Three Sunrises Later...
Oakstar padded to the Nursery to visit Mapleshade and her kits and he stood outside of it. "Oh hello Oakstar, come in." Mapleshade greeted as she was trying to get Petalkit off of her head. "I'm surprised at how the kits can hobble around so much yet constantly being at my belly." The ginger tortoiseshell said as she let out a mrrow in laughter. Oakstar padded into the Nursery and stared at Mapleshade's kits. "Hello there, little one." Oakstar purred at the small she-kit. Petalkit let out a surprised mew and slid off of her mother's head and into her moss bed. "My kits, I would like you to meet our leader, Oakstar." Mapleshade said as she introduced her kits to the dark brown tom. The three kits swarmed towards Oakstar with their small tails high in the air but Oakstar guided them back to Mapleshade. "I'm not only their leader, I'm their kin as Birchface was my son..." "I'm sure Birchface is watching from StarClan." Mapleshade calmly said, secretly feeling uncomfortable. "My son was a great warrior and they will be honored if he lives on through your kits." The brown tom quietly said. Frecklewish entered the Nursery with a vole in her jaws. "Here Mapleshade, I got the first pick in the freshkill pile!" The she-cat happily spoke. 'Would it be rude to ask Oakstar to leave?' Mapleshade thought to herself as she felt uncomfortable under his scrutiny. Frecklewish turned to her father, "What do you think of the kits? I can clearly see Birchface in every one of them." Frecklewish happily meowed. Mapleshade was confused as none of them really looked like the dead warrior but the ginger tortoiseshell she-cat stayed silent and waited for Oakstar to speak. "What're their names?" "The dark brown tom is Larchkit, the pale, patched ginger and white tom is Patchkit, and the little pale brown she-kit is Petalkit." The queen answered. "Those are good names." "Oh... I thought you would name one after Birchface.." Frecklewish said as she looked disappointed. "I just want them to become their own warrior, not an echo of a dead cat." "ThunderClan is blessed to have you as a queen, Mapleshade, and I'm looking forward to seeing them grow up." Oakstar purred. "I can't wait to see RiverClan's reaction to this at the next gathering!" Frecklewish commented. "Yeah, tell them that I have three healthy, strong kits and make sure to tell Appledusk first." "Huh? Why would I want to talk to the cat that killed my brother?" The golden-furred she-cat asked. "He must know that ThunderClan will be stronger than ever thanks to my kits." Mapleshade insisted. Frecklewish dug her claws into the ground at the thought of RiverClan fearing ThunderClan. "Don't worry, there will be no harm of having them know about the new kits." Oakstar meowed as he looked at his daughter. "ThunderClan may have lost two cats, but Birchface's legacy will live on, giving us three kits to protect our Clan." The leader meowed. Mapleshade's amber eyes widened with alarm. "But you should show mercy to defeated Warriors...!" "Appledusk showed no mercy to Birchface and Flowerpaw!" Frecklewish hissed. Mapleshade was about to open her mouth in protest and say how Birchface and Flowerpaw's deaths were accidental but Mapleshade stayed silent not wanting Frecklewish to think that Mapleshade has any sympathy for the RiverClan tom. "Our top priority is to make sure Mapleshade and her kits are safe and we will raise them to be great warriors like Birchface and have them avenge his death when they're older." Oakstar meowed as he was backing out of the Nursery.
Frecklewish bent over to touch her nose to the kits' bodies and she murmured. "They're my brother's gift to ThunderClan and the most precious creatures in the forest." Mapleshade almost batted the golden speckled she-cat away from her kits as they're Mapleshade's and not the other she-cat's but she understood how her love for the kits will go a long way in having them accept their real father, Appledusk, when the time comes to tell the truth. 'By the time my kits are apprentices, the truth will not change ThunderClan's opinion on them, Oakstar would value them for who they are and not for his son's legacy and once RiverClan knows the kits' true father, they will also understand...' Mapleshade thought to herself.
