About half a moon a passed over the stone hollow. Some of the leaves on trees were beginning to turn into shades of orange, red, and yellow. The sunlight burning though the thin, glossy leaves, with a few of them beginning to sway gently down against the cool breeze. Leaf-fall was coming, and prey was getting scarce.
Dovewing was carrying a ball of moss in her jaws, her belly swollen with kits. She could feel the lively kicking of her unborn kits in her belly. She would feel a sharp sting of pain ripple through her lower back. These quick panics would stop her from her activities and send her to Daisy in the nursery. Daisy would say that they were only spasms and were normal for she-cats expecting kits. She said it was "normal to feel the pain".
A few sunrises ago, Dovewing was astonished to hear the unexpected news that Lilyheart was pregnant with Snowbush's kits. She felt that, soon, the entire woods would be raining kits in ThunderClan. Dovewing felt that it was up to her and Lilyheart to keep their Clan alive and running.
In the elders' den, Dovewing went over to Graystripe's empty nest. She applied the fresh moss to his nest and tucked it in place. It felt warm. She guessed that Graystripe had went to go to the dirtplace. Graystripe's been going to make dirt frequently for the past few sunrises. He hadn't been vomiting, though, only using the dirtplace frequently.
As Dovewing finished making Graystripe's nest, the old gray warrior trudged in, his tail drooping.
"I think StarClan's cursed me with the belly poison," he groaned, his eyes clouded with agony. Dovewing stepped back so the elder could reach to his nest.
"Have you eaten any rotten prey at the time?" asked Dovewing as she tucked in a bit more spots in the mossy nest.
Graystripe mused for a bit. "I do remember this one vole I ate," he contemplated. "It had a funny aftertaste to it. That vole came down my stomach faster than a leopard with six legs."
Dovewing was taking note on how that incident had happened. "And ever since then, you've been making dirt more often?"
Graystripe nodded, lying his head on his forepaws.
Dovewing thought back to the medicine den. She told Graystripe that she'd be back and left the elders' den. She stepped in the medicine den and walked in silently.
Jayfeather had seemed to have heard her walking in, since he turned around instantly. "You need something?" he asked.
"Yeah," Dovewing meowed. "Graystripe's been going to the dirtplace often and says that he has a bellyache. Do you think you have any herbs that cure bellyache?"
Jayfeather turned towards his herb store. "I know I have herbs to cure bellyache." He turned back around with two mallow leaves in his mouth. "Take these to him," he meowed through leaves. "Tell him to eat them."
Dovewing took the herbs from Jayfeather. She bounded through the clearing and over to the elders' den. "Hey, Graystripe," she muffled. "Jayfeather told me to let you eat these." She placed them down in front of Graystripe's forepaws. "He says it helps cure bellyache."
Graystripe wearily sniffed the herbs. "If it stops LeopardClan from forcing me to run to the dirtplace…" He licked up the herbs and began chewing on them, finally gulping them down. His eyes lit up as if he was already feeling the reaction. "Thanks, Dovewing," he meowed.
Dovewing brushed her tail against the elder's shoulder. "I'm always here to help."
"I think you should stop attending the apprentice duties." Graystripe meowed suddenly.
Dovewing looked at him. "What?"
"I think it's time you've stop reliving the life of an apprentice and move to the nursery den." Graystripe suggested. "Your belly is clearly full of kits; you shouldn't be moving around so much. And besides," Graystripe gave Dovewing a glistening gaze, "Lionblaze's kits are enough that'll keep us elders company. You need to fulfill your destiny into being a queen and the proud mother of my son's kits."
Dovewing felt uneasy.
"Ah, I see it now," mused Graystripe, gazing off distantly, as if he could actually see them. "One of them would be the spitting image of that fur-ball of mines!" He let out a mrrow of amusement. Dovewing couldn't join in with his pleasure. "I'm glad that I'll have grandchildren." But what if they're not yours, but Tawnypelt's?
Dovewing had left Graystripe alone. She sauntered over to the nursery den. Daisy and Cinderheart were helping with making a nest for Dovewing. Dovewing stood under the threshold, pain rippling through her belly. She grimaced.
Daisy dropped her ball of moss and rushed over to Dovewing's side. "Dovewing!" she gasped. "Are you alright? Are your kits coming early?"
Dovewing breathed in tiny puffs, feeling her kits becoming lively like a Clan of proud badgers. "No, I don't think so," she breathed.
Cinderheart did not move from her spot. She was positioning her nest's sides. "Kits take their own time to arrive to the Clan," she meowed gently. "If the timing's right, they may come earlier than expected."
Fear gripped in Dovewing's chest. She doesn't mean that I may have them soon, does she?
Daisy stood on Dovewing's side and rested her tail along her spine. "Here, you seem stressed," she assured. "We've made a nest just for you. It's not warm, though."
Paws thumped in a hurry at the entrance as Sorrelpaw emerged, her eyes glistening. "I'll help make your nest warm, Dovewing!" she exclaimed.
Through the thick layers of pain, Dovewing felt a purr rise from her throat. "Thank you, Sorrelpaw," she meowed. She remembered half a moon ago, the apprentice had dabbed mouse bile on Graystripe's tail to kill his ticks. She was doing the procedure so hastily that she accidentally caught the foul mouse bile taste in her mouth. There was no herb to remove the taste from her mouth, so she had to cope with it for several days. With the taste out, she seemed livelier than ever. Sorrelpaw's really helping out with the Clan, she thought.
The apprentice scuttled over and laid down in Dovewing's new nest, her fur ruffling up to make the warming process quicker. Though, it'll still take some time.
Cinderheart stepped back, a few moss in her jaws. "I wasn't finished with one side, but okay." She walked over to Dovewing and Daisy. "You should stay in the warriors' den until your nest is finished warming," suggested Cinderheart.
"Yeah, you're right," meowed Dovewing.
Dovewing ambled over to the warriors' den, where her nest sat cold, due to her excessive tasks on doing apprentice duties. She was rather sleepy. She decided to fall asleep. By the time Dovewing woke up again, the sun was setting, casting orange light and slanted shadows across the stone hollow. Dovewing stretched each leg in turn and stepped out of the warriors' den. Her new nest in the nursery should be warm by now.
As Dovewing entered the nursery den, she found that Sorrelpaw was still in her nest. The little apprentice was sleeping, curled up with her tail covering her nose. As much as Dovewing didn't want to disturb the apprentice, she had no choice but to wake her up. The queen prodded Sorrelpaw gently on the shoulder with a forepaw.
Sorrelpaw groggily blinked her eyes. "Oh… here's your nest back," she meowed drowsily. Sorrelpaw had seemed to have forgotten that she was meant to warm Dovewing's new nest. As the apprentice walked out sleepily, Dovewing saw that she headed straight for the apprentices' den. Dovewing felt warmth glisten in her own eyes. I hope my kits become apprentices as nice as her, she thought.
Once Dovewing stepped in her new nest, the warmth washed through her body like the scents of newleaf. If she closed her eyes briefly, she felt that sleepiness would drag her in quickly.
An image of Tigerheart bathed through her mind. The dark tabby ShadowClan warrior was standing in a circle of bouncing kits, their squeaks filling the air. He was in an empty clearing in the pine forest. His amber eyes were glowing and full of love. He looked directly at Dovewing, his amber gaze burning lovingly into hers.
"I love you." Dovewing could hear Tigerheart's words ringing in her ears, like the singing or birds in a dewy newleaf morning.
Suddenly, the kits, one by one, began vanishing into thin air, until it was only Tigerheart that stood in the clearing. Tigerheart's eyes were swollen with grief and agony. He wailed for the kits to come back, but they never returned to no avail. It was until heartbeats later that Tigerheart, too, was beginning to fade away.
Dovewing felt so close, yet so far, far away. She loped for her beloved ShadowClan warrior, yowling his name, yet got no response. Tigerheart was too busy frantically glancing around his paws, which were now gone. He was nothing but a floating legless cat, until all that was left were his amber eyes, full of fear.
"Tigerheart!" wailed Dovewing. She reach him in time and bounded for a leap, only swiping into thin air. She collapsed to the grassy ground where her possible family once stood. Dovewing's cheek pressed hard against the ground, her ears flattened against her head. She shut her eyes tight, gaping her mouth in a soundless, agonizing wail.
Mrrows of amusement sounded distant from somewhere behind her; it had a weird echo to it, as if it was under the tunnels. Dovewing, her body shaken with grief and loss, staggered to her paws and looked in the direction of the laughter.
Bumblestripe stood in another clearing, similar to the one she stood in, only he was in a woodland close to ThunderClan's woods. Bumblestripe was being encircled by kits, who bounced merrily on their paws and mewed. These were the same kits that were circling Tigerheart. Bumblestripe's eyes were glowing so bright, they seemed like deep pools of glowing moonlight. His tail waved happily in the air.
Dovewing was reluctant to go, but the atmosphere around the ThunderClan tom seemed to tug her heart closer. Dovewing felt that she had lost control of her paws. She was brought closer and closer to her former mate, Bumblestripe and the kits unnoticing her. When she was at the edge of the clearing, she could just make out the pelt color of each kit and what they were chanting:
"Choose our father, Dovewing!" they chanted in their little voices. "Choose our father, Dovewing!"
Dovewing stared wide-eyed at the kits as they continued dancing and bouncing around Bumblestripe. More mewling was heard from somewhere beside her. Dovewing swung her head around to find Tigerheart and the same copies of kits bouncing around him. Both toms, oblivious of one another and too distracted by their kits, had their eyes filled with love and protection. They seemed to be the happiest cats alive.
As both litters of kits continued chanting, Dovewing was driven wild. She flattened her ears, thinking she would block it out. But, even when their voices were muffled, they still sounded clear as a cloudless sky. Dovewing's chest tightened and her belly roiled. She threw her head back and wailed out in agony.
"I don't know who is the father, little ones!" she wailed.
Soon, Tigerheart and Bumblestripe both began fading away, it the manner that Tigerheart went through. The kits were still there, though the two litters stopped bouncing and stared sadly at where their fathers once were. They soon began opening their tiny mouths in pitiful wails. I'm so sorry! I don't know which litter is the real one! Each litter looked exactly like the other.
Dovewing gasped as pain pierced through her belly. She gulped for air, the air suddenly driven out of her. Her legs buckled beneath her and she was driven into a spasm. Her belly churned in waves of agony, love, and loss. Dovewing was gasping and yowling in pain.
"Help!" she cried. "Please, StarClan, help me!"
But to no avail there was no response. Dovewing shut her eyes tight and bared her teeth, beseeching that a stick was between her teeth. The pain was so overwhelming; the world around her felt scorching and blistering. What is this I'm feeling?
Like a thin stick breaking into two, the pain had gone. Everything went black. Dovewing flew her eyes open, gasping for air. She was thankful to be back in the nursery. It was moonhigh; the Clan were asleep in their dens. The constant chirping of crickets sounded peacefully in the night. Dovewing looked up in the sky to see Silverpelt light by the half-moon. Either Jayfeather or Leafpool should be gone to the Moonpool by now. Dovewing heaved a long, deep sigh. Was that dream a sign from StarClan? Or just my panicking taking over me? Dovewing was lost for words. The dream was still vivid in her mind. Her eyes were round like moons and she could even close her eyes to drift to sleep again, without thinking about Bumblestripe and Tigerheart being encircled by their kits. Dovewing was impatient; she wanted to know the truth, and the truth now.