AN: Here's the next chapter, and this one Whiteleaf has her kits! And to the person who reviewed about the characters not being right, THIS IS AN ALTERNATE VERSION! If you read the first book than you would understand that - - Anyways thanks to everyone else who left reviews, and enjoy this long chapter!
Chapter 4
Stormstar was jolted awake by the sounds of wailing in the camp. Her eyes snapped open to find herself in Firestar's old den. When she jumped to her paws she saw that the moon had already disappeared.
She padded out of the den to see that a few cats were gathered around the nursery.
Whiteleaf was giving birth. Standing near the nursery's entrance was Sootpelt. The light gray tom jumped when another wail sounded. Stormstar purred in amusement when she saw the fearful look in his eyes. This was just another queen giving birth.
I know what it is like, she thought sadly.
Eventually the wailing died down after what felt like moons had passed. Stormstar washed herself while Leafpelt emerged from the nursery. A proud look gleamed within her amber eyes when she glanced at Sootpelt.
"Congratulations," she purred. "You have three healthy kits."
Sootpelt stared at Leafpelt in disbelief until he pushed her aside to visit his mate.
Stormstar followed suit. As leader she wanted to see what Whiteleaf's kits were like. Squirreltail's kits and the other kits were all huddled together in the back of the nursery.
Riverkit's eyes were fully open. Stormstar gasped when she saw that they were icy blue. Like cold water staring back at her, Riverkit watched as she approached Whiteleaf. She suppressed a shudder and looked down at Whiteleaf.
The white she-cat's eyes were glowing softly when she looked up at Sootpelt.
"One she-cat and two toms," she murmured.
They resembled their mother and father in every way. One was pale gray with white paws. Another was brown and white, like their half-aunt Sorreltail. The third was gray and white with darker gray-tipped ears. Stormstar purred when she thought about how they would make fine warriors.
"This one is going to be called Graykit, in honor of Graystripe," Whiteleaf meowed when she pointed her tail towards the gray and white kit. "His name deserves to be remembered, even if he did follow Frostwind." Her eyes glittered when she looked at Sootpelt, who nodded in approval.
"Why don't we name the pale gray kit Streamkit?" he suggested after a heartbeat of silence followed.
When Whiteleaf nodded she glanced at the brown and white tom. "His name will be Toadkit," she meowed.
Stormstar pulled back when Whiteleaf named her last kit. That sounded like a cruel name. But she had heard of kits being named Toadkit before in the past.
She shrugged and decided it was better not to think about it. With nine kits in the nursery the Clan was going to have plenty of apprentices by leafbare. She knew that despite what the rest of the Clan thought, they would remain strong.
"Larchwing, Brambleclaw and Cloudtail, we're going hunting," she announced after deciding it was time to get the day started.
All three of them had been woken up by Whiteleaf's news. She wanted to stretch out her muscles by hunting for the Clan, so she decided to bring with her the warriors she trusted the most.
Brambleclaw looked annoyed, but he nodded just the same. Cloudtail rolled his eyes while Larchwing padded towards her former mentor.
Once the patrol was organized she decided to take them to Tallpines. It felt like moons had passed since they were there. Mice were almost always abundant around Tallpines at night. Twolegs didn't come out at night because they didn't see very well.
Stormstar raised her chin slightly when she picked up the scent of vole. She flicked her tail at Larchwing and Cloudtail. Brambleclaw's dark pelt would come in handy with the sun barely rising.
The vole was sifting through the pine needles that covered the ground. Stormstar's whiskers twitched once when Brambleclaw leaped forward. The vole barely had time to react when his claws made a killing blow.
Suddenly Stormstar froze when another scent filled the air. Her ears pricked forward when she recognized the stench. It was overpowering as her nose wrinkled in disgust.
"Fox!" she gasped. "Get that prey out of here," she ordered when Brambleclaw looked at her in confusion.
The russet-furred creature was carefully stalking through the forest. Stormstar had heard stories of how they found the camp before. Foxes were vicious creatures that killed for the fun of it. But this one was different. She could sense that it was desperate for prey. Even if it was prey that could fight back.
"We can take it on easily," Larchwing sniffed.
"Three small cats against a full-grown fox," Cloudtail scoffed with a roll of his eyes. "Yeah, I can see how those odds would fair."
Stormstar rolled her own eyes and decided to observe the fox for now. She hoped that Brambleclaw would return with more warriors.
The fox was tasting the air for signs of prey. Stormstar thanked StarClan that the wind was blowing in their direction rather than their enemies' direction. Suddenly the creature turned towards the cats hiding in the bushes.
She froze when it's narrow muzzle opened in the beginnings of a snarl.
Without warning the fox lunged towards them. Stormstar let out a warning yowl and jumped out of the way. The fox nearly crashed into the bush, shoving Cloudtail with its powerful muzzle.
Cloudtail yowled in surprise as he was sent hurtling across the undergrowth. The white-furred tom jumped to his paws, but grimaced when he landed on one of his legs. Stormstar realized that something was wrong with his leg too late.
The fox saw his sign of weakness and lunged forward once again. Cloudtail's eyes widened in alarm, but he couldn't move out of the way.
Panic stirred within Stormstar's chest. She leaped through the air, unable to contain the fury that surged through her. This was all her fault!
I should've never chosen to come here! she told herself when her claws snared through the fox's thick fur. She thought about the powers that StarClan had given her. Without hesitating she tried to bring up the fire that burned within her veins.
However when she tried using fire, nothing came out. Stormstar stared in dismay when she realized that nothing was happening. The fox's snarl was evident as her claws buried into its skin. Larchwing jumped forward to help defend her.
"StarClan help us!" Larchwing wailed when she was thrown off.
As if her words had been a cue, a yowl sounded from the distance. Hope flared within Stormstar's chest when she realized that Brambleclaw had returned. Behind him were Rainstorm, Honeypaw, Ashfur and Mousefur. All three warriors had experience fighting foxes. Stormstar hoped that Honeypaw stayed in the background.
Every warrior fought off the fox. The large creature swung its muzzle in confusion, realizing that it had bitten off more than it could chew. Three warriors were easy prey, but an entire patrol would end in needless blood loss.
The creature suddenly backed off and began moving away from the patrol. Stormstar jumped off just in time as she landed beside Rainstorm.
"Next time your ears will be shredded off!" Mousefur yowled when the fox lumbered away.
"Cloudtail, is he..." Stormstar looked down at Cloudtail, whose face was crumpled in pain.
"He needs to be seen by Leafpelt," Rainstorm murmured sympathetically.
Stormstar glared at Ashfur when the warrior simply rolled his eyes. He could care less about his Clanmate. She would deal with him later. For now Cloudtail needed her help.
The sun was quickly rising by the time their patrol returned. Every cat except for Ashfur had their heads bowed in defeat and exhaustion. The fight with the fox had taken its toll on them all. Brightheart was the first to see her mate, whose breathing had worsened.
"StarClan, what happened to him?" she demanded when she gave him a careful sniff.
"Didn't Brambleclaw tell you?" When cats looked at her in confusion Stormstar sighed. "A fox decided to use us as it's prey," she explained.
"We need to make sure it doesn't come back," Brackenfur growled. He glanced at Honeypaw anxiously.
"A patrol will be sent out to make sure it got the message," Stormstar assured him.
Brackenfur seemed a bit reassured by her words and stalked away with Sorreltail at his side. Larchwing gave her former mentor an odd look before bounding after them.
Stormstar led Brightheart and Cloudtail to Leafpelt's den. The light brown tabby was waiting for them; a nest had already been built for Cloudtail.
"Put him over there," Leafpelt ordered. Cedarpaw looked up from organizing his herbs. This would be his first patient as a medicine cat. "Cedarpaw, fetch some comfrey and dock," she meowed when the apprentice glanced at her.
"Will he be okay?" Brightheart demanded.
"I'm not sure," Leafpelt admitted. "I... I think his leg might be broken."
"Broken?" Brightheart wailed when she nuzzled her mate. Cloudtail groaned at the sudden movement. Stormstar and Leafpelt had to pull Brightheart away before she caused more pain. "No, I won't leave him alone like this!"
"Brightheart... this has happened before," Stormstar meowed. "Leafpelt's a good medicine cat, but she needs her space."
Brightheart looked like she was ready to argue, than seemed to think better of it. She eyed them both suspiciously before stalking out of the den. Leafpelt sighed in frustration and looked down at Cloudtail's mangled leg.
"There's no way I can heal this," she whispered. "Even with Cedarpaw's help and Cinderpelt's mentoring this is one wound I cannot heal."
Stormstar flicked her tail across Leafpelt's shoulder. She suddenly felt sorry for the young medicine cat. Cinderpelt had done everything she could to help Leafpelt become who she was now. But not everything was mice and moonlight in the real world.
"Is this what happened to Cinderpelt?" Stormstar asked in a quiet voice.
"It's similar, but she lost her leg on the Thunderpath," Leafpelt replied. "I will have to remove it before the wound gets infected. He will have to retire to the elder's den." Her voice dropped when she looked down at Cloudtail.
"We can heal him!" Cedarpaw mewed.
Leafpelt looked down at her apprentice affectionately. Stormstar purred in amusement at Cedarpaw's hopeful tone. She hoped that he was right. She hoped that Cloudtail would recover.
AN: Poor Cloudtail. He's definitely gonna feel that one in the morning. And I'm enjoying writing about Cedarpaw, he's fun to create XD
