Morningdew
The winter turned out to be harsher than any cat could have anticipated. All the territories were plagued with endless snow and rain fall, if any cat dared to stay out in the open too long they were either sure to get sick or drenched to the bone. Jayfeather and Leafpool were frantic trying to keep every cat that was ill contained within the abandoned two leg home on the south part of the forest. We had already lost Graystripe and Sandstorm to green cough and we feared Millie and Thornclaw where on their way to Starclan. The elders were always the most vulnerable, even the apprentices who were always so hyper were slower and less talkative.
Squirrelflight did her best to keep the patrols running smoothly but what was most important now was getting enough food to feed us all. Now that the kits were big enough to eat meat I was able to help. Bramblestar, Coldfire, Daisybreeze and myself were on a hunting patrol and Starclan was on our side,
"Nice catch Morningdew!" Bramblestar praised as I dropped from the tree with a squirrel dangling from my jaws. "Thanks, its not very big but it may feed every cat in the nursery." I panted, my breath clearly visible. I shook the chill from my pelt, despite the exercise I got from chasing that squirrel I could feel the icy wind biting at my ears. Coldfire and Daisybreeze both had mice while Bramblestar boasted a large pigeon.
"Lets get back to camp, I heard Spiderleg, Berrynose and Batfang caught a rabbit for the sick warriors. Let divide this up among the elders and nursery." He said, his pelt hung loose on his shoulders. I felt pang of sympathy for our leader, he refused to eat until every other warrior had eaten and it showed as his middle grew skinnier. Hopefully this horrible weather would break and the sun would return, bringing with it new life.
"What did you bring us mama!?" Silverkit sung, meeting me at the entrance of the nursery. He was four moons old now and he was almost bigger than I was, his kitten fur still clung to him in spots but his silver tabby pelt shown almost white even in the dim light of the sheltered ferns. He loved to lead games and stories and the other kits didn't seem to mind, he was growing into quite the young warrior. I dropped the pigeon in front of them,
"Now kits, this is for everyone. We need to share this with Lillyheart and Sweet and Mudkit ok?" I began to pull feathers from the pigeon and divide up the meat evenly. "Wishkit can you bring this to Lilyheart?" I asked, pushing a large chunk of breast towards her, "Of course, Sweetkit will be so happy. She loves pigeon!" Her lithe body fit between the now crowded nursery like water through reeds, her fluffy ringed tail the favorite play thing for games. She was so good with the kits, she loved to make up stories and fantasies that kept every cat entertained in these gloomy times. Her amber eyes were still a point of gossip in the clan but she didn't seem bothered by it now that she excepted Nightfang as her father.
"Ill take the heart mama." Ravenkit said his voice cracked as it changed to a deeper baritone like Nighfangs. The splash of white on his nose was fading slightly and his eyes began to lighten into a crystal blue that reminded me of a clear summer sky. While Silverkit had broad shoulders and thick limbs, Ravenkits were long and thin, his back legs strong and defined he radiated with speed and agility. I bet even Nightfang would be slow in comparison, I saw so much of him in the kits as they got bigger and I longed to meet with my mate again.
He had promised to meet us again after the snow was gone but that hasn't happened. I couldn't even find our rocks underneath all the mud and slush. With a heavy sigh I resigned myself to the fact that we would just have to wait. Ever since I met with Feathertail I had been more curious as to why Starclan was so interested in my and Nightfangs relationship.
From what I could gather, Starclan only came to leaders and medicine cats. More recently they would contact warriors of prophecies like Lionblaze and Jayfeather and Firestar. So why were they so interested in me? I was certainly not a part of some prophecy of doom or I am sure they would have told me by now. Maybe Nightfang would have an idea, was he meeting with his ancestors too?
"Enjoy my loves, I need to get back to hunting before the sun sets." I said, giving them each a loving lick. "But you have been gone all day!" Silverkit protested, "And all of yesterday." Wishkit said, looking up from Mud and Sweetkit. "You promised to tell us more about our father." Ravenkit added, with a sly wink at me and Silverkit. "Oh dears, your mother is doing a great thing by hunting for the clan, you young ones will be out there someday too." Daisy said nudging them from the entrance, "If you want to hear about Scorchflame, I may have a tale or two you have not heard." Lilyheart said, licking her lips after her meal.
The kits looked at me with pleading eyes, and I felt guilty leaving them with the den mothers. Hearing tales about Scorchflame used to excite them but now they wanted to hear about Nightfang and Windclan. It was getting difficult to keep them quite about their father, I had to figure out some way of making them see the consequences of telling the truth without making them feel like they had to lie to every cat. Another deep sigh left me, my warm breath melted the frost from my nose.
"Are you going back out Morningdew? Want me to come?" Coldfire said, his brisk voice coming out of no where, startling me from my thoughts. "Oh Coldfire, sorry I didn't hear you. I was just going to try hunting in the trees by the lake, I am hoping to find some prey looking for lake reeds, you can join me of course." The stern white tom nodded, little emotion showing on his face.
Coldfire was Grasswhistle and Snowstorms son, along with the three apprentices Sunpaw, Finchpaw and Birchpaw. Even in kithood he was quite and brooding, like a blizzard itself. While he never said anything mean to any cat he was always given a wide birth because of his mysterious persona. I on the other hand never had a problem being around him and we hunted and did patrols together often, he was one of my closest friends. "You were amazing this morning, you blended in so well I barely saw you." I said recounting our hunting trip.
He didn't answer, just grunted and I was comforted by the silence. "How are the kits?" he said dodging a pile of falling snow. "Great, I cant believe they are getting so big."
"I bet you will get to mentor one. Bramblestar hasn't given you an apprentice yet right?" I asked almost tripping over a concealed root. "If he wants." He said indifferently and I looked to see some other form of emotion but found none. When we got to the lake I was dazed at how the snow from the ground blended in with the ice on the lake, "I wonder if Riverclan is ok, they get most of their prey from the river." I commented, I hadn't been to a gathering since I got pregnant so I had no idea how the winter had impacted the other clans.
"Im sure they are fine, we have had bad winters before." Coldfire said, shooting up a nearby oak and sniffing for prey. I followed and we separated, jumping from tree to tree, listening and waiting for any sign of movement. I could hear the birds chirping but I couldn't see them but suddenly a flash of red caught my eye, a cardinal was perched a few fox lengths away, singing like it didn't have a care in the world.
I looked to see Coldfire creeping up on it, his eyes the only part of him I could see. The slick snow caused him to falter slightly and the cardinal spread it wings to flee, but I couldn't let this one get away and without thinking I dashed forward and jumped, my claws stretched as wide as they could get. The bird dodged most of my attack but I was able to clip his wing with a claw and it hobbled unbalanced, forced to land it clung to the trunk of a pine tree.
I clung to the branch it had previously been and hauled myself up, the limb groaning under my weight. I looked to Coldfire and with a understanding nod he dashed on his branch and leapt to the trunk the bird clung too, sliding down with his claws leaving deep gashes in the wood he charged the bird and by the time I climbed down to the slushy ground, the red bird hung limply in his jaws.
"Good job." I said, my heart racing with the excitement of a successful hunt. "I should be complimenting you, I cant believe you went after the bird like that." I shrugged like it was no big deal but to be honest I acted first before I thought about the consequences. If I had fallen and gotten injured then I would be useless until I was well again, if I had died then the kits would be all alone with no parents! Why in Starclan was I so mouse brained!
"You alright?" Coldfire asked, his voice muffled but his pale blue eyes were serious. "Oh, Yes I am fine. Why don't you take that back to camp and I will keep hunting." With a nod the white warrior dashed off and blended in so perfectly with the snow, I couldn't even see him. I climbed back up the tree we were in but the noise had scared off any prey that was nearby. The ice on slush still clinging to the branches soaked into my toes and after another hour of hunting with a hint of prey I decided to head back to camp. I was tired and cold and wet, I sent a silent prayer to Starclan for this horrid weather to break soon and let the sun return.
I looked up at the sky, still full of clouds I couldn't tell what time of day it was. I wanted to check the stone pile for any sign of Nightfang but a loud crack of thunder dashed any hopes of a meeting tonight. I sighed heavily and hurried back to camp, almost running into Fleetwhisker as I went, "Morningdew, how are the kits?" he asked, "They are well, I am very proud of them."
"I don't blame you, any kits of Scorchflames will bring the clan pride." He smiled and moved to the warriors den as the rain began to fall. Shaking my pelt before I entered the nursery, I welcomed the warmth and soothing scents letting them melt the ice in my paws. "Mama your back!" the kits said in unison running to push their noises into my fur in greeting. "Your cold and wet!" Silverkit said shaking a raindrop from his nose. "Sorry kits but not even I can outrun the rain." I smiled giving them all a lick.
"Are you going to tell us a story?" Wishkit asked as I curled up in our nest, the kits climbing up my back. "Yeah, Daisy and Lillyheart told us about how Scorchflame ran of a horde of badgers!" Silverkit said, puffing out his chest in pride, "That's not true fur brain! No cat can run off a horde of badgers." Ravenkit scoffed, rubbing my chin with his head. "Well I think he did, they wouldn't make up a story Ravenkit." He scoffed back, sticking his tongue at his brother.
"I wanna hear one about papa!" Wishkit whispered in my ear, and all of their eyes were on me with utter longing. "Hmm Well, let me tell you about the time he and I followed a shooting star all the way to the edge of the territory and how we truly fell in love."
Nightfang
The first thing I woke up to was the sun bursting through the thin breaks of the warriors den and of course Lemonpaw bouncing on my back like a kit. "Nightfang look the suns out! Spring is coming!" she said her excitement was mirrored by others as we moved to see the sun for the first time in what felt like moons.
"Looks like winter is finally over." Onestar said, his muzzle showing significant gray since last winter. "Right, I will get patrols together to dig some of the snow away from herb patches and a hunting party." I said signaling every cat to my side. "Alright, I know you all want to enjoy the sun but we have a lot of work to do. Crowfeather, Gorsetail, Larkwing, Lizardpaw and Littlepaw and Crouchfoot go to Kestrelflights den and ask him where the herb patches are so we can dig some of the snow off and let them get some sun." they nodded and left, leaving me with Hawkwing, Breezepelt, Emberfoot and of course Lemonpaw and Pumpkinpaw. "Lets do a border check and hunt along the way."
I took the lead, feeling a bit awkward telling my father what to do but he was more focused on telling Pumpkinpaw she wasn't walking right. "Your gate is to short, you need to make it wider! Otherwise prey will flee right between your nose."
"Breezepelt, Pumpkinpaw is my apprentice and I will direct her if she is making a mistake." Hawkwing said confidently despite Breezepelts scowl.
Now that I thought of it the apprentices had been training for almost 8 moons now. Lemopaw had worked very hard over the winter to learn the proper hunting techniques and Pumpkinpaw did a great job at helping keeping the camp as dry as possible. I think I will talk to Onestar about making them warriors, I need to talk to Nightcloud and Gorsetail about Littlepaw and Lizardpaw. With all the bleak news about hunger and sickness at the last few gatherings it will lighten many spirits to hear that there are new warriors.
It dawned on me also that the kits will be apprenticed soon, maybe even by the next gathering! I would get to see them again! I wonder how much they have grown and how much they have learned. I was dying to see them again, and with the winter finally clearing up I would be able to.
The gathering was still a few weeks away, that should be enough time for one meeting. I also ached to see Morningdew again, we had never gone so long without seeing each other, I missed her so much. My duties as deputy have kept me busy but that didn't stop me from missing my mate and kits whenever I had a spare moment.
The patrol was fairly uneventful and it was still to early in the season for spring time prey so we barely caught anything. I looked around for Nightcloud and Gorsetail who were deep in conversation with Crowfeather, "I still think we should tell Onestar." Gorsetail said, "I agree, we might have a spy." Nightcloud nodded, "I think you both are over thinking it, so there is a cave on the edge of the territory with Thunderclan and our clan scents in it. They were very faint and even if there was a spy Nightcloud wouldn't we have seen results of it?" Crowfeather added getting a glare from Nightcloud, "Of course you would defend Thunderclan, they can never do wrong can they?" she hissed,
"Whats going on?" I burst in before a fight broke out, "Oh, Nightfang Im glad your hear, youll never guess what we found!" Gorsetail chirped looking grateful for the interference. "We found a cave, on the slopes near the edge of our territory and guess what, we could smell old Thunderclan scent in it."
My heart stopped, the cave they had found the cave me and Morningdew had used for our meetings and the birth of our kits. They smelled her! They must have smelled me to, "You don't say, could you tell who it was?" I asked, my voice horse
"Well, no the scents were faint and the rain and snow covered a lot of the inside but we did find used moss and bones, so they must have stayed there for some time!" He continued, "Lets go tell Onestar, I bet he will want to investigate." Nightcloud said, Crowfeather huffed but didn't argue. What was I going to do? I cant tell them its nothing without looking suspicious, "Ok, lets go tell him. I will want to investigate this as well." I said desperately trying to think of an excuse.
Onestar was in his den with Kestrelflight poking his chest, which brought on a small cough. "Hmm, well I doubt it is greencough but we don't want it progressing. I will bring you some honey and lavender, it should help." The old medicine cat said, his back cracking as he got up to get the herbs. I nodded to him and looked at Onestar, "Are you alright sir?" he snorted a laugh and started coughing again but when he spoke, he sounded like the old Onestar I admired, "Yes, I will be Nightfang. What is it?"
"Nightcloud, Crowfeather and Gorsetail found a cave that has some faint Thunderclan scent in it. Should we investigate?"
"Faint you say? How faint?"
"Im not sure, I havnt seen it myself. That is just what they told me."
"Well go check it out and report back to me. I don't want to start a fight, I remember Bramblestar saying they were experiencing quite a wave of green and white cough this year. It would be terrible if any cat got sick."
I nodded and went to explain the decision to Nightcloud and Gorsetail. "Great, we will show you where it is." They said leading the way. I gulped, I had managed to buy a little bit of time but how was I going to cover this up?
"Here it is." Gorsetail pointed to the ledge. I looked it over and was surprised any of them could climb up it, there was still ice and slush on it. Another quick glance gave me my answer, a tree had fallen over the winter and leaned heavily on the slope making a convenient bridge. Nightcloud shot up it first and I followed,
The inside looked just as we left it. I saw the soiled bedding and rabbit bones on the ground, dried up and frozen. I inhaled deeply and could still smell the lingering scent of the birth and my mate but Gorsetail was right, it was so faint only I could tell who it belonged to. I made a show of sniffing and poking at things but by the time I was done I knew what I was going to say.
"I don't think this is anything recent. The tree only fell a moon or so ago and this moss and the bones are at least a season old. If you ask me it was just some little den where a couple could go to be alone."
"But there is Windclan scent in here too, so if you are right then we have a traitor in the clan!" Nightcloud said glaring at some distant memory. "I wouldn't jump to conclusions Nightcloud, certainly no cat would do such a thing." Gorsetail said.
"Oh I know a cat who would." She growled in a low voice. I rolled my eyes, she would never forgive Crowfeather would she? "Well whatever the reason, I don't think this is anything to get your tail twisted over." I shrugged and Nightcloud grew angry, "You agree with Crowfeather then? We should just let Thunderclan walk over our borders then? We should just let the get away with pulling our warriors away from the warrior code?"
"Nightcloud that is ridiculous." I started to say but she turned to leapt down to the slushy ground, "I wont let them disgrace us any longer!" she shouted, and she ran her long black shape leaving a long and angry shadow behind her.