The dark cream tom gave out a shudder, letting out what would be one of his final breaths. He glanced around him. One of his daughters, Goldentail, pushed a scrap of moss towards him, urging him to drink. He pushed it away. Oh, my beautiful daughter, he thought. I've raised you into a warrior that your mother and I can be proud of. At the thought of his beloved mate, he felt grief.

"Father, you must drink!" she urged him. But still he refused.

"Goldentail, no. I will be with StarClan soon, and Echoflower..." his voice drifted off at the mention of his mate, dead from the terrible greencough that swept through ThunderClan's camp the previous leaf-bare. But now, he would be with her in StarClan. That was something good that came out of joining StarClan, right?

His son, a gray-and-white tom by the name of Blizzardfoot, gave out a wail. "No, please! Don't die!"

At that moment, Shadowleaf- one of ThunderClan's two medicine cats, and Beechfang's final kit- stepped through the bramble screen and touched her nose to his. As father and daughter gazed into one another's eyes, his blue into her green, he noticed that, even though there was great regret in her eyes, there was also both the wisdom and the knowing that she would soon no longer have living parents. "As much as I hate to say it, he might not live much longer."

Goldentail let out a small sob. "No, please!"

"Goldentail, calm down. I must leave soon. And you will still be with your siblings."

"But... I just can't leave you! You know how painful it was when Echoflower died- for all of us, not just me! I can't lose you too!"

Shadowleaf stepped forward. "Goldentail, we have to say goodbye now. I know how hard this is, but Beechfang has to leave."

The golden she-cat whirled around to face her sister. "Do you even care about your own father! He's just here, on his deathbed, and you say 'it's time for him to die'? How can you live like that!" she hissed.

Blizzardfoot walked up and pressed his muzzle into Goldentail's fur. "Of course she cares about Beechfang, and so do I. But, as much as I hate to say it, he's quite old, and he might not be here much longer."

"So you don't care either?"

But Beechfang wasn't listening anymore. He was nearly gone, dead. Goldentail was distraught. And, suddenly, all of the memories came flooding back to him.

He was a kit again. Small, but adventurous. His mother often complained about how he always got under others' paws, and wished he (and his sister Honeykit) were more like his other brother, Snailkit. But he often looked up to the warrior Vineheart. She was mentoring an apprentice called Juniperpaw at the time, and Beechkit admired her for her patience whilst teaching him. However, the fact that she was mentoring at the time upset him, as he wanted her to be his mentor. He told Honeykit and Snailkit about this, and they responded with sympathetic looks and 'there are others who will be good'.

It was the day before his apprentice ceremony, and he remembered it clearly. It was the first bad thing of its degree to happen to him.

He was sleeping, cuddled up close to his mother. His sister was on one side, his brother was sleeping away from them. It was a warm night, in greenleaf, and they were crouched at the back of the den, in the shade. He was in the middle of having a dream, one about his apprentice ceremony, when he felt paws shaking him awake. He looked up to see two small, mottled gray-brown paws- Snailkit's- shaking him awake. He blinked drowsily as he opened his eyes.

"What is it?" he asked, groggily.

"Come on, I can smell a weird scent," she replied in a hushed tone. "We should go."

"But what about mother and Honeykit?"

"It's probably fine, don't worry. I just think that we should let some cat know."

Beechkit paused for a moment. "Okay," he finally agreed. The two of them scampered out into the night air, and instantly the strange reek hit Beechkit's nostrils. Quickly, the dark cream tom scanned around camp, looking for who to tell. Finally, his eyes rested on Vineheart, who was taking up the night's watch with Flamefeather, her brother. He signaled to Snailkit with his tail, and they ran to Vineheart.

"Vineheart, there's a weird scent, do you know what it is?" he asked the mottled gray she-cat.

She sniffed the air, and her eyes quickly widened in horror. "Fire. Twolegs probably set it off. Go kits, run. Flamefeather, take them to ShadowClan territory and explain to them what's happening. I'll wake up the camp." She pressed her muzzle into his flank. "Go, now!"

She ran to the warriors den and yowled, "Fire! We have to evacuate!" Then, as warriors were streaming out of camp, Beechkit saw it. A flaming tree trunk collapsed- blocking the entrance to the nursery.

"Come on, kits. We have to go to ShadowClan." Flamefeather nudged Snailkit, who ran out of camp. But Beechkit remained still. "Come on, Beechkit, I need to make sure you're safe!"

"But... mother, and Honeykit..."

"They'll be fine. Now-" The ginger tom paused when he saw the flaming log blocking the nursery. "Oh. Oh, Beechkit, I'm sorry. But we're going to try and get them out. And you can help, by coming with me and staying safe."

The dark cream tomkit gave a dejected sigh. "Okay, Flamefeather. I'll come."

And with that, he padded to the camp entrance where Snailkit was waiting, and together, the three of them bounded out of camp.

. . .

As ThunderClan assembled in ShadowClan territory, Beechkit watched eagerly for his mother and sister. When Vineheart finally came in, the ShadowClan medicine cat whisked her away before Beechkit could have a chance to talk to her. When Beechkit asked why, he said something about 'breathing too much smoke' and ignored him.

At that moment, Cypressstar padded up to him, sorrow in his eyes. "I'm sorry," he murmured. "We tried so hard, but Lightfang and Honeykit didn't make it. Only Echokit survived. Juniperpaw died trying to save them, too."

The tomkit took a second to understand what this meant, and when he did, he was consumed by grief. "No..." he choked. "This can't be- no..."

"I'm so sorry."

His apprenticeship went by fairly well, and he especially enjoyed the moments he spent with Echopaw. Vineheart was his mentor, and he knew that Cypressstar couldn't have chosen anyone better. Flamefeather was Snailpaw's mentor, and the two frequently trained together. When they received their warrior names, Beechfang was elated. And, when Echopaw became Echoflower, he cheered the loudest. But there was one day that was more special than any other, probably in Beechfang's whole life.

It was the day his kits were born.

The dark cream tom had come back from the dawn patrol, still exhausted from dragging himself along the WindClan border. As he padded back in, his first instincts were to curl back up and go to sleep. However, something pushed that away. He instead decided to drag a large, plump squirrel to the den where his mate lay, days away from giving birth.

"Hey, Echoflower." He spoke softly as he entered the den. "I brought you some prey."

The silver tabby blinked up at him. "Hello, Beechfang. Thank you for the squirrel. You remembered it's my favorite."

Beechfang smiled. "Yes, I did. Do you mind if I share it with you?"

"No, not at all."

The dark cream tom settled down next to his mate, taking a few bites out of the squirrel but leaving most for Echoflower. After the prey had been picked to the bones, he rose to his paws and started to leave. But just as he reached the entrance of the den, he heard his mate choke out a few words.

"Beechfang... find Frostsplash... tell her... kits are coming..."

Beechfang rushed out of the den and raced towards the medicine cat den, where Frostsplash was treating Larkpaw's sore paw. "Echoflower says that the kits are coming," he breathed.

The white she-cat clamped a few herbs in her jaw. "Okay, I'm coming. Do you mind staying outside the den, though? You'll be able to see the kits when it's over."

And with that, she rushed towards the den to help with the kitting.

. . .

Beechfang spent the rest of that morning anxiously pacing the ground outside the nursery. Vineheart came up to him. "It's going to be fine. Echoflower is strong and resilient. Soon, you'll be visiting your new kits."

"Thanks, Vineheart."

Frostsplash poked her head out of the den. "You can come in now, Beechfang. You have two daughters and a son waiting for you."

Beechfang took no further notice of anything else. He rushed into the den, filled with excitement. When he reached the den, he saw three kits waiting. The first, a black she-kit; the second, a gray-and-white tomkit; and the final one- his heart seemed to stop beating when he saw the last one.

She was a golden tabby. Just like Honeykit, all those years ago.

"They're beautiful," he breathed. The dark cream tom pointed with his tail at the last one. "She looks just like Honeykit did."

The silver tabby nodded. "Yes. I've decided maybe Blizzardkit for the gray-and-white tom, and Shadowkit for the black she-kit, but I wanted you to name the last one."

Beechfang gazed at his newborn daughter. "Those are perfect names. How about..." he paused thoughtfully. "Goldenkit, maybe?"

"Goldenkit it shall be, then."

Beechfang blinked. Here were his three kits, all grown up, right in front of him. "I must go now. Goodbye, Shadowleaf. Goodbye, Blizzardstorm. And, goodbye, Goldentail."

And with that, he gave his last breath, and let his body rest forever.