Chapter Four

The next morning, Spottedmoon was tired from the battle, her muscles aching and sore. She rolled over in her nest, smelling the weariness that hung over the warrior's den like a dark cloud. Would they be able to move past the death of their Clanmate?

Spottedmoon sighed and pushed herself to her paws, wavering for a moment before shaking herself off, fluffing her pelt to warm herself. Leaf-bare is cold this moon and Spottedmoon grumbles under her breath about it, trotting out of the warrior's den and scanning the clearing.

Pineriver was nowhere to be seen, which was to be expected after the close call with Otterkit the night before. Sorrow for her fellow Clanmate had Spottedmoon veering towards the nursing den and ducking inside, finding the orange queen easily. Otterkit and Creekkit were curled into their mother, fast asleep and bundled over each other in the curl of Pineriver's body.

Not wanting to wake the two kits, Spottedmoon moved as quietly as she could, lifting and lowering her paws, sliding her body closer until she was right beside Pineriver. The orange queen stiffened and raised her head, gleaming eyes flashing in the near darkness. She lifted her lips, baring gleaming white fangs, a dangerous growl rumbling low in her throat. The fur on her scruff was rising and bristling as she fluffed her fur out, clearly feeling extra protective of her two young kits.

"Good morning, Pineriver." Spottedmoon greeted politely, dropping her body down and pressing low to the ground, her silver tipped tail waving slowly behind her. She was doing her best to seem as small and non-threatening as she possibly could. Pineriver didn't answer, the low growl continuing so Spottedmoon inched backward, the growl slowly growing softer. Spottedmoon felt sorrow for her Clanmate and the distress she had been through with missing her kit. "I am going to go hunting," Spottedmoon continued, keeping her mew soft and gentle. "Would you like me to pick you up some fresh-kill?" She waited with bated breath to see what the still growling queen would say, hoping she would answer.

There was a pause and then the growl tapered off as Pineriver stopped bristling but kept her intense stare on her deputy. Spottedmoon continued to gaze just past the queen and her kits, not wanting to show any interest in the tiny cats, for fear of igniting Pineriver's rage.

"Please bring back a rabbit or mice. Nothing else." Pineriver softly growled, curling even tighter around her two tiny kits protectively. Spottedmoon bowed her head in acknowledgment and slowly backed away, paw-step by paw-step until she emerged back into the budding sunlight. Shaken but completely understanding why Pineriver was so on guard, Spottedmoon turned to the entrance of the Clan camp and began walking, only pausing when she heard the quick call of Brightstar.

"Spottedmoon!" The black and white leader trotted over, her blue eyes glowing fiercely in the beginning sunlight, her fur lacking the usual shine but looking as soft and fluffy as usual. "May I join you on your hunting?" Brightstar meowed, looking anxiously back at her den before shaking herself off and looking hopefully at her deputy and friend.

"Of course! I just spoke with Pineriver," Spottedmoon began, padding side-by-side with her friend and leader as they headed out into the forest.

"How is she doing? How are the kits?" Brightstar interrupted, worry for Pineriver in her blue eyes.

"She was..." Spottedmoon paused, searching for the right words to describe the on guard queen. "She was being protective over her kits. I would advise that none of the males enter the nursing den while Pineriver and her kits are in there for a few suns. She is shaken and the slightest thing could set her off right now. She isn't thinking clearly or even at all, right now she operating on instinct and instinct alone."

The two she-cats fell silent, contemplating the terrible thing that had happened during the battle.

"Why did Flarestar want Otterkit?" Spottedmoon meowed curiously, small white fangs flashing as she spoke. Brightstar glanced at her friend, seeing the subtle muscles in her strong shoulders and the power she held in each paw step. Something about Spottedmoon seemed dangerous, even to her friend but she knew deep in her heart that Spottedmoon was devoted to this Clan with everything in her.

"I suspect it may have something to do with Pineriver's choice to mate with Stoneblaze, the tom from Riverclan that died during the last leaf-fall." Brightstar meowed and Spottedmoon halted, staring at the she-cat with shock.

"I thought she mated with Talonscar!" Spottedmoon exclaimed.

"It's true, he cares for the kits and Pineriver as though she is his mate and those are his kits but it was Stoneblaze that fathered the kits. Pineriver came to me and told me when she first became aware she was carrying kits. I told her I would protect her and keep her secret and I have." Brightstar looked seriously at Spottedmoon. "What I have told you, you cannot tell anyone else. Not even Pineriver. She was so ashamed of what she had done that she cut it off with the tom from Riverclan and never looked back. I know she cared for him but in the end, Pineriver cherished her true Clan too much to leave it for a tom."

"I had no idea she was...she..." Spottedmoon trailed off, uncertain of how to phrase it without it sounding like she was judging her Clanmate.

"She refuses to think of it or even mention it to me so I do not pry."

They fell into silence, Brightstar catching two squirrels and Spottedmoon finding a mouse and a mole. There was a rustle in the bushes and Spottedmoon perked up, gently setting down her two kills and slowly drawing closer, dropping into her hunting crouch and ghosting over leaves and sticks like they weren't even there.

She saw a flash of white fur and her heart quickened, reacting to the scent of a rabbit. Moving carefully, Spottedmoon got closer until she was just far away enough that she wouldn't scare off the rabbit. Gathering up her muscles, she leaped, landing squarely on the rabbits back and snapping the spine with one quick bite.

Moving off the rabbit, Spottedmoon picked it up by the scruff, nodding thankfully at Brightstar when she saw her friend had scooped up her other two kills. Walking together in companionable silence, they headed back to their camp and their clan.

Stretching out on a smooth, heated rock, Spottedmoon purred low in her throat. The sun was shining down, making the silver dapples on her tail seem like liquid drops that shimmered against her soft black fur. Rolling over on the rock, Spottedmoon gazed up at the clear blue sky with distant silver eyes.

All that she had learned about Pineriver was swirling through her head, keeping her from fully relaxing.

A cloud shaped like a bundle of ferns wrapped into a ball shape caught her eye. Nostalgia flooded through her, making her remember the times when she was a kit and would play with Brightstar, who was also a kit at the time. One of their favorite things to do was watch the clouds and pick out shapes in them.

It is a kittenish thing to do, to stare up at the clouds and pick out shapes but it comforted Spottedmoon with memories and she never completely stopped. Spotting a cloud with a bird shape, Spottedmoon swiped at it, playfully imagining herself catching the prey and taking it back to her Clan.

"What are you doing?"

So deep in searching for shapes in the clouds, Spottedmoon never heard the paw steps of her clanmate so when she heard his deep, curious voice, she yelped and toppled to the side, roughly colliding with him. He yowled with shock as they rolled down the slight hill, bumping into each other before tumbling into a small pile at the base.

"Owww..."

Spottedmoon cringed at the groan of pain and slowly opened her silver eyes, gazing up into the face of the handsome gray and white tom with playful amber eyes.

"Sorry, Finchflight." Spottedmoon meowed softly, looking away. He laughed, his large body vibrating against hers.

"It's okay, I just have a few bumps, nothing to keep me from hunting.

He winked and she felt her pelt flush with heat. Wiggling out from underneath him, she gave her chest a few quick licks to hide her embarrassment before looking up at him.

"I, um, I think I am going to head back to camp now." Spottedmoon meowed quickly and trotted away, only pausing to glance back once she was deep enough in the trees that he wouldn't see her but she could still see him.

Finchflight was sitting at the bottom of the small hill, his black striped tail wrapped around his large paws, his head tipped to the side and his amber eyes alight with curiosity as he stared after her. Startled, Spottedmoon hurried on, refusing to look back again and refusing to consider how he had made all her worries disappear with nothing more than a few short words and an accidental tumble down a hill.