"Ha ha, Dawnpaw's getting fat!"
Dawnpaw rolled her eyes. Male apprentices in ShadowClan always had a nasty little habit of joking fairly harshly towards female apprentices.
She strolled over to the fresh-kill pile, picked herself out a bird, and plopped down next to Tanglepaw, who was chomping away on a mouse.
"Can you believe those toms?" Dawnpaw huffed. "Calling me fat! Ridiculous." She ripped the sparrow's neck out with her teeth.
Tanglepaw gave Dawnpaw a once-over. "Well, um, they aren't exactly wrong."
Dawnpaw gasped. "Tanglepaw!"
"I'm serious, Dawnpaw. I mean, it is the middle of leafgreen, but you're looking as fat as some of the queens in the nursery."
The nursery...? Both of the apprentices' eyes widened at the same time.
"Dawnpaw, are you pregnant?"
Dawnpaw scrambled to her feet. She was no longer hungry. "Pregnant? Ha, of course not! How could I be pregnant?"
Tanglepaw gave her friend a knowing look. "It isn't like you stopped seeing Brokenshadow that long ago."
"Oh, Tanglepaw," Dawnpaw had cried. "What in StarClan's name am I supposed to do? I can't be pregnant! I'm only an apprentice!"
"Calm down. We don't know for sure that you're pregnant. Let's just keep this quiet and see where it goes from here, okay?"
Dawnpaw shook her head rapidly. "I can't. I can't. I'm so scared. Brokenshadow is going to kill me."
"Brokenshadow doesn't have to know," Tanglepaw snapped. "Take my advice, Dawnpaw. See if anything else unusual happens before you go running to Brokenshadow or Spiritbloom. Don't get yourself in trouble for nothing."
"Right. You're a good friend, Tanglepaw," Dawnpaw said as she hurried off into the forest. She had to clear her mind.
How sad. She knew that Frozenleaf wanted to mother Brokenshadow's kits, and now her mate's old flame was possibly pregnant with his kits. The thought of it was nearly sickening.
Brokenshadow would know they were his. It would be so disheartening for him to have to pretend that his own kits meant nothing to -
"Watch where you're going, little one! Oh, it's you."
Dawnpaw looked up to see herself face-to-face with Frozenleaf. "Frozenleaf! Hello! How are you today?" Dawnpaw rambled.
Frozenleaf took a step back. "Um, I'm fine. I think I need to get going. Brokenshadow, he, um, needs me."
"Right, right! Well, go ahead and find him!"
Frozenleaf nodded slowly. "Right. Um, okay." The beautiful white she-cat began to walk off. "Oh, and by the way, leafgreen seems to be treating you kindly."
Dawnpaw winced. At least Frozenleaf hadn't noticed.
"Wait a moment..."
She spoke too soon.
Frozenleaf marched over to Dawnpaw and stood a mouse-length away from the apprentice. Her amber eyes were ablaze. "Are you pregnant, Dawnpaw?" Her voice was a hushed whisper.
"I - "
"You had better tell me right now if you are, Dawnpaw, or I'm going straight to Fallenstar!"
"I don't know!" Dawnpaw cried. "I don't know. I could be. I'm afraid. Please don't tell Fallenstar, and please don't tell Brokenshadow."
Frozenleaf stood completely still for a moment. Then, her whiskers twitched. "I think I have an idea that will work out for both of us, Dawnpaw. That is...you don't want anyone else in the Clan to know, do you?"
Dawnpaw stared at the ground. "Of course not," she muttered.
"Very well," Frozenleaf said. "There is only one condition - I need Brokenshadow's help. While you may be able to pass off as a plump apprentice, thanks to the season, it's absurd to think that cats won't realize you are pregnant. We're going to do our best to remedy that."
A fire burned in Dawnpaw's belly. She could have kept the kits and have been shunned from ShadowClan - probably ending up a rogue - or she could have stayed in ShadowClan...without her kits. "This is so wrong, Frozenleaf. I know you deserve these kits, not me. I'm so sorry."
"As you should be," Frozenleaf replied.
Dawnpaw blinked once, twice. "I...I guess I have no choice in the matter, do I?"
"No," Brokenshadow crooned as he came upon the two she-cats, "you don't."
Dawnpaw's eyes darted back and forth. Tanglepaw had told her that Whispersecrets was the one who had been present during her interrogation. Now it seemed as though Fallenstar thought Dawnpaw would be more trouble - Quietwind was stoic at his post.
Dawnpaw's leader stared straight into the calico apprentice's eyes. She continued to glance around the cave, doing everything she could to avoid his piercing gaze.
She wasn't the best at hiding her emotions.
"Dawnpaw?" Fallenstar said. "Do you understand why I'm questioning all of you?"
"Of course I do," Dawnpaw answered meekly. "I understand why you suspect us."
"That isn't what I asked."
Dawnpaw swallowed. "Uh, right."
The cream-colored leader planted himself right in front of Dawnpaw's line of vision. "Trying to avoid my eyes is not going to help your case."
Dawnpaw gave a quick nod. She raised her head up slowly and met his small blue eyes. It seemed as though he refused to blink.
"As you know, one of ShadowClan's strongest warriors was murdered after a battle. We have reason to believe you may have killed our powerful deputy in his moment of weakness. Why do you think that is?" Fallenstar's voice was low, so low that Dawnpaw doubted Quietwind could hear the question.
"I...I don't know."
Quietwind growled, but Fallenstar waved his tail dismissively.
"May you answer me this, Dawnpaw?" Fallenstar asked. "How is it that I keep saying how fearsome and awe-inspiring Brokenshadow was, yet he was harmed so much in battle that he couldn't even defend himself one last time?"
Dawnpaw quickly shook her head. "I don't know! I wasn't there!"
"Don't get so worked up, Dawnpaw. Remember, I want you to answer these questions to the best of your ability."
Dawnpaw tore her eyes away from Fallenstar's. She stared down at her paws. "M-maybe the cat that killed him was the same one who injured him in battle."
Quietwind's ears pricked forward.
"Yes..." Fallenstar agreed. "Maybe so." To Dawnpaw's surprise, he lay down beside her. "You know, I have been thinking. Before, I said your possible motive was that you were obsessed with being in love with Brokenshadow. But I'm starting to think I was wrong. What say you?"
"I did love him. That's all it was. But who murders a loved one?"
"That's quite a good question. And everyone in the Clan loved Brokenshadow, didn't they?"
"Not everyone," Dawnpaw scuffed.
Quietwind looked like he wanted to snap off, but Fallenstar glared at the large gray tom.
"Tell me a bit about your relationship with the departed."
"Before I do, I want to know something. If everyone in the Clan knew about us, why did neither of us get in trouble?"
Fallenstar rested his tail across Dawnpaw's shoulders. "That is for me and my senior warriors to know. Now, I don't want to play mind games with you, Dawnpaw. I never really got to know you, but I believe I do know something about you. I want you to be honest with me right now." Fallenstar's voice fell to a whisper. "Were you ever pregnant?"
A/N: Poor Dawnpaw! The past few days have been rough for me, and the following days probably will be, too. Updating the next chapter may take a couple of days, but after that, I'll continue updating as normal. I do already have the next chapter and the ending written. And I also want to give a big thanks to everyone who reviews every or almost every chapter! Your feedback is important to me. -vulpixzii325