Chapter 9
Moon 32 | Frosty
Gingerleaf woke to a chilly morning, her heart racing as she recalled the days before and how much she wished to help. Slopecall was wounded from helping save a loner who had been chased by a dog. While her Clan-mate was still healing, wondrous news had been given as Haillaurel announced she was expecting kits and was proudly heading to the nursery to prepare for their arrival.
Leaf-fall was here and it was bound to be a hard time to hunt since leafbare was around the next moon. It was a difficult time and hardly the best for expecting kits. However, Gingerleaf wanted to do the best she could to ensure that her younger siblings can be born healthily. As such, she began to take her hunting duties seriously.
Although, it seemed that morning she wasn't having the best of luck. Her patrol saw a small group of Twolegs on the beach, making them have to choose a different place to hunt. Despite how unsettling it was, Gingerleaf had to put trust in her patrol leader to walk away from their usual hunting grounds on the beach. With the cooler temperature's she could only imagine what the Twolegs were even doing.
"It's the Frosty Moon for the sea's sake!" Lowshard complained sourly, her golden striped tail lashing.
Seedblur nodded his agreement with a grumble. "Guess they need prey for their bellies too."
"Like we don't?" Gingerleaf softly mumbled as she followed the patrol.
Thankfully, the following hunting patrol later in the day brought home more than enough prey from hunting in the inland forest.
Moon 33 | Long Night
Everything had been fine, Gingerleaf had checked in on Slopecall to ensure everything was fine. Sadly, her delivery of prey wasn't good news. The poor brown and white she-cat was fighting an infection from her claw wound. All the dark ginger tabby could do was give her wishful thinking and hope that it would get better soon.
The following few days towards the name-sake of the moon came news that Gingerleaf was never ready for. Sure, her mom was kind of old and all, but it made her heart sink in fear when a Clan meeting was called honoring Rustyfeather service to the Clan. She wasn't ready to see her mom join Darkwhisper in the elder's den. Yet, she could see the pride in those pale blue eyes.
The former deputy dipped her head, humbly accepting her many moons of rest for her hard work.
Gingerleaf didn't listen much, even as her mother, Haillaurel was chosen to take Rustyfeather's position as deputy. Her hazel eyes glistened with worry, but a deep rooted promise to do her best. It was too much for young Gingerleaf to accept.
.
"Couldn't find anything out there again?" Haillaurel asked, tilted her pale cream head to one side.
Gingerleaf shook her head, "No, there were still Twolegs out on the beach. We aren't sure what they are doing, but we didn't want to bother them or mess with their strange contraptions."
"This isn't good." Haillaurel mused softly, shaking her head a little. "Well, what matters is that you and your patrol returned safely. We just have to worry about those Twolegs another time. Who knows why they are out and about in leafbare, anyway."
"I thought you would know." She started carefully.
The deputy blinked her hazel eyes thoughtfully, thinking hard before looking away with a dismissive flick of her tail. "I really can't say. In all my time alive I have never seen this before. I just hope it's nothing serious. Perhaps some strong cats can go investigate if it happens again."
"And if it's my patrol again?" The dark ginger tabby asked.
Haillaurel hesitated, her whiskers quivering before she confessed. "I'd rather it not be your patrol, but if it must, then it must be investigated upon."
It was such a heartbroken confession to the point the deputy's eyes were downcast, her ears drooping as the realization sunk in. A realization that Gingerleaf had long since accepted the day she became an apprentice herself. She was at the mercy of friend and foe of the forest. With no way to know for sure if it would ever be within a mother's belief of safety.
Moon 34 | Storm
The Twolegs didn't prove an issue, but with Rainstar at the head of the patrol, it was concerning. Gingerleaf felt she needed to protect her leader and kept on high alert until Caveswoop spotted an octopus making its way back to the sea. The small patrol hesitated before launching their attack. Hunger drove them to only end up with a few of the limbs from the octopus, but it was better than nothing.
It was on their way back to the camp when they heard faint yowling cries. Gingerleaf's heart plummeted at how serious it sounded. Much more swiftly the patrol raced back to camp. Once there, the yowling cries were subsiding as Rusyfeather's ginger tail stuck out from the nursery before backing out.
"What's going on?" Rainstar asked, with worry dancing in her eyes. "Is everything okay?"
Rustyfeather's pale blue eyes were wide and full of warmth. "It was time for the kits to come." She explained, "Haillaurel already got one out, but Sleetcrash believes there is one more."
Caveswoop's shoulder fur started to lie flat again as he relaxed a bit. "Good, we thought something bad was happening."
"I don't blame any of you for thinking so." Rustyfeather purred in amusement. "I believe all is fine, we just have to wait and see."
Rainstar nodded, looking at Gingerleaf. "Keep on standby to help your mom look after your mother. Two cats are better than one trying to do everything."
"Right, thank you, Rainstar." She dipped her head respectfully.
.
For the rest of the night, Sleetcrash worked hard alongside Haillaurel to bring two kits into the world. Gingerleaf blinked in awe at the sight of the tiny kits. One was a pale cream and ginger, she was named Splashkit; while the other was a ginger much like herself and was named Sunsetkit. Both kits were she-kits, making all three of them sisters. She hoped that they would stay together forever.
However, with good news came bad news. Peakstreak had caught whitecough and had to be isolated into the apprentice's den since no other cat was using it while Slopecall continued to heal in the medicine den. It wouldn't take much for whitecough to spread, especially to a pair of young kits.
Suddenly, for Gingerleaf, leafbare was feeling more troublesome than she would dare to admit. Which meant a lot considering she had been quite troublesome in her own way. She worked so hard she could push herself beyond her usual abilities, but she also feared becoming a patrol leader and forcing her Clan-mates to follow her into the depths of trouble. Not to mention, there was still Miyun whom she shared a bond with that could be seen as nearly identical to parent and kit.
In fact, she realized she hadn't hunted or patrolled with the older she-cat in a long time. Her mom, Rustyfeather, had been so against it for a reason she could never put her paw on. Now, she could only wonder if this unspoken ban would be overrun by Haillaurel in the coming moons.
Moon 35 | Ice
Splashkit and Sunsetkit had become quite lively as they became a moon old. They ventured into the warming sands under the watchful eyes of Rustyfeather and Haillaurel. However, whenever Haillaurel needed to do her duty as a deputy, Rustyfeather and Darkwhisper watched over the kits to keep the shy little ones out of trouble.
However, as Gingerleaf was heading to her waiting patrol, she noticed Miyun being scolded by Rainstar after her border patrol had returned. She looked far from sorry and mostly annoyed. She couldn't quite believe it as she overheard the punishment: being confined in camp for the rest of the moon. Curiosity filled her as she padded through the sand to her small patrol.
"What happened?" She asked, Peakstreak.
Peakstreak had just recently gotten better from her whitecough and rolled her heather blue eyes. "Miyun was found by the rest of her patrol taking food from a Twoleg."
"Really?" The dark ginger she-cat gasped, looking back at the unusually spotted pale silver she-cat, her plumy tail lashing irritably. "I wouldn't take her as that kind of cat."
"Well, she was a loner, from the stories I've heard." Caveswoop pointed out. "So there is no telling how much she had been getting away with."
"Either way, let's get our patrol started." Peakstreak huffed, leading the way out of the camp.
.
Their patrol didn't amount to much in the meantime. Weevildusk had taken them to train and work on working together. While it did wonders in their relationships with one another, it did not provide them with much to work with. Thankfully, the hunting patrol was successful as well as the border patrol. Miyun, sadly, had to remain in camp and watch over the kits for the time being.
Allegiances (as of Moon 35)
Leader: Rainstar - long-furred dark gray tabby she-cat with gray eyes
Deputy: Haillaurel - pale cream ticked tabby she-cat with hazel eyes
Healer: Sleetcrash - long-furred pale gray and white tabby she-cat with pale green eyes
Warriors:
Miyun - long-furred unusually spotted pale silver she-cat with warm gray eyes
Weevildusk - long-furred gray and white tabby tom with pale yellow eyes
Peakstreak - long-furred speckled black and white she-cat with heather blue eyes
Seedblur - long-furred gray ticked and white tom with slate gray eyes
Slopecall - long-furred brown ticked and white she-cat with bright gray eyes
Caveswoop - long-furred white and black tabby tom with heterochromia eyes (one cobalt, the other emerald)
Lowshard - long-furred golden tabby she-cat with bronze-colored eyes
Gingerleaf - dark ginger tabby she-cat with pale green eyes
Queens and Kits:
Haillaurel - pale cream ticked tabby she-cat with hazel eyes (Mother of: Splashkit, a tortie she-kit; Sunsetkit, a ginger tabby she-kit)
Elders:
Darkwhisper - long-furred dark gray and white tabby tom with yellow eyes
Rustyfeather - dark ginger tabby she-cat with pale blue eyes
Cats Outside the Clan
Sweet Leon - medium-furred unusually spotted dark brown and white loner she-cat with pale blue eyes
Author's Note:
I have a key that continues to be a pain to work with. I might need to get a keyboard that won't have this issue.
On the plus side, I glued it after three days of this issue. So, hopefully that will keep it in place from now on.
Anyway, things seemed to have slowed down for now. But for how much longer?
Thank you for reading, have a fantastic morning, day, evening, or night~! - NightSky