Frostmask's stomach churned uneasily, her thoughts remaining on the gathering while Sedgestar navigated their patrol to the tunnel that ran beneath the thunderpath and back into ShadowClan territory. He slipped into the black hole hidden beneath the thicket, and she was the first cat to follow him inside.
"Superstitious fools," Sedgestar finally hissed as they stalked through the dank tunnel, their paws splashing in stagnant puddles.
Frostmask murmured a half-hearted agreement. Sedgestar glanced back at her out of the corner of his eyes, his shadowed amber gaze barely visible in the low light.
"I'm sorry you had to sit through that," he muttered in a low voice. "Their reaction was even more vitriolic than I expected."
Frostmask's tail twitched, but she wasn't really irritated at Sedgestar. It seemed like he'd at least tried to defend her as best he could at the gathering.
Was he really defending you though? An insidious thought whispered. Or, just his own pride?
She sent that thought away with a swift, nearly imperceptible shake of her head.
Regardless, he's apologizing to me now, at least.
"It's fine," she said, doing her best to keep her voice level. "ShadowClan never cares what the other clans think of us, right?"
Sedgestar shot her an approving glance.
"That's right," he said, his flicking tail stilling slightly.
Frostmask's brow furrowed with worry as they emerged out of the tunnel and back into ShadowClan's territory.
"I just hope that I haven't made things worse by being deputy," she said to Sedgestar as they waited for the rest of their clan-mates to emerge from the tunnel behind them. "Like, will Rabbitstar start to be more aggressive now?"
Sedgestar scoffed.
"That talk was likely all for show. Even if Fennelstar truly, deeply believes in a righteous crusade against rogues, that isn't why he's threatening us. He's just got a grudge and is trying to give himself more legitimacy in the eyes of his clan and his allies," he explained. "As for WindClan, maybe they will hurl a few more insults at us over the borders, but Rabbitstar isn't stupid. I doubt he will actually want to get himself tangled up in this mess between us, SkyClan, ThunderClan, and RiverClan."
Frostmask nodded, relaxing slightly.
"Do you think that there's any truth to what Rabbitstar and Willowstar were saying?" Dampfang's voice suddenly spoke up. "About StarClan not accepting a rogue-blooded leader?"
Frostmask shot a sharp glance at him, but really, she didn't have any grounds to reprimand him. On the surface at least, his tone was one of genuine worry and concern, even if their gazes met for a heartbeat as he sent her a sly look from out of the corner of his eye.
"No," Sedgestar said, stone-faced. "I think if StarClan had any issue with me making Frostmask deputy, they'd have sent me a sign about it."
Sedgestar started to turn, and Frostmask went to follow, but not before she heard Dampfang whisper faintly in response:
"What if they already have?"
Frostmask's shoulder fur bristled, and she glanced back at Dampfang.
"…Meaning?" she asked sharply.
Dampfang sighed, rolling his eyes slightly.
"I can't seriously be the only one that remembers the rotten pine omen, right?" he said, glancing around at the other cats in the patrol.
"That message is seasons old at this point," Frostmask pointed out. "It was given moons before I was even made a warrior."
"Do prophecies spoil like fresh-kill left too long in the sun?!" Dampfang demanded, his tail twitching. "The point of them is to warn us about something in the future, and it seems that its warning hasn't yet come to pass. So, it's still relevant, right?"
Frostmask shrugged, unsure of the mystical workings of the warrior ancestors, and her other clan-mates shifted uncertainly as well. Dampfang's eyes sought out Elmclaw in the crowd.
"Our medicine cat is right here. He can tell us," Dampfang said, locking his eyes on Elmclaw's.
Elmclaw sighed, looking like he'd rather be doing anything else at the moment than being interrogated by his younger brother.
"Technically, Dampfang is right," Elmclaw said.
Dampfang raised his chin in triumph.
"But," Elmclaw emphasized. "I don't think we should put so much weight into omens, especially not one as vague as the rotten pine. Yes, it is a warning, of course, but of what, it's almost impossible to say. Prophecies can have multiple meanings, or come to pass in the way you'd least expect."
Elmclaw's gaze flickered to Frostmask.
"Although, I'm not saying that it's about you," he said. "In fact, I seriously doubt it is."
"There," Sedgestar's voice suddenly broke in. "That settles it then. It's not about Frostmask, so it's not relevant here."
Sedgestar signaled the group forward, and they resumed their trek back to camp. Frostmask could still hear Dampfang grumbling softly from the back of the patrol, but his voice wasn't clear enough for her to make out his words, and he didn't protest out loud to the group again.
Frostmask's fur still stood on end from the interaction, but she shook it off, ignoring Dampfang's muttering and lengthening her stride, trotting for a moment to catch up with Sedgestar.
Dampfang should just put a mouse in it. Elmclaw must be right; he's the medicine cat after all. There's no way that the rotten pine omen could be about me.
"Shh!" Pineshade suddenly hushed from behind her, abruptly silencing Dampfang and making Frostmask's ears prick in interest.
"What?" Dampfang huffed offendedly, although he also tried to keep his voice quiet.
"Just shut up about Frostmask," Pineshade growled. "The other clans aren't right about her."
A growl rumbled from Dampfang in response.
"You can't tell me what I can't talk about!" he snarled in low tones.
Their voices faded in Frostmask's ears. She shot a glance back over her shoulder to see them departing from the patrol and disappearing into the forest, their pelts bristling as they took their argument out of earshot of their clan-mates.
Frostmask shook her head and sighed softly to herself. On one paw, she felt like she should be pleased to see Dampfang's relationship with Pineshade crumbling, but on the other paw, she just felt bad for Pineshade.
Having to deal with Dampfang all of the time just seems so stressful.
The rest of the journey to the camp passed in relative uneventfulness.
The sting of the gathering and Dampfang's protests were soothed some as Frostmask received supportive comments from cats like Snakeeyes, Lizardstrike, and Mosspounce, who swore that they would stand by her no matter what. But, others in the patrol like Dustleap and Greytail gazed at her uneasily, and she couldn't help but imagine that they were wishing that Sedgestar had picked someone else as deputy, someone who wouldn't be such an easy target for the other clans. She just hoped that they didn't also believe Dampfang's theory about the omen.
Dampfang and Pineshade still hadn't caught up to the group by the time that the thorn barrier came into view, but they quickly faded to the back of Frostmask's mind as she entered into the clearing and was greeted by a frazzled Autumnleap, whose tail twitched with something between excitement and nervousness. Despite it being very late into the night, nearing predawn, there were several other cats still awake, lying out in camp. Darkpelt was there, his chin resting on his paws, but his gaze trained intently on the nursery. Redclaw was leaning against Weaseltail's shoulder near the warriors' den, swallowing back yawns. Leafbreeze's eyes blinked in the deep shadows under the thorn barrier.
"What's going on?" Frostmask asked, turning to Autumnleap.
"Dewleaf went into labor shortly after you all left," Autumnleap explained. "Poolcloud is with her in the nursery now."
Concern flashed in Frostmask's chest. She opened her jaws to ask how Dewleaf was doing, but before the words could even pass her lips, she was interrupted by Elmclaw shouldering his way to the front of the gathering patrol.
"Is she alright?" Elmclaw demanded, his green eyes glittering with worry and a hint of accusation. "Why didn't anyone send a runner to get me?"
"Clearstream and Larkfoot are with her," Autumnleap said, glancing at Elmclaw. "They seemed to have everything under control."
"I'll go check on them," Elmclaw grumbled, swiftly brushing past Autumnleap and striding to the nursery.
Frostmask cast a glance after him.
Elmclaw must know that Clearstream was more than capable of delivering a litter of kits, even if she'd been retired from duties for a couple moons now. But, perhaps Elmclaw's irritation didn't stem from that, but rather a fear that their clan-mates lacked faith in his abilities, since they chose to rely on their retired medicine cat rather than also summoning him back to camp.
Or, maybe he'd just worried about his sister.
Frostmask's tail flicked.
In fact…
She looked over her shoulder to check the thorn tunnel again, but it remained empty.
Someone should really tell Dampfang that his sister is kitting.
If Pineshade was here, Frostmask would have asked her to go find him. But, since Dampfang was out with her, Frostmask wasn't sure who to turn to next. Perhaps Marshnose or Dustleap would go after him, but Frostmask's pelt prickled awkwardly at the thought of asking them for the favor, especially when she wasn't in either of their good graces to say the least. But, maybe she could just hope that one of Dampfang's friends would think of the idea of finding him themselves? They couldn't be that clueless, right?
Before Frostmask could solve her dilemma, Elmclaw had already crawled back out of the narrow nursery entrance, closely followed by Clearstream. The former medicine cat straightened as she noticed the many gazes trained on her.
"Dewleaf and the kits are resting now," she purred. "All are safe and healthy."
Mews of delight swept through the clan. Sedgestar stepped forward.
"That's wonderful news," he meowed. "We are lucky that you chose to remain in camp tonight."
Elmclaw shifted uncomfortably from behind Clearstream. But, Clearstream dismissed Sedgestar's praise with a flick of his ears.
"It was an easy birth, thank StarClan," she said. "I hardly had to do anything but meow encouragement."
She arched her back in a stretch.
"Now," Clearstream said, her gaze flitting around the camp. "I'm going to my nest. You all are aware that I retired so that I wouldn't have to get up in the middle of the night for these sorts of things, right?! Next time, you better go get Elmclaw instead. Or else, I'll send you to him myself when I claw your ears after you wake me up."
Amused purrs rumbled all across camp. But, Clearstream's gentle support of Elmclaw's authority didn't go unnoticed by Frostmask, or by Elmclaw himself. There was gratitude in his eyes as he blinked at Clearstream, and she bunted her head against his shoulder affectionately as she padded past him and to the elders' den.
After Clearstream's announcement, everyone split up to head back to their nests to sleep, a pawful of cats sticking their heads into the nursery to meow congratulations to the new family on their way. Frostmask lingered in camp, feeling like someone should still be here to tell Dampfang and Pineshade about Dewleaf's and Poolcloud's kits, whenever it was that they got back.
Autumnleap stayed out as well, still at her side as he turned to her, his eyes bright with interest.
"So, tell me! How was your first gathering as deputy?! What was it…" Autumnleap's voice trailed off suddenly, and his brow furrowed as he was struck with a thought. "Hey, wait, aren't you all back early? Usually the sky's already lightening by the time the gathering patrol arrives back at camp. Short gathering?"
Frostmask gave a brief, sharp sigh, sitting down.
"Nope. We left early," she said.
Autumnleap's ears pricked.
"What happened?" he asked, searching her face intently with his gaze.
Frostmask's tail thumped against the ground.
"Well, I'm sure Sedgestar will make an announcement in the morning about it," she sighed. "But, apparently, I'm cursed."
Autumnleap's face screwed up as he blinked hard in confusion.
"What?" he asked.
Frostmask released a soft huff of amusement at his wrinkled up expression, before she tilted her head back to study the star-studded sky and the large, unblinking eye of the moon.
"Well I'm simplifying, but that's the gist of it," she said. "They tossed around a lot of insults to ShadowClan, and Willowstar, Fennelstar, and Rabbitstar pretty much said that there's no way that StarClan could approve of a former rogue being deputy or leader. They said that since I don't have ancestors in StarClan, there wouldn't be any spirits to greet me to approve my leadership or give me nine lives."
Not that any of them are aware, but that's not even true. Frostmask thought. I do have kin in StarClan— all of Paledusk's ancestors. Even his brother Slatewhisker is there…
Frostmask frowned slightly.
Maybe, she amended. If his spirit found its way there without a death ceremony. Or, if he's not actually alive somewhere out there.
"That's a load of snake-dung," Autumnleap spat vehemently, refocusing Frostmask's attention. "None of our clan-mates believe them, right? Because I know for sure, if you became leader, there's absolutely no way that Swoopstrike wouldn't be clawing at the other spirts to be the first in line to see you."
A purr blossomed in Frostmask's chest as she lowered her gaze from the sky to glance over at Autumnleap. She leaned against his side gratefully.
"A few cats seem angry about the fact that me being deputy caused the other leaders to say such horrible things about ShadowClan," Frostmask explained. "But, I don't think anyone truly believes them."
A feeling of discomfort crawled into her stomach as she remembered the argument in the woods, with Dampfang bringing up the rotten pine omen as proof that Frostmask didn't have StarClan's approval to be deputy. But, she gave her head a small shake, pushing that thought aside. Everyone knew that Dampfang hated the fact that she was deputy, and so he'd say just about anything to try to make her lose the position. That must be the reason that he brought that up, right? He couldn't genuinely believe that it was true.
He must have just been trying to mess with me, like he always does.
Autumnleap rasped his tongue over her forehead affectionately.
"Good," he murmured. "Because for a moment there, I thought I'd have to claw some sense into our clan-mates."
Frostmask started to purr louder.
"I have to warn you, you really shouldn't be threatening to hurt your clan-mates in front of your deputy," Frostmask teased. "I might have to report this to Sedgestar."
Autumnleap's eyes widened in mock worry.
"Have some mercy on me! I didn't name names!" he protested.
Soft rustling suddenly filled the air behind them, and Frostmask glanced over her shoulder to see Poolcloud slipping out of the nursery, his amber eyes glowing with more happiness than she'd ever seen in his expression before. Frostmask and Autumnleap both purred loudly as he trotted over to them.
"What are you doing out here?!" Frostmask teased gently, her gaze warm with affection. "Go be with your mate and kits!"
"I thought I heard your voices," Poolcloud explained. "And, honestly, Dewleaf is probably sick of me hovering at this point."
"I'm so happy that her kitting went well," Frostmask purred. "You must be so proud."
A deep purr rumbled through Poolcloud, and he nodded.
"Well, tell us! How many are there? What do they look like?" Autumnleap demanded, purring as he nudged Poolcloud's side with his muzzle, half out of impatience and half out of affection.
"Have you picked out names?" Frostmask added.
Poolcloud's eyes shone.
"Would you like to come see them for yourselves?" he asked.
Frostmask's ears pricked, excitement prickling in her paws.
"Is Dewleaf awake?" she asked.
"Yeah, we were just talking," Poolcloud said, inclining his head towards the nursery. "She won't mind. It'll only be a moment anyway, just so you guys can see them and say hi to her."
"In that case, definitely!" Autumnleap said, jumping to his paws as Frostmask enthusiastically nodded along.
Poolcloud's tail curled up.
"Great!" he said, glancing around camp. "Have you seen Pineshade? She can come too. Is she already in the warriors' den?"
Frostmask's ears angled back, some excitement fading.
"Actually, she's still out of camp with Dampfang. They went to, er… talk… after the gathering," Frostmask said.
Poolcloud winced slightly, understanding her meaning. Dampfang's and Pineshade's growing arguments weren't exactly a secret. In fact, it was kind of hard to miss for anyone living in ShadowClan, since they'd started a moon and a half ago, after the battle and then only picked up heat with Frostmask's appointment to deputy.
"Well, I'll find her and him later," Poolcloud said. "You two can come now, before Dewleaf wants to go to sleep."
They nodded and followed Poolcloud into the nursery. As Frostmask slipped inside the cozy den, she blinked several times to adjust to the low light.
Dewleaf's nest was sequestered away from Amberberry's and Larkfoot's near the edge of the bush for the time being, likely so that Amberberry's older kits wouldn't bother the newborns. But, once the younger kits were a bit hardier, Dewleaf and her kits would move to join the other queens in the spacious nest in the center of the den.
After the excitement of the kitting, Amberberry and her kits were fast asleep in a golden and ginger-furred pile, although Larkfoot was not, and she blinked a greeting to Autumnleap and Frostmask as they entered. Dewleaf was still awake too as Poolcloud had told them, and she purred as she spotted them. Frostmask quietly tip-toed over to the edge of her nest, not wanting to wake anyone.
"Do you want to see them?" Dewleaf murmured.
Frostmask nodded.
"If you don't mind," she whispered.
"Of course not," the new queen purred.
Dewleaf moved her plumy tail to the side, uncovering the group of motley colored kits nestled into the curve of her belly, fast asleep.
Frostmask murmured a noise of gentle delight at the sight of the tiny newborns.
They each had small, folded ears, rosy noses and tightly closed eyes. It would be a quarter moon at least before their eyes and ears opened, and even longer before they would be able to see or hear clearly, and started to walk and speak.
"Two she-cats and two toms," Dewleaf murmured, gazing down at her kits with loving eyes.
"Four!" Autumnleap gasped softly, peering over at the tiny, fuzzy bundles. "Oh, that's a lot! You both will have your paws full with them!"
Frostmask purred in agreement, her gaze flicking away from the kits and up to Dewleaf.
"They're beautiful. Have you named them yet?" she asked.
"We have," Dewleaf purred, lowering her muzzle towards the blue-grey she-cat first.
Her pelt resembled Dewleaf's the most out of the litter. She had her mother's solid grey fur, just with a slightly bluer tint.
"This little one is Lichenkit," Dewleaf said, rasping her tongue down her back.
"I like that name," Frostmask murmured.
Dewleaf blinked her thanks to Frostmask before she turned her head to a brown and white kitten. His splotched pelt pattern seemed near identical to Poolcloud's, just with rich, brown fur instead of black.
"And, this is Mudkit," Dewleaf said, nuzzling him.
"I definitely can see it," Autumnleap purred. "He's perpetually muddy."
"That excuse will not get him out of any baths though," Poolcloud said.
He purred at his own joke as he curled himself around Dewleaf, resting his chin on her flank so he could gaze down at his kits with adoring eyes.
Dewleaf turned to the next kit in line, the second little she-cat. She was mostly black furred, but was marked with a little white here and there— on her paws, a splash on her chest, and a dab on her muzzle.
"She's Sprucekit," Dewleaf purred.
Frostmask blinked. Although she could still see Dewleaf and Poolcloud in this kitten's appearance, there was actually a different cat that Sprucekit reminded her of most.
"Spruce…" Frostmask mused, purring softly. "She looks a lot like another evergreen friend of ours."
Autumnleap's brow furrowed in confusion for a moment, but his eyes widened as he caught her meaning.
"Wait! Is she named after Pineshade?!" Autumnleap gasped, remembering just in the nick of time to keep his voice quiet as to not wake the kits. "She got a kit named after her?! After you said that you wouldn't!?"
"Spruce and Pine are two very different names!" Poolcloud protested, his brow furrowing.
Autumnleap snorted.
"Like you'd be able to tell the difference between a spruce tree and pine tree," he grumbled.
"Okay, maybe Sprucekit's name is a little inspired by her's," Poolcloud finally admitted, his ears flattening sheepishly. "But, just look at her! She's just like a tiny Pineshade; she's even got her bristly fur, like the needles on the trees. I'm not playing favorites though, I swear. If one of the kits came out ginger like you, I'd have considered a Maplekit."
Autumnleap sighed, acquiescing. He glanced over at the final kit, a smokey grey and white tom.
"So, I can assume that his name isn't Maplekit?" Autumnleap teased gently.
Dewleaf glanced over at Poolcloud, letting him take the lead for this one. Poolcloud dipped his head towards his second son, brushing his nose on his kit-soft fur.
"He's Fogkit," he murmured.
Autumnleap blinked.
"Well I can't make fun of you for that," he said.
"It's a wonderful name," Frostmask added with a purr. "I'm sure Fogfur would appreciate it."
"Thank you," Poolcloud said, blinking gratefully up at her.
"We'll let you rest now," Frostmask said, gently touching her muzzle to Poolcloud's head and then Dewleaf's in farewell. "Well done, Dewleaf. They're perfect."
Dewleaf purred in response, carefully tucking her tail around her kits again to keep them warm.
"Stop by again soon," Poolcloud added. "Four kits is a lot! Once they start walking around, we'll need all the help we can get from their aunties and uncles to keep them in line."
Dewleaf huffed softly.
"Speaking of, have either of you seen my littermate?" she asked. "I know Dampfang and I can have our differences, but stars! I just gave birth to basically an entire patrol of cats, and he didn't even at least stick his head inside to say, 'Congrats.'"
"He and Pineshade are still out of camp," Poolcloud explained. "I'll find them when they get back."
Frostmask nodded at him, thankful that she could leave passing on the news in Poocloud's capable paws, freeing her to go to sleep. With a couple of murmured goodnights, she and Autumnleap slipped out of the nursery and headed towards the warriors' den and their waiting nests.
The unpleasantness of the gathering was already fading in Frostmask's mind in the face of the miracle that was new life.
The five clans had always been rivals, so Sedgestar was right that they couldn't let them dictate the inner workings of ShadowClan. The other clans would posture and threaten her appointment to deputy because that's what they had always done, and what they would always do. If Frostmask wasn't rouge-born, they'd surely find something else to say about her. Maybe that she was too young or too inexperienced or too short… who knows?
Regardless of the other clans, when it came down to it, ShadowClan was what mattered most. It was her responsibility to provide for her clan-mates and protect them. Especially when they were as little and helpless as the litter of new kits were
I need to be the best deputy for ShadowClan that I can be. To help keep them safe.
As she and Autumnleap curled up in their nest, anxieties about the next day didn't threaten to keep her awake as they had every night for the past half-moon. Instead, with a new determination filling her, Frostmask fell asleep easily.
Author's Note: Kittens! 3
Brian.H.H: Thanks! Tbh my chapter names are pretty low effort most of the time (I name them after the chapter has already been written, and at that point I'm usually just eager to slap on any sort of name so I can put it online) But, occasionally, I think of a good one haha.
Ohhh absolutely about Paledusk. While Fennelstar is speaking, internally, he is for sure being like "Excuse me?! I don't care what you say about ShadowClan, but not my offspring. Nothing short of perfection could possibly come from my bloodline."
And, haha that's spot on for how I picture Willowstar's and Perchpelt's dynamic!
Yes, exactly, that's like the perfect analysis for how this will effect ShadowClan. As of right now I think it's kinda falling in line with their pre-established biases, so like if a cat already was uncertain about Frostmask as deputy, this will make it worse, while for the cats that liked her, they will become even more defensive of her. But, the majority of the Clan is at least okay with Frostmask as deputy, and you're right that it's kinda too late for ShadowClan to back down from her now lol. So, at least at the moment, they're kinda stuck with this situation.
I think Frostmask definitely notices Sedgestar's defense of her, but of course she's still doubtful of him, so she's like "Is he defending me because he actually likes me, or is he just defending himself/his own choices?" Without considering that the answer could be both lol. But, their relationship I think is improving, just very slowly.