"I don't think...I can tell them. Will you do it?" Moonfur's voice was quiet as she and Lostheart stood before the dark entrance to DarkClan's camp. The new thorny barrier wound it's way around the trees. It hung above the opening, giving the dark entrance a sinister look.

"Yes. You should go see Roseclaw, and get yourself situated in the nursery. I'll make sure the clan knows about the kits." Lostheart meowed, noting the dark shadows under Moonfur's eyes. It was clear the she-cat was still recovering from learning about the death of her father and mate. Yes, Lostheart would make sure they knew. It had been a sort of silent agreement to leave out the details of the pale she-cat's fall in the river. The clan didn't need to know, and Moonfur didn't need that kind of attention. She already had enough on her shoulders.

"Thank you, Lostheart..." Moonfur gave a weak smile, one that didn't seem to touch her eyes. A deep sort of loneliness lay embedded in her separate gaze, Lostheart vaguely felt like she had seen the same sort of expression before, but she couldn't remember where.

Lostheart nodded wordlessly and the two she-cats entered the camp together. The inside was quiet, and seemingly empty. No cats lay in the clearing and the only sound to be heard was the light howl of the wind and the distant sound of crows cawing far away. Lostheart stopped in the center of the clearing and watched as Moonfur continued on towards the medicine cat den.

She would have to tell Sunstar.

Lostheart turned toward the leader's den, its stony form looming over her, silhouetted by the dull grey sky. She padded up to the shaded entrance, not wanting to step inside unless necessary.

"Sunstar."

For a long moment, the den was silent, but slowly she could hear the sound of a cat moving inside. "What do you want?" His voice was ragged and spiteful, but Lostheart ignored it, Moonfur was more important. Only Sunstar's faint outline could be seen from the inside, his face turned away from her.

"Moonfur is expecting kits, we are moving her to the nursery for the time being. It shouldn't be long now." Lostheart replied, her voice unchanged from it's usual cold, emotionless sound.

"...Kits?" Sunstar meowed, a hint of surprise evident in his hoarse voice.

"Yes, she was carrying them before joining us here."

A silence took over the air as she stood outside the stone den, waiting for Sunstar's response. For a moment, she wondered if he would talk anymore at all. However, she heard him stand up and move back towards the deeper part of the cave. "I will see them when they are born." he meowed.

She took them as his final words and stepped away from the leader's den, somewhat relieved that he hadn't bothered to ask too many questions. Now all she had to do was let the other cats know. Hopefully she would find some of them in the warriors den, otherwise the deputy would just have to wait until they returned.

Lostheart made her way across the clearing and nearly jumped as a loud hacking cough sounded from the elder's den as she was padding by. At least she knew Longtail hadn't gone anywhere.

"I'm glad you came to me Moonfur, I've known for a while now. I was hoping you would come see me." Roseclaw meowed, gathering up a small pile of herbs. Moonfur stared off into space, blinking dully when she realized Roseclaw had said something. Mintpaw stood beside the medicine cat, smiling happily at the pale gray she-cat.

"I can't wait to see the kits! Roseclaw and I even cleaned up the nursery, it was a mess! I don't think it's actually been used for a long time, we set you up a nest and everything. I put down as many feathers as I could find, we have to make sure its comfy for the kits!"

Moonfur nodded, a bit surprised by the apprentice's enthusiasm. It was still hard to believe she was having kits in the first place, it just didn't seem possible.

"Come on!" Mintpaw meowed, giving Moonfur a gentle shove with her head. "You've got to come and see it." Moonfur gave in to the small cats pushing and walked with her and Roseclaw towards the small vine-like structure to the left of the clearing.

Mintpaw sprinted ahead of them and disappeared inside the den, causing Roseclaw to laugh lightly and turn toward Moonfur, but the she-cat could only offer a weak smile in return. Roseclaw had never seen Moonfur look so depressed before. Was she not happy about the kits? Roseclaw blinked as a sudden thought struck her, did she miss her mate?

Moonfur hesitantly stepped into the nursery, blinking to adjust her eyes to the light. In the very back, along the wall, was a large nest filled with all kinds of soft grasses and feathers. Mintpaw stood proudly by it's side while Moonfur observed the nursery for the first time.

The walls were a lot like the warriors den, meaning they consist of several layers of vines, effectively blocking out any wind or rain. "It wasn't always this clear," Mintpaw piped up, "When I came in to clean it out, there was dust and debris everywhere. A lot of weeds had also managed to sprout up. I don't think we've ever used the nursery before!"

Roseclaw remained silent, her blue eyes looking around the den with a touch of sadness. "Now, now Mintpaw. We need to let Moonfur rest, the kits should be coming any day now."

Mintpaw nodded, "Okay, don't forget your herbs Moonfur."

Moonfur nodded mutedly and padded back towards the nest while Mintpaw and Roseclaw said their goodbyes. Mintpaw had certainly put a lot of work into it, and the nest felt like StarClan under her paws. She let out a sigh as she settled down, looking around the new area, unaware of the destruction that had occurred in the place.

"WHOA! Moonfur's having kits? What?!" Thistleprick leapt up in disbelief. "I mean, I thought she was getting fat, but still! That's crazy."

"You're an idiot."

Thistleprick turned toward Greysight with an annoyed frown. "Oh please! I bet you didn't notice, you can't even see her."

"I notice a whole lot more than you do!" Greysight hissed, wrapping her thin, black tail over her paws. In actuality, the blind she-cat was rather surprised herself. She had noticed the shift in Moonfur's weight, but she couldn't believe the she-cat was actually expecting kits.

"Yes. Roseclaw says it won't be long now. She was already carrying the kits when she joined us." Lostheart meowed.

Thistleprick suddenly paused with a confused expression. "-Wait. Why didn't she tell us?"

"Because its none of your business, mousebrain!" Greysight immediately rose to defend her friend, there had to be a perfectly good reason Moonfur hid this from them. The blind she-cat was sure Moonfur would have told them eventually.

"This is wonderful!" Browneyes cut in, trying to stop the conflict. "It's been so long since DarkClan had kits. What do you think, Darkpelt?"

The speckled warrior snorted, "I suppose. At the very least it will give us more sets of paws, I'm sick of doing everything around here."

Lostheart wasn't too surprised by her clanmates' reactions, but she noticed Greysight seemed less energetic than she normally was. Raggedear had also remained fairly quiet, but his expression was unreadable throughout the exchange.

"Does Sunstar know?" Greysight asked suddenly, turning towards Lostheart easily.

"Yes." she replied. "I told him." Greysight nodded mutedly, her mouth set in a thin line as she remembered her previous conversation with their leader. She wondered if Sunstar had said anything about it to Lostheart, but a part of her knew it wasn't likely. "Come on, we have a lot of stuff to do at sunrise. Let's get some rest." Greysight meowed, sick of listening to the sound of the toms' voices behind her as they chatted away about some inane thing or another.

Despite her aloof attitude, the blind she-cat was quite excited herself. Kits would be great for the clan, she might even get to mentor one!

AUTHOR'S NOTE

Whelp. Tomorrow is the day of doom, I.E SAT day. I honestly feel like crying for no reason that's how much its depressing me. Anywho, made an attempt to get a chapter up. I hope being away from it for so long hasn't affected my writing too much, I need to get back into it. You guys would be surprised at how long it actually takes me to type up these chapters. Probably around two hours, maybe even more. Writing is a very timely process.

Lost Out

P.S ...notgoingtogetahighenoughscor e