Hey there! It's Isabelle and I know that this chapter has taken a really long time but here it is!
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Yawning, Doveflight slowly curled up around her bloated belly, feeling tired. It had been an eventful day, and she was naturally not prepared for the events. Her brother, Ferretstrike had suffered badly from a border skirmish with a small group of rogues who had been foolish enough to believe that they could gain control of their Clan. To her immediate relief, Lilyfern, the Clan medicine cat, had informed the Clan that Ferretstrike would live.
The pale mottled gray she-cat had began to fall asleep when a sudden wave of pain jolted her awake. Groaning silently, she shifted into a half sitting half crouching position. Her stomach started convulsing, and like all the past kittings, she quickly found the twig that she had hidden beside her nest, just like Lilyfern had instructed her to.
The kitting went smoothly, just like all the kittings before. Before she knew it, three kits were curled up beside her slightly flatter belly. However, only two were mewling and squealing like kits were suppose to while the other, a tiny fragile pale gray tabby she-kit, was lying ominously still.
Doveflight, like all queens, had suffered one or two miscarriages before, but it had never softened the blow before. Silently sobbing, she nudged the little she-kit over and over again until her heart wrenched painfully.
She quickly regained her composure, convincing herself that her other two kittens still need her. Glancing at her two offspring, a tiny black and white tom was lying still, and if his chest wasn't rising and falling abruptly, he would be considered dead. His remaining littermate, a rose-ginger she-cat that was still mewling softly.
Cherrywhisker, her best friend since birth, awoke when Doveflight had just finished giving birth, and swept silently out of the den, presumably to find the Prophesier.
A lithe ginger tabby she-cat stalked into the den, radiating a sense of unspoken power, closely followed by Cherrywhisker. The pretty tabby surveyed the two mewling kits and the stillborn with sharp amber eyes.
"Pity," Poppymoon commented coolly, the lack of emotion in her voice was evident, "She would've made an excellent warrior." Doveflight gritted her teeth in anger as Poppymoon carelessly stepped over the stillborn kit to further examine the two living kits.
Out of all of the Prophesiers, Poppymoon was living proof that cats could be unfeeling, lacking any emotion at all. Knowing better to not question the Prophesier, she bent her head and started grooming the two kits.
Poppymoon swept the kits towards her and dismissed Doveflight's not so subtle growl with a flick of her ear. "The she-kit will make a good medicine cat, once she gets over her crybaby stage." Turning to the small tom-kit, she glared disdainfully at him, "He has no destiny." before padding away with her nose upturned.
Doveflight's jaw dropped in astonishment as she beckoned for Cherrywhisker to watch over her kits and dash out of the den. "What do you mean he has no destiny?" she demanded, stomping her paw on the ground in anger.
"Exactly what I said," Poppymoon replied nonchalantly, unfazed, "It isn't the first time, you know. But he is destined to be nothing, simply worthless scum that should be thrown out of the Clan as soon as you can. Preferably when he's six moons."
"How dare you," Doveflight hissed, baring her teeth in anger, forgetting who she was talking to. "I will not throw out my son, he will remain in the Clan. How dare you for even suggesting that!" Once those words had left her mouth, she knew that this was dangerous territory she was entering, and that nothing she could say would be able to take back what she just said.
Doveflight waiting nervously for the Prophesier to reply, dreading the reaction that could possibly terminate the position in her Clan as well as her kits. But to her immediate surprise, Poppymoon simply shrugged, "Fine, but he will be neither warrior or medicine cat, simply serving the cats of this Clan." Yawning, she meowed, "Well then, I must be off. It is quite late already and I should be in my warm cozy nest."
Doveflight exhaled silently, but taking care to not show her relief in her expression. Without even uttering a word of thanks, she stalked back to the nursery, her tail lashing in frustration. Poppymoon merely observed for a moment before turning away and padding back to her den, an unspoken thought lingering in her mind, from a place she had never known before and couldn't quite pinpoint. 'That kit could very well be the end of us all.'