Applefern padded carefully through the bracken, careful not to alert patrols. "Newtleaf?" she called out softly, no more than a whisper. No response, although she did scent a FloodClan warrior nearby.
"Applefern?" A rough, silent voice replied.
"Yes, it's me, come out." Applefern perked her ears and stared at the bracken, waiting for her friend to appear. Two small light brown tabby ears popped out. "Who's there?" She gasped, trying to contain her voice. Newtleaf was a black tom with a white muzzle, not brown tabby.
"Birchhaze." The tom replied as he stepped out. "Newtleaf is on patrol."
"I-I..." Applefern stuttered.
"Don't worry, I won't say anything." The tom meowed simply, washing himself. "Who are they?" He asked, nodding to the three little kits on the ground next to Applefern.
"Oh, those aren't mine!" She meowed quickly. "Pouncekit, Tumblekit and Graykit."
"Why do you have your clan's kits?" He questioned. "At this late." he added as he looked at the black sky, few stars shined and Applefern wondered if StarClan was watching her. "Are you giving them to Newtleaf?" He meowed after she didn't respond.
"Oh, no no!" She exclaimed. "Their mothers wanted me to take them for a walk." She lied, playing with the dirt at her paws, she felt hot with embarrassment.
"You stole them." He concluded. "Why?" Applefern's heart was beating out of her chest at this point.
"I did not!" She exclaimed. "If you say a word I swear you'll regret it!" She hissed.
"Try me." He snorted. "The gathering is in two moonrises, is it not?" Applefern hissed at the tom once again, he didn't even flinch, only stood there more defiantly as he stared at Applefern.
"I will kill you." She threatened. "I swear it by StarClan."
"Oh, no. Don't swear murder upon StarClan you unholy fox-brain!" Birchhaze taunted. Rage lit inside Applefern and she struggled to keep her fur flat along her spine. The bushed rustled again and a white muzzle poked through.
"Newtleaf!" She exclaimed. "Birchhaze found me..."
"I see." Newtleaf meowed sternly. "Leave." He meowed to Birchhaze. "Now!"
"Hah, the deputy is involved with a GoldenClan cat!" The brown tabby tom snorted. Newtleaf raked his clanmates muzzle, letting blood drip down onto the forest floor. "You're crazy!" Birchhaze hissed. Newtleaf quickly tackled Birchhaze while Applefern hurried to hide the kits eyes with her tail. One of them tried to poke her head out and watch, but Applefern blocked them. Snap! In an instant, Newtleaf had snapped the toms neck and left him laying motionless.
"Oh my StarClan!" Applefern gasped. "Y-You killed him!" Newtleaf washed the blood off of his paws and turned to Applefern.
"He was a threat to us, no cat can know." He meowed. "I love you, Applefern."
"Newtleaf..." She mewed, sounding like a lost kit. "These are our kits..." She unwrapped her tail to reveal a ginger tom, a black and white she-cat and a dappled she-cat. "I told him they were Pouncekit, Tumblekit and Graykit." Newtleaf's eyes lit up as he saw the small bundles of fur. "Darkkit, Gingerkit and Dapplekit."
"They're beautiful." He gasped. "Oh, I love them!" He nuzzled the tiny kits. "-And then I got here." Newtleaf finished his story of what happened, but Applefern couldn't hear any of it. Applefern glanced behind her, paranoid of a cat finding them. "It's okay." He reassured her, resting his tail on her shoulder. Applefern sighed.
"What do we do with the kits?" She asked, not wanting an answer.
"Bring them to FloodClan." Newtleaf sounded as if he made up his mind moons ago.
"What?"
"You heard me, they'll be raised in FloodClan." He repeated.
"Yeah!" Dapplekit squeaked. "FloodClan!"
"You don't understand." Applefern scolded the kit. Darkkit stirred uncomfortably while Gingerkit was playing with a pine cone, hitting it to each paw.
"Please." Newtleaf pleaded. "Let me bring them into my clan, I'll say a rogue gave them to me."
"No." Applefern mewed. "They are GoldenClan kits." Newtleaf was starting to get angry and fear washed over Applefern, would he attack her?
"Applefern don't make me do this..." He hissed.
"Do what?" Applefern gasped, knowing already what he meant. "You wouldn't."
"I would." He spat, advancing.
"You said you loved me!" She growled. "You lied to me, you murderer!"
"I follow Kestrelstar in the dark forest!" Newtleaf growled, pouncing. Applefern barely dodged him but she left her kits defenseless. He was going to hurt the kits! Anger roared inside of Applefern as she unsheathed her claws and readied her haunches to jump. She hissed and tackled her mate away from the small kits but was quickly thrown off by Newtleaf's mighty hind paws. "It was all an act!" He hissed and he got to his paws. "And you fell for it!"
"I loved you..." Applefern muttered, blood dripping from her underbelly where his claws had struck. "You played me." The kits were curled up in one ball, terrified. Newtleaf eyed them ferociously.
"Should I kill you, or the kits?" He sneered. "Oh, I'll be the best FloodClan leader ever!" The black tom pounced at the kits once more but Applefern shielded them once more. Instead, he rammed into her side, knocking the breath out of her. She gasped and got to her paws, still attempting to catch her breath. "Poor little she-cat forgot how to fight?" He snickered. "If only you let them into FloodClan, they could live and so could you."
"Never!" Applefern hissed, grasping his throat in her jaws and biting down hard. Warm, sweet blood poured into her mouth. Newtleaf managed to release himself weakly as blood drained out of his throat and onto the forest floor. It was still dark and the moon shone fiercely. He steadied himself and almost looked invisible in the night if it weren't for his white muzzle. He slowly lost balance as more and more blood flooded out from both sides of his neck, where she had bit down. "You are an insane cat." She spat. Newtleaf was choking and gasping for air, but he lost too much blood. Applefern watched as her former mates body fell onto the ground with a thud, sending dust into the air. The kits were still curled up and mewling. "It's okay now my dears, you can come out." She mewed softly as she wrapped her tail around her kits. What a sight to be seen. A she-cat laid on the forest floor at midnight, curling up to three kits while two toms lay motionless. Newtleaf twitched several times before he lay limp.
*So there's Chapter One I hope you like it! If you want a character to appear within the series, leave a comment/review and I'll try to implement them as a kit soon and have them grow up with some plot surrounding them :D*