Chapter 2
Fallenwing ran to the nursery, grasping borage and a stick in her mouth. Gingerfur was lying on her side, Dunegrass stroking her head. Fallenwing sat beside her, and dropped the borage and the stick next to her.
The gray tabby she-cat flexed her claws, then said, "Let's do this."
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"Dunegrass, why don't you go hunt, or go on a patrol? I'll come and get you when the kits are here," Fallenwing told the brown tabby tom.
Dunegrass nodded, and left the nursery. He saw Hollyfeather and Thunderfang, and walked over to them.
"First litter, huh?" Thunderfang asked.
Dunegrass nodded.
"Thunderfang," Hollyfeather said. "I'm going to go to the nursery. I want to see what happens." She padded off, her belly, heavy with kits, swaying.
"It's going to be your first litter, too, you know," Dunegrass pointed out to the black tom.
Thunderfang nodded. "That's right! Me and Hollyfeather were lovesick when we first met as kits."
Dunegrass laughed.
Thunderfang flicked his tail over Dunegrass's ear. "True story!"
Dunegrass followed Thunderfang to a hole filled with water, and Thunderfang dove in. Dunegrass jumped in after him, and swam underwater through the hole. Once out, the two toms were in the ocean, and they swam towards the surface.
Dunegrass gasped for air when he reached the top. "Must we be so far down!" he complained.
"It's best for protection," Thunderfang replied.
"Dunegrass!" She saw a tannish-white she-cat surface. He recgonized Dewdrop, a queen who has three kits, Rainkit, Sweetkit, and Riverkit. "Your kits are here. Come see! They're lovely!" Then she dove under the water again.
Dunegrass sighed and dove in after her.
The brown tabby tom gasped in amazement and relief when he saw Gingerfur and their kits alive and well. One kit was a tan-brown tabby she-cat. The other was a really bright ginger tom. He couldn't wait to see their eyes!
"They are lovely," he said to Dewdrop. Then he turned to Gingerfur. "Are you alright?"
"I'm fine, just tired," the bright ginger cat replied.
"All she needs is rest," Fallenwing meowed. "Let her be."
Dunegrass nodded, and everyone cleared out of the nursery. Dunegrass sighed and walked next door to a large cave mouth and trotted inside. He found his nest and lied down in its soft moss. The brown tabby tom yawned and fell asleep.
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"Dunegrass," someone whispered. He lifted his head and noticed a light brown she-cat with dazzling pale purple eyes. Dunegrass realized that he was in his ancestor's hunting grounds, The Star Beach. The tom looked at the she-cat, and recognized her.
"Mother!" he cried. Dunegrass ran to her, and purred into her fur. He breathed in her scent. It was so familiar...
"My son," she purred. Her voice was so sweet...
He looked at her, his yellow eyes glowing. "I've missed you so much."
"I have too," Lilaceyes, which was her name, purred.
Then he heard sand being kicked up behind him. Dunegrass slowly turned around, and suddenly he was covered in kits.
"Dunegrass!" they all squealed with happiness.
"Hello little ones?"
"Dunegrass," his mother mewed. "I always forget to tell you, but, these are your siblings!"
Siblings? he echoed. But there's, like, ten of them!
"I know there's a lot," she said, as if she read his thoughts. "But I've had several mates. You were a part of my third litter. You were the only survivor out of three kits." She shook her head. "They would all be alive if I didn't have them at leaf-bare!"
He purred. "It's ok. It wasn't your fault."
Lilaceyes smiled. "Thank you, Dunegrass. You're a fine warrior."
"Dunegrass!" one of the kits called. He looked at the kit. She had another kit leaning against her. "I'm Sunnykit, as you can tell from my pelt." She spun around, her golden pelt shining in the sunlight. "And this is my brother, Bentkit." Sunnykit gestured to her brother leaning against her. He hobbled towards Dunegrass, and he noticed one of his back legs was bent. Bentkit had ragged gray tabby fur. Bentkit looked up at Dunegrass, his amber eyes went from dull to bright.
Dunegrass smiled, and gently nuzzled him with his muzzle.
"We're your littermates!" Sunnykit mewed.
Dunegrass gasped, and looked at Lilaceyes. "Really?"
She nodded.
"And I'm Lionkit!" another called. Dunegrass looked over his shoulder and saw a golden tom with fluffy fur surrounding his neck.
"I was hoping his warrior name would be Lionfish," Lilaceyes purred.
"I'm Poolkit! And this is Rainkit! We're Lionkit's littermates." a blue-gray she-kit mewed, then she pointed to a gray tabby tom.
"And I'm Wolfpaw," a deep mew said. Dunegrass looked at him, and saw a large, fluffy gray tom.
"He was the only one that survived his litter, too. But a lone wolf strangely came onto the beach and took his life. He was brutally killed, and then the wolf ate him!" Lilaceyes cried.
Wolfpaw ran over to her, and shushed her.
"What about us?" a cat called.
Three cats came out of the shallows of the ocean. Two were pure black she-cats, while the last one was a gray tom with faint black stripes.
"I'm Ravenwing," one of the black she-cats mewed. "And this is Midnightshine(1)." The only difference between Ravenwing and Midnightshine was that Ravenwing had green eyes, and Midnightshine had silver eyes.
"And I'm their brother, Jaywing." Jaywing looked at Dunegrass, and he somehow, automatically knew Jaywing was blind.
"Jaywing got killed by a shark and Ravenwing and Midnightshine died drowning," Lilaceyes said. "It's like the Star Beach cats tried to punish me for something when I was alive! I don't even know what I did!"
"Why not you ask?" Poolkit spoke up.
Lilaceyes looked at her. "Your right, Poolkit. I should." She glanced at Dunegrass. "You should go though, Dunegrass. I'll ask them afterward. It was good to see you again."
"And you, mother," he mewed, trying to hold back tears.
Lilaceyes smiled, and leaned against him. Everyone else did too.
"We love you, Dunegrass!" Sunnykit mewed.
Bentkit nodded.
"Aw, I love you, too," he purred. He stood up, and smiled to everyone. "I'll miss you all."
"Us, too!" they all called.
Everyone faded, and Dunegrass woke up.
A/N: (1) I got those names from a fanfic I'm reading called. Dove Flight Sequel to Down a Dark Path. It's really good! But it's a sequel.
Nice, huh? I thought I'd make it interesting and put more characters. I thought about before I wrote this chapter, so I did it. I made up the names, too. I'm thinking, now, about making reincarnations of them. Hmmm...
Review please!
-Lunashine14
