Chapter 1
Sungaze is starting to worry about Iggy. Their kits are due at any time, but it seems like she's fading with every day that passes. She's so tired that she can barely bring herself to eat and her belly is so swollen that it drags on the ground when she can bring herself to walk. Sungaze wonders if they'll soon be able to start a clan of their own, with all the kits his mate carries. That's his father's dream, after all, to begin their own clan.
Sungaze has the blood of two clans running through his veins. His mother, Turtlepaw, had been a medicine cat apprentice for Shadowclan and had almost finished her training when she'd met and fallen in love with Sungaze's father, Dewpelt, a newly named warrior from Riverclan. In a move that had shocked all four clans, she'd stepped down from her position as a medicine cat apprentice in favor of the warrior path. She and Dewpelt began an interclan affair before eventually being caught by Dewpelt's sister, Grassgaze, whom Sungaze had been named for. Grassgaze promised to keep the young cats secret, as long as the two left the clans and swore never to return, so the two did exactly that the same night Grassgaze had discovered them.
Now, Sungaze lives alongside his parents, his littermates, Ravendrop and Rainwing, as well as Sungaze's mate, Iggy, who had once been a kittypet before being abandoned by her twolegs. Since Turtlepaw had always had the heart of a medicine cat, even though she had never earned her full name, she had temporarily become that for tehir small clan while training her successor. Sungaze nuzzles some extra moss around his mate to block out some of the chill of the Newleaf rain, and then leaves her to consult with Turtlepaw about her condition.
"She's not doing well. The kits are killing her. She's not strong enough." Sungaze edges on panic as he watches his mates shallow breathes from across the clearing where they've made their camp.
"Oh, Sungaze, haven't I taught you better than that?" Turtlepaw bats her son playfully before giving his head a stroke like she did when he was small. "She'll be fine. You try carrying kits around in your belly and tell me how you feel. They're due to arrive so soon, and then I'm sure Iggy will recover. Have faith in Starclan. They know our path, and Iggy is one of us now, so they know hers as well."
"You always know just what to say, Turtlepaw." Ravendrop appears from between the briars that create the entrance to the camp. He carries a bundle of borage in his jaws, explaining the muffled quality of his voice.
Since Turtlepaw had been so close to becoming a medicine cat, she still possessed nearly all the knowledge of a fully trained cat but knew she could never be a proper medicine cat since she'd fallen in love and carried kits of her own. But just before their birth, she'd received a sign from Starclan that her last born kit would become the medicine cat for their clan. Ravendrop had been the youngest kit, therefore he was destined to be a medicine cat, learning herbs as easily as he had learned to walk. But Turtlepaw had still yet to earn her warrior name, not only because their clan was leader less, but because she'd never truly been an apprentice, since she'd only trained briefly before leaving with Dewpelt. Her mate had tried to train her in the ways of a warrior, but her second apprenticeship was cut short when she became pregnant with their kits. And even now that her kits had earned their warrior and medicine cat names, she still felt she wasn't worthy of her warrior name.
Sungaze hopes that before his kits become 'paws themselves, his parents would earn their true names, Turtlepaw earning her warrior name and Dewpelt stepping up as the leader of their clan to become Dewstar. But even after all this time, they hadn't received Starclan's blessing to become the sixth clan. Although they had blessed them with a medicine cat, it was clear that Starclan hoped they would return to the four clans of the forest. But Sungaze knew it would never be. Not as long as Dewpelt and Turtlepaw were among them, since they had made the promise to never return. Sungaze just hoped that one day soon, Starclan would accept them as a true clan, so his kits could grow up as warriors instead of rogues like he and his littermates.
"Wisdom comes with age, Ravendrop." Turtlepaw purrs before making her way over to the fresh kill pile, selecting a nice plump squirrel for herself and Iggy to share.
"Sungaze! Would you like to come fishing with Dewpelt and I?" Rainwing and Dewpelt stand in the center of the clearing, having just emerged from the nursery they've been preparing for Iggy. The walls of the nursery are reinforced with large oak leaves and moss to ensure the kits will be warm and dry, as well as protecting them from the brier the walls are weaved from.
"Well…" Sungaze shifts his glance to Iggy, who has only taken a few bites of squirrel although Turtlepaw is coaxing her. Meeting her mates' eyes, Iggy rolls her grey ones fiercely.
"I don't need to be babysat, Sungaze. Go on with your father and sister. I'll be just fine with Turtlepaw and Ravendrop." Iggy takes another bite of squirrel, although she looks nauseous, as if making a point.
"Alright. I'll be back in no time. Maybe a nice fish will seem a little more appetizing than a squirrel, hmmm?" Sungaze bounds across the clearing and presses his nose to Iggy's before nuzzling against her swollen flank. "Don't go being born while I'm away, alright, little ones?"
"Come on, Sungaze! It'll be sunhigh by the time you finish your goodbyes!" Rainwing teases her littermate, pacing in a circle at the camps entrance. Aside from their size difference, it's difficult to tell Rainwing and Dewpelt apart, their silver tabby coats and pale blue eyes perfectly matched. Rainwing definitely inherited the look and temperament of a Riverclan cat, loving the water as much as their father. Sungaze doesn't mind fish, but he certainly doesn't swim for fun like his kin.
The three make the short walk to the stream, which quickly turns into a raging torrent if you walk far enough. Dewpelt says if they were to follow the river far enough, they'd eventually come to Riverclan territory. When Sungaze and Rainwing were just 'paws, they snuck off early one morning when they were meant to be training to see if they could find Riverclan's border markings. It didn't take long for Dewpelt to catch up to the young apprentices, and they'd been stuck cleaning out nests for what felt like moons after that stunt. Dewpelt had explained, however, that the journey to clan territory was a rough and dangerous one that he and Turtlepaw had barely survived. Large thunderpaths and expansive twoleg places lie between their territory and the land that the clans call home. The journey had taken them enough sunrises that they'd lost track. The two of them had never tried to find Riverclan again.
"It's a wonderful day for fishing…and sunning oneself on the flat rocks. Why don't you two go catch something while your poor old father takes a rest? I'm not as young as I used to be." Dewpelt flops over on the warm rocks, stretching himself out and closing his eyes.
"I'm starting to think that white around his muzzle hasn't always been there." Rainwing teases in a fake whisper, making Dewpelt crack open one eye to glare at her.
"I'm not old enough to be deaf yet, Rainwing. Now get to fishing before I push you in."
The three cats spend the morning catching fish and paddling around in the shallow parts of the stream. More Dewpelt and Rainwing than Sungaze, but even the black and white cat finds himself enjoying the cool water as the day heats up. By sunhigh, all three cats take some time to share a trout and let their fur dry out in the sun.
"I think I'll head back to camp, see if Iggy wants one of these. Can you two handle getting the rest of these back to camp on your own?" Just then, there's a rustle from the other side of the stream as Ravendrop appears from the bushes.
"Sungaze! It would seem that your kits aren't very good listeners. Iggy has started kitting."