It was two dawns later. The tip of the sun was just peeking over the horizon and Duskfur was absolutely exhausted. She'd spent the last two days helping the cats recover from the battle between all clans. She could still hardly beleive that WindClan and ShadowClan had attacked so openly on them! They were a small clan, and the climate was always warm, maybe a little warmer in Leafbare, but they hadn't much prey.
What was their motive? What had they that the other clans didn't? Maybe it was because their clan was usually full, unless Leafbare is counted. Other than that, there was just the land itself. Perhaps they were planning on taking over the whole forest, and they wanted to do it a little bit at a time. CloudClan's territory would be a good place to start, after all. It was about twenty fox lengths smaller than the rest of the land, but it had a little bit of everything in it. There were river, meadow, forests, even a rocky place right next to the river's shore.
But if it had come to that, then why not save the smallest clan for last? Why not get the best territory, RiverClan, first? Or even ThunderClan? Why CloudClan. It had to be food. But last that Duskfur had checked, there were no shortage of food between clans. ShadowClan had plenty of food, what with their wonderful mice running around; WindClan feasted on rabbits; RiverClan grew fat on fish; ThunderClan had it's forests where rodents and birds pranced around, just waiting to be caught; CloudClan? CloudClan had a little bit of everything.
A deafening yowl from right outside of her den caused the middle-aged she-cat to jump. She hadn't scented anyone coming, maybe because she had dozed off. But the sun had gone up just a bit. A message from StarClan? She focused on going back to sleep.
She saw herself in her den, as though she were awake, and two small kits rested in between her front paws. They were small, newborns, and she felt as though she could just reach down and lick them. But as she watched, the kits rolled away, and then a third kit popped out from around the corner. They played for a moment, then the third kit began to mew as one of the first two, a tortoiseshell with green eyes, started to fade.
She woke with a start. StarClan, help me! What did it mean?
The next dawn she woke up a little earlier, but this time she heard the yowl. She knew it wasn't from StarClan because moments later Hazeltail came limping in and Woodclaw was pressed into his side, leaning for support.
"She's having her kits, but something's wrong! There's blood everywhere in the den and-" Woodclaw collapsed on the floor. Heatherstar and Shadowstorm were in moments later, and Hazeltail sat back to watch as it began to unfold. The rest of the clan had been awakened by her meows of pain, but Heatherstar shooed them out.
"What is happening, Duskfur?" Heatherstar asked calmly.
"StarClan help her! She's too weak from the battle, and having the kits is sucking away at her strength! She-" Her eyes fell sadly upon Hazeltail. "She may not make it."
Hazeltail was too shocked to speak.
"Do all that you can!" Heatherstar ordered gently.
"Oh, it hurts so bad...!" Woodclaw moaned.
"Hurry, get the blood flowing! Lick it!" She put the kit in front of Hazeltail who began licking it without hesitation. "That's it, that's right, Woodclaw, it'll be okay." She pushed one in front of Shadowstorm. "Lick!" He hesitated, but his tongue made tender, rapid movements up and down the kit's body.
"I'm not going to make it," she whispered. "Hazeltail, I love you, but I'm not going to make it. StarClan calls to me..."
"No! Woodclaw! Fight it! Tell them it's not your time!" Hazeltail was licking her face and she let out a final cry of pain as the final kit made it's way out.
"Heatherstar, lick!" Heatherstar licked it as she had done only once before, when she'd assisted in Duskfur's own birth. It seemed like hours later that Woodclaw's kits nestled next to her, and her breathing slowed to a stop.
"Woodclaw!" He whispered. He buried his face in her side, next to the kittens.
"I'm sorry," Duskfur whispered. "I'm so, so sorry."
Heatherstar hesitated as she watched the newborns lick their dead mother, "I'm almost certain Rainfur will suckle them," she whispered. "Now you have the honor of naming them." I don't know how you name kits, so I'm just gonna do it in a way I made up.
He lay his black nose on the first-born, "She was born at dawn, and her fur is gray as dawn's clouds. This is Dawnkit." Dawnkit mewed as if she recognized her new name. Duskfur was suddenly tense. The message from StarClan. What had it meant?
"Dawnkit." Heatherstar touched her nose to the kit's.
"His eyes are as green as yours, Heatherstar, and her fur is light brown. This is Greenkit."
"Greenkit." She touched the kit's nose with her own. He laid his nose on the kit that was born last.
"Her eyes are yellow as the sun, and her pelt his orange. This is Orangekit."
"Orangekit." She touched noses with the final one.
"Great StarClan!" Duskfur cried. Greenkit rolled over into the other kittens, and the eldest, Dawnkit, cried out in shock as Greenkit lay flat on the ground and did not move. He did not move. He did not breathe. He did not live.
"Greenkit," Hazeltail whimpered. "Go, now, hunt with your mother and StarClan."
Without a word, Heatherstar and Hazeltail picked up each of the remaining kits and Duskfur sighed as they dragged her body out in front of the Highrock. Hazeltail and Heatherstar carried them hurriedly into the nursery and away from prying eyes.
"Rainfur!" Heatherstar meowed. Rainfur had yet to move out of the nursery. "We need your milk."
"Who's kits are those?" Rainfur asked suspiciously.
Hazeltail set Dawnkit down. "This is Dawnkit, and this is Orangekit. They are the kin of Woodclaw and I."
"Why can't she suckle them?" Rainfur asked, though she was certain she knew the answer.
"She was too weak from the battle to cope with the kitting," Heatherstar sat down and wrapped her tail around her paws, and the kit. "She didn't make it."
Rainfur looked shocked. "I- I- I have plenty of milk left. But... they're Woodclaw's, my best friend! If I couldn't protect my own, how can I do so for Woodclaw?"
"I do not ask of you to protect them," Hazeltail said sadly. "All I ask is that you nurse them until they are of age."
"Very well," Rainfur said sadly, and she guided them to her belly.
"Thank you."
They left and Heatherstar hopped on top of the Highrock. "Let all cats old enough to catch their own prey gather below the Highrock for a clan meeting." But it was unnecessary. Everyone was watching her intently, and glancing at Woodclaw and the dead kit next to her.
"What happened?" Pantherpelt called.
"It was the battle. She was too weak and hurt for the kitting. She didn't make it." A shock cry went through the crowd. "Duskfur saved the three kits, but one died moments after being named. Rainfur is suckling them."
She flicked her tail in dismissal and they all left, but at night her closest friends, Heatherstar, Hazeltail, the kits, Rainfur, and Blossomfur just a few of them, spent the night with her so she would be buried in the morning with Greenkit.