"Lilywhisker!"
Lilywhisker opened her eyes to see her friend Petalfrost prodding her side.
"Quick, get up! Liontail wants you to go on a hunting patrol with me and Ravenflight."
Lilywhisker sighed and got up. She blinked as rays of sun hit her eyes and made her silvery-grey fur shine.
"Lilywhisker! You know we can't afford for you to lie around, look at the size of the fresh-kill pile!" Liontail snapped. He flicked his tail at a small group of fresh-kill, too mediocre to be called a pile. "We toms need our food. Go and hunt!"
"Why don't you go and hunt your own prey for once," Lilywhisker grumbled to herself, but she didn't blame Liontail. Leaf-bare was making every cat irritable, and Lilywhisker would go on several hunting patrols in a day. There simply weren't enough she-cats to provide prey for all of ShadowClan, especially as the toms were letting them starve. "We can't afford to go hungry, we protect you, you just hunt so you can go without," she mimicked quietly as the hunting parol set off.
"What was that?" Petalfrost asked.
"Nothing," Lilywhisker replied quickly.
Petalfrost smiled sadly. "I know we're all hungry, and grumpy," she mewed with a small laugh. "But we can make it through this leaf-bare, just like all the she-cats before us."
"Could they at least let us eat?" Lilywhisker hissed. "I get it, we're she-cats, but they don't have to devour every bit of prey we catch!"
"Shhhh!" Ravenflight looked scared, glancing around. But there were no toms that could have heard them, so they continued deeper into the woods.
"Come on, Lilywhisker," Petalfrost meowed gently. "We had better find some prey."
When the trio returned back to camp, Lilywhisker was surprised to see the clan gathered around Pebblestar. She hurriedly dropped her vole on the fresh-kill pile and sat at the back of the group.
"-was a great warrior. We will miss him greatly," meowed Pebblestar. Lilywhisker felt a surge of annoyance that the clan hadn't waited for the she-cats to come back from hunting, but then again, toms never waited for she-cats.
"What's happened?" whispered Lilywhisker to Mapleclaw.
"Liontail was killed by a fox on a border patrol! Oakstorm was ahead checking scents when Liontail and Duskshade were attacked by a fox! "
Lilywhisker gasped. Liontail had been a good deputy, although he did have a short temper. Still, he had been better than many others.
"What happened to the fox?"
"Duskshade and Liontail fought it bravely, but it wasn't a match for two of them. After the fox had killed Liontail, Duskshade managed to chase it off. Oakstorm arrived back too late," mewed Mapleclaw softly.
Lilywhisker heard a small wail of grief beside her. Featherfrost had her eyes closed, tears welling at the sides. Oh no, Featherfrost! The kits! Liontail had been her mate, and Featherfrost was expecting his kits.
"It will be alright," meowed Lilywhisker, pressing gently against the grief-stricken queen.
"He was supposed to be here...for the kits!" exclaimed Featherfrost.
"He'll be there in spirit, Featherfrost. Liontail will be watching from StarClan, and I know he'll be proud of you. You need to be strong, for him and your kits."
Featherfrost whimpered softly. "Thank you, Lilywhisker," she mewed.
"Now is the time for me to chose a new deputy," announced Pebblestar, and the muttering cats grew silent. The toms sat up straighter.
"And the new deputy of ShadowClan shall be..."
Tension filled the air. They all knew of the rule forbidding she-cats to become deputy, but some cats hoped Pebblestar would finally relent and chose Lilywhisker as deputy. She was strong, brave and smart in the eyes of many she-cats, and a far more promising deputy than most of the toms.
"Foxclaw."
