Wow yesterday was a good day for me.
Skyfur's pov
"Skypaw?!," I hear, and see the two past kits, Rainkit and Hawkkit, running up. "Wait! You must be a warrior now! We are too! I'm Rainbreeze, and he's Hawkleap."
"I'm Skyfur. Sunpaw is Sunfoot now and Badgerpaw is Badgerstripe," I say. "Oh! Then this is Olive, Slink, and Lilac."
"I'm super excited to check out the clan life!," Olive says.
"Here. Come with Hawkleap and I. We can introduce you to the apprentices," Rainbreeze says. The three littermates and the two warriors pad toward a light brown tabby and a white and tan cat.
"Skypaw?," I hear, and turn to see Featherstep looking at me. "What are you doing here?"
"It's Skyfur, actually," I say, flicking my tail. "I see you're well."
"Fine as ever," she says.
"All cats old enough to stalk through the shadows, join beneath the great branch for a clan meeting," Graystar yowls from the branch.
The clan gathers, and then he looks down on us. "As you can see, the cats that were cast out have returned, and with some new friends. Because they were cast out, though, I do not want them going outside the camp without three other warriors."
"That's not fair!," Raggedfur shouts. I look at Badgerstripe and see her just sitting there, looking forward at the ground, her tail flicking in agitation.
"Deal with it," Maplepelt growls. He catches my eye and flicks his tail in a small greeting before looking back up at the leader.
"For now, I want Gingertail, Hawkleap, and Softfoot to get together some nest materials. Once they return, then those that returned can make their own nests," Graystar says, then waves his tail dismissively. "Clan meeting dismissed."
Deadeye's pov
"They're so cute!"
I open my eyes and yawn after hearing Whitepelt's delighted meow, then sit up and stretch. Pufftail was still curled up asleep next to me, her puffy tail gently touching her nose. Most of the nests were empty, so the only ones left in the den were Pufftail, Whiteblaze, Minnowfoot, and I.
Pufftail breaths in, making her tail move across her nose, and she sneezes. Sleepily, she opens her eyes and yawns, then looks at me. "Watching me sleep, huh?"
"No. I just woke up," I say. She laughs and sits up, then stretches out, giving a sigh of relief.
"I've been so sore lately," she comments as we pad out into the clearing.
"Maybe it's from the nest. We've been so used to the rough ground," I comment.
"True," she sighs, then looks to where Needleclaw was grabbing a fish from the fresh-kill pile. "I wanna go see the kits. Wanna come?"
"Sure," I shrug, and follow her to the nursery.
We slide through the opening and see Snowflight laying in a large nest with Needleclaw setting the fish down next to her, and three kits at her belly. One kit was gray, another had rosy fur, and the last was brown with ginger flecks.
"Hey guys," Snowflight says. "Came to see the kits?"
"Yeah," Pufftail says, crouching down next to the kits. "What's they're names?"
"The gray kit is Evekit, the brown kit is Leafkit, and the rosy kit is Petalkit," Needleclaw says proudly. "All she-kits."
"They're so small," I say, watching Evekit crawl over Snowflight's front leg. Snowflight picks up the small she-cat and places her next to her littermates, where she falls asleep.
Mistbreeze's head suddenly pokes through the entrance, and she looks at Pufftail and I. "There you two are. Owlstorm wants you to go on a border patrol with him, Spottedfern, and Mouseclaw."
"Okay. We're coming," Pufftail says, padding through the entrance after Mistbreeze disappears.
Once I am also in the clearing, I spot the patrol waiting by the entrance of the camp and pad over, arriving just a moment after Pufftail.
"Deadeye," Owlstorm says, dipping his head. I do the same in greeting and he stands. "Everybody ready?"
We all approve, and he waves his tail, leading us out of camp silently.
"When did the border change?," I ask as we cross the thunderpath.
"After you all left, the amount of fish started decreasing in the river. Graystar, shockingly, let us have a bit of the Shadowclan territory after Thunderclan gave them the greenleaf twolegplace again," Mouseclaw says. "They let us keep it afterward, saying that at least if anyone was to be attacked by a monster, it wouldn't be anyone from Shadowclan."
"Got that right," we hear, and a Shadowclan patrol passes through the trees not far off. Dustheart seemed to be leading it, and there was also Gingertail, Maplepelt, and a light brown tabby apprentice.
"Greetings Dustheart," Owlstorm says, padding over to meet her closer to the border, which I was now beginning to notice. "Why are there none of your classmates that were cast out on your patrol?"
"Unlike you, we don't need traitors," the apprentice growls.
"Brownpaw," Dustheart growls, silencing him. "Excuse my apprentice, but that reason is true. We don't trust them. And you shouldn't either."
"Hey! We didn't choose to be cast out!," Pufftail exclaims, her tail bristling.
"But you were. And why? Oh yeah, half-clan. The clans don't need traitors like you," Dustheart snarls.
I see Pufftail slowly getting ready to attack and grab her scruff in my jaws, making her lash her tail in annoyance. "Just calm down, okay? They're just trying to rile us up," I whisper once I've let her go.
"And look. Now the drypaw is pretending to save the day!," Gingertail whispers to Brownpaw.
"I'm going to ask that you all stop insulting my warriors," Owlstorm says.
"And if we don't?," Maplepelt asks. "The only cats that deserve to be treated with respect once they came back are the past apprentices that decided to leave. They were too young and naive to know what they were doing."
"They weren't naive!," I shout. "They were caring about their friends! Something that you need to learn!"
"Don't talk about my clan like that!," Brownpaw exclaims.
"Then stop talking like that about mine!," I yell. "There is nothing wrong with being a little different than others! You need to learn that!" I then turn to Owlstorm. "Maybe we should refresh the markers and head back to camp."
"Do you think you are so high and mighty just because you lived outside the clans?," Dustheart asks Pufftail and I as our patrol renews the scent markings, and then begins to pad away.
"It wasn't living," Pufftail says, turning around like I do. "It was surviving."
Then we pad off, leaving the Shadowclan cats to watch as we disappear from their sight.
"The nerve of those cats!," Whitepelt exclaims from where Pufftail and her were talking. I was with Needleclaw, Darkpelt, Mudsplash, and Fluffheart, us practicing our battle moves before meeting with the senior warriors, deputy, medicine cat, and leader about something.
"What are they talking about?," Fluffheart asks, jumping off of Mudsplash after pinning him.
"During the dawn patrol, there was a Shadowclan patrol that we saw at the border. They aren't treating their returning warriors with much respect. One of their apprentices and the warriors were talking about how we are a disgrace to our clans since we were cast out."
"At least they took their cats back," Darkpelt sighs. "Then again, Mudsplash, Snowflight and I chose to leave."
"And I thank you for bringing your sister to live in my clan," Needleclaw says, jumping on Darkpelt in a pretend attack.
Mudsplash and Fluffheart also start practicing, and I watch as they do so before being shoved over my a mass of ginger and white fur.
"May I join the fun?," Fox laughs from above me. I roll my eyes and struggle to get him off, making him laugh again.
I see Whitepelt run over from the corner of my eye and she knocks Fox off of me, and as they start fighting I turn to Pufftail. "You wanna join?"
"Uh..." She trails off, and then shuffles her paws. "No thanks."
"Still sore?," I ask, and when she nods I pad over. "Maybe you should go see Blueleaf. You could be getting sick."
"I'm not sick," she mumbles, and I tilt my head to one side.
"Then what is it?," I ask, sitting next to her. "You can tell me."
"That's the thing. No matter what I do, you'll find out..."
"Do you not want me to?," I ask.
"I don't..." She sighs. "I don't want anything to change between us."
"You don't have to worry about that. You can tell me," I say.
She shuffles her paws again, seeming uncertain of what to do, and I sigh, starting to stand. "Don't worry about telling me now. I don't want to force you into it."
That makes her head whip up to look at me. "No, wait! I want to, I just-" She cuts herself off, her ears lowering to her head. "I'm expecting kits."
That news makes me stop, and I look at her. "Oh. That's... that's great, Pufftail. Who's the father?"
She doesn't answer, choosing instead to look down at her paws, and I get a thought that makes me nervous. "Pufftail. Are they..."
She just nods. "They're yours." She then jumps up and quickly pads out the entrance of the camp, and I find myself flicking my tail nervously.
"Deadeye! What are you doing?!," I hear, and turn to see that Whitepelt, as well as the others, were watching. "Go after her!"
"Uh, right. Right," I say, jumping up and racing after Pufftail.
I know. I know. Such a cheesy ending.
So, this AN is going to be short, because I have to get ready for something that starts in a few hours, but remember to tell me what you thought of the chapter!
Have an amazing week! Bye!
Ttyl
-TheRealDigiGal