Chapter 30: The five have come...
It was two moons after the birth of Swiftkit and Wolfkit. Their little adventures and daily lives made Ivypool even more excited for her own future, Cinderheart devoted every second to her kits, Lionblaze too was a devoted parent, spending every spare moment playing with his kits, looking after Cinderheart and bringing them surprises, today they were batting a feather around that Lionblaze had bought for them, along with Dewkit, Amberkit and Snowkit, they were trying to reach high enough to win it from the older kits, Ivypool laughed as their little legs stretched to their extent. However the older kits were bigger and Snowkit snatched the feather away from Swiftkit playfully, with humour bright in his amber eyes.
Watching the other kits made her think of her own, now her belly was full and round, she looked like she had swallowed a badger! As Lionblaze had joked with her. She dropped her head to her paws, watching the little ones play. Now the nursery was very full. There was Brightheart with her four moon old kits, Dewkit, Snowkit and Amberkit who would be paws in two more moons.
Seedkit and Lilykit were now paws, so Sorreltail had moved back into the warriors den. Lilypaw's mentor to Ivypool's delight was Toadstep. She felt so proud of her mate, glee bubbling inside her, he had finally got an apprentice, she had secretly hoped that Toadstep would have been given one of his own kits to mentor, even though that wasn't actually allowed. Also Seedpaw's mentor was Bumblestripe and Molepaw and Cherrypaw were now warriors, Moletooth and Cherryleaf.
Ivypool shared a happy glance with Dovewing. Her sister too now had kits. Tigerheart's. She had managed to mend her relationship with Bumblestripe, it had turned out that the tom was feeling guilty himself, he had a secret crush on Cherryleaf, but didn't feel the strength to let Dovewing down, he also felt quite daunted by a cat being his mate who he actually didn't love, he also felt he could never confess his feelings to her because of the age difference. Ivypool found the circumstances quite amusing, Dovewing had encouraged Bumblestripe to talk to her, because the age difference wasn't that big, she joked saying "look at Ferncloud and Dustpelt!".
Dovewing had two kits, a beautiful dark brown she cat with short fur, the colour of dark tree bark with darker tabby stripes, a white chest and two white back paws, and a white tipped tail. She had bright blue eyes identical to Dovewing's. They had named her Songkit. Ivypool thought her niece was especially beautiful, even if she was just a quarter moon old, she moved much more gracefully than other kits, Ivypool could tell she would grow up to be a she cat that would have all the toms chasing after her. The other kit was a tom, he was a golden, reddish orange colour, like the burnt sunset, with darker stripes. He had all white paws and a large white chest and a white tipped tail. He had ice blue eyes, like his mother. They had named him Foxkit, due to his reddish coat. Dovewing was suckling them, they couldn't walk very far and their little eyes still blinked quickly and franticly against the harsh sunlight.
They were sleeping now, tucked up in Dovewing's tail, keeping warm. It was now the heart of Leafbare, everyone was feeling the pinch of Leafbare, except the queens and their kits. I should be pregnant more often! I get fed more!
The clan was still grieving over the loss of Cinderheart and Lionblaze's kits, it was a tragedy, the whole clan knew the story of how Cinderheart went through terrible pain, to deliver half of her kits dead. They were buried beneath an oak tree outside the camp, Ivypool had seen Lionblaze sneak off out of camp to stand vigil with them frequently, she had often seen him talking to them, it looked strange but Ivypool felt honoured to have such a devoted cat as her cousin.
Toadstep came to frequently see her, bringing her the best prey, sometimes doing extra hunting to bring her a big juicy squirrel. He tried to be with her as much as she could, Ivypool knew they had a strong relationship and she thanked Starclan for letting the most perfect cat in the world to be her mate.
She decided she needed some space and tip toed out of the nursery, trying to avoid stepping on tiny tails. Once she was out she breathed in a gasp of frosty air. The clouds above were dark, promising snow. It was just before sunhigh, and the patrols were returning.
Lionblaze who led a border patrol ran up to Bramblestar and reported to him, Ivypool pricked her ears trying to get a snippet of what he was saying. "Darkclan is staying on their own territory, Windclan seem to be keeping quiet too. We caught a scent of fox but it was stale, nothing to worry about."
Bramblestar nodded. "Good, it's nice to see such peace among the clans."
Ivypool realised that all the four clans had grown accustomed to the presence of Darkclan, at gatherings Breezestar was allowed to take his place among the leaders and no one seemed to protest their clan's rights. However Blackstar refused to sit next to the black cat, along with Bramblestar, it was clear that there was unfinished business between all three clans. Word had not spread about Breezestar's torture of Lionblaze, probably due to fear of the dark leader. Ivypool had heard gossip that all the warriors of Darkclan were meant to train in the dark forest frequently. Ivypool shivered at the memories she had of that terrible place of death.
She widened her eyes when she saw a snowflake dance on the Leafbare breeze, it twisted and twirled like the kits playing with the feather. A vision filled her eyes, she saw five cats, she couldn't tell who they were, standing in front of a fire, they didn't seem scared or worried, they just stood there, five eyes piercing her fur with their strong gaze.
The vision faded and Ivypool saw the heavy snowfall again. Now the kits were dancing around, trying to catch snowflakes, Ivypool saw them quite frequently disappointed when they melted on their paws. Normally the sight would have made her laugh, not today, she was confused about the vision. What does it mean? She was about to go to Jayfeather when her stomach contracted and a huge wail of pain escaped her mouth. She fell to the ground with a thump, her legs thrashing in pain. She creaked open her eyes to see Swiftkit shouting at her with concern. Ivypool tried to listen but she had seemed to lose all her scenes consumed by the pain. Out the corner of her eye she saw Toadstep pelting to her, his bright yellow eyes gave her comfort and the feel of his soft fur. He dragged her into the nursery, and the other queens quickly left.
Ivypool was placed into deep, soft moss. She felt Toadstep stroke her with his tail, mewing words of encouragement, she noticed that Leafpool and Jayfeather had arrived in the den, they told her to stay calm and she noticed blankly that Jayfeather was feeding her herbs, her vision was blurred. She closed her eyes and decided to only focus on the comfort of Toadstep's gentle voice. Dear Starclan! I never thought it would hurt this much! Her belly felt like it had just been ripped to shreds by a badger, her pelt was covered in sticky sweat and a few tears rolled down her cheeks, it was horrible, she hoped with all her heart that this pain would only last a few seconds, she was disappointed when the real pain began...
It seemed like eternity until the pain gradually faded. "Ivypool, you can open your eyes now." Leafpool mewed gently.
"I don't want to.." Ivypool whispered. She was afraid that her kits had come to the same fate as Cinderheart's . But excitement won and she creaked open a eye to see Toadstep crouching down next to her, he had a huge grin on his black and white face. He flicked his tail to Ivypool's belly. Ivypool looked down to see the most beautiful thing she had ever seen in her life, her kits. She had three, all scrambling and fighting over her milk and making cute little mews and tiny hisses of protest when they were deprived of milk by their siblings. "They're... Beautiful..." Ivypool sighed.
"We have two sons and a little daughter." Toadstep whispered.
Ivypool looked at Toadstep and nuzzled his cheek. "I love you Toadstep."
He grinned and replied. "I love you too"
"What shall we call them?" Toadstep continued.
She looked down at them, firstly she had a completely black tom, he had no white markings, his fur was long and he had a bushy tail. He seemed the biggest by far. She nodded to Toadstep letting him know he could name him. "How about..Blackkit?"
Ivypool giggled. "It suits him very well!"
Then she looked at the second kit, he was a russet brown, almost red coloured, he had extremely thick fur, a bit like Graystripe's thick pelt. He had darker brown, thin stripes along his back and on his legs, he had a cute white tipped tail and a white chest reaching down to his belly. "Stormkit?" Ivypool said.
Toadstep nodded.
Then she looked at the smallest kit, her daughter, she was the smallest, with short fur and a long, thin tail. She was the colour of the darkest night sky, with a dash of white on her chest and two white stockings, on her back paws. Her front toes were white also. She had a skinny frame and was smaller than her brothers. She looked the most defenceless and tiny. Ivypool swelled with pride over her young. "How about Ravenkit?"
Toadstep grinned. "Great, her pelt looks as black as raven's feathers."
Ivypool grinned and nuzzled Blackkit, who was straying a little far from the others. Ivypool looked up to Leafpool and Jayfeather, Leafpool looked fondly upon the little ones, while Jayfeather was staring at Ravenkit with wide blue eyes, his mouth was slightly open and his ears were pinned back in shock. His tail flicked from side to side franticly.
Ivypool looked down at her daughter confused, then a ancient voice quietly whispered in her ear.. "Five, the rulers of the stars, the kin of Thunderclan's strongest blood will rise to battle the ghosts of the forgotten past. They will face great terror and tragedy to defeat the shadows that deceive us in the dark"
Ivypool's vision once again clouded and it filled with the sight of a pitch black she cat, identical to her daughter, with piercing green eyes, standing in the middle of hungry flames, then four more cats closed ranks beside her and stared at Ivypool, waiting. Their eyes glowing like embers in the dark.
Ivypool snapped out of her vision and shared a glance with Jayfeather, he knew what she had seen because he had seen it too, he whispered quietly enough so only Ivypool could hear. "The five have come..."
AAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH! cliffiiieeeeeeeee!
Hahha, now sorry to disappoint you but this is the last chapter in the first book! Except for the epilogue which is the next chapter, very important to the story so read it now! Unless I haven't posted it yet so you can wait in anticipation!
I will be doing the next book after the epilogue, so keep an eye out for it!
Its going to be WEEELLLL exciting!
Till next time!
Happy reading!
By the way thank you for the brilliant and beautiful reviews I have been receiving, some of them are so lovely!
Neon xxxx
