Rising from the Ashes

Chapter 79

Hawkstar slipped into the nursery, far quieter and emptier than he would have liked. The queens and kits that should have been there were scattered by greencough. While most of the warriors were on the mend, Swanflight and Weaselkit were still gravely ill. Only Daisyheart had died but Hawkstar knew that either of them could easily follow. The GrassClan leader tried not to think about it.

Then there was Wildbloom. She was days away from kitting and doing an admirable job of caring for Nightkit despite that. For suddenly being a single kit, she was doing well. The little black kit was quiet and obedient. She had also managed to stay healthy through all this, thank StarClan!

Hawkstar strolled over to his mate and his mood immediately dropped as he saw the familiar shine of fever in her eyes. He ran for Honeypool and the medicine cat immediately escorted Wildbloom to the apprentice den.

"What about the kits?" Hawkstar asked anxiously.

"Everything will be fine, Hawkstar," Honeypool meowed over her shoulder as she left the nursery.

Hawkstar looked down at Nightkit. She had lost her mother, two foster mothers and her brother all in the span of a quarter moon. She huddled in the empty nursery looking lost and alone. She was far too young to be dealing with all this but there was no help for it. There was nowhere else she could go.

Hawkstar gently touched his nose to the top of Nightkit's head. "I'm sorry, little one. I know this is scary but you're going to have to be brave."

Nightkit shivered but managed a small nod.

Hawkstar left the nursery, his duties as leader extending beyond the wellbeing of a solitary kit. He was immediately greeted by his deputy.

"We'll get through this, Hawkstar. StarClan wouldn't have brought us this far only to take it all away now," Thistletail meowed.

Hawkstar touched his tail to Thistletail's shoulder in comfort. He was worried about his mate and unborn kits, yes but at least Wildbloom wasn't at StarClan's border. Leader and deputy stayed that way for just a moment before pushing their personal struggles aside. After all, they had a Clan to lead.

"The Gathering patrol," Thistletail meowed. "Who do you want to take?"

"Who do we have left?" Hawkstar asked grimly. He had had this conversation with Thistletail all too often. He was tired of it. "We'll take all the warriors fit enough to go. I doubt Breezefoot will want to go anywhere, grieving for Daisyheart as he is. Doeheart and Beetleflight are too old so that leaves only our warriors."

Thistletail nodded. "Right. Then I'll let them know."

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For once, GrassClan was the first to arrive in the ravine. With only six cats total, this was the second smallest Gathering patrol Hawkstar had ever led besides the one when StarClan visited. His Clanmates huddled together in the moonlit ravine waiting for the other Clans to arrive. Thankfully, they didn't have long to wait. WillowClan streamed into the ravine, their patrol helping to fill the mostly empty space.

"Stormstar," Hawkstar greeted with a nod.

"Hawkstar," Stormstar responded the same.

"How are Briarkit and Riverkit?"

"Doing fine." Stormstar's sharp gaze took in the much smaller GrassClan patrol. "How are things in GrassClan?"

Hawkstar forced himself not to tense. Stormstar was helping them, yes but things could still end badly. He didn't want to show any weakness in front of the other Clans, but he couldn't deny that something was happening in GrassClan. "Things have been worse but we're managing."

The other Clans arrived then, and the Gathering got underway. Dapplestar opened the Gathering and then it was Hawkstar's turn.

The GrassClan leader rose to his paws on the Mossy Log. At the last Gathering, he had had a full patrol with him, a growing nursery and Daisyheart had still been alive. In the course of a moon, that had all been taken away. So much had happened but he had to be careful what he revealed to their rivals. He may not have the experience of seasons behind his leadership, but he had learned that lesson early on.

"As always, newleaf means new kits. Two have been born to Fernshade and Birchleg and two more queens are close to kitting. GrassClan has had a bout of sickness and Daisyheart died," Hawkstar felt a wave of grief wash over him as he thought of the gentle elder but shook it off to finish his report. "Thankfully, our sick cats are recovering well with the expert care of our medicine cat, Honeypool."

Hawkstar sat back down and nodded at Shadestar to continue.

Stormstar finished the Gathering. "StarClan has been kind to us this past moon. We have a new warrior keeping their vigil tonight, Ducksplash, and three new apprentices: Fishpaw, Shimmerpaw and Splashpaw. All of the kits in our nursery are thriving and prey is always running well in WillowClan." Stormstar flashed a smug look Hawkstar's way as the cats below cheered the new warrior and apprentices.

Hawkstar stiffened at the veiled insult, sinking his claws into the Mossy Log. With the Gathering over, he had no desire to stick around. He led his small band of warriors up the slope and into the meadow.

"How dare she throw that in our faces!" Thistletail spat.

"She was just baiting us to see if we would respond," Hawkstar meowed.

"She made it sound like we can't take care of our own kits!"

"We can't." Hawkstar stopped to look at his deputy. "Not yet."

"But once we are able to, we'll be taking our kits back."

"If she'll let us," Duskflower huffed.

"Do you really think she'd do that? Fight to keep the kits?" Honeypool asked.

Hawkstar shook his head, uncertain. "We'll find out whenthe time comes.