Blazing Nights

Prologue

The moon had long since risen and the silvery beams bathed the walls in a soft light that cast the forest's shadows onto the sandy ground. Soft snores and the occasional shifting of nests came from the warm caverns in the smooth, sandy walls. The quiet night eventually gave way to the shuffling of paws and the pale light caught the movements of a pale ginger she-cat silently padded to a dark cave on the far side of a small cliff. She hesitated before whispering in the small cave "Hawk Sun?"

The rustling of leaves and moss was heard from within the den as a lithe ginger tabby partially emerged from the den, shaking the vines that dangled in front of his den as his head poked out. "What is it Bright Nose?" Hawk's deep voice rumbling with annoyance and eyes heavy from sleep.

His lack of enthusiasm didn't dampen Bright's overwhelming joy as she was jittering with excitement. She leaned in closer to Hawk Sun's ear and tried to keep her voice down. "I'm going to have your kits!"

Hawk's whiskers twitched and his eyes showed a spark of interest. "Have you gone to see Crooked Root?" He whispered, nudging Bright Nose into his den.

"Yes!" She purred, entering through the vines. "I was feeling a bit sick so I went to see her."

Hawk Sun sat down in his nest, a thoughtful look crossing his face. "So, when will they be due, we could use some new life in the camp."

Bright tilted her head her. "Well...oh, I... I don't really know, Crooked Root said something but, I left to see you as soon as I could." She sat beside Hawk, nuzzling his neck as a purr rose in her throat once more. "Oh Hawk, I can't wait to meet them, our kits will be so cute!"

"And very strong." Hawk mewed, a sense of pride filling his voice. He was about to speak when the peaceful night was interrupted by a terrified caterwaul.

The two leaped to their paws and sprinted out of the den as other cats leaped from the surrounding nests to see what was going on. The group clustered around the entrance as three beaten and bloodied cats tumbled into camp. Hawk Sun shouldered his way through the crowd that now surrounded the commotion. He looks to a large dark grey tom with narrowed eyes. "Ash Tail, what happened?"

Ash looked up with a disgruntled look, the fur on his shoulders and back tattered and bloodied. "Those damn city runts ambushed us by the border," he grunted and looked to the other two, "Feather Belly, Mud Whisker, and I managed to chase them off our territory but, something tells me that they won't stay away for long."

Hawk nodded as an agitated look crossed his face. "Uri's band of city rats have been trying to take our territory for months now." He lashed his tail and turned to Crooked Root. "I will leave you to clean up this mess." The ginger tom turned away from the group and swiftly padded back to his den, leaving the murmuring crowd behind him.

Crooked Root gave little more than some inaudible mumbles as she led the three wounded brawlers into the sheltered cave that was her store room. Ash Tail slumped down on a smooth stone that was topped with soft moss and feathers. He groomed some of his torn fur and watched as Crooked began patching up Mud. Ash cleared his throat. "Crooked Root, this needs to stop."

The brown she-cat huffed and mewed over her shoulder. "Don't be a vague badger Ash, you're going to need to be a bit more specific than that."

Ash Tail flicked his ears with irritation. "The border skirmishes, the stolen prey, the ambushes. All from those mange ridden city wanders who feel entitled to the territory we worked so hard to get." A snarl starts rising in Ash's throat as he shredded the moss beneath his claws. "And it's only getting worse, the first few trespassers came in groups of two or three but now!" He lashed his tail across the nest sending a wave of moss onto Feather who was lying beside him. "There were ten of them, Crook, TEN!"

Crooked Root quickly turned around to face Ash Tail. "Calm down before you do more damage to yourself then the actual ambush did." She placed some cobwebs onto Ash's shoulder and began cleaning his wound up. "You can rant all you want but, there's not much you can do about it."

Ash Tail glared. "I'm not saying this for my own health, you're part of the council." He winced as pressure was put on his shoulder. "Can you at least try to bring it up during the next meeting?"

Crooked Root sighed. "I can't promise you any change but, I'll try." She finished up with Ash Tail and moved onto Feather Foot who was picking moss from his fur. "At least there is some good news, both Bright Nose and Rabbit Claw will be having kits within the month."

A soft purr came from Feather. "Rabbit and I have been thinking of names, she's really insisting we name at least one after her mother." He looked up at Crooked. "I... I don't want my kits to grow up and fight in these battles." He shuffled his paws his voice lowering. "Some of us have been talking and we think we should start fighting back more, take them out before they end us."

Crooked looked over at Feather with a look of sympathy. "I know you want to protect them but, it's Hawk Sun's decision." She tilted her head. "Although, maybe with his own kits he'll see things in a different light."

Ash Tail's whiskers twitched in amusement. "Hawk Sun being a father?" He stifled a laugh. "He's about as loving as a fox."

"Poor Bright Nose." Feather Foot murmured, "With how little time he even spends with her, I'm surprised she actually got pregnant." He looked at Ash Tail. "I mean even with you always being on patrols I've seen you always trying to spend at least a little bit of time with Storm and Boulder."

Ash Tail looked outside as the first morning rays peeked into a small cave a bit off the ground with two grey young cats inside. He smiled slightly but, it didn't last long. "They deserve better than this." He looked back at Crooked Root. "We deserve better than this."

A/N: Yep, finally updated. Let's see if I can surpass my record of ..three chapters?