"They're so cute!" Fernwillow meowed excitedly. "My kits! Your kits! Our kits! I love
them so much!"
Gingerclaw licked his mate's side gently. "Fernwillow, they're beautiful."
"What should we name them?"
Gingerclaw didn't know, he had used up his only good idea on Petalkit. "How about we
wait until they open their eyes to decide." He meowed hopefully.
"Sure." Fernwillow replied and lowered her voice. "What about Smallkit? Honeyclaw
doesn't want her."
Gingerclaw closed his eyes and took a deep breath. "Honeyclaw wanted to join
Shadowclan, but I said no. She went kind of crazy and threatened to hurt Smallkit, so
Blacktail calmed her down and said that we needed to take her."
Fernwillow looked down at her kits, thinking about what it would be like if one of them
got hurt. It would almost be unbearable for her, how could Honeyclaw be so cold-
hearted?
"Blacktail will bring Smallkit to the border tonight and I will bring her here." Gingerclaw
meowed briskly, seeing the fear for his mate's kits in her eyes. Fernwillow turned her
head to stare at him. Gingerclaw couldn't believe he had ever thought her eyes were
creepy. Sure they used to look like clear pools of water, but now they looked even better
to him. They had sort of a strange white glint to them in the light, but he thought that they
were pretty either way.
"Um hello?" Fernwillow mewed with a strange look on her face. "What are you going to
do to disguise her scent?"
"Well, first I have some crowfood that I put by the Thunderpath a few sunrises ago, so
she will roll in it to cover up her scent. Then she'll roll on the Thunderpath when there
are no monsters on it. I will bring her here and introduce her to Stripestar and hope that
he will let her stay."
"Okay, be careful." Fernwillow replied worriedly. Gingerclaw nodded and padded out
into the Shadowclan camp. He had to wait a couple moments for his eyes to adjust to the
bright light and noticed that Darkfur was right next to him.
"How are your kits?" She asked friendly. "The little gray tom looks like he'll be a good
hunter, just like his father. The she-cat is going to have your attitude about everything.
She's the darkest ginger cat I've seen in a while."
Gingerclaw dipped his head in agreement and was embarrassed when his stomach
growled. "Sorry," He meowed with his ears flat to his head.
"It's fine. You should probably go hunting with Gorsewhisker, I know he was about to go
by himself. Gingerclaw mewed a quick thanks and bounded over to Gorsewhisker to ask
about hunting. "Hi Gorsewhisker, do you think I could go hunting with you?"
"Of course!" Gorsewhisker meowed happily. He led Gingerclaw out of camp and they
hunted in silence for a while.
"So have you named your kits yet?" Gorsewhisker meowed awkwardly. The two hadn't
gotten along very well as apprentice and mentor.
"No, we're waiting until they open their eyes, that way we can see if their name will fit
everything about them."
Gorsewhisker nodded understandingly. Gingerclaw looked around and noticed it was
about time for him to meet Blacktail. He convinced Gorsewhisker to go back and let him
stay out for a little bit longer. He watched the tom leave and bounded towards the
Windclan border. No, towards his kit.