Ugh. I have no idea what I'm gonna write about this one. –weeps- it might be a little like the first chapter, so…yeah.
FROZEN
"You're doing great, Whitecloud," Cinderpool mewed gently. "Just push."
Whitecloud felt pain shoot up her body as a kit slid out. She gave a thin wail. "Keep going," Cinderpool urged.
Meanwhile, Whitecloud's mate, Gorseclaw, prowled throughout the forest in a hunter's crouch. He was determined to feed his pregnant mate well, who he didn't know was kitting at the moment. Prey was especially scarce in leafbare, and he was working as hard as ever.
Gorseclaw gazed over the river that divided RiverClan territory from ShadowClan. It was frozen over; thick sheets of ice blanketed the surface.
Suddenly he spotted a thrush, pecking obliviously at the ground in search for seeds. Eyes wide and nostrils flared, Gorseclaw inched toward it, then pounced, landing squarely on top of it. It squawked, and then was silent, limp underneath its predator's paws. Gorseclaw proudly scraped some dirt over it.
"Nice catch." Flamefur appeared, his bright ginger fur sticking out from the snow like a rabbit in a flock of pigeons. He held a scrawny shrew in his mouth and dropped it at his paws. "This was all I could find. At least it'll feed one hungry mouth."
Gorseclaw glanced at the gaunt piece of fresh-kill and twitched his whiskers.
"I almost caught a mouse back there, too, but it heard me crunching through the snow," Flamefur added bitterly. He lifted a paw and swiped it at the snow, spraying powdery white flakes into the chilly air. "What else have you caught?"
"A rabbit," Gorseclaw answered, and Flamefur widened his eyes. "In this weather?"
"It's a young one, though, and pretty thin." Gorseclaw glanced up at the sky. It was mostly a pale gray color with some white, glowing clouds, threatening more snow. "And that's it so far."
"We'd better get back to camp soon," Flamefur told him. "I wonder how Thornstripe is doing. He's a pretty good hunter. I haven't seen him since we split up. Have you?"
Gorseclaw shook his head. "But I scented him. It was pretty fresh, and it was just a little while ago. I wonder how Whitecloud is doing…I want to see her."
Flamefur looked at Gorseclaw with understanding glowing in his green eyes. "You can go back to camp with your prey, and send another warrior or two out to hunt. Tell them that I need them."
"Thanks." Gorseclaw dipped his head, unburied his thrush and rabbit, and dashed back towards the camp.
"You're almost done," Cinderpool soothed. She turned to her apprentice, Shadepaw. "Go get some borage leaves and bring one poppy seed. Just one." Shadepaw darted off. Whitecloud gave a wail and pushed, her body racking with pain.
"Oh, StarClan…" Cinderpool gasped. Whitecloud yowled as the last kit slipped out. But…it was stuck. Cinderpool tried not to panic. She tried to pull it out gently, but its tiny face was already bluish purple. It had already suffocated. It finally came out, and Cinderpool and Whitecloud stared at it in awe and gloom.
"Whitecloud! Are you okay?" Gorseclaw pushed his way into the nursery, panting. "Oh…our kits! They've been born!" He had a joyous glow in his eyes as he bounced to her, swiping his tongue over her face. Then he saw the kit. His face fell. "…Oh…"
Whitecloud nodded. "Yeah. She was…stillborn."
"I know." His mouth was a grim line.
"Well…let's try to ignore that! Let's name the kits." Whitecloud tried to brighten the mood. There were two toms and a she-cat. "How about…Littlekit, for the black and white tom?"
"Can the black she-cat be Nightkit?"
"Yeah! And the gray tom can be Graykit." Whitecloud smiled.
Gorseclaw's eyes swept sadly to the little unmoving white bundle. The kit that would never become an apprentice or a warrior. She looked like a piece of ice. Like the river. She looked frozen.
Ugh. CRRRAAAPPPPPYYY!!! Seriously. This really, REALLY sucked. I'm sorry about that. I was texting my friend, and she was just…really sad.
xx-Starfall-xx