Hey everybody so here is the next chapter, a very fun chapter to write and honestly when I started writing it got completely out of hand and I didn't even get to finish where I wanted to lol. I guess I will have to finish everything up in the next chapter because I looked down at my word count and I was like "3000, wow this is getting too long lol"
Anyways I hope everyone enjoys the chapter and please leave a review. You can say how much you love it, hate it, what I should next, what you would like to see happen or ask any questions you like. I try to respond to every review I get so please leave one so I can know your thoughts.
Alright, ill be quiet now and let you get to the chapter. Enjoy it and let me know what you think.
-Tigerflower08
The Riverclan warriors backed away from the cat who spoke, out of shock, revealing the tom to both Moonstream and her father. Moonstream stared ahead, meeting the dark blue eyes of her best friend, speechless she could barely contain the feeling of gratitude and relief that flooded her body.
Galeforce stared straight up meeting the eyes of Sunvine and Reedstar triumphantly, daring either of the toms to continue asking questions. The camp grew quiet for a few heartbeats as the news sunk in and only Galeforce was able to catch the flash of anger cross Sunvine's face, the rage disappearing from the sandy tom's features just as quickly as it had come, before he regained composure. Reedstar was the first to speak.
"I see" he stepped back for a moment looking out over his clanmates and then back and forth between Moonstream and Galeforce. He glanced at Sunvine for a moment before continuing "Swirlspots will be the new deputy of Riverclan." Without another word he vanished into his den, leaving the rest of the clan staring in shock. The elders Graybird, Rockpelt and Skybreeze stepped forward to take Mintflower's body to be buried.
The cats began to disperse heading to their dens to sleep. Swirlspots stood in shock at the latest announcement, not moving until her mate Bumblestrike led her to the warriors den. Moonstream stood where her father had left her looking at the medicine den, where he nest was, and then at the nursery. She jumped feeling something touch her and looked to see Shadefoot prodding her against the shoulder with her tail-tip.
"You can sleep in my nest tonight and I can help you make your own tomorrow. I know where to find the most soft duck feathers."
Moonstream blinked gratefully as the older queen led her to the nursery, suddenly feeling more exhausted than she thought possible. As the two she-cats walked past Galeforce, Moonstream nodded to him before meeting his blue eyes briefly, letting him know that they would talk later.
It took a moment for Moonstream's eyes to adjust to the unique darkness the nursery offered. The den was built into a patch of red twig dogwood and the branches were secured and held tightly together to form a cave like structure with weeping willow branches. It was warm and inviting, smelling strongly of milk.
Moonstream looked around at the small nests made of feathers and reeds woven together unsure of where to go. Shadefoot trotted ahead of her stopping beside a nest with extra feathers and soft bundles of moos inside the reed frame. Inside the nest two kits were pretending to be asleep, they might have fooled Moonstream if their bodies weren't shaking with quiet laughter. Shadefoot stood beside the nest and rolled her eyes before rolling the kits over with her forepaw.
The tom-kit stood up shoving his sister with his front paws "I told you she would know, we should have just gone to sleep when we were supposed to."
"Aw Perchkit, you're such a mouseheart" the she-kit taunted "How do you expect to have any fun, following the rules all the time."
"Ivykit!" Shadefoot scolded "That is enough; don't speak to your brother like that. Now, it's time to go to sleep. I want you two to move into an extra nest for tonight"
The she-kit opened her mouth to argue but one stern look from Shadefoot was enough for her to clamp her jaws shut "yes mom." Without another word the two brown tabby kits leapt out of the nest and vanished in the darkness of the den. Shadefoot purred loudly turning to look at Moonstream "They are a pawfull but they make every day interesting, that's for sure."
Moonstream chuckled nervously "Thanks for the nest, and for you know, standing up for me earlier. I really appreciate it."
Shadefoot smiled sadly "Even if Reedstar doesn't believe so, we have the right to keep the father of our kits a secret. I won't tell anyone by the way."
"Tell anyone what?"
"That Galeforce isn't the father." Shadefoot spoke matter of factly "If he really was then you would have told your father the first time he asked you."
Moonstream shifted uncomfortably under the black she-cat's blue eyes as Shadefoot continued speaking quietly.
"He is a great friend and I'm sure he will make a great substitute father" Shadefoot curled up in an unfinished nest right next to Moonstream's and began carefully grooming her dark fur.
"Oh no, he isn't going to be doing that" Moonstream interrupted, settling down in the soft duck feather lined nest and curling her fluffy tail over her nose "I mean he is my best friend and I will appreciate his help but I plan on raising these kits with their father."
Shadefoot didn't question the queen any further choosing to leave the conversation alone for now, the dark queen glanced over to the nest where her two kits were currently sleeping. The two three moon old kits were sleeping soundly, their bodies pressed closely together. Shadefoot sighed contently before closing her eyes, letting sleep overcome her.
Swirlspots jolted awake her heart racing and her fur standing on end. Remembering that she was in her nest inside the warriors den she attempted to slow her heartbeat so as not to wake up any of her dozing clanmates.
Swirlspots stood up and began carefully untwining her tail with her mate's, Bumblestrike lifted his head blinking sleepily.
"Where are you going?" the gray striped tom whispered glancing around "It isn't dawn yet."
"I can't sleep, I'm going to go for a walk" Swirlspots responded, Bumblestrike stood up carefully "Do you want me to come with you" after speaking the striped tom yawned loudly.
Swirlpots smirked and flicked the tom with her tail tip "No need, you should sleep. I'm just going to take a walk along the river and clear my head, maybe plan the patrols."
Bumblestrike settled back down into the nest yawning again and mumbling sleepily "Alright, I'll see you when you get back." Before Swirlspots could respond the large tom was already snoring, she rolled her amber eyes and exited the den.
The sky was dark and cloudy without a star shining in the sky, the half-moon glowed eerily and the reeds growing in clumps howled as the crisp leaf-fall wind blew through the camp. The chilling air ruffled Swirlspots' cream and white fur as she made her way out of the camp, unaware of the yellow eyes following her movements.
Swirlspots lay on the edge of the bank staring at the stepping stones, her fluffy tail was curled tightly against her body and she stared into the river's depths. She watched the water lap at the pebbly bank the rhythm of the water in time with her heartbeat.
"Swirlspots"
Swirlspots jumped as the voice suddenly pulled her out of her thoughts, she turned to see a form emerging from the dark dense foliage. Immediately Swirlspots was on her feet, her heart thudding in her chest.
"Sunvine? What are you doing out here? It's late" Swirlspots flinched, her voice faltering as she spoke, the sandy gray tom shrugged taking a step closer towards her, his yellow eyes glowing in the darkness.
"I could ask you the same thing, what is a pretty kitty like you doing out here so late and….so alone" as the larger built tom moved closer to the cream and white she-cat, Swirlspots stepped backwards trying to keep some distance between the two of them.
"I-I came out here to clear my head and think about tomorrows patrols" Swirlspots tried to keep her amber eyes locked with the tom's glinting yellow orbs, by doing so she couldn't see where she was stepping as she blindly felt for the first stepping stone with one of her hindfeet.
"Ah yes, that minnowbrain Reedstar did make you deputy….and that would be one of your duties now wouldn't it?"
Swirlspots stared at the tom, unsure if he expected her to answer his question or not, as she moved backwards to secure herself safely on the second stepping stone she slipped on the unseen algae covered edge of the rock. Her heart lurched as she felt her body slip back end first into the icy depths of the river, immediately she unsheathed her claws as her body slid off the rock and winced as her claws scraped along the rock's slippery surface in search of something to grip. Her claws were wrenched as they finally caught on a rough edge protruding from the side of the stepping stone perpendicular with the surface of the water.
Panic raced through her mind as Sunvine carefully stepped onto the second stepping stone, looking down at her with his cold yellow eyes. After a few heartbeats the sandy tom bent his head, gripping the cream and white she-cat roughly by the scruff, dragging her out of the chilly dark water.
Before she could thank him, the tom turned around and leapt back to the Riverclan bank, she looked down at her paws and could see blood dripping from the edges of her claws. Just as Sunvine reached the bank he turned around, Swirlspots looked up to meet his haunting yellow eyes which sent shivers up her spine as he finally spoke.
"You should be more careful Swirlspots, pretty she-cats like you slip and break their necks….all the time" without another word the tom vanished into the dark foliage from which he emerged.
Moonstream slowly blinked her eyes open and sat up carefully stretching her legs out more conscious of her swollen belly than ever before. She looked around the dim nursery to find that she was alone in the den. The white and gray she-cat carefully stood up and made her way out of the den, blinking repeatedly as her eyes adjusted to the blinding mid-day light.
As her eyes adjusted to the light Moonstream could see that the entire camp was up and moving and that she had slept longer than she ever could have if she had been in the medicine den. Sitting just outside the den was the dark shape of Nightswallow. The long furred black medicine cat was currently drying herbs with Scorchkit, one of Doveheart's kits. Moonstream felt a pang of sadness hit her for a moment as she watched the eager ginger kit take Moonstream's place beside the elderly medicine cat.
Peppleleap was entering the camp followed by Foxstreak and Foamsplash. All three she-cats carried limp fish in their jaws and headed straight to the prey pile to deposit their trophies. Leafpaw and Goldenpaw were heading towards the elders den most likely to clear out their nests. Honeypaw was trudging slowly behind her denmates carrying a stick with mouse bile covered moss on the end of it, she obviously wasn't looking forward to tick duty.
Moonstream glanced around unsure of what to do until she spotted Shadefoot devouring a plump trout and decided she was better off sticking with the smoky gray and black queen. When she reached the queen Moonstream began grooming her unruly pelt taking special car to wash behind her ears and groom her fluffy tail. Only after she had finished her meticulous grooming did she speak.
"So, what do we do all day?"
Shadefoot chuckled loudly her green eyes twinkling "Well today I planned on taking Perchkit and Ivykit out to the shallow pools to practice swimming." The shallow pools were located not too far from the nursery where slow runoff from the river gathered forming a slow running makeshift rive. The area was surrounded by soft clumps of reeds and even a few rocks large enough to bask on when the sun was out. The area was considered perfect to teach young kits to swim with minimal danger.
Moonstream's ears perked at the chance to see kits splashing around in the same waters that she herself had learned the basics of swimming in.
"They have gone before but they still need plenty of practice" the gray queen continued "And I figure that they should get in a few more times before it gets too cold. We may even be able to get sourpuss over there to come with us." As she spoke the dark queen flicked her tail over to where Splashtail was resting, the long furred ginger and white queen's kits were due any day and the poor she-cat was so swollen she looked as though she couldn't move.
Hearing her denmate the grumpy queen lifted her head and narrowed her golden eyes "I'll have you know that I am not at my most comfortable right now."
Shadefoot stood up licking the last bits of fish from her lips "Yeah I know, trust me I've been there before." She waved over Perchkit and Ivykit who had been preoccupying themselves with an exceptionally long duck feather.
Moonstream trotted over to Splashtail, helping the heavily pregnant queen get up "Come on, it will be fun."
"Alright, I'm coming" Splashtail grumbled dropping nimbly into a stretch before slowly following the other two queens towards the shallow pools, Ivykit and Perchkit raced ahead of their mother in excitement.
When they reached the shallow pools Moonstream helped Splashtail settle on a large basking rock, when the young queen was situated Moonstream laid down beside her sighing as her muscles relaxed and the sunshine warmed her pelt.
Shadefoot stood in the shallow stream, the clear slowing moving water flowing through her legs, Perchkit stood on a small rock his paws already wet. The little brown tom wiggled his haunches before launching himself ungracefully into the water, setting droplets splashing onto his sister.
"Perchkit" Ivykit squeeled, shaking her little body sending the water flying from her short yet glossy pelt.
"Alright, Ivykit" Shadefoot called "It's your turn to get in, show me what you remember."
Moonstream watched as the little she-kit gracefully slid into the water, paddling unsteadily towards her mother. Perchkit was doing much better than his sister, strongly paddling and sliding through the water as easily as his namesake.
Moonstream turned to speak to Splashtail, the young queen clamped her mouth shut when she saw that the ginger and white queen was grimacing in pain. She leapt to her paws and urgently waved to Shadefoot "Are you ok Splashtail?"
"I think the kits are coming" the she-cat groaned as a contraction convulsed through her body.
"The kits are coming?" Moonstream asked "Are you sure?"
"Yes I'm sure" Splashtail snarled, her golden eyes narrowed into slits.
"Can you make it back to camp?" Shadefoot asked, herding her kits out of the stream. Splashtail shook her head roughly clenching her jaw in pain. Shadefoot looked down at her kits "You two need to go back to camp and get Nightswallow. Tell her where we are and whats going on"
Perchkit nodded his amber eyes round with fear before taking off towards the nursery and back into camp, Ivykit chased after her brother right on his heels.
"Moonstream, can you go find a stick?" Shadefoot asked, Moonstream nodded before running off in search of a small twig. After finding one floating in one of the pools she returned to see Nightswallow had arrived.
The black medicine cat had brought a small bundle of herbs with her but was currently talking to Splashtail while resting her forepaw in the ginger and white queen's stomach.
"Splashtail, I need you to push on the next contraction" Nightswallow instructed calmly, though her eyebrows were furrowed in concentration. Splashtail's face was wracked with pain as another contraction took over, the ginger and white queen pushed as she was instructed and the first kit was born.
Shadefoot bit through the sack and prodded at the small white kit carefully with her forepaw "This one is with starclan" she meowed sadly looking down at the underdeveloped kit. His legs were short and thin and his head too large for his scrawny thin body.
Splashtail wailed in grief, trying to look at her stillborn son, pain coursing through her as Nigthswallow moved her forepaw along the queen's stomach.
"I know you want to see your kit Splashtail but you need to focus, you have two more coming and I ned you to push again" Nightswallow instructed sternly.
Splashtail's body convulsed as she pushed and the second kit slid out into the world. Shadefoot quickly broke the sack again and immediately began rasping her tongue across the white she-kits fur. Once again the kit didn't make a sound but Shadefoot roughly licked it and after a few heartbeats a tiny whimper came from the small body.
"This one is alive" Shadefoot meowed before she continued to rub the kit's fur the opposite way to warm her up.
"She doesn't sound very strong" Nightswallow commented "Take her back to my den and have Scorchkit pull out some of my juniper berries and poppy seeds."
Shadefoot nodded and carefully lifted the small kit in her jaws before heading back towards the camp.
"Alright Splashtail, just one more kit and then we can take you back to the nursery to feed them."
As the last kit was born Moonstream stepped up to break the sack while Nigthswallow tended to Splashtail. As the wet kit fell into the world Moonstream struggled to hold back a wail of grief, this kit like her brother had died inside Splashtail's belly. The small brown she-kit was as underdeveloped as her brother with thin weak legs and a scrawny muscle-less body. Moonstream carefully ran her tongue over the small lifeless kit's head thinking about the life she would never live, the friends she would never make and the duties she would never perform. Never would this kit catch her first mouse, receive her first scar or have her first crush. The weight of this knowledge tore at Moonstream's heart and as Splashtail looked down at her two stillborn kits she let loose a wail of grief.
The sound of snapping twigs caught Moonstream's attention and she turned to see Splashtail's mate Spottedwhisker emerging from the direction of camp. His yellow eyes were dull with grief as he spotted the two limp bodies of his kits. He quietly padded up to his mate, pressing his wiry brown fur against her long flowing pelt and silently grieved his loss.
Nightswallow whispered a few instructions to the tom before heading back in the direction of camp, Moonstream raced to catch up with her. She walked alongside her former mentor, pelts brushing, thinking about her friend's loss and the tiny bundles of hope that had left this life before they had ever truly entered.
Hey everybody. So I just wanted to say that I had a great time writing this review and man did I enjoy the scene between Swirlspots and Sunvine out by the stepping stones. That was fun to write and I really loved how he was like threatening without actually straight up threatening her. So fun to write, I was inspired for that scene from a scene in Game of Thrones where Bran tells Tyrion that pretty girls fall off horses and break their necks all the time. lol so sick.
Anyways please leave a review with your thoughts or any questions and I will be sure to respond to them. Ta ta for now.
Review Responses
Wyldclaw: thanks for all the reviews for different chapters I hope you are enjoying the story. I was very excited to see and read all of your reviews so please continue to enjoy the story.
Willowdream of Forestclan: thanks for the review. And I know its been a long time lol I really appreciate that you haven't forgotten this story and are planning to continue to read it. I hope you enjoy this chapter and all those to come.