Oooh- I updated fast didn't I? :p
Rainfeather's Hope - Updated fast jsut for you honey ;)
Snowfeather - I'll definately suggest the name Leafkit to Sorreltail. Snowfeather and Snowstorm are both really nice names... but I think Snowfetaher is a little more origional.
Shadowed Horizon - Oh Stormpaw is around, he;s just lying low. A very suspicious little kitty he is.
Tux Farkinca - Yeah, they were so close and now they are supposed to be enemies! Poor little siblings. :( the warrior code really seems cruel sometimes doesn't it?
Catrin Black - Yay! A strange connection between them is just what I wazs going for! I'm glad you picked that up. And don't worry - I have plans for those two, though they may not be what you think...
Snowfeather (again) - Yeah, but Flightpaw isn't good with change. Even though it seems there's nothing for him in Thunderclan I'm not sure he could handle switchign Clasn again. He needs something stable or else he falls to pieces pretty fast.
PearlaH.Sweden - contrary to popular belief - YES male cats can be tortoiseshell. Granted it is VERY rare and they often end up being sterile - but not always - and it is possible, though far more common in females, for males to have a tortoiseshell coat.
angela - Oooo - but that would be telling wouldn't it? I'm afraid you don't truley figrue that out until the sequal I have planned - which will be entirely about Whisperpaw - name still undecided.
timberwolf14 - In the simplest terms: rendezvous means meeting.
Kira2667 - Runningpaw is a real sweetheart. It's hard for Flightpaw to feel close to anyone other than his kin, since he's lived most of his life with only them That's one of the reasons why no matter how badly Stormpaw may treat him he still keeps coming back to him.
Snowfeather5 - Thanks!
HPfan - I'll think about it...
Snowybreeze - Lol :pRain – a constant torment. Flightpaw shifted from paw to paw miserably, wrapping his stringy tail around his body and flicking his ears in a pathetic attempt to keep the rain off. The new makeshift apprentice's den, the old one had flooded two days before, was barely more than a bent over bramble bush, nearly as waterlogged as the Clan cats.
"When is this blasted rain going to let up?" Stormpaw hissed, coming up beside his brother, looking abnormally small with his wet fur plastered to his frame, his blue eyes narrowed. He glared up at the dark grey clouds, drawing his head back quickly as a rain drop hit him in the eye.
"I'd of thought you of all cats wouldn't have minded the weather Stormpaw." Flightpaw teased, shivering as a blast of wind swept through camp.
Stormpaw rolled his eyes and huddled up next to the tabby, desperate to generate some warmth.
"Have the hunting patrols come back yet?" he asked after a while. Flightpaw was glad for his voice – after nearly a quarter moon of the solid thundering of rain against the ground he was even dreaming about that noise.
"I don't think so. Why? Did you go out on the dawn patrol?" Flightpaw asked, his eyes straining through the grey haze of rain towards the entrance for any sign of Honeytail, Poppyleaf or Thornclaw.
"No, but the next patrol can't go out until this one gets back, and I can't eat until I hunt. And I'm starving!" Stormpaw meowed, Flightpaw's stomach growled at the same time, as though agreeing with the dark tom's words.
"Rain whisker promised he'd take me out to train," Flightpaw mrrowed, "but he ahsn't shown up yet, where is he?"
Stormpaw shrugged. Then his eyes narrowed, "So I noticed you've been spending a lot of time with what's-his-name... Runningpaw."
"Yeah," Flightpaw quavered under his brother's unmerciful stare, "Is that wrong?"
"I just thought we were going to..." he glanced over his shoulder, then lowered his voice so that Cricketpaw and Sparrowpaw, who were chatting near the base of the bush, "stick together and not trust anyone."
"Well, Runningpaw seems alright. I mean.. he's only an apprentice so..." Flightpaw stopped as Stormpaw let out a disgusted hiss.
"It doesn't matter that he's only an apprentice! Are you sure you can trust him?"
Flightpaw thought about how Runningpaw had come with him to visit Whisperpaw and hadn't told anycat, even when they had been confronted by the warrior sitting vigil on their way in.
"I'm sure." He said quietly.
"Alright, then..." Stormpaw wasn't allowed to finish, he was interrupted by the tortoiseshell they had been talking about a few moments earlier.
"Hazelstripe's kits are coming!" he meowed, his eyes wide and his fur on end. Instantly all four apprentices were on alert, Cricketpaw and Sparrowpaw rose to their paws and bounded forward.
"What?" Cricketpaw gasped in horror, "But we have no medicine cat!"
"Brightheart is doing the best we can, but one of us is supposed to go and get Littlecloud. Firestar thought it'd be better if one apprentice went, so it wouldn't look like an attack."
"I'll go," Sparrowpaw volunteered instantly, "I'm the fastest, plus Foxpaw is my brother so it won't look suspicious if I'm going there – it'll just seem like I'm going to visit him."
"Alright, go! I'll tell Firestar who's going." Sparrowpaw nodded, then raced out of the den. "The rest of us are supposed to go and gather herbs. Except Brightheart wants an assistant to help her."
"Flightpaw, you help her," Stormpaw growled, nudging his brother forward, "I'm faster than you are, and Runningpaw and Cricketpaw know the territory better than us."
Flightpaw nodded, and then bounded out of the den, towards the nursery. He realised suddenly that he was shaking in terror. How in StarClan was he supposed to help with a kitting? He wasn't a medicine cat! Before entering the nursery he shook out his fur the best he could, when the kits were so young even the slightest chill could damage them severely.
Hazelstripe was lying on her side in her nest, her claws unsheathed and her pupils dilated. She was panting as though she had run all the way to the WindClan camp. Rainwhisker was crouched next to her, his blue eyes filled with alarm, gently murmuring in his mate's ears and occasionally swiping his tongue across them.
"Flightpaw? You're going to help me?"
The apprentice flinched at the raw surprise in Brightheart's voice.
Cleary she was expecting a Clanborn apprentice to help with the kitting.
"Yes," he said quietly, desperate not to disturb Hazelstripe any more than he had too. Over her shoulder he could see Ferncloud, Sandstorm and Sorreltail watching anxiously, and every now and then a pair of bright kit eyes peering around one of the queens, trying to catch a look, before the she-cats sent back towards the rear of the den.
"Alright, for now just run back to my den – grab as much bedding as you can and bring it back. Try to keep it dry!"
Flightpaw raced back through the pouring rain, he blinked rapidly trying to get the water out of his eyes.
"Flightpaw!" a voice with the same gentle, lilting accent as Hazelstripe's brought the tom to a standstill. Looking around he saw the thick, pale-pelted shape of a warrior bounding towards him. It was Berryclaw. The tom's brown eyes were huge with alarm. "How's Hazelstripe?" he asked desperately. "Are the kits coming yet?"
Flightpaw shook his head, trying to catch his breath. "Just- getting – some --bedding," he panted, "I'll tell you when—something happens." The older tom nodded, though clearly his fears were not put to rest.
"I'd better tell Daisy, and Mousefang." In another moment he was gone, and Flightpaw was racing back towards the medicine cat's den.
When he got back to the nursery the smell of herbs was mingled with the soft milky odour that normally permeated the air. He noticed a large pile of glistening green herbs near Brightheart's paws. The she-cat was busily sorting them.
"Dandelion leaves, thyme, catnip... not enough... chamomile. Here, Hazelstripe eat these." The ginger and white cat pushed a pawful of herbs towards the queen. Hazelstripe hissed in pain as a ripple coursed down her flank, then obediently scooped the leaves into her mouth. She winced, no more pleasant than normal they were excruciatingly bitter.
"What are those for?" Rainwhisker asked, concern tinting his voice as he watched his mate swallow.
"To calm her down. Good Flightpaw, now make a separate nest over here, the moss isn't wet – good job." Brightheart swished her tail over a bare path of earth not far from Hazelstripe, Flightpaw immediately dropped his load of moss there, plumping and shaping it with his paws.
"Here." Another lump of dark leaves landed in front of Hazelstripe, "Borage," Brightheart offered just as Rainwhisker opened his jaws, "It'll help her milk supply."
Hazelstripe let out a high pitched wail, and a series of ripples flooded her pelt. Rainwhisker quickly drew his tongue over her cheek, but it didn't stop her yowl of pain.
"The kits are coming," Brightheart mewed, and Flightpaw could sense the anxiety in her voice. The next words she whispered were so quiet that Flightpaw was sure no-one but he had heard – and that even he was not intended to. "Littlecloud was always here before..."
Trying to regain her composure a little – for Hazelstripe's sake, - she shook her head, and then scrambled over to the queen's side. "It's okay, just push. The kits are coming. Just push." Brightheart cooed.
Flightpaw felt his fur stand on end. Instantly he decided he did not want to be there just then. Slowly, he back out of the den.
"How is she?" this time Hazelstripe's other brother, Mousefang, was the one to ask.
"The kits are coming," Flightpaw said, looking at his paws, feeling foolish, though he didn't know why. "She seems fine. Brightheart isn't worried." He wasn't sure if that last statement was a lie or not.
"I guess then all we can do is wait, and pray to StarClan that everything goes okay," Mousefang whispered, his blue eyes clouded with uncertainty.
Flightpaw had no idea how much time passed from when Mousefang spoke to when Sparrowpaw raced into the camp, her sides heaving and soaked with mud and water, triumph glowing in her green eyes. Three other cats accompanied her – her brother Foxpaw, Littlecloud and his apprentice Basilpaw. Both apprentices were carrying packages of herbs in their jaws. The three cats bounded straight for the nursery, only Foxpaw lingering a moment outside the den, his muzzle resting against Sparrowpaw's, before he too disappeared under the brambles.
The she-cat slowly turned and began to walk back towards the make-shift apprentice's den where Flightpaw was resting. Exhaustion radiated from every hair on her pelt, and her green eyes were filled with longing. She flopped down into her nest and began to wash the mud from her pelt, drawing her tongue across the short fur in long, purposeful strokes. Awkwardly Flightpaw shifted from paw to paw, not sure of what to say.
Suddenly, Sparrowpaw spoke, "You and Stormpaw are very different." She commented, not looking up.
Flightpaw blinked.
Am I supposed to say something?
Neither of them said anything for a long while. Suddenly, Sparrowpaw jerked to her paws, excitement glittering in her eyes. Flightpaw turned and saw Foxpaw emerging from the nursery again. Sparrowpaw was out of the den in an instant and bounding to her brother's side.
Is the kitting over then? Flightpaw wondered. He rose to his paws and padded out into the camp, flinching as raindrops hit his nearly-dried fur. A stampede of paw steps thundered into the camp as Cricketpaw, Stormpaw and Runningpaw returned, carrying more herbs. Seeing Foxpaw they drew to a halt.
"Foxpaw!" Runningpaw squeaked, running over to the tom's side and touching his nose to the russet apprentice.
Cricketpaw and Stormpaw headed towards Brightheart's den with their allotment of herbs.
"How's Hazelstripe?" Sparrowpaw asked the medicine cat, her purring making it hard to understand what she was saying.
"Fine," Foxpaw mewed, pride shining in his gold eyes, "ThunderClan has three more healthy kits. Two toms and a she-cat."
"That's great!" Runningpaw exclaimed, his tail waving happily in the air.
"How are things in ShadowClan?" Sparrowpaw asked, drawing her tongue across her brother's ear.
Flightpaw noticed how different all three siblings looked. Runningpaw – small and wiry, looking like a kit beside the other two. Sparrowpaw, while still small for her size, lean and muscles, strength showing in every sinewy line of her body. And Foxpaw, tall above them, thin and long, with thick, long fur and a bushy tail.
Is that how Stormpaw and I look to everyone else? The tabby wondered, glancing over at his brother, re-emerging from the stone den, silver-pelted Cricketpaw at his side. There was no doubt that they had each inherited opposite traits. He, small, almost dainty, with short, light coloured fur; Stormpaw – lean and muscled with a dark, thick pelt. Surely no cat would guess they were kin without knowing before.
"Foxpaw."
Flightpaw hadn't realised Littlecloud had left the nursery before the tom spoke. He started nervously, acutely aware that, though a medicine cat, a tom from another Clan was sating a mere fox-length away. He looked young, though Flightpaw knew he was much older than either of his parents, and strength radiated from his light fur. His eyes were kind, and sympathy was drawn across his handsome face as he watched his adopted apprentice with his kin.
Foxpaw bowed his head, looking mournfully at Sparrowpaw and Runningpaw.
"I have to go," he whispered, brushing his muzzle against their faces.
Sparrowpaw let out a mew. "I don't want you to," she murmured in a very un-Sparrowpaw-like show of emotion. Runningpaw blinked, his tail falling to the muddy earth beneath his paws.
"The Gathering is soon, I'll see you then!" Foxpaw promised, turning to pad back to his mentors side, dark-furred Basilpaw already waiting, "Bye."
As Flightpaw watched the small ShadowClan patrol depart, and the grief on Runningpaw and Sparrowpaw's faces, he couldn't help but think of Whisperpaw, and his heart lurched.
Would she be at the Gathering?
