The start of new life!

So yeah, it's come to this. I skipped ahead to when Sandstorm gives birth. Not much to say here.

Holy crap 30 chapters- didn't think it would get this far.

Reviews appreicated.

Firestar worriedly paced around the hall, the corals lighting up the hallway making his tail glow like fire. It had been a busy few months after he and Sandstorm went on their excursion. He had taken her to the healers first, to check if she was totally okay. Sandstorm had been in shock, but thankfully not enough to stress out her body or harm their children. Sandstorm had been closely monitored since then, hopeful that she wouldn't give birth prematurely.

Earlier that day, Sandstorm had complained about cramps, which had steadily led to actual contractions. He had rushed her over to the healers, who were all largely excited to see and document the first ever birth of natural born mermaids.

He didn't appreciate being kicked out of the room though. He was her mate- he was allowed to be worried! He hadn't gotten in their way...much.

"You're going to wear out your tail if you keep doing that." He looked up to see Brambleclaw and Squirrelflight swim towards him, Squirrelflight with an excited look on her face.

"You both didn't need to come." Squirrelflight rolled her eyes. "Of course, I was going to come; this is my Mom we're talking about. And I wanted to see my new siblings!" she crowed excitedly.

Brambleclaw noticed that Firestar wasn't exactly reassured. "Jayfeather and Leafpool are with Sandstorm; they won't let anything happen to her."

Firestar gave a hefty sigh, "I know, but I can't help but worry." Silverstream was always in the back of his mind when he thought about these kind of things. He couldn't help but always worry if the next expecting mother would go out like she did. He couldn't imagine Sandstorm bleeding out trying to bring their children into the world. She wouldn't even get to meet them- and what if their kids decided that they were at fault for killing their mother?

"Are you thinking about what happened to Silverstream?" He snapped out of his thoughts to see Graystripe swimming up towards them, a sad look in his eyes. "Calm down Firestar, nothing like that is going to happen here." He threw his arm over Firestar's shoulder and grinned at him.

"Not that I'm happy to see you Graystripe, but why exactly are you here?"

Graystripe's tail twitched nervously. Firestar glared at him, "You hypocrite."

Brambleclaw frowned. "What exactly is going on?"

Graystripe let out a nervous laugh, "Okay, so I might be here because I'd like to know what to do when Millie gives birth...this mermaid stuff is pretty new and I may be a little bit worried?" Firestar let a tiny smile grace his face; seems like he and Sandstorm hadn't been the only ones to get busy, and there were a slew of reported pregnancies across the clan. An entire generation born all at once.

The coral door across from them slid open, and Leafpool swam out, looking satisfied and happy with herself. Seeing his daughter not looking distraught filled him with hope. "Is she okay?"

She smiled. "I have two new brothers and a new sister!"

Graystripe laughed and pulled Firestar in tighter. "Congrats, you're a father again!" Brambleclaw also gave his congratulations and Squirrelflight was talking adamantly with Leafpool, squealing over their new siblings. Firestar didn't hear a thing they were saying though, his mind replaying Leafpool's words over and over in his head.

Two sons and a daughter. He was overwhelmed with raw emotion and some tears escaped from his eyes. He hastily wiped his eyes, turning to Leafpool, "Can I see them?"

She shook her head, "The others are still in there, making sure everything checks out. You can go in when they say so." He and Squirrelfight gave disappointed groans.

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Eventually, the healers filed out of the room, congratulating Firestar on their way out.

"Only Firestar is allowed in for now, and we'll have to come back later to give Sandstorm and your children routine check-ups. Oh, and please be quiet, she's trying to nurse them," Jayfeather said as he passed the group by.

"Oh come on! You and Leafpool can see them, but I can't?" He tuned out Squirrelflight's exasperated moans and closed the door behind him. His heart skipped a beat when he saw Sandstorm on the bed, three bundles of soft seaweed in her arms. She beckoned him to her and he floated over to the bedside slowly, entranced. He could see their little tails peek out from the seaweed.

Sandstorm was currently nursing two of them. The scales on her breasts shifted so they could suckle from her greedily. Speechless, he took the one bundle that wasn't nursing and held it gently within his arms.

"The one you're holding is our daughter," Sandstorm said tiredly. His daughter... She was such a tiny thing. She had light apricot hair peeking out from the seaweed, and her tail and whatever scales she had were also the same color. Almost like her mother, he thought fondly. His sons had stopped nursing and were sleeping quietly within their mother's arms. One had brown and ginger hair, with a brown tail with ginger spots. The other looked just like him, pure ginger hair and tail.

"All these months and we never thought up of names for them," he said jokingly. Guess they had been too busy working on their perfect nursery that it never came up.

"Have any in mind?" Sandstorm asked. He gave a thoughtful hum as he looked down at his daughter. They wouldn't be given the -kit suffix, since they weren't cats anymore. They would given a prefix until they were of age, when he or one of the other leaders would give them their full warrior name.

They had a few years to figure out to train the apprentices- they already had some to work with to test the proverbial waters.

"How about Coral for her?" Sandstorm smiled, "Coral...I like it." She looked down at her sons, wondering what name to give them.

"Maybe we could name this one Flame," she gestured to their brown and ginger son. If he had any misgivings about the name, he didn't make them known. He wasn't going to go against Sandstorm. She had labored for hours to bring them into the world, and if she wanted their son to be called Flame, then he would be called Flame.

"I can't think up of anything for the other one though."

"Let me hold him for a little." He swapped Coral with his unnamed son and held him close. He always wanted a son, now he had two. The tiny merchild have a tiny, happy smile at the feeling of being in his father's arms. The smile was infectious and a bigger smile appeared on Firestar's face. "How about Sun? Our happy little ball of fire," he said fondly.

"Is that a play on words?"

"Maybe..."

Firestar's expression turned somber. "You remember months ago when you told me about that feeling you had when we came back from the Moonpool?" She nodded, not sure where he was going. "You said it was nothing to worry about," she said suspiciously.

"Okay, I might have lied..." She gave him a glare and he held a hand up in a vain attempt to placate her. "I know, I know, it's just we weren't sure if we were correct in what it was and we weren't sure if it was good or bad," he rambled.

"The Moonpool called us its eternal protectors and we think... we think it made us immortal."

Sandstorm wasn't sure how to respond to him. "So what, you're going to live forever?" He gave her a nod, and she looked away from him, eyes distant. "So that feeling... am I immortal too?"

"We think it gave immortality to those closest to us." She gave a hum, "What about our children? I was pregnant with them at the time."

He gave a sigh, "I don't know if it effected them too. But Sandstorm..." She looked up at him and he gave her a soft smile. "There's no one else I want to spend eternity with than you."

He swam up to her and kissed her, mindful of their children inbetween them. "Help me rule these oceans together?"

She snorted, "You're such a dork. Of course I'm staying by your side; you'd be lost without me."

They shared a tender kiss, hopeful for their future together. He would protect the oceans from any and all threats with his mate by his side, and hopefully his children would join him.

He knew they were going to go far in life.

So, this is for all intents and purposes the last chapter for the Bad Ending. I'm keeping it ambiguous so people can come up with their own interpretations with what comes in the future.

Starclan is on the verge of fading, maybe the Dark Forest kills them all before succumbing themselves. Nevertheless, Oceanclan will eventually forget their cat roots, except the immortal ones. Humans aren't treated too kindly.

To be honest, this feels more like a Good Ending- oops botched that up!

I won't say that this is the true end, cause maybe I'll want to write more for this ending in the near future; but until then there won't be anything for the Bad Ending.

Tell me how I did.