes, both enraged and terrified.
XXXXXXXXXXXX – LINE - XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
A smoky gray tom slunk through WindClan territory, near the border. He was feeling tense tonight, and needed to take a walk. Crowfeather wouldn't admit it, but he was worried. His mate, Nightcloud, was heavily pregnant and due to give birth to her kits soon. It made him feel tense.
A noise from the bushes made him freeze. It sounded like an injured bird. Could be an easy meal. He couldn't help but smile slightly. Though he was WindClan, and they did live mostly of rabbits, he did love a good bird from time to time. He crouched low and got ready to jump. He pounced, landing behind the bush with a yowl. A small cry answered him, and his blue eyes widened with surprise. A small black kit lay before him. It took him a few minutes to recover from the shock, and off course, his first reaction was to pod the kit. It reacted with a small weak wail. It was clearly a newborn. As he pondered what to do with it (as obvious as the answer ay be), he was interrupted by pounding paws and a yell.
"Crowfeather!" Weaselfur called. "Come quickly. Nightcloud's started her kitting!"
"What? Now?" A moment of panic settled, before he began to think things out. "Head back to camp, I'll follow behind. Bring news that I'm coming. I'm just going to be a bit longer, I've hurt my paw." Weaselfur nodded and without another word, turn and sped off. Crowfeather lowered his head and lifted the small newborn kit from the ground before running back to camp.
XXXXXXXXXXXXXX—LINE - XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
Crowfeather padded to where his mate was, after hiding the small kit in some bushes. He would bring her to Onestar later. At the moment he was worried about his mate.
"Nightcloud?" He asked, sliding into the den. His mate was panting on the ground. Barkface was no where in sight, probably off to get more herbs. A small bundle lay curled up by her belly.
"There's only one kit Crowfeather. I'm just tired." Crowfeather looked in amazement at the tiny bundle. He would have liked more than one kit, maybe.
"It's a little tom Crowfeather. What should we call him?" Crowfeather couldn't stop staring, a small plan forming in his head.
"Nightcloud, I want you to hear me out. There's something I have to ask you…"
XXXXXXXXXXX—LINE - XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
In the ThunderClan nursery, everything was surprisingly quiet and peaceful, despite the commotion gong on outside. Daisy slept with her tail draped over her nose, curled up in a tight ball near the back. Ferncloud was dozing, half stretched out. Her two it were curled together at her belly, having drifted of to sleep a while ago. Ferncloud herself had been asleep as well, but woke up when she heard voices outside the nursery. They had died down a short while ago, which she was pleased with. She didn't want to end up sleeping till Sun-High because she was tired.
Ferncloud lifted her head as she heard two sets of paw steps enter the den. She lifted her head to spot her mate, Dustpelt, and her son, Birchfall, standing above her. With something wriggling dangling from each of their jaws…kits? Dustpelt lowered his load to the ground between his paws.
"Ashfur found them in the forest. There was no sign of any mother near by, even though they are clearly new born. They've been abandoned it appears. They need milk, and they need a mother. I said…a least, if you agreed...that we'd take them. After all, Foxkit and Icekit are still on milk. Even if you just fed them-"
Ferncloud cut him off. "Bring them here. The poor things are probably freezing. I always wanted a big litter." She used one paw to drag the kit on the ground, a grey tabby, gently towards her. She began o lick the kits fur, as Birchfall placed the other kit down, before leaving his parents alone.
"We'll raise them as Icekit's and Foxkit's siblings," Ferncloud said. "However, we'll make sure they know that they aren't ours from blood. They will sill be ours through the love we will give them though. I have no idea how a she-cat could abandon her own kits."
Dustpelt nodded. "What should we name them?" He asked. "I 'm thinking Jaykit, for the gray one. I know it's normally he queens who will name their kits, but it fits. A bird feather was stuck to him as well, when he was brought into camp."
Ferncloud nodded. "Lion kit then, for the bigger one. He's certainly built like one." Dustpelt nodded, purring and butting his head against his mates.
XXXXXXXX – LINE - XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
Barkface re-entered the den with borage leaves for Nightcloud. Crowfeather had appeared, he noted, and was licking a kit between his paws. Nightcloud was doing the same with….
Barkface started. "Nightcloud? I only felt one kit? Where's his one come from?"
"It seems that it must have been a hiding kit Barkface. I have a little she-cat as well." Nightcloud stated, licking the black she-kit that lay in her paws.
"Very well. She looks just like you Nightcloud. Apart from the fluff off course. Here's borage. Eat it, don't spit it out. I'm going to report this to Onestar. By the way…what have you called them?"
This time, Crowfeather spoke. "The tom is Breezekit, and the she-kit is…Hollykit."
