Leopardfur woke slowly that morning. She still ached all over from her fight. She lifted her head, blinking sleep from her eyes. Where am I?

Oh. She became aware of the back pressed to hers, and looked over her shoulder. Sasha. The queen was still asleep, her belly slowly rising and falling. Leopardfur smiled. She had forgotten how right it felt to sleep in the company of others. Even as leader, she had Dawnwhisker to share her nest… until she didn't. She had never slept as well once their relationship ended.

"Mrrh?" Sasha lifted her head, one eye open, as though roused by Leopardfur's stirring. "Oh! Good morning." She quickly pawed at her own face, straightening her whiskers. "How are you feeling?"

"Like I got my pelt ripped off by a bunch of thieves," Leopardfur muttered. "Otherwise, I'm okay."

Sasha rolled her eyes. She stood up and arched her back. "Stay here and watch the kits, alright? I'll go find something for us to eat."

"Let me help," Leopardfur grunted. She pushed herself up to her paws, but her limbs felt shaky and stiff. "Ugh…"

"I said stay here!" Sasha snorted. Playfully but firmly, she pushed Leopardfur back down into the nest. "You need to rest. Running around looking for fresh-kill is the last thing you need to worry about."

Leopardfur slumped back in the nest, frowning but obedient. She looked out from the small den and saw the kits outside, chasing a butterfly. "Alright," she sighed. "Thank you."

Sasha nodded. She stepped towards the kits and spoke with them briefly. She touched noses with each of them before she padded off into the woods.

Leopardfur saw the kits both turn towards her and regard her curiously. Hawk bounded towards her first—Moth padded behind him, looking rather shy. "What happened to you?" Hawk asked, his eyes wide with interest. "Mama wouldn't tell us! Did you fight a fox? Or a badger? Or a cat? Or a—"

Great StarClan! Leopardfur leaned away as Hawk leaned closer. "I was in a fight with some rogues," she meowed.

"Wow," Hawk meowed. "You know how to fight? That's cool. Why'd you get so beat up?"

Leopardfur blinked. Kits really have no manners, do they? She let the snub slide. "I was outnumbered," she said. After a heartbeat, she sighed. "Well, I was being minnow-brained. A good warrior chooses their battles. I wasn't fighting with my brain."

"Why were you fighting then?" Hawk pressed.

The answer was far too dark for her to share with a kit. Leopardfur shook her head wordlessly.

Moth finally spoke up. "How long are you staying?" Without waiting for an answer, she leaned close and sniffed at one of Leopardfur's wounds. "Oof. That looks like it hurts."

Leopardfur twitched her whiskers. "I don't know," she meowed.

"Are you our dad now?" Hawk blurted.

Leopardfur felt her ears go hot, and she blinked rapidly. "I—what?!"

Hawk kneaded his paws. "We don't have a dad," he meowed. "Some stupid barn kits made fun of us for it a while ago. You could be our dad!"

Leopardfur felt strangely embarrassed, but there was a twinge of sympathy for the young tom. "Uh… that's not really how it works, Hawk." She gave her chest a quick lick. "If your mother, ah, took another cat as her mate, that cat could be your father." Or your mother.

Hawk blinked. "What's a mate?"

Leopardfur's embarrassment grew, her pelt feeling like it was crawling with ants. StarClan help me!


It turned out that young kits were remarkably easy to keep entertained, once she was able to redirect their attention from questions she felt ill-equipped to handle. All it took was tossing a wad of moss to send them squealing away.

Leopardfur watched them through half-lidded eyes until Sasha returned to the densite. She held a pigeon in her jaws and carried her tail high with pride. Leopardfur lifted her head. "Good catch," she called.

Sasha dropped it. "Thanks!" she purred. The kits let out joyous squeals and bounded to her side. She gave them each a fond lick before turning to Leopardfur again. "Your lesson helped a lot," she meowed. "I've been doing better hunting."

"I'm glad to hear it," Leopardfur said.

Sasha brought the bird closer to Leopardfur and nudged it to her paws. "Here, you eat first."

Leopardfur had the mind to protest, but judging by Sasha's stern expression, the queen wouldn't accept no for an answer. She murmured a quick thanks before she tucked in. The warm meat was a relief to her empty stomach and aching body.

She passed the bird back to Sasha after a few hearty bites. She surely could have devoured the entire thing herself, but she was learning that prey was far more scarce with only one set of paws to catch it. Sasha happily began to eat her share while the kits played with a stray feather.

A jolt of panic shocked through Leopardfur. Fox-dung! I forgot all about my hunting! She tried to rise, unsteady. "I have to go," she hissed, pain searing into her wounds.

Sasha's eyes widened and she hastily swallowed her bite. "Whoa! What's going on?"

"I have to—I have to hunt for RiverClan," Leopardfur replied. She stood up straight, her limbs shaking. "It's… something I have to do in my exile—have to feed the Clan… can't go back if I don't—"

"Leopardfur, hold on a moment!" Sasha exclaimed. She darted to her side. "You're in no state to hunt! You were just almost killed."

"I need to go hunt," Leopardfur insisted. Her eyes watered in pain. "I have to meet them every day with fresh-kill, or…" She took a step forward. "I have to go back to RiverClan. They're all I have."

"Stop," Sasha said. She put out a paw in front of Leopardfur. "You're going to kill yourself pushing yourself this hard. What good are you to them like this? If your Clan is worth it, they can forgive a day of missed hunting."

Leopardfur sat, her head bowed. "I owe them so much," she rasped. "I can't…"

"You can," Sasha growled. "You need to rest." She pushed a paw firmly against Leopardfur's shoulder. Exhausted and weak, Leopardfur nearly fell to her side. "You can hardly stand, Leopard. Rest."

Hawk glanced over from where he was pinning Moth to the ground. "Mama always makes me take a nap, too," he meowed, nodding sympathetically.

"Your mother is a smart cat," Leopardfur grunted. She's right… I won't catch anything like this. She relented and laid on her side, her head falling to the ground. "Sasha… I have to go back to them," she murmured. "You can't possibly understand how it feels to be cut out from them."

Sasha's gaze was dark with sympathy. "I know loss," she replied. "But yours might not be permanent, unless you get yourself killed." She crouched beside Leopardfur. "Just let me take care of you today." Her voice was soft. "Okay?"

Leopardfur looked up into Sasha's gaze. A calming warmth settled over her. "Okay."

"Good," Sasha murmured. She leaned in and rasped her tongue across Leopardfur's pelt. "Now rest."

Leopardfur closed her eyes and allowed the queen to groom her. She couldn't remember the last time she had shared tongues with another cat… certainly it had been before TigerClan was formed. Instinctively, a rusty purr bubbled in her throat. She heard a quiet chuckle from Sasha as she continued her grooming.

Thank you.