Chapter Twenty-seven: Stolen
Windstar blinked.
"You're what?" He asked blankly, as if he hadn't heard what Swift had said.
"I'm having pups," She yipped.
Windstar shook his head. What had she just said? She was having pups? Only one thing sprung into his mind.
Pregnant creatures must REALLY like me.
It was true! As soon as Dreamcloud started to expect kits, it seemed like the entire forest began booming with pesky little creatures. And now Swift was adding to that.
"Really?" Windstar finally meowed. "I didn't even know you two were mates." He set a solid, steady glare on Blizzard. Amazing as it was, Windstar kind of felt almost like Swift was a littermate, his sister, and he had a feeling that this was what brothers were supposed to do.
"Well," Blizzard finally said, scuffing one paw in the dirt. "It's not exactly something we wanted to advertise..."
"You at least could have told me."
"We thought that, you being a father, you would figure it out sooner or later," Swift barked, narrowing her eyes. "You must be very dense."
Windstar hissed at her, but had to admit that now that he really looked at Swift, he didn't know how he missed it. It wasn't like she was terribly swollen(though he would tell her the opposite for that dense comment), but she just seemd... different. The same different Dreamcloud had seemed.
"There's another thing," Blizzard added.
"What?" Windstar had an exhausted feeling, like the weight of the world was on his shoulders. And really, if StarClan was right about his 'destiny' then the Clans' world literally would be. On his and Dreamcloud's, that is.
"Yes?" He asked.
"We met two other wolves, mates," Swift said excitedly.
"OH. Really?" Windstar asked cautiously. He had a strange feeling about what was going to happen...
"And the female is an old friend of mine," Blizzard added. "So, we were wondering-"
"Yes, fine," Windstar sighed.
"Well, actually," Swift said. "The female is expecting pups as well, due any day now. Did you ever notice that patch of unclaimed territory nearby ShadowClan's territory?"
Windstar thought for a moment. "Yes."
"Since there'll be pups, and these two new ones, us," Blizzard continued. "We spoke to the two other wolves-respectable pair-Luka and Timber. They agreed on our idea-"
"Which is?"
"Once all the pups are old enough to move, we start our own pack."
Windstar was silent for a moment. "Well," He finally said. "It's fine for me, as long as you promise to visit-"
"You'll be welcome to as well."
"Thanks. And I'll need to talk it over at the Gathering-which is tonight. You two should come, so the other leaders can meet you. What would you call it, anyway?"
"SwiftPack," Blizzard said before his mate could stop him. Swift looked immensely embarrassed. "You see," The wolf barked. "We took a vote, and since Swift was the first one to meet you, thus starting the events that led up to this, we decided to name the pack after her."
"SwiftPack," Windstar mused. "I like it."
xxx
"Calicofur," Came a hesitant mew. "What's wrong?"
Calicofur opened her eyes to find the milky blue ones of Dreamcloud's kits, all gathered around her. Their mother sat a few feet away, watching with worried eyes that were settled on the scrap of fur at Calicofur's paws. News of Spiderleg's death had traveled quickly.
Spiderleg's death. Spiderleg's death. The thought made Calicofur sick to her stomach. But she loved her friend's kits, so she raised her head and gave Scarletkit, the one who had spoken, and affectionate lick.
"Nothing," She sighed. "I'm just a little sad over Spiderleg, that's all."
A little sad. Her heart was dissolving.
"Was he your friend?" Rockkit asked. The brownish tom's large eyes were on the medicine cat.
"Yes," Calicofur finally said. "Along with your mother, he was my best friend ever."
"We're sorry," Birdkit murmured. Scarletkit simply touched her little pink nose to Calicofur's ruffled, ungroomed pelt. The medicine cat certainly looked like she was in bad shape. They hadn't even been able to find Spiderleg's body...
"Come on, kits," Dreamcloud murmured, beckoning them with her tail. "Calicofur needs to grieve, and you three need to go back to the nursery."
"It's all right," Calicofur protested, but Dreamcloud met her gaze evenly.
"I need to talk to you alone, Calicofur."
Great. Something else was wrong. As Dreamcloud shooed her kits inside the nursery, Calicofur had a sickening feeling that she knew who it was about.
xxx
"What did you want to talk to me about?" Calicofur asked. Dreamcloud swiped a nervous paw over her ear.
"Well," She sighed. "To be completely honest, Robinpelt."
Calicofur was silent.
"I don't want to distress you anymore," Dreamcloud said quickly. "So if you don't want to-"
"No," Calicofur held up a silencing paw. "Continue."
"He tried to get me to be his mate," Dreamcloud finally began. "He told me he loved me, and Windstar wasn't a good father for the kits." Dreamcloud's amber eyes met Calicofur's sky blue ones. "Calicofur, I think he's going to do something... drastic."
Calicofur bowed her head. She and Robinpelt had been so out of synch lately, but she knew that he would.
"Dreamcloud," She mewed. "I know he will. He's obsessed with you."
xxx
"Er, sorry," Onestar meowed. "But what are you called again?"
"Technically," Swift barked. "Wolves. I've got a nasty bit of dog-blood in me, but barely."
"They seem friendly," Firestar said calmly.
"They are," Windstar said quickly.
The wolves were sitting at the base of the tree, bored expressions on their faces. Only the ShadowClan cats, Dreamcloud and Calicofur didn't act scared around them.
"I'm in," Firestar finally said. "They helped recue Clan cats."
"Finally," Windstar muttered under his breath.
"I trust Windstar," Mistystar mewed. "He helped defeat Blackstar and that's good enough for me."
All glanced at Onestar.
"Fine," He sighed.
Swift and Blizzard exchanged amused glances. Looking up, they saw Windstar wink at them. This had been too easy.
xxx
"What do you think Robinpelt would do?" Dreamcloud asked Calicofur the day after the Gathering.
Her friend looked at her paws. They were just outside her den, and she was tired. "I don't know," She admitted. "But something that would enable him to hurt both of you in some way."
"We're in two different Clans," Dreamcloud pointed out. "He can't exactly get us right there."
"True," Calicofur said. "He won't physically hurt you, and not Windstar either-too obvious."
"Then what would he do?"
There was a long silence, and both she-cats froze, their eyes reflecting horror. No. Robinpelt couldn't be that bad. Dreamcloud's heart began to pound triple the regular rate, and she was only able to whisper one thing:
"The kits."
Both rushed towards the nursery, where Whiteleaf was out with her kits. Dreamcloud had taken hers in for a nap...
The nest was empty.
Except for a little scrap of flame colored kit-fur.
And blood.
xxx
Dun, dun... DUN! R and R!