Okay, so hi! My name is I-really-hope-not and this is my first fanfic. Please give me constructive criticism and no flames please, I'm a beginning author and I want to improve my skills. Also, please read and review. Also, if you have a problem with how a character is acting, please PM me! I would love to know how I can improve my skills. Thanks!
"Bramblestar! Bramblestar!" Squirrelflight burst into the camp, shouting the tabby's name.
"What?" Bramblestar asked, leaping to his paws, abandoning his sparrow. "Has something gone wrong with the patrol?"
"No!" Squirrelflight's paws kneaded the ground. "Just come on!"
Together the two cats raced through the still damp forests of Thunderclan. Soon they came to the edge of the lake, there the rest of the patrol waited. Bumblestripe looked up from where he paced around three wet scraps of fur.
"I-I'm sorry!" He exclaimed. "I-I couldn't- "
Bramblestar skidded to a halt, pebbles flying up from his paws. He pushed aside Bumblestripe who miserably hovered over his shoulder. Upon closer glance, the scraps of fur were kits, tiny, wet and dead.
"Are they dead?" He breathed.
"No." Bumblestripe's wavering voice was firm. "No. But, there was another a-a-and I c-couldn't save h-him."
Bramblestar spared a glance at the warrior and realized that the pale grey tom was now dark grey with water and shivering to death.
"Rosepetal, take Bumblestripe back to camp to see Jayfeather. We don't need another bout of greencough going around camp." The dark cream she-cat nodded and nosed the shaking warrior away.
Bramblestar turned back to the kits and pulled them farther to shore.
"Get them to camp!" He ordered. "Jayfeather needs to look at them and they must have a mother or father somewhere!"
"What if they're another clan's, not loners?"Squirrelflight asked.
Bramblestar gave her a quick look.
"We mention it at the Gathering that's coming in a few days. They're kits, we have no feud against them."
Squirrelflight nodded and gingerly picked up a bundle in her teeth.
"Cinderheart is about to kit." She mumbled around the sodden lump. "She can take care of them."
Bramblestar nodded and picked up the remaining two, then the two cats turned into the trees and were gone.
~oOo~
"Of course, I'll take them!" Cinderheart purred, much to the deputy of Thunderclan's relief. "They need a mother."
"Thank you Cinderheart." Squirrelflight said, "but you might not get three kits."
The gray queen sat up.
"It's the cold, isn't it?" It was a statement, not a question.
Squirrelflight nodded sadly. By now the whole camp was buzzing about Bumblestripe's daring rescue and how the three kits were faring. "The brown tom, he's the smallest and the weakest. Jayfeather and Leafpool are doing all they can but- "
"It's not enough." Cinderheart finished. Squirrelflight added again. The gray queen gave the ginger deputy a level look. In her gaze Squirrelflight saw the wisdom of not one, but two lives. "Somethings just aren't." She sighed. "What matters is that you tried your best and the rest is up to StarClan."
StarClan was cruel. Squirrelflight reflected, as Jayfeather came out of the den, shaking his head. They took lives with so much potential. But they also let others live long ones. Maybe that's why the elders always carry the dead. To remind them that someday, they will die, and it is their duty to escort the dead while they still live. Quickly shaking her head like her thoughts were water she could shake out of her ears, Squirrelflight set about making sure that StarClan would not add another to their ranks before the day's end.
Okay. First chapter done, please review, I am in dire need of constructive criticism. No flames please!
