Fireheart led Ravenflight and Snowpaw through the forest towards Sunningrocks, keeping his senses alert for any sign of prey. Although the sun was shining down on the forest, the mood of the patrol didn't match the beautiful weather at all. Fireheart didn't speak at all as they traversed through the territory, and Ravenflight's expression was grim. Even the normally cheerful Snowpaw was unusually solemn, obviously having realized that something was bothering the older warriors.

Four days had passed since Rainkit's murder. Bluestar had ordered that he send one extra border patrol along the ShadowClan border every day in the hopes of catching Darkstripe in the act. Unfortunately, they hadn't seen any sign of him on their territory since that fateful day. Fireheart suspected that Darkstripe was trying to lie low until ThunderClan finally decided to let their guard down.

A short while later, they came across a mouse burrowing through some leaves. It was a bit on the scrawny side, but it was still food, so it would have to do for now. Silently, Fireheart tapped Snowpaw with his tail and gestured towards the small creature. The small white apprentice looked up at him, and he flexed the claws on his right forepaw.

Catch it.

Snowpaw nodded and dropped into the hunting crouch. He surveyed the terrain in front of him as he had been instructed to do and checked to see the location of every twig, leaf, and any other pieces of debris that might give him away. Then, slowly but surely, he began to creep towards the mouse, keeping his pawsteps light as he advanced on his unsuspecting prey. Once he was about a tail-length away, he pounced, landing on the mouse with his claws outstretched. Before the small creature could make a sound, he nipped the back of its neck, killing it instantly. Triumphant, he sat up and turned around, his blue eyes gleaming with happiness.

"Well done, Snowpaw," Fireheart meowed, gently touching his nose to the younger tom's ear.

Snowpaw purred happily and touched his head briefly to Fireheart's chest. Thank you.

They continued on their way to Sunningrocks, pausing every so often when they spotted a potential catch. Snowpaw managed to catch another mouse, a squirrel, and even a rabbit. Fireheart felt a glimmer of pride as he saw the proud tilt to the white-furred tom's head. If nothing else, it was nice to remember that they still had a few things to be happy about in ThunderClan.

"He's improved a lot," Ravenflight remarked as Snowpaw buried his rabbit under a pile of leaves. "His speed is still a little off at times, but his technique is good. Have you started battle training yet?"

"A few moves, yes," Fireheart answered. "He knows the front paw swipe and the front paw blow, and we're working on the back kick now. We're still trying to figure out how to explain the best situations in which to use certain moves, but I have a feeling that's going to come with experience."

"Well, I'm sure you'll figure it out. You're a good mentor, Fireheart," the thin black tom meowed.

"Thanks, Ravenflight," Fireheart purred gratefully.

Ravenflight nodded, then meowed, "Speaking of mentors, isn't it about time that your kits were apprenticed? They must be about six moons by now."

"They're right around there," the flame-pelted tom answered. "I think I'm going to wait until after the next Gathering to speak to Bluestar about it. We've already got enough on our minds, and trying to find four new mentors at once is a bit stressful."

"That's true," Ravenflight agreed, nodding.

"Then again, Spotkit did say that he wants to train as a medicine cat, so I guess that would be one mentor taken care of," Fireheart remarked, half to himself.

"Probably a good idea too," his friend noted. "Yellowfang isn't getting any younger, and with all the danger in the forest, something might happen to her when she's out collecting herbs. We can't afford to lose her before she can train an apprentice to take her place."

"True, true," Fireheart meowed.

"Now that I think about it, it's probably almost time for Bramblekit and Tawnykit to become apprentices as well," Ravenflight meowed, looking thoughtful. "So that means we'll have...let's see...nine apprentices in training and only two kits in the nursery. And Sootkit and Sorrelkit will only be spending a few more moons in the nursery before they join the apprentices' den as well."

Fireheart nodded silently, waiting for his friend to finish his thought.

"It concerns me, that's all," the black-furred warrior meowed finally. "With everything that's going on in the forest, we'll want to keep up with training, but what are we going to do if, in a few moons, we don't have any kits in the nursery and no apprentices either? Speckletail is too old to have more kits, Brindleface's mate is dead, Willowpelt will probably want to spend a few seasons as a warrior before she decides to have another litter–if she does, that is–and I imagine that the same would be true for Sandstorm. And Goldenflower, well, I can't really see her taking another mate or having another litter after everything that happened with Tigerstar. Mousefur has made it clear that she isn't interested in ever having kits, and I don't know about Brightheart and Cinderheart, but they seem to like the life of a warrior and I can't imagine them wanting to settle down anytime soon."

"Maybe things will change in a few seasons," Fireheart suggested.

"Maybe," Ravenflight agreed. "All the same though, I think it's something worth keeping in mind."

"No, I agree with you," Fireheart replied. "I might speak to Bluestar and see what she thinks. She might want to delay a few apprentice ceremonies until we have more warriors, or we might have to think about taking in outside help..."

"Do you think the Clan would agree to that?" the black tom asked.

"They did with me," Fireheart reminded him.

"That's different, though," Ravenflight argued back. "You're Bluestar's son, so technically you're still a Clanborn warrior. I don't think the Clan would be as happy about taking in a rogue or another kittypet."

"But they didn't know that I was her son until a few moons ago," Fireheart pointed out calmly. "Up until then, they thought I was born in Twolegplace."

Ravenflight pondered his point for a moment, then nodded. "I suppose you're right."

The three cats continued on their way in silence for a while. Snowpaw caught two more mice, leaving them under mounds of dirt so he could collect them later. As they were nearing Sunningrocks, Ravenflight suddenly spoke up again.

"So, what's it like having kits?" he asked.

Fireheart paused for a moment. "Why do you ask?"

"I've always wondered," Ravenflight admitted. "Everyone talks so much about how lucky it is when two cats are expecting kits together, and I wanted to know if it was really that great."

"It is, actually," Fireheart replied genuinely, feeling a warm sensation in his chest as he recalled the joy in Sandstorm's eyes when she told him that she was expecting kits, and the pure happiness he had felt when he saw his four newborn children for the first time. "And probably better than they make it out to be. Having kits with Sandstorm was the best thing that ever happened to me. She's...amazing, just in every way possible, and even in times like this, Squirrelkit, Redkit, Rainkit, and Spotkit have a way of making it feel as though nothing could ever go wrong."

"Wow," Ravenflight meowed once he'd finished. "That does sound amazing."

"What about you?" the flame-colored deputy asked. "Would you ever want a mate and kits someday?"

Ravenflight hesitated for a moment. "I wouldn't mind having a mate," he replied after a while. "But I don't know if I could have kits. I mean, it's possible that something could work out, but going through all the fine details..."

"Why wouldn't you be able to have kits?" Fireheart asked, tilting his head to the side in confusion. "I mean, unless you've been to the Cutter–which I'm almost positive you haven't if you were born in ThunderClan–then you should be able to sire kits someday."

"Yeah, I mean, you're right about that," Ravenflight agreed. "But I mean, well, I guess I'm just not into any of the mollies in ThunderClan and I never really have been...if you know what I'm saying?"

"Ah," Fireheart meowed with a nod, finally understanding what his friend was trying to tell him. "But even so, if you have a mate someday and the two of you decide that you want children, maybe you could ask one of the queens for help. I'm sure they would understand. I imagine there must at least have been a few other instances where two toms were together and asked a queen to act as a surrogate for them."

"It's an idea," Ravenflight answered, nodding.

"Of course, if that doesn't work out, I could always just go back to Twolegplace and ask some of my old kittypet friends if they'll let you adopt one of their kits," Fireheart added, half-joking.

Ravenflight laughed. "Be sure to put in a good word for me if you do."

Soon, the sun was beginning to set, so they decided to head home for the day. Fireheart and Ravenflight helped carry Snowpaw's prey back to the camp, watching as the young apprentice skipped ahead, his head and tail held high. They were all worn out, but their spirits had lifted considerably since they had left on their hunting mission earlier that afternoon. All in all, it had been a fairly good day.

Yes, Ravenflight is gay as he was in canon. I don't know if he'll have a mate someday–pretty much everyone within his age range is either related to him or already has a mate–but it's something I'm considering. If he does have a mate, they'll definitely have kits of their own (adopted or surrogate, not sure which yet). He's also not the only gay character in my story, but I won't be providing any spoilers as to who the other one(s) is/are.

Fireheart is super chill about it, as is pretty much everyone else in ThunderClan. Homosexuality in the Warriors universe is different than in our world because there isn't a massive religion vs. LGBTQ+ debate that we have in the real world. They follow an organized religion, yes, but that religion doesn't have any rules about whether it's a "sin" to be with someone of the same gender. In fact, the only thing they really try to avoid is mating with a relative, but seeing as that's virtually impossible when you aren't allowed to take a mate outside of your own Clan, they've accepted that it's going to happen every so often. The general consensus is that second cousins or further down the line are what's acceptable if you don't have the option of taking a mate that isn't part of your bloodline.

The next chapter will be the Gathering...and the big confrontation, so get ready.

Thanks for reading!

-TheShadowedWarrior