Chapter #10 The Heart -
Blackrose's secret was only with Ravenwing. She often, as a kit, asked her mother about mating. She claimed it was different for all cats. Some thought it was a way to express love. Some thought it was just so there were more kits and others thought it was a painful and annoying experience. Blackrose wanted to find out for her own, and it ended up getting her pregnant. Ravenwing and Blackrose enjoyed cuddling more. Blackrose thought of it a bit painful and odd, being her first time but she thought of her own kits who would in about 1 or 2 moons would be learning from their new mother and father. She could hardly wait but, she just became a warrior and ended up mating when she was a apprentice. Since she was naturally skinny she only looked like she had been eating too much, instead of being pregnant.
"Hello, Rose." Said Ravenwing, calling her by her sobriquet, or nickname.
"Hey, Ravenwing!" She bounded up to her dark mate and licked his cheek. He gave out a loud purr.
"I bet the kits will be scalawags like me. We need a good new scamp!" He gave out another purr.
"We should tell Mousefur, I'm sure she will be very happy, too!" Blackrose acctully thaught her mother would be mad that right after a few moons of being a warrior that she got herself into a big mess of raising her kits.
"I'm glad we are getting to talk," Mousefur said while walking through the forest with her daughter. Ravenwing and Rainwhisker stayed behind. "I need to show you something..." Her voice trailed. He eyes were full of sadness.
"I need to tell you something too, but please show me first," She looked at her mother and saw the sadness in her brown eyes, Blackrose winced.
"Here," The dusky brown queen lead her to the Thunderpath.
"I'm not crossing!" Blackrose hissed, the smell of smoke, Twolegs, and gas filled her pink nose. Her skinny body back into a bit of bramble. Also remembering her last encounter with the road of tar.
"We are not crossing..." Mousefur sighed.
"Oh, is this about Cedarheart?"
Mousefur gasped and her feet buckled and she fell to the ground. She cursed, shivered, and sputtered to herself.
Her odd behaver scared Blackrose. "STOP!"
Mousefur froze she looked up. Her tear-glands over powered with tsunamis of water. Blackrose's violet eyes dropped. 'Where was Cedarheart?'
Like Mousefur read her mind she said on word. "There..." She looked up at Silverpelt. It was filled with the stars of warriors, kits, apprentices, deputies, leaders, and elders of all the clans that did not make it. Blackrose felt a wave of dread, disappointment, sadness, and anger rush over her.
"Why didn't you tell me he was dead..." Blackrose cried out.
"I couldn't, you looked so happy and I was going to be kitting soon, I didn't want to break you heart."
"I do have a broken heart now," She suddenly thought. "How did he die?"
"I came her a couple sun rises ago on patrol and saw him on the other side. He was so happy he leaped across the Thunderpath and on the second leap a Monster..." She trailed off. The looked up at Blackrose, skipping that part of her tale "I knew he was dead the moment that his heart fall in front of my paws... It was still beating."
Blackrose saw her mother grow white and dizzy. She felt it too. Cedarheart's heart right in front of her seemed to be a nightmare every time she closed her eyes. The two cats yowled and cried out in the night until they regained their strength again.
"Mother, I'm going to be kitting, soon."
"I know I am," Mousefur replied.
"I know you are but so am I!" Blackrose said.
Mousefur starred at her. Shock hit her like lightning. But she didn't show any expression. "Just like me and Runningwind, mates at such a young age..."
"Runningwind?" Blackrose asked. 'How many mates has she had?'
"Runningwind was my first mate. We had only one kit also. You probably know him as Graystripe."
"The old clan deputy?" She said in amazement. She wanted to know who Runningwind was though. "Runningwind? What was he like?"
"Runningpaw was probably the fastest cat in the forests. He was a young tabby tom and was very handsome. When we were apprentices we mated and thought it would be fun, but I hated it and I got pregnant" She sighed, "Thus, Graykit entered the world while I was still Mousepaw."
"And Runningpaw?"
"Got his warrior name and got killed by Tigerclaw, or Tigerstar as you may of heard of" Mousefur sighed. "I couldn't find him, nor me or Thornpaw so I went back and found his body, next to the Thunderpath."
"Just like Cedarheart's..." Blackrose yowled as pain shot through her belly, "It's Time!"
