Chapter 11

The clan rushed forward to embrace me, my family being the first ones. Fernpaw was purring too hard to speak. Rockshade wrapped his tail around me pulled me close to him. My mother licked at my pelt enthusiastically, cleaning the rosemary and lavender from my fur. Fishcreek and Rosedrop pushed forward to see me. I pulled away from my parents and greeted my friends and mentor. They each gave me a lick around the ears.

I was handed from clanmate to clanmate. It felt surreal, everyone said something like, "I'm so glad your back!" or "I missed you!' or "I thought we'd lost you" but I noticed something. Everyone always look me in the eyes, and if they looked down they quickly reverted their eyes to my face again. I also noticed Oakstorm was not there to see me and Sandclaw was nowhere in sight. What happened to me? After all the excitement died down and Rainstar ended the meeting, I raced out into the forest. I stopped a few tail lengths from the river shore. I took a deep breath.

Oh my… oh my gosh! That couldn't be me. The cat staring back at me was covered in scratches, some of them starting to scar. No wonder Oakstorm didn't want to see me. He was the only cat who kept his distance. Even Sandclaw had said it was good to see me alive and well. He must be embarrassed by me.

I jumped in the water to shatter the reflection of myself. The water felt good against my ruined pelt, despite it being cold. I realized no cat had questioned my return, they had been too happy to see me. I supposed that was a good thing. Though the founders hadn't said not to tell, I knew it was a one-time, 0ne-cat deal. How was I going to explain if someone asked? I knew I wouldn't be able to tell any cat I was sent back from the dead.

I hopped out of the river and walked home. I was getting tired, and feeling a lot of pain. I entered the camp and headed for the medicine cat den. Shadepaw was there, sorting through herbs with Watersong. I padded over to the pair of cats, and asked for something that would help for the pain. Shadepaw looked at her mentor, and when Watersong nodded, she walked to the rock cleft and scooped out two poppy seeds. I licked them up, thanked her and left the den.

Most of the warriors were under Mossrock. I overheard them as I padded to the den. "How did she come back?" "Watersong said she was definitely dead?" "Did Starclan give her nine lives?" "She's so weird." Then my parents, Rosedrop, Fishcreek, and Shinewhisker stepped forward and stood up for me. I felt better already but I knew it would be awhile before all the gossip stopped. At least all the cats that loved me didn't care how I came back, just that I was back. I headed for the apprentices' den to catch up on my sleep.

I awoke to find that I had slept the whole day. Fernpaw was not in the den, so she must be eating with the clan. I stretched and yawned before I headed out. It felt good to be with my clanmates again. I took a fish from the pile and sat with my sisters and friends. Rosedrop and Shinewhisker were so nice. They didn't flinch from my appearance or even mention it. They treated me the same way they did the other cats.

I wonder how long I had been "dead' I decided to ask. "What happened after I lost conscious?"

Fernpaw replied, "Watersong, Fishcreek and I carried you home, placed you in the medicine cats' den and then I watched them put some cobwebs on you and something else that I can't remember. Shadepaw said that stuff would help with infections. Then I guess Watersong couldn't feel your pulse cause she said you were dead."

Rosedrop picked up the story. "He called a clan meeting and told us you were in Starclan with Mosskit. Then Watersong ran out of her den, and they talked under the Mossrock, and we saw you appear from the den." I nodded. Sounds like I had only been out for an hour, but it Starclan the time seemed to pass much faster.

Fishcreek came up to me and said, "Tomorrow we are going to practice battle tactics, but only if you feel ok and Watersong says it's fine."

I nodded. "I'm feeling pretty bad, can I rest tomorrow?" He smiled at me, nodded and left. Wow. He had really changed. I smiled, remembering the last time I wanted a day off, but the smile disappeared as soon as I saw Oakstorm. He was, of course, all over Sandclaw, licking her and whispering to her. She laughed and pressed closer to him, which was actually an accomplishment. I took a closer look at Sandclaw. She looked different. I tried to figure it out. …Her stomach seemed bigger. Holy Starclan was she expecting!?

All kinds of pain hit me from all sides. Physical, emotional it just all hurt too much! I fled for the den without a word. I tried to lose myself in dreams.

I woke up next morning to see Fernpaw grooming herself, preparing for the day. I groaned as I stretched out my limbs, then padded up to my sister. We shared tongues for a few minutes before she left for training. I sat around for a while before heading out into the clearing. Graymist was the only cat out. I left the den and padded out to her. We shared a fish and groomed each other, catching up with news. "Watersong said I'm going to have at least two kits." Wow.

"Have you picked names with Reedpelt yet?" She shook her head, and meowed, "We want to see the kits first." I was glad she was happy.

The next few days were boring. The conversation with Graymist was the highpoint. But at last I felt good enough to go training. On the third day after the attack I went out with Fishcreek to practice hunting. "Your fishing swipe isn't looking so good. Trying arching your paw, and putting your whole leg into it." I tried again. He nodded. "Better. But you don't need to make that face." We both laughed.

"Can I go put it into practice? I haven't hunted in so long."

He laughed again. "Sure Silverpaw." I raced for the river, feeling alive and happy.

The pain had been fading until I could only feel it if I slept funny. And turns out none of the scratches had scarred so far. Only a few were left, and Watersong said those were the ones that would scar. Whatever. My refection didn't scare me anymore. I scooped a fish out and it landed on the bank. A swift blow of my paw killed it. I allowed a satisfactory smile to enter my expression. Fishcreek bounded out of the trees. He had big smile on his face. What was up? "Graymist is kitting. She had a she-cat and a tom. Watersong says she's got one more at least." I picked up my fish and raced back to camp with him.

On the way, I remember he was Reedpelt's father. So that's why he was so excited. The happiness was contagious as we entered the camp. Sandclaw was missing, and immediately Fishcreek headed to the Nursery. They emerged again with big smiles. They kitting was a success and Graymist was fine. I let out a breath, happy again. Until I saw Sandclaw run to Oakstorm.

I looked away. I slipped into the Nursery; seeing the kits would be a good distraction. Until I saw that one of them is a sandy colored tom, just the same color as Sandclaw. I shook off my feelings so I could be happy for Graymist. "Meet Cloudkit" she gestured to the gray she cat with piercing blue eyes. "And Icekitt" the next little she-cat was white. "and Thrushkit" That was the sandy tom's name.

"I'm glad you're ok." Graymist nodded. I gave her a lick and left to find Shadepaw and Fernpaw.

I rounded up Fernpaw and we went to the medicine cat den. "You delivered your first kits!" We both screamed. She gave us a huge smile. "Congrats!" I said at the same time Fernpaw said "Congratulations!" We all laughed.

"Hungry?" I asked her.

She nodded, "Starving." We all padded out to the fresh-kill pile and joined Shinewhisker and Rosedrop. I didn't hear any other cats talking about me anymore; Graymist's kits took the attention away from me. I was grateful for that. As we ate, I smiled with pure happiness. It was hard to think of all the bad things that could happen when you were surrounded by the cats you love.