Won't be able to update tomorrow so here you guys go!
Deadeye's pov
"Deadeye?," Pufftail asks me later in camp when we were laying down for a nap in the warriors den, making me look at her. "You okay?"
"Uh... Yeah. Yeah," I say. "I just wish I could be there for Skyfur like he was with me. Whenever Frostpelt came back and then when I found out I had two long lost littermates this entire time."
"And with the kits?," she asks.
"If he had been here for it, then yes," I say. "And again. It's absolutely okay that we're having kits."
"Just wanted to make sure," she sighs, curling into a ball.
"Hey," I say. "I didn't... mean it like that."
"Like what?," she asks.
"Like I wasn't excited."
"You're excited?," she asks.
"Well, I'm having kits with you! We're gonna be parents together."
"Together?"
"Yeah," I say. "Together. Pufftail. Would you be my mate?"
"Of course," she says excitedly, and I laugh, licking her head.
"Sleep tight Pufftail."
"You too Deadeye."
Skyfur's pov
There is a click, and I yowl at the pain from my shoulder just before Foxfur straightens up again. "Okay. Your shoulder's back in place. Take it easy on it for a few days and you should be good," she says, going back into her herb storage and coming out with a small black seed. "You can have a single poppy seed for now. I'll tell Pinefoot and Graystar you won't be able to do any hunting patrols, at least."
"Thank you," I say as she leaves, and eat the poppy seed before going out into the clearing to find Maplepelt waiting for me.
"I said I was gonna tell you," he sighs. "I am your father. Pinefoot and Featherstep were just taking care of you."
"Then... who's my mom?," I ask.
"Silverjay," he says. "She died during your kitting. Featherstep's kits had just died of greencough, so she was able to feed you."
"Why didn't you ever tell me?," I ask.
"Silverjay was my everything," he says. "I was at a battle with Thunderclan over stolen prey when she was kitting. I've always thought that if I was there, then Silverjay might not have died. I've always thought it was my fault you lost your mother. I thought I was a failure as a mate and a father."
He stops and takes a deep breath before speaking again. "I thought that... if I never let you know I was your father... you might have a great life. If you knew you had both of your parents. But then you left with the ones who were cast out, which made me feel even worse. You were helping those who needed help, and I couldn't do that for Silverjay."
I'm unable to say anything for a few moments and he sighs, standing up again. "So there. Now you know."
Then he pads off, and I sit there for a few moments before shaking my head and padding over to the warrior's den to get some sleep.
Darkpelt's pov
"Nice catch," Splashpelt purrs in amusement once I finally pin the struggling fish and kill it.
"For me, it is," I laugh. "That enough prey to head back?"
"Should be," Mouseclaw says, then turns to Stormpaw, his apprentice. "Take one of the fish to the nursery when we get back, okay?"
"Actually, I can do that," I say.
"You don't have to. You are a warrior," he says.
"Well... it's my littermate. I haven't been able to see her as often, because of her kits and me learning how you guys live. I'm taking any time I can to see her," I say.
"Then let's get going," Splashpelt purrs, picking up her fish and leading the way back to camp.
We pad into camp, and immediately a small body runs into my leg. I look down to see a small gray kit shaking it's head before looking up again, and I drop my fish.
"Evekit!," I shout, then crouch down. "What are you doing out here? Where's Petalkit, Leafkit, and Snowflight?"
"Who are you?," she asks.
"Oh. Yeah," I laugh. "I'm Darkpelt. I'm Snowflight's littermate."
"Hi Darkpelt," she says. "I snuck out of the nursery. They're still sleeping."
"Lets go tell them you're awake, then," I say, guiding her with my tail.
When I get to the entrance, Snowflight jumps out. "Darkpelt! I can't find Evekit anywhere! Have you seen-"
"I'm right here!," Evekit shouts in excitement, jumping out from behind me and tripping as she runs over to Snowflight.
"Slow down there," I laugh as Snowflight picks Evekit up and places her on her paws again.
"Where was she?," Snowflight asks me.
"She ran into me when I walking walking into camp. Oh! Hang on," I say, spinning around and running to pick up the fish before running back and setting it down in front of her. "Here."
"Thank you," she sighs, then looks at Evekit. "Tell me when you're going outside, okay? I need to know where you are."
"Why can Petalkit and Leafkit go outside without asking, then?," the kit asks.
Snowflight and I look around, and I spot the rosy pelt of Petalkit and the red-flecked brown pelt of Leafkit running toward Needleclaw, who was just entering the camp.
The brown and black warrior looks surprised when he sees the two kits, then looks up at us. He says a few things to the two she-kits before padding over with them.
"Hi," Snowflight says as he licks her head. "They woke up."
"I see that," he laughs.
"Are you Needleclaw?," Evekit asks him, and he nods.
"Yep. I'm your dad."
"Who's that?," Leafkit asks, and we turn to see Pufftail padding over.
"Hey. Have you guys seen Deadeye? He was on one of the border patrols, but hasn't come back," Pufftail says, her tail flicking lightly.
"Maybe he went hunting for a bit," Snowflight says.
"Who are you?," Evekit asks Pufftail.
"I'm Pufftail. I'm going to be your denmate starting tonight."
"Who is Deadeye?," Leafkit asks.
"Does he have a dead eye?," Evekit asks.
"Hey! Be nice," Petalkit shouts, jumping on her gray littermate.
"Deadeye does have a blind eye, and is my mate," Pufftail laughs, watching the two kits scuffle.
"Finally got together?," Needleclaw asks.
Pufftail twitches her ear, looking down shyly. "Was it that obvious?"
"Well, one, you're expecting his kits," I say. "And two, we all kinda saw it happening when you were an apprentice."
"Isn't it a bit early for you to move into the nursery?," Snowflight asks her.
Pufftail shakes her head. "Deadeye and I had a run-in with some foxes. Even though we were fine afterward, we don't want to risk anything happening to me. I'm gonna miss hunting though," she says.
"It pays off," Snowflight says, looking as her kits start to play. Then she looks back up at Pufftail. "C'mon. Let's make you a nest."
"Only a quarter moon until the gathering," Whitepelt mentions, laying with Mudsplash and I once we got back from separate patrols. Snowflight and Needleclaw went on a walk, so we were watching the three she-kits as they played outside.
"I wonder how Moongaze and Redwing are doing," I say. "She's due any time now, isn't she?"
"Yeah. Let's hope that it is either before or after we have this clan thing figured out," Mudsplash says.
"I'm glad that the clans are settled out again," Whitepelt says. "I mean... they were all so timid in their own territory."
"From the context, I'm guessing that you would join the new clan with us?," Mudsplash asks.
"Well... yeah. I'm not leaving you or my brothers or our friends. I don't know what I would do with myself," she laughs.
"You would miss us," I say, then look over at the kits and jump up, running to stop Evekit from climbing on top of the nursery. The kit squeals in surprise, but then runs off to her sisters.
I hear a yawn, and look at the entrance of the nursery to see Pufftail coming out of it. She wasn't even a moon into expecting, but from how much her belly was swollen we all knew there would be more than just two kits.
"Hey Darkpelt," she says, stretching.
"Hey," I answer. "Deadeye is out hunting. He should be back soon."
"Okay. I'm gonna get some food though. Bit hungry."
"We can do that!," Petalkit shouts, her and her littermates running over to where we keep the prey and pulling out a large mouse.
Pufftail watches in pure joy as the kits carry the mouse over. "Thank you three so much."
"No problem!," Leafkit shouts, and then they went back to playing.
"They are going to be such good apprentices," Pufftail purrs.
"I know," I sigh, watching my littermate's kits play. "Well... I'm going to go take a nap."
"Okay. I'll watch the kits," Pufftail says, and I nod to her before going into the warrior's den, laying down in my nest and letting sleep overcome me.
I am aware that there are a lot of small scenes in this chapter.
So, I read all the reviews, which means that I see what you guys are saying. I am aware that this story is quite slow, and that the whole point of it can be hard to tell sometimes. I've been working on trying not to just stick with key plot points for my stories, and this one got the most of that. That's why it is slow and confusing at times. It's a learning process, but everything I wrote in this will be clear when the final chapter is up.
Also, because I'm fairly certain I have never said how long is story is, the final chapter will be up in about a month, aka chapter 40.
There is now over 3500 views on this story! That is awesome guys! I never expected that many!
Anyways, I hope you guys have an awesome week. Bye!
Ttyl
-TheRealDigiGal