Disclaimer: I don't own the Warriors series!
Title: Deep Dive
Summary: In a world where ThunderClan absorbed ShadowClan seasons ago, young warrior Weaselface is tasked to rebuild the fourth Clan and take her place as leader. But how can she betray all she's ever known and loved, all on the word of one ghost with a grudge?
...
Quiet birdsong filled Weaselface's ears as she lounged by a steam. The sun was bright and warm on her pelt, making her a bit drowsy. She strained her neck to get at some water, but found it just out of reach. Huffing, she sat up, feeling her joints creak in protest. She took a sip and all the aches and pains washed away under the cool trickle in her throat. She watched, out of the corner of her eye, as a familiar tabby pelt settled in next to her.
"It's been a bit," meowed Brackenstar.
"It's been two weeks," she corrected absentmindedly. The longest days of my life. But also the happiest.
"You haven't been sleeping as much."
"Having kits will do that."
Brackenstar sighed, as if talking about that was tedious in and of itself. "Weaselstar-"
"Face. Weaselface. I prefer Weasel." She dug her claws into the dirt. "I can understand why you did what you did. You must really want ShadowClan to return."
"More than anything," he agreed.
"But I'm a ThunderClan cat. And even if I wasn't, I could never leave my friends."
Brackenstar tilted his head to the side. "Who said you had to?"
Weaselface's tail lashed. "Now you're just being mouse-brained. Clans don't live together." She raised her chin. "I'm sick of StarClan giving me cryptic answers to unasked questions."
"I'll tell you more soon," he responded. "When you sleep in the moss you've been given."
"I sleep in that nest every night."
Brackenstar stared at her a long moment. Weaselface stared back. He huffed out another heavy sigh. "Stars, you're terrible at this. Thank TigerClan you didn't become a medicine cat. The leader's den, dummy! Spend the night in ShadowClan's leader den."
The molly hesitated. She was a little ashamed that hadn't occurred to her, but why would it? The elder's camp only used two dens. "I can't just leave my kits to sleep in a dusty old heap! It's your den anyways."
"Oh, Weasel," he said, then did an awkward laugh. "It's yours now."
A warm little weight landed on Weaselface's muzzle, jerking her awake with an ungainly snort. "Wassat?"
"I told you climbing on her would be a bad idea," said Sweetshine, giggling. "You woke up the beast!"
Weaselface felt herself relax as the familiar den flooded her senses. I'm getting really sick of weird dreams in weird places. She tucked her paws under her but kept her head down so the kitten wouldn't fall. "WHO DARES?" she boomed. The bundle squealed and wriggled, but it was no match for a gentle rolling of her muzzle, sending it onto her feet. Featherkit blinked up at her with glee. "Fresh kit! A great snack to start the day!"
"Noooooo," Featherkit cried, pushing her head away with her paws. Weaselface easily ducked under them and blew a raspberry on her tummy. "Mama, stop! I'm not tasty!"
There was a flash of black fur out of the corner of her eye, and then Honeykit had successfully buried his little needle teeth in her side. "I got you! I defeated the beast!"
Weaselface scoffed, feeling a strange warmth in her chest. Pride? "You little scoundrels! You ganged up on me!"
"We got you, mama!" Featherkit exclaimed, rolling onto her wobbly paws. "No kits for you!"
She sighed and set her chin on her paws. "Oh, if I must. I guess I could munch on some fresh-kill instead."
There was a cold nose on her as Elmkit eagerly crawled to the point of impact, sniffing. "You didn't even break skin. You've got a wimpy bite, Honeykit!"
"Do no!" he cried.
"Do too!"
Weaselface wrenched her gaze away to meet Sweetshine's. The calico was practically glowing in the morning sunlight. "They didn't wake you, did they?"
"Nope! Well, they did, but not quite as rudely as they did you."
"Mama," broke in a quiet voice, startling her. Spottedkit had proven to be the most reserved of the two litters thus far; she wasn't really into the kind of roughhousing her siblings were warming up to, and she rarely left the nest. She seemed content to watch. "Larkkit got a prickly-bit in her paw."
Sweetshine's jaw dropped. Larkkit had been sitting next to her, and had said no such thing. "Larkkit! Why didn't you say something?"
Larkkit looked embarrassed. "Aw, it's alright, mama. It's like having an extra claw! In my foot. It's not a good claw."
Weaselface patted the spot on the moss in front of her. "Let me get it. My underbite is really good at hooking thorns."
The silver and white tabby reluctantly scrambled over to her side of the nest. Spottedkit leaned in curiously as Larkkit displayed her paw. Sure enough, there was a decent-sized thorn stuck in the pad. "What're you gonna do?" she asked.
"Lick it until it comes closer to the skin," she meowed. "Then I'm gonna pull it out."
Larkkit wilted. "Is it gonna hurt?"
"It'll sting, but not as bad as having a prickly-bit in your foot forever."
Spottedkit shoved between them, eyes bright. "Can I do it? My mouth is more her-size."
Weaselface hesitated, glancing at Sweetshine. The calico nodded. "Alright. But be very careful."
Larkkit seemed relieved to have someone around her size to help her as Spottedkit settled in in front of her paw. She instantly started licking, cleaning some grit from between her toes while she was there, before finally closing her teeth in on the thorn. She gave a quick yank and it was out.
"I did it," she proclaimed, with a sort of calm satisfaction. Spottedkit spat the thorn out.
Larkkit stared at her paw in wonder. "It didn't hurt at all!"
"That's a good thing," Weaselface said.
Elmkit paused her tussle with Honeykit to laugh. "You've gotta wimpy bite too, Spottedkit!"
Spottedkit shrugged, looking quite pleased. "It's a smart wimpy bite."
Adderpelt pushed his nose through the fronds at the entrance of the nursery, a decently sized rabbit clutched in his maw. "I brought dinner!"
Weaselface perked up at the mention of food, but not nearly as much as the kittens perked up at the warriors' arrival. Elmkit rocketed off her side to meet the tom, tiny twig tail stuck straight in the air. Honeykit and Featherkit practically fell over themselves, creating a whirlwind of fluffy black fur. Larkkit was bouncing with glee, her earlier brush-in with the thorn all but forgotten. Spottedkit came last, sniffing the fur on the fresh-kill curiously.
"Oh, stars," said Sweetshine. "Here it comes. Mushy-brain."
Adderpelt carefully set the prey to the side before promptly collapsing onto the floor. Kittens climbed on him as he cackled. "Oh, I missed you all so much! Patrol was sooooo boring."
"You have it so rough," Weaselface said teasingly, collecting the rabbit. She set it between herself and Sweetshine before digging in.
"I do!" he agreed, Larkkit dangling from his ear with her teeth. "But not as bad as you're gonna have it. Dad says you're on dawn and dusk patrols for a moon now that the kits can move around a bit."
She groaned, though it was mostly just for show. I've missed being out and about, but does it have to be so early and so late? "Let me guess; my punishment?"
"Pretty much."
Elmkit's eye grew wide with glee. "Mama got in trouble!"
"Sleeping in a bush will do that," she replied, feeling a bit bad about lying to her daughter.
"On the bright side, you got off pretty easily," Sweetshine meowed around a mouthful. "I've got plenty of milk to spare, so no worries if the kids get hungry while you're gone, and I'm sure Adderpelt won't mind babysitting."
Weaselface blinked at her gratefully. Having five kittens running around had been hectic, but Sweetshine's never-ebbing optimism had been a breath of fresh air during her moments of frustration.
"Babysitting?" he echoed, sounding offended. "I am parenting, thank you very much."
Honeykit buried his face in Adderpelt's scruff. "More time with dad!"
Adderpelt looked like he'd been hit with a monster. He stared awkwardly at Sweetshine. "Um?"
Sweetshine laughed. "Oh, my. A family man, caring for my babies as well as his own. Careful, Adderpelt; I'm gettin' the vapors."
He broke out into a smile, pulling Honeykit and Larkkit closer. "More love for me," he decided, and began to groom them.
Adderpelt slept in the nursery most nights, and now that she needed to be woken for dawn patrol he had extra reason to do so, giving her a gentle jabbing so Beetooth wouldn't storm in and wake the kittens. Weaselface moaned into her moss and sat up, running a paw over her face. "Five more moons," she whined. She turned her head slightly and caught a pair of green eyes looking up at her. "Spottedkit?"
Spottedkit wriggled a little. "Hi, mama," she whispered.
"Why are you up? Are you hungry?"
She shrugged. "I was listening. Lots of cats come into camp and talk at night, especially last night."
Weaselface frowned. "No one's allowed out at night."
Adderpelt cracked an eyelid. "Last night was the half-moon," he commented.
"A lot of them were talking about you, mama," Spottedkit went on, undeterred. "A lot of them were mad. They said you brought shadows into camp. What's that mean, mama?"
Weaselface felt herself begin to tense. The Shadows hadn't been in her imagination, then. Spirits of another Clan don't blend into the territory as well. They must feel out of place here. "I... don't know, Spottedkit. The night cats don't know what they're talking about."
She shrugged again and closed her eyes. "Okay, mama. G'night."
A warm nose brushed against the base of her scruff. "Weasel," Adderpelt meowed. It wasn't an accusation or even a question. Just her name.
"It's complicated," she said. "I've been having a lot of weird dreams. And... something happened. The night I was gone."
"You never told me."
"I didn't want to. I still don't. Saying it out loud makes it... real."
Adderpelt nuzzled into her fur for a moment. She could sense he was pushing down feelings of hurt. "You have to get to patrol. Let's... we can work this out when you get back. Sound good?"
"Alright," she meowed, and left, and had no intentions of explaining.
Author's Note: I have this hc that all kittens in the warriors world have a connection to StarClan, so while Spottedkit had a very clear knack and understands more than her sibs might, the other kits would probably know about The Shadows if asked, even if they couldn't identify or explain them. And if you asked any of them about it when they were older, they'd have absolutely no idea what you were talking about. Not even Spottedkit.
-Mandaree1
