Sandbreeze woke up to yet another dream. Breezepelt was standing next to Redwillow, another dark forest traiter, ordering the recruites into a battle line. There were more recruites than she thought. There were at least five in RiverClan, seven in WindClan, and surprisingly only four in ShadowClan. She hadn't seen any other ThunderClan cats here, and she wondered why. She only hoped that it was because there were none, rather than Breezepelt was keeping them separate. She knew most of the other cat's names, but there were more than she was hoping for. Some looked as though they were scared and only carried out orders because of their new leader's threat to kill, but others looked like they really enjoyed being in this dark horrid place.
"Recruiters, step forth and give a dark forest welcome to our newest member, Hazeltail. " Breezepelt meowed, his voice ringing across the clearing.
Sandbreeze couldn't believe her ears, this couldn't be happening.
"Sandbreeze, this is your clanmate, so you will train her in our ways." Redwillow continued. Sandbreeze just nodded, and approached her clanmate, who looked nervous about being there.
"What are you doing here?" Sandbreeze hissed under her breath.
"Same as you, training." She hissed back.
"For what?"
"I don't think we're supposed to talk about it."
Sandbreeze decided to give up, but she had one final question.
"Where do your loyalties lie?"
"The dark forest." She replied.
"Enough chit chat!" Breezepelt screeched fiercely. "We will not defeat the clans with gossip!"
"Now return to your training. I want to see your progress by tomorrow night." Redwillow yowled.
When Sandbreeze woke up, she still had her wounds from training Hazeltail. But as she stood up and stretched, she saw that both Cloversplash and Foxleap were missing. Thinking of them made her remember of her kits growing inside her. Not only did she risk her own life but theirs as well when she night trains. She'd have to have a word with Breezepelt next training lesson.
For the rest of the morning, Cloversplash and Foxleap spent racing around the lake and playing games with each other. As they were climbing the big oak tree, Cloversplash spotted a squirrel, and she drove it right into Foxleap's paws where he killed it in a swift bite on the spine. He was a great hunter, and they shared the squirrel together in silence, staring into eachother's eyes.
"Do you remember the battle with WindClan after they killed Squirrelflight?" Cloversplash asked Foxleap as they made their way back to camp.
"Yes. They sure regretted it. Did you know she was my mentor?" Foxleap asked.
"No I didn't. That's so cool, I bet she was the best." Cloversplash replied. "Other than you and my friends, Squirrelflight was one cat I really got along with."
"Me too." Foxleap agreed, nuzzling her and licking her on the shoulder as they entered the camp. It was a little after dawn, and they met the returning patrol as they headed back to camp.
"Anything new?" Cloversplash called to Lionblaze, who was leading the patrol.
"No, unless you count WindClan intruding new. They've set their markers in the old WindClan forest terriotory." He reported, and Cloversplash and Foxleap tagged along on the end of the patrol.
When they entered the camp, they found Snowstorm pacing around in circles.
"Snowstorm, what is it?" Foxleap called.
"It's Sandbreeze, she's started kitting!" He replied.
"And... Is everything alright?" Cloversplash asked nervously, remembering Brightcloud's kitting.
"No, Jayfeather says she's alright." Snowstorm meowed. "But after what Brightcloud went through..." He shuddered.
"I'm sure she'll be fine. Willowfrost's kitting was easy enough." Cloversplash tried to comfort the tom, but she was certain that he wouldn't feel better until he saw his mate.
They waited with Snowstorm for a while, Cloversplash sitting very close to Foxleap, until Jayfeather told them to enter and see the kits.
"Be quiet though, she's very tiered." Jayfeather warned as they entered the nursery.
"Snowstorm." Sandbreeze purred as she saw who had entered. At her belly, was two tiny kits, a white one with small ginger paws, and a pale ginger one.
"They're beautiful." Snowstorm purred, licking between Sandbreeze's ears.
"I want to name them now." Sandbreeze declared.
"Alright," Snowstrom chuckled. "What do you have in mind?"
"I want the ginger she-kit to be named Honeykit." Sandbreeze meowed, poking her as she spoke with her nose.
"Honeykit." Snowstorm repeated. "And this one?" He asked, pointing to the white tom with his tail.
"You name him." Sandbreeze meowed.
Wow, Cloversplash thought. Sanbreeze must really love him, or else she wouldn't let him name her son, and names were very important to her.
Snowstorm hesitated before saying, "Breezekit."
Sandbreeze and Cloverspalsh froze and stared at each other, obviously remembering Breezepelt.
"I think it a lovely name." Sandstorm replied after a moment of silence.
"Honeykit and Breezekit." Foxleap meowed, admiring the new additions to the clan.
"Honeykit and Breezekit." Cloversplash repeated, licking each kit on the head in their turn.
"So, Cloversplash, Foxleap... When are your kits due?" Sandbreeze asked.
"What?!" Cloversplash and Foxleap meowed at the same time.
"Oh, you can't hide something like that from me. I've known you since we were kits ourselves, Cloversplash. And I've had to go through this process myself. I know what a pregnant queen looks like." Sandbreeze meowed playfully.
"Are you really?" Foxleap meowed, astonished.
"Yeah, I guess so." Cloversplash meowed awkwardly.
"Wow! That's so amazing, I have to tell the clan right away!" Foxleap meowed and practically skipped out of the nursery out of joy.
"I'll come with you," Snowstorm called, rushing after him, "I have to tell the clan about my kits!"
As they rushed out, Cloversplash and Sandbreeze both muttered "toms" under their breath at the same time, then laughed at their synchronicity.
"You know, I remember when we were apprentices, even young warriors, when I was so jealous of you, that I actually hated you at some point. But now, I don't see how that's possible." Sandbreeze meowed, taking a break from cleaning her kits to talk to Cloverspalsh.
Soon after she said that, Brightcloud and Willowfrost came rushing in, racing to see who would see the newborns first.
"Awww, they're so cute, and they look just like you." Brightcloud meowed.
"Though that white one has Snowstorm's pelt color." Willowfrost added.
"What did you name them?" A squeak sounded behind the two older cats, and they turned to see Spottedkit and Mosskit staring curiously at the new kits.
"This is Honeykit, and this is Breezekit." Sandbreeze meowed, and Willowfrost and Brightcloud stared at her for a while until Sandbreeze shook her head silently, as if answering an unasked question, which was obvious: is he named after Breezepelt? But no, he is not, and never be like that notorious traitor. He is a sweet and innocent little kit, who will always be special.
new poll -
is Breezekit going to grow up like Breezepelt? Or follow in his parents foots steps?