Hey everyone, I'm sorry for the delay in updating. Congrats to
Spottedwing. Mallowpaw is indeed Mallowfur. In the next few chapters, you'll see some of the rivalries form. Hope you all enjoy it!
Fourtrees glowed in the moonlight of the gathering as ThunderClan poured into the clearing. Two moons after the battle, Pinedusk and Poppydawn were now warriors, and Adderpaw, Mallowpaw, and Tawnypaw had just passed their assessments, to be warriors within days. High on the Great Rock, Eaglestar paced with Batstar of WindClan, their tails lashing.
Soon, Silverstar led in RiverClan, his plume like tail kinked above his back.
"Ah, hello Goosepaw." Goosepaw swung around. Hawkpaw. The dark apprentice was the brother of Ravenpaw, the pretty WindClan medicine apprentice. "What, aren't you happy to see me? We were friends."
"You attacked me and Fennelfern when we went to ask Brightleaf and Ravenpaw for herbs."
"You don't deserve WindClan herbs, so shut up!" Suddenly, the gray and brown apprentice was mouse lengths away from Goosepaw's face.
"Not fighting with a medicine apprentice, are we, Hawkpaw?" Both apprentices swung around. Fernfoot and Thrushfeather, the two clan deputies, were standing behind them.
"Come on, Goosepaw, you'd probably better go over with those other cats," Thrushfeather said, pointing his tail over to Moonpaw, who was talking with a silver and orange she-cat.
"Oh, aren't you ThunderClan's medicine cat?" Goosepaw's nose told him that she was ShadowClan, which had just entered the clearing, but he didn't recognize her from the battle—probably a good thing. "I'm Silverflame. I had my first litter a few moons ago. This is my first time back to the gathering."
"Oh," Goosepaw said, curious—hey, she wasn't in the battle, "what are your kits' names?"
"Brightkit, Blizzardkit, and Mudkit. Mistfur's the father."
Confused about the ShadowClan she-cat's friendliness, Goosepaw remembered that as a queen, she would not have taken place in the battle. However, just as Goosepaw turned to Moonpaw, the gathering began.
Three days later, Goosepaw was in the nursery as the sun rose. Goosepaw was checking on Starlingfeather, who had moved into the nursery a quarter moon ago with Pinedusk's kits. The Clan had been surprised at the young cat's pregnancy, but, Goosepaw had begun to think she was expecting a few days before Pinedusk's warrior ceremony, and they wanted it kept secret. Truthfully, she was due within the next half moon.
"OWCH! the dark tabby practically screeched. "What are you doing back there? I feel like I'm being ripped open."
Slowly, Goosepaw turned, confused. "I'm not even touching you, what are you talking about?" It was true. The gray apprentice had been fetching some herbs. Then it dawned on him, and one look over at Lilysong, who was nursing Sparrowkit and Swiftkit, confirming it. Apparently, Starlingfeather realized it too.
"HELP! I'M HAVING MY KITS!" In the loudest screech feline-ly possible, Starlingfeather announced the coming kits to the entire forest.
Pinedusk was there so fast Goosepaw could have sworn he'd simply materialized. "I'll go get Fennelfern."
"You can't," Goosepaw said. "She's sick. It's not safe for Fennelfern or Starlingfeather. If she passes it to the kits, they'll all die."
As soon as he said that, Goosepaw frantically got to work, immediately realizing that something was wrong. Starlingfeather was losing too much blood.
By sun high, the first kit was coming. And the next. Within hours, there were three. All dead. Starlingfeather was gasping for air, desperately hanging on to life by a thread.
And with a shudder, the thread of life was cut.