Chapter 13

Kite awoke at dawn the next morning to find a dark, shadowy shape standing above her. The forest was still dark, since the trees blocked out any light, so Kite was unable to tell who it was. The shape was fluffy, its tail flicking back and forth, and its two blue eyes glowed icily, even in the darkness.

"Kite!" the shape cried, pouncing on the she-cat. Kite tried to wriggle away, but the stranger held her down. "I'm so glad your friend decided to bring me to you! Now I can take you back to ThunderClan!"

"Glacier?" Kite mewed, finally squirming out from under the cat. "Glacier, I told you, I'm not going back to ThunderClan."

"My name is Glacierpelt now," Glacier muttered, shaking his pelt. "And you have to live in ThunderClan. You can't just be wandering around in some foreign territory! Especially not when you're only a moon away from bearing kits!"

"Shut your trap," Kite snapped. "I can live anywhere I want! And besides, how do you know I'm pregnant?"

"Look at you!" Glacier cried. "Even though it's only been a short time, you've swelled up quite a bit! When your kits are born, they're going to need their father to look after them."

Kite snarled, narrowing her eyes. "You may be their biological father," she meowed. "But you'll never come anywhere near them!"

"Kite?" Another familiar voice called, Ravenpaw rounded the corner, his dark eyes frantic with worry. "Are you alright? How's Barley?"

"He's hanging on," Kite replied. "But I'm not sure how much longer he'll be able to stick around."

"Well," Ravenpaw meowed. "We're going to have to push our luck a bit. You see, there's something going on in the forest right now, and Firestar can't spare more than two warriors. He asked me to bring Barley to the Clan so the medicine cat and her apprentice could fix him up."

"He won't be able to make that kind of a journey!" Kite cried. "He's as good as dead if we try to pull a stunt like that!"

"What?" A third voice meowed. Ashfur, a light gray tom with darker flecks splattered across his flanks, stepped out from behind a boulder. "What do you mean? You can't just give up hope! Look, I brought some herbs that Cinderpelt gave me. They're supposed to give him enough strength to make a good portion of the journey." The tom dropped a bundle of herbs at Kite's paws. She picked them up and turned back to Barley's hollow.

"Hey, Barley?" Kite called, dropping the herbs at his paws. "How would you like to take a little trip?"

XXXX

It was sunset by the time the five cats came within view of ThunderClan's territory. Barley's strengthening herbs seemed to be wearing off. His eyelids drooped, and he was constantly complaining about the pain in his limbs.

"There should be a warrior escort waiting for us just past the boundary line," Ashfur meowed as they stepped over the border. They wandered through the forest for a bit before two young toms came into view.

"Sootfur! Rainwhisker!" Ashfur cried, bounding forward to meet his Clanmates.

"Shut your mouth!" the lighter gray tom hissed. "Do you want to get discovered? Now, come on. A large party like yours shouldn't be wandering through the forest alone. Especially not at night."

"What's going on?" Kite whispered urgently.

"A huge band of rogues was reported on our territory," Glacierpelt replied."Cats have been dying left and right. First it was Brightheart, then Whitepaw, and now Mousefur and Ferncloud, too. We've got patrols out all day and all night. Only the strongest warriors are allowed out of camp. Training's been cancelled for the apprentices until further notice."

"That's terrible!" Kite cried.

"Yeah," Glacierpelt meowed. "And there're no queens expecting kits. Only queen's Goldenflower, and she's too old to have kits. That's why I wanted you to come back to ThunderClan. So we could have more cats to train."

"Glacierpelt," Kite mewed. "As much as I'd like to help the cause, you know I can't stay. I need to go back to Tabitha, and Odin's probably worried, too."

"I know, I know," Glacierpelt murmured just as they reached the camp. "Well, come on. We've got to make sure Barley lives!"

Kite placed her tail on Barley's shoulder as soon as they entered the camp, guiding the blind tom into the medicine den, where Cinderpelt and Leafpaw had already made up a nest for him.

"He's here," Cinderpelt sighed. "Lovely. Are you all OK? Where's Ashfur? Did you get ambushed?"

"No, no," Kite mewed, helping Barley settle into the empty moss nest on the ground. "We were just fine."

"Well," Cinderpelt meowed. "You're the lucky ones." Her eyes clouded with greif, and she looked away for a moment, but quickly returned to reality. "Leafpaw," she meowed, turning to Kite's sister. "Get me some alder roots, willow bark, some chamomile, and anything else you can find. He might have a few broken bones, so get some comfrey, too."

"Yes, Cinderpelt," Leafpaw meowed, darting away to the back of the den.

"You should get some rest," Cinderpelt suggested, turning to Kite.

"I will," Kite replied, nodding. "But first, I've got a question for you." Cinderpelt's ears pricked curiously, and she turned her full attention on Kite. "Can you tell me if I'm...pregnant?"

Cinderpelt's eyes widened. "You're a bit young to be bearing kits," she meowed. "But, if you want me to."

Kite nodded, lying down in a spare nest on the other side of the room. Cinderpelt pressed her ear against the young she-cat's chest and listened. After a while, she began massaging her belly with her front paws.

"I believe you are," Cinderpelt replied when she was done. Kite groaned. "You should consider yourself lucky," Cinderpelt sighed mournfully. "I've always wanted to have a mate and kits. That's the only problem with my job, besides the fact that I don't get to participate in battles very often. I've had to keep my romances secret ever since I vowed to serve my Clan in this way."

"Romances?" Kite asked. "Are you having an affair?"

"What?" Cinderpelt mewed incredulously. "Me? What are you talking about?"

"You said that you had to keep your love for another cat secret."

"I said no such thing."

"You did so!"

"I'm not in love," Cinderpelt insisted. "I believe you have to go now. I'm sure your father is very eager to see you."

Kite sighed, but padded obediently back into the clearing. She found her father sharing prey with Sandstorm near the fresh-kill pile.

Sandstorm was the first to notice her daughter's presence. "Kite!" she cried, bounding over to rub muzzles with the young she-cat. "I'm so glad to see you! How have you been? Are you hungry, or have you already eaten today? Did you get home safely? Where have you been?"

"It's nice to see you, too!" Kite purred. "It's fine. I'm not hungry. All I really want is to move into the nursery."

"The nursery?" Sandstorm asked, looking down at Kite's belly. "Why, you've certainly gotten larger! Are you sure you're..."

"Yes," Kite nodded.

"Well," Sandstorm meowed, her eyes lighting up. "Who's the lucky tom."

"Don't ask," Kite groaned.

"Is it Ravenpaw or Barley?" Sandstorm asked. "Because you have been around them an awful lot."

"Sandstorm!" Kite hissed, embarrased. "They're just my friends. And the father is...in this Clan.

"Who?" Sandstorm prompted.

Kite sighed. "It's Glacier," she muttered softly. "I mean, Glacierpelt."

"Glacierpelt?" Sandstorm mewed. "Why, I didn't think he had it in him! Why did you choose him, though? He doesn't seem like the type you'd be interested in."

"Actually," Kite admitted. "He kind of chose me. And there was really no way I could refuse. Trust me, I tried."

"Well, I'm glad you've finally decided to settle down and start a family," Sandstorm meowed. "Shall I tell your father?"

"Later," Kite meowed. "I just want to get settled in first."

"Come on, then," Sandstorm meowed. "I'm sure Ferncloud's old nest is still good." Sandstorm led her daughter into the nursery, where she was quickly introduced to Goldenflower. The young ginger queen flopped herself into Ferncloud's old nest and closed her eyes to sleep.

XXXX

Kite was unsure of how long it had been since she had fallen asleep, but it was at least midnight when she opened her eyes again. The camp was silent except for a faint whisper near the back of the camp. Kite shifted slightly in her nest and strained to listen.

"I'm so glad you're safe," It was Cinderpelt who spoke.

"Don't worry," a deeper, more masculine voice replied. "I'm not going to lose myself to those mangy rogues."

"You'd better not," Cinderpelt's voice was light, teasing, almost. "I don't know what I'd do without you. Hey, I saw Kite today. Did you hear that she's pregnant?"

"Oh, Cinderpelt," the second cat purred. "You gossip like an elder."

"I'm a bit jealous of her, I have to admit. I just wish I weren't a medicine cat, so that we could settle down and start a family of our own, too."

"Did you happen to catch who the father is?"

"I heard it was Ravenpaw."

"Ravenpaw? You mean, the loner?"

"Yeah."

"But he's so much older than her. I'll bet she got raped by a rogue or something."

"That's a horrible thought!"

"It would be kind of funny, though. If you really think about it, I mean. 'Cause what if she got raped by one of the rogues attacking our Clan, and then she bore their kits. Then we'd kind of have an advantage, you know? We could use them as spies!"

"I don't think Kite would be willing to give up her kits, even if she didn't want to have them."

Cinderpelt was right, for the most part. She had been raped, but she was unwilling to give up her kits to use as spies or anything like that. She closed her eyes again and drifted off to sleep.