A sharp chill hung in the air as Sand woke in her nest. She raised her head and saw that Scourge was still asleep next to her. She gently nuzzled him until he woke.
"I'm going for a walk," she whispered. "I'll be back in a bit."
He yawned and licked his pelt a few times. "Okay, would you like me to come with you?"
"You can sleep in," she gave him a lick between his ears. "I won't be long. I just need to stretch my legs." He laid his head back down and she climbed out of the boxes, carefully making her way down the pile.
She padded out of the monster den and felt a cold breeze ruffle her pelt. Leaf-bare was here. Food would be harder to thought pricked her like a thorn as she glanced down at her slightly swollen belly. Please let them wait until Newleaf is here.
She padded along the winding paths of the Twolegplace, waving to passing cats with her tail. The sun was above the treeline as she climbed on top of the fence that bordered the forest. She closed her eyes to focus on the sounds and scents. Usually, ThunderClan scent would drift on the wind from the border markers. But, there was no ThunderClan scent now. The dawn patrol would've come through not long ago. The only sounds she could hear was the rumbling of twoleg monsters… in the forest.
Now curious, she jumped down and landed on the soft grass. The scents of the forest seemed dull, as if they were fading. She padded to the treeline cautiously, sniffing the air as she grew closer to the Thunderclan border. The scents of her old Clan were barely detectable. Had something happened to the dawn patrol? No. These scents were more than a few days old.
She slowly moved past the border, the undergrowth was beginning to shrink back from the cold and leaves were littering the ground. Suddenly, she surged forward, bounding through the forest and heading straight for the camp. Her paws carried her down the familiar paths she'd taken so long ago. She soon came to the bramble barrier. Pushing her way through, she found the camp in shambles. The dens were overgrown and the scents no longer lingered. Where did they go? Why did they leave?
The distant rumbling of the monsters seemed to be getting closer. Loud crashing of trees made her jump. She had to get out of the hollow. She pushed her way back through the bramble barrier and bounded towards the Twolegplace, the rumbling of the monsters made the ground shake beneath her paws as she raced between the trees.
She nearly tripped on roots as fear drove her to run faster. Bushes smacked her pelt and brambles clawed at her pelt as she pushed her way through the undergrowth. Her heart leaped as she spotted the clearing at the border. She bursted past the treeline and bounded to the top of the fence in one leap, nearly falling back on the other side. She halted and attempted to catch her breath. Hoping she was safe on this side of the fence, she stared behind her, watching the forest behind as if a monster was about to come crashing through. Everything was still.
"Are you okay?" She whipped around to see a brown tabby tom coming around the corner. Relief flooded over her.
"Yes, Willie," she panted. "I'm fine."
He must've sensed her fear scent as he padded closer. "Come, let's get away from the fence." He rested his tail on her shoulders and led her down the alley and down the path towards Scourge's den.
As they padded next to the Thunderpath, a light gray she-cat came trotting up to them, her heavy belling swaying with each step.
"Sand, what happened?" Her blue eyes gleaming with worry. "You look like you just got out of a fight!" The queen began licking at Sand's pelt, brushing off leaves and twigs.
"Yeah, a fight with a bramble bush," Willie meowed jokingly. "I found her at the fence to the forest."
Minty jerked back at the mention of the forest, her eyes blazing with shock and fear. "What were you doing in the forest?" She hissed in a low voice. "You know the Clan cats will claw our fur off in any of us steps one paw in their precious forest." Her last words were spat mockingly.
"The Clan cats are gone." Sand mewed, her voice barely audible. She stared at the ground. "The borders haven't been marked in days, and the camp has been abandoned." A pang of grief dropped in her stomach like a rock. "I wouldn't be surprised if they all left. The twolegs are destroying the forest."
Willie scoffed. "Twolegs. Probably wanting room to make more dens."
Sand stood up and licked Willie's shoulder, then Minty's shoulder. "I need to speak with Scourge. Thank you." She padded off, her thoughts swirling like a storm.
If all of the Clans really had abandoned their homes, where had they gone? Was there anywhere else that would be safe for that many cats? How far were they willing to travel? Would the twolegs destroying the forest affect BloodClan? Or would there be enough left for the cats of Twolegplace to claim it for themselves?
She padded into the monster den and leaped up the pile of brown boxes, sliding into the hole in the bottom of the top box and dropping into the warm nest.
Scourge was grooming himself when she dropped in. He glanced at her and nearly yowled in surprise. He got up and sniffed at her scrapes and cuts. "What happened?" He asked worriedly.
"I went into the forest," Sand meowed. Scourge turned to meet her gaze, his blue eyes blazing and hackles raising.
"The Clan cats did this to you?" He demanded.
She shook her head. "The Clans have left the forest." Confusion flickered through his gaze. "The twolegs are destroying it. The borders have gone stale and the camps are abandoned." She began licking at her scratches, cleaning the blood in her ruffled pelt.
Scourge sat down, his gaze settled on the wall as if trying to figure out what this would mean for BloodClan. For all the cats in Twolegplace. She gave him a lick on the ear. He turned to look into her eye, his expression unreadable.
"We'll figure it out," she meowed, her voice soft. "And no matter what happens, we'll be okay." She purred, touching her nose to his affectionately.
She laid down and resumed her grooming. Scourge laid next to her and groomed the areas that were harder for her to reach.
"Promise me you'll be more careful," he mewed quietly. "At least until we know it's safe."
"I promise," she mewed.
A warm breeze swept through the Twolegplace as twolegs, monsters, and cats roamed about, enjoying the nice weather. Willie, a brown tabby tom, was in a monster den playing with four young kits. The kits chased him and tackled him as he rolled dramatically onto his back. Not far away, his mate, Minty, was huddled over a panting pale-ginger she-cat.
"Deep breaths, Sand." She meowed comfortingly. "Just let your body do the work." Sand groaned, biting down hard on the stick in her mouth, as a ripple of pain passed through her body.
There was a wet plop. "Your first kit!" Minty said. A moment later, she gently set the kit at Scourge's paws. "You'll need to lick it, back to front. She's got more coming." He did as directed and began cleaning the kit as it mewed.
"You're doing great," Minty meowed to Sand. Another ripple passed over the she-cat and another kit came into the world. Minty began cleaning the second kit.
"It should be over soon," the gray she-cat meowed between licks. A few more agonizing moments later, the last kit slid onto the nest. Minty put the kit Scourge had finished cleaning in the curve of Sand's belly along with the one she'd cleaned and gave the third kit to Sand to clean. "You have three healthy kits." Minty purred. "Two she-kits and a tom."
She turned to Scourge and whispered, "Come get me if it looks like they aren't recovering well. You know where to find me." She touched noses with Sand before climbing out of the brown box den.
Scourge padded over to lay next to Sand, who was still cleaning the ginger-and-black kit between her paws. "I am so proud of you." He purred as he gazed lovingly at his mate and kits.
"Now we just need to name them," she meowed between licks. "Easy enough, right?"
They gazed thoughtfully at the three kits as they suckled. "The tom looks like a badger with his black and white fur." Sand mewed. "We can call him Badger."
"That's a strong name for a strong kit," Scourge meowed approvingly. "The amber she-kit reminds me of a marigold plant, how does Marigold sound?" Sand purred in agreement.
"And the tortoiseshell she-kit has a white patch on her chest that looks like a maple leaf. Let's call her Maple." Sand looked up at Scourge to see his eyes shining with pride and love. She doubted that any cat had ever seen this side of him before. It was like he had finally found a part of him that had been missing for many moons. He had lost his family a long time ago, and now he had his own family. He was home.