Valorclaw blinked open his eyes. A faint light was streaming through the holes in the Warrior's den, and the meows of cats outside told him it was sunhigh. Parting his jaws in a gaping yawn, he stood up and shook off the moss clinging to his pelt then carefully picked his way past his mate, Whispersong and outside. He could smell that frost and rain was on the way, Leafbare was soon arriving. The clearing was brighter than usual; leaves with shades of reds, browns, oranges and yellows clustered in corners and plastered themselves to the floor. He glanced at the fresh-kill pile, which was pitifully small, and trotted to the entrance of the camp. The pile needed to be well stocked ready for the harsh Leafbare ahead. As he neared the opening in the ferns, he spotted Thistlefire stood watch over by the entrance.
"Hi, Thistlefire. I'm going hunting, the pile looks a bit small today." he meowed, passing through the flattened ferns. Thistlefire turned his sleek grey head towards him.
"Sure, you'll be lucky to find a mouse or two in Leaffall though. All these leaves are making it impossible to walk around without making a single noise!" the grey tom meowed back. Valorclaw smiled.
"I'm sure there'll be something out today. Tell Whispersong I'll bring her something nice for us to share!" he called over his shoulder, bounding away into the forest.
"Will do!" Thistlefire's voice faded away as the camp disappeared from his sight. Sniffing the air, he slackened his pace and carefully placed each paw on the ground-trying not to frighten away any prey nearby. Something scuttled across the ground near a bramble bush. A small vole was scrabbling away at the ground, oblivious to Valorclaw entirely. Slowly, he creeped towards it, all of his senses alert. Stepping lightly, he cornered the creature and paused for a moment. A heartbeat later, he leaped, kicking up leaves and dirt as he sprang. He landed squarely on the mouse, and killed it with a blow to the neck. The warmth and delicious smell of fresh-kill made him want to eat the mouse straight away, but he knew he must feed his clan first. He quickly buried it under the bramble bush and turned to hunt for more. As time went by, he had caught another skinny vole and surprisingly a large pigeon, but accidentally let a plump mouse escape through his claws. He returned to camp with his jaws full of prey.
"Hey! Nice catch!" Thistlefire exclaimed as he padded through the entrance to the camp. Valorclaw gave him a thankful nod then dropped his prey on the fresh-kill pile. He picked up the pigeon and settled down under a beech tree to wait for his mate. The sun had sunk into the horizon and painted the sky with pink and orange.
"Hey." a voice sounded from behind him. A pretty she-cat with a browny-grey coat appeared from behind the beech tree. Her tail striped with darker fur, and her eyes as green as clovers. Valorclaw's eyes lit up in delight. "Hi! I brought us this." he nudged the pigeon towards her politely. Whispersong smiled and settled down next to him, their pelts brushing affectionately.
"You're such a good hunter, you know that?" she meowed happily between mouthfuls of pigeon. Valorclaw grinned.
"Well, I guess it runs through the family; my father was a good hunter too back when he was young." he turned his head to survey the camp and spotted the kits from the nursery tumbling around play fighting.
"Hey... have you thought about having kits? I mean, we have been together for a while now." he asked nervously while shuffling his paws. Whispersong looked at him with gentle eyes.
"That would be great. I-I hoped you would ask at some point..." she replied blushing. Valorclaw nuzzled his mate happily. A grey cat by the elders den was watching the couple closely, frowning unhappily at times. Valorclaw noticed him watching, and excused himself from his meal to sit with the elder.
"What is it, Rockstripe?" he asked the elder curiously.
"Her." Rockstripe grumbled nodding towards Whispersong who was busy munching on the pigeon. "You cannot have kits with that half clan cat. Our family has been true Dawnclan blood ever since Dawnclan began. I'm not going to let you break that tradition." he added sternly. Valorclaw looked outraged.
"But father! Whispersong is a great cat! She's kind, loyal and I'm sure she'd be a great mother. Just because her parents were Rogue and Dawnclan doesn't mean she's any different from the rest of us!" he protested angrily. Rockstripe growled.
"Listen here, you will find a different mate with pure Dawnclan blood, otherwise I will officially denounce you as my son. I shall NOT have this intolerance!" he snarled at his son. Valorclaw opened his mouth to protest again, but paused and closed it, lowering his ears and tail in defeat.
"Yes father." he obeyed reluctantly, looking at his paws. Rockstripe nodded and rested his head on his paws to sleep. Valorclaw trudged back to Whispersong to finish his meal.
"What was that about?" she asked licking her whiskers clean.
"Nothing important. Listen, I'm pretty tired after todays hunt and I'll be getting up early for dawn patrol tomorrow, I'm going to sleep. I'll see you tomorrow." he made up an excuse to avoid talking to her about the conversation he just had. Whispersong blinked.
"Oh, ok. Have a nice snooze." she purred licking his cheek. He didn't return her gesture, and padded into the Warrior's den. He curled up in his usual spot and tucked his tail up to his nose. This'll all work out, somehow... he thought to himself. Sighing, he closed his eyes and dropped into a deep sleep.