Morningdew
"Mama whats wrong? Don't you like them?" Wishkit whined.
"Of course she does dear." Frostfeather answered giving her grandkit a comforting lick. Wishkit rubbed against her leg and bounced around with her brothers who were in a uproar about their new found eye sight. "When are we going to get to see the forest?", "Can we meet Bramblestar?", "I want to learn to hunt".
I moved to our nest and dropped the feather and lavender Nightfang left and turned to my parents, "Thank you for checking up on the kits but I am sure they are tired and hungry." I let my voice trail off, hoping they would get the hint and thankfully they did, Snowbush went to bring Lilyheart a mouse, I let out a long sigh as I moved to pick up the bundle I dropped.
"What is that mama?" Raven kit said jumping between my legs, almost making me trip. I held back a hiss of annoyance, they are still young and I had to be patient in the same way I was during training and critiquing new moves and strategies. I put the feather, dandelion, and leaf into our nest,
"Come see and I will tell you." I whispered so Lilyheart wouldn't over hear. Not that she was paying attention to any cat other than her kits who were also beginning to grow rapidly. The kits scooted closer to see what I brought, "Smell them first, tell me what you think they are." I asked
Silverkit pushed past his siblings to be the first to try, "The fuzzy thing smells sweet like a flower, is it a lily like Lilyheart?" he chirped "Its not a lily but it is a flower, its called a dandelion and they bloom in early spring all trough the summer and early fall, which is what time of the year it is now." Wishkit jumped on the leaf, leaving a tiny foot print in the frost. "That's cold and wet, is it snow?"
"Its frost, and the leaf it is on is a oak tree leaf, we have many of those in our territory." Ravenkit studied the leaf with surprising intent for a kit so young, "This smells musky, like our bedding after a few days, we don't grow feathers do we?" Wishkit and Silverkit exchanged gleeful looks, "I want to fly!", "I bet I get my wings first!" they argued,
"No no loves, we don't grow wings but this is a feather from a bird a raven to be more precise." I said putting a paw between my bickering kits. "A raven! Like me!" Ravenkit bounced and looked at the feather and then himself like he believed he really was going to turn into a bird.
"What else do you smell?"
they all took deep sniffs from each item and racked their brains for an answer. "I do smell an different smell, like one of us but not one of us." Ravenkit said finally, "Yeah that's what I smell another cat!" Silverkit burst like he was the first one to name the scent. "It doesn't smell like us though, so is it really another cat?" Wishkit said tilting her head to the side. I purred at my kits, how smart they were already! Nightfang will be so proud of his progeny. I bent my head low and whispered,
"It is another cat you are right but it isn't a Thunderclan cat, it's the scent of Windclan." Their eyes grew wide, "Windclan! Who are they?" Wishkit said loudly making Lilyheart look up from her preening, "Oh what curious little doves they are" she purred,
"Windclan are our enemies, we have to make sure they don't invade our territory just like the other clans." She said and my kits attention quickly turned to her, "Other clans? There are more like us!?" Ravenkit asked, "Enemies? What is a enemy?" Silverkit asked pushing ahead of his brother, "Who are the other clans?" Wishkit bounced.
"One at a time dears. There are three other clans besides ours, Riverclan live by the lake and swim like fish, Shadowclan lives in the forest near us but their area is swampy and full of annoying pine needles, and Windclan live on the moors that have grass taller than a dog and run faster than the rabbits they hunt." She went on, "They are all our enemies, which means they will hurt us if we go outside of our borders, we have to protect our home and they will take our food and our herbs and anything else if they cross them, that's why we have warriors to protect us."
The kits were enthralled with her story but I had an uneasy feeling in my stomach, I didn't want them to think of the other clans as enemies, especially Windclan but how could I teach them the warrior code properly if treating the other clans like enemies was what was preached? Lilyheart continues to tell them about what a warrior was and going through all the positions our clan held. They fired question after question at her and she was so patient with them.
"Alright kits lets leave Lilyheart to tend to her own kits. Come back here so we can finish this lesson before you forget what we talked about." I said nudging them back to our nest, "I want to be a warrior! Ill be the best one!" Silverkit said, "Youll be the loudest one" Wishkit teased and Silverkit bounced on top of her, knocking into Ravenkit and they were quickly in bundle of play fighting, Silverkit winning easily because of his size. I let out another big sigh, they were still kits after all.
Nightfang
"That was a good try but your putting too much weight onto your right side which is making your turns sloppy." I said calmly looking at Lemonpaw who was gasping for breath after her attempt at the rabbit dash. "Ok, let me try again." She said jumping up like a hare despite the fact she had done it a dosent times already. "Why don't we take a break, you are getting frustrated and you wont get better that way." I said stepping in front of her, her honey colored eyes burned with determination. "I want to get it right! My father said you perfected this move on your first day and this has already been my third day trying it!" she pushed past me and got into position at the front of the boulders. I sighed at my apprentice, I respected her spirit but her stubbornness was going to be hard to break through. I requested her as my apprentice from Onestar hoping she would keep my busy enough to not think about my kits and Morningdew all day. It was working, sort of.
As Lemonpaw dived between the rocks I still saw the extra weight on her right side and her turns were still wider than they needed to be. Emberfoot told me she would be a tough nut to crack and he was not kidding, "I know its your instinct to put weight onto your opposite leg when turning but you have to ignore it, your tail will balance you and keep you from crashing remember?" I said when she finished and she let out a hiss and I knew she was about to get into a fit like she always did when she wasn't perfect. "Alright Lemonpaw, you are an apprentice you know, learning is your job so stop letting your temper control your emotions. A Windclan warrior needs to be calm and relaxed like the flowing grass in breeze, adaptable and unbreakable." I said proudly, repeating the words Onestar spoke at her naming ceremony.
Her shoulders slumped as she gave into her exhaustion, "Its alright Lemonpaw, you'll get it. Go back to camp and rest, Pumpkinpaw will be waiting for you to help her with the elders den." She brightened a little at her sisters name and took off, I watched go proudly her delicate frame weaving through the grass like a snake.
I had been training her over a week and she was doing very well, my gaze drifted up to the sky and remembered the gathering was tonight and that my kits names would be announced, or Scorchflames technically. I growled low at the thought but I knew this would keep Morningdew and I relationship a secret.
"Nightfang!" Hawkwing called bounding up were Lemonpaw had disappeared. "Lets go hunting," I turned to my friend, his cheerful expression lightening my mood. "Yeah sure, we haven't been in a long time."
I was glad he found me, the hunting helped stretch my limbs and hone my concentration. By the end of the trip we had caught two rabbits and a mouse, "Wanna share the rabbit?" Hawkwing said gesturing to a nearby rock, I nodded the rabbit hanging limply in my jaws. "So how have you been? I haven't spoken to you much since you became deputy." He said biting into the rabbits haunch, "Busy, very busy. Onestar keeps me running with new patrols and border meetings. Riverclan has a hard time this summer with the draught and have been pushing the borders."
"Yeah I heard about that, did you ever find out the blood trail thing you followed a few weeks ago?" I shook my head and he shrugged, "Odd thing that. Maybe Bramblestar will say something tonight. I heard that Morningdews kits were born, it's a shame what happened to her mate."
"How did you hear about that?" I asked surprised that I hadn't heard the news either, "Leafpool stopped by Kestrelflights den the other day looking for marigold, and I heard them talking about it." He said his mouth full of rabbit. I must have been out on patrol then, "Well we should get back, we need to leave soon and Onestar and I need to discuss who is going."
"Shadowclan is doing well, I am proud to say we have bore three new litters this moon and our clan is bigger than ever." Rowanclaw boasted, ever since Crowfrosts rebellion ended Shadowclan has been having kits left and right, other than that there was little news discussed that was relevant. Onestar said something to Riverclan about the border crossing and they insisted they didn't need our rabbits. I rolled my eyes, everycat knew they were having problems with the lake but we have been mostly at peace these past seasons and no cat wanted that to end.
"Thunderclan has exciting news." Bramblestar said after Mistystar stepped down, my ears perked immedietly, "We have two new litters to announce. Lilyheart has given birth to two strong kits Mudkit and Sweetkit. Morningdew has also blessed us with three healthy kits, Wishkit, Rvaenkit, and Silverkit." I herd yowls of glee from the cats below and I couldn't help swell with pride at the announcement of my kits.
I tried to locate Ivypool after the gathering ended but she didn't appear to be here tonight, "Looking for some cat?" I suspicious mew made me turn to see the glazed blind eyes of Jayfeather. "Uh, yes is Ivypool here?"
Leafpool stepped up behind him, "No she isn't, why do you ask?" I didn't like their gazes, they looked oddly cold for a medicine cat. "Well, I wanted to ask her to send my congratulations to Morningdew and her litter, I am sure Scorchflame would be proud."
"We will tell her. That's considerate of you Nightfang." Jayfeather said evenly and pushed passed me, sniffing my shoulder lightly, "Hmm, we smell a lot of lavender around our territory, its odd sense we don't usually grow any near your border." A small spark of panic rose in my throat but he didn't say anything else and Leafpool and he went to join Thunderclan.
I swallowed hard but decided to let it go, im sure it was just a passing comment or something. Surely the smell of the kits and Morningdew had gone by now but I kept rolling in lavender to make sure. As I made my way to my over to where my clan was gathering I over heard a Thunderclan and Riverclan conversation, "Yes, that's what I said, one of Morningdews kits has the strangest color eyes. They are like a dark orange or something" One said, "Well that's not all that strange, maybe a family member had that color and it passed on, my sisters litter all had different eyes." The other said.
"That's the thing though, the only cat who had eye similar was Tigerstar, even Bramblestars eyes aren't the same shade." A collective gasp, "Do you think they are his kin?"
"I doubt it, how could they be? Squirrleflight and Bramblestars kits have all been well mannered, Tawnypelts kits are the same. It cant mean anything."
"I don't know, my mother always told me that a cats intent can be read through the eyes. If one has dark eyes like him I bet it will turn out to be nasty."
I began to bristle, no kit of mine would be insulted like that, "Don't talk about things you know nothing about!" I hissed violently, they all looked at me surprised as if they didn't even know I was there.
"Nightfang, we were only just-"
"He is right, no cat should be judged by their appearance, only their actions!" Lemonpaw said coming up behind me, her gold tabby pelt standing out in the moonlight. The cats looked ashamed for being caught gossiping, whispering apologies they broke up and joined their clans.
"What a bunch of hens." Lemonpaw snorted, "Thank you for stepping in." I chuckled, "Did you learn anything tonight?" I asked as we walked sided by side, "Not really, all the other clans are so…so…boastful. Riverclan went on about a new way to catch fish. Shadowclan chased of a fox, Thunderclan even said they found a new herb to cure heart trouble!"
"That's the way clans are, that's why we have gatherings to share news."
"Eh, I don't care for it, its not like they did anything special. They act like they did it each single pawed."
"Your only jelouse because you couldn't boast about perfecting the rabbit dash" I joked batting her ear with my tail, she let out a mock hiss and jumped in return but I dodged easily. "Looks like we need to work on your countering too." And we walked back to camp discussing training and for once in a long time, I didn't feel so alone without Morningdew by my side.