To those of you who have remarked that if Featherwhisker were the father he wouldn't be the first medicine cat to take a mate. You're absolutely right. But Thrushpelt would never break a rule himself (at least not one so important) and so he has trouble imagining others breaking them.
By request, I'm adding another chapter. This was originally a one-shot.
Lionheart and Thrushpelt returned to the warriors den. The sun was barely rising in the sky. Sunstar had ordered an especially early dawn patrol today. More of a pre-dawn patrol. Lionheart and Thrushpelt (as well as Redpaw and Willowpaw who had stumbled back to their own den, yawning and stumbling on their paws) would have complained to each other a lot more had they not known there was a good reason for Sunstar's newfound insistence on more patrols. What they did not understand was why he insisted the two apprentices needed to join this patrol earlier in the morning.
"Poor Redpaw kept complaining," sighed Thrushpelt. "And Willowpaw tried to remain stoic but she kept stumbling on her paws. Why did Sunstar think we should take them?"
"Maybe it was Adderfang's idea," suggested Lionheart. "You know what he's like."
Thrushpelt thought for a moment and shook his head. "No, they're his own kits. Whatever his other faults, Adderfang always thinks of his kits first among his Clanmates."
Lionheart smiled mischievously. "Well, I guess you would know more than me what that's like." Was that an edge to his meow?
Thrushpelt sighed. "I'll go visit them later. When it's not so early that any self-respecting non-patrolling cat, including kits, isn't going to be awake." Had that edge been admonishment?
"Morning, all," Robinwing stepped out of the warriors den and yawned dramatically. "C'mon Stormtail, Brindleface, Sparrowpelt, Whitestorm. Up and at em." Energetic as usual, the she-cat trotted toward the tunnel entrance at high speed though she had yawned seconds earlier.
"Can't we get something to eat first?" asked Whitestorm.
"There's nothing on the fresh-kill pile, remember," Brindleface pointed out. "We gave the last of it to the nursing queens last night."
"Oh yeah," Whitestorm looked embarrassed.
"We might happen to catch something," Robinwing stated. "But remember to share with everyone on the patrol and if we catch more than one piece we should probably take it back to camp. Especially if it's something big like a squirrel."
"Happen to catch something? Aren't you a hunting patrol," asked Lionheart.
"No, we're the dawn patrol," meowed Whitestorm.
"But we're the dawn patrol."
"No, you're the pre-dawn patrol," Sparrowpelt spoke up. "Sunstar thinks we should have one of each now."
Was the threat of ShadowClan that bad? Thrushpelt was too tired to ask and from the look on his face, Lionheart was too. Two days previously ShadowClan and ThunderClan had had a line-up on either side of the Thunderpath, each accusing the other of stealing prey. There was precious little of that in leafbare and everyone was feeling combative. Sunstar needed to make sure ThunderClan was respected and feared but it also meant that ThunderClan needed to be careful of sneak attacks. ShadowClan was known for them.
"Morning...again," groaned Lionheart. Thrushpelt struggled to his feet. He was in the warriors den. He glanced outside. Way past sunhigh. "Did we actually just sleep for most of the day?"
Lionheart looked outside too. "Yes, I think we just did. Must be the pre-dawn patrol. What a crazy idea."
"Sunstar wouldn't have set us on the pre-dawn patrol, if it wasn't necessary," sighed Thrushpelt. "I just think that leaf-bare is taking a toll on all of us regardless of extra patrols. We better go out and catch something for our Clan though. We don't want to have done nothing useful today."
"You sure slept forever!" piped up a tiny voice.
Thrushpelt looked down. Tiny Mosskit was sitting at his feet. Her face looking upward, her head tilted to the side and her eyes wide and as cute as possible.
Thrushpelt backed into a clump of moss. Runningkit and Stonekit rolled out. Mousekit jumped out and whined, "Watch where you step!" Thrushpelt sighed. Only Mousekit would say that to a senior warrior. "What are you doing here, Mousekit?"
"We wanted to come inside," Runningkit fidgeted from one foot to another. "And you two were sleeping so soundly that you didn't even notice us!"
"It was Stonekit's idea!" purred Mosskit.
"Tattletale," muttered Stonekit.
"It's not surprising," Stonepelt the elder poked his head into the den. "Bluefur thought she was free to poke her head into the warriors den and wake up good, hard-working sleeping cats whenever she wanted.
Thrushpelt purred. "I remember."
Lionheart looked confused. "Before you were born," Thrushpelt pointed out to him.
"Oh," Lionheart stepped out of the den. Thrushpelt blinked. Why the abruptness? Just then Mistykit stuck her head into the den.
"Can I come in yet?" she asked.
"You were supposed to keep an eye out for spies like him," said Stonekit, pointing at Stonepelt.
"Don't talk about the elders that way," scolded Thrushpelt. "And stay out of the warriors den until you're warriors, hear me."
"Yes, Thrushpelt," Stonekit meowed, ears drooping. "Sorry," meowed Mosskit, following him out of the nursery. Mistykit boldly jumped in through the entrance, took the fastest look around known to cat and scampered out. Mousekit and Runningkit had no choice but to follow.
Stonepelt looked admiringly at Thrushpelt. "They really look up to you. You're a lucky cat."
Thrushpelt purred "I know." He followed the kits out of the den and joined Lionheart at the tunnel. "Where should we go hunting?"
Lionheart and Thrushpelt pushed their way through what looked to be the beginning of a snowstorm. "W-e-e-e should be-e-e in-si-i-ide." Chattered Lionheart's teeth.
"We slept most of the day. I wanted to catch something. But no prey will be out now either," meowed Thrushpelt. He looked at Lionheart with concern. If Lionheart, who had the thickest pelt in the Clan, was shivering then he definitely wasn't imagining how cold it was.
Just then Lionheart looked up a tree and saw a squirrel being blown about by the wind as it tried to get to its den. "That squirrel is as stupid as we are!" He gasped and dashed up the tree trunk. The squirrel, seeing him coming, panicked. This caused it to slip and fall out of the tree.
Second time this season, thought Thrushpelt angrily. Then he noticed this squirrel was not moving normally. It seemed to have an injured leg and was struggling to stand up again. He dashed towards it and killed it quickly. "So that's why it was having so much trouble," he said to his Clanmate.
Lionheart slid out of the tree himself. "How could it have gotten injured?" He questioned.
Thrushpelt shrugged. "Who knows. A falling tree maybe or a random snowfall. C'mon, the sooner we get back to camp, the better."
"I injured the squirrel," a voice said through the snow. "It was mine. Came over from my territory."
Lionheart and Thrushpelt moved closer together. A reddish pelt was becoming visible through the blowing snow. "Well, it's ours now!" Lionheart meowed defiantly.
"Well, I'm not sure about that," said Oakheart in an offhand voice. The arrogance in his meow made Thrushpelt bristle. "I caught it first you know."
Thrushpelt stepped in between the arrogant Oakheart and the now-bristling Lionheart. He forced his voice to be calm. "We shouldn't fight in this storm. And we should each get back to our own camp."
To his surprise, Oakheart nodded and backed away across the border. Thrushpelt and Lionheart heard a splash as he jumped unnaturally into the frigid water. The ThunderClan cats shivered just thinking about it in this weather.
"I didn't like his tone," Thrushpelt muttered. "He was on our territory. He spends too much time here."
"Isn't that the cat that made that announcement on the Highrock?" yowled Lionheart at the top of his lungs. The storm was picking up.
Thrushpelt nodded. "We've got to tell Sunstar about this."
"No, we don't," shouted Lionheart. "He let us have the prey. The Gathering's in two days. If something happens before then we should bring it up there."
"I'd like to keep an eye on him just the same." Thrushpelt had no idea why he was so suspicious of this particular RiverClan cat but he was.
"Let's watch him at the Gathering," Lionheart yowled in Thrushpelt's ear. The storm was picking up. "But first let's get this squirrel home! Something tells me we're gonna need something for the Clan to withstand a siege of weather invasion."