Blizzardstar's Choice

Chapter Twenty Three {Edited}

Shimmerpelt blinked open her eyes in the BreezeClan nursery, her tail curled tightly around her kits. "Frostkit and Pinekit," she purred, nuzzling them both happily.

She knew that seeing Blizzardstar in her dream had been no coincidence. He had summoned her to Starclan, to tell her that he would be returning home soon. But how long did that really mean?

"I wish I could take you to see your father,"  she meowed, brushing her tail softly over the kits' pelts. They were still so very young and vulnerable, taking them out in the endless cold would be dangerous.

Suddenly, Dewdrop poked her silver head through the nursery entrance.  Her mouth was full of roots and berries, staining her chest fur with brown and red.

"I've come to give you some parsimin root and saffron berries," she purred as she sat them down.  "The root will help you supplement your vitamins better in your milk; and the berries will help keep you relaxed," she recited from the herbs and their remedies from memory.

Spottedrose started to eat the herbs, still feeling positively overjoyed by her dream only moments before. It seemed like Dewdrop was sensing her elation, she purred happily as the queen finished up the last of her herbs.

"I'm glad you're finally starting to relax. Oakstar only wants what is best for you," Dewdrop mewed softly as she started to examine the kits.

"Oh, that's not it," Spottedrose sighed, "Blizzardstar visited me in my dreams last nite. He told me that he was trapped in Starclan, but now he will be returning to the forest." Her voice was light and a little wary, she didn't want any warriors outside to overhear her.

"Blizzardstar is returning," Dewdrop asked curiously, "what will you do then?" The question felt a little odd, almost like Dewdrop was trying to interrogate her.

"I'm not sure... I will want him to come and see our kits," she mumbled, unsure of what was in store for Blizzardstar and their little family.

"Oakstar will not want him here. All you're going to end up doing is stirring up all these powerful feelings. You know your father can not control his emotions," Dewdrop meowed seriously. She had surely thought that Spottedrose would leave the white leader alone, after she had thought he was dead for so long.

"If Oakstar won't have him here then we will go to IceClan. They're plenty kind to me," Spottedrose mewed stubbornly. Dewdrop sat back, the kits looked perfectly healthy from what she could see.

"You know I can't allow you to take those kits out in the cold, the whole way to IceClan's camp," Dewdrop meowed softly, her voice was almost menacing as she took a step towards the den entrance.

"You can't stop me," Spottedrose growled, narrowing her eyes as she glared at the medicine cat.

Dewdrop held her breath as she locked eyes with Spottedrose. She felt her thoughts start to wander in a sinister direction once again.  She knew that she could guarantee that Spottedrose could not run away to Iceclan.

With a flick of her tail, Dewdrop whirled around and exited the den. She felt her pelt crackling with tension, she wished she could have just slashed her claws across that smug queen's face.  If her yarrow berry would have just killed the kits, she wouldn't be speaking nonsence about running away.

She quickly trotted over to Oakstar's den, sticking her slender muzzle through the entrance. "Oakstar?"

She could hear him stand quickly from his nest, clearly not expecting anyone to bother him. "Come in Dewdrop," he mewed after several seconds.

She slid into the darkness of the den, her pure silver pelt turning to black in the shadows. "Spottedrose has shared some important news with me," she mewed, "she says that Blizzardstar visited her in her dreams. She said he told her he would be returning to the forest soon."

Oakstar's eyes narrowed with interest. He leaned in closer to the medicine cat, his claws sliding out and sinking into the earthen floor. "Where has Blizzardstar been," he wondered out loud.

"He has been recovering in his clan. His injuries had been severe, it appears that his soul was trapped in Starclan," she mewed slowly. She was growing even more certain of what was happening to the IceClan leader as she pieced it all together.

"I saw Tinypool on the border a couple moons ago. She had said that Blizzardstar was stuck in some sort of sleep," Dewdrop meowed.

Oakstar hissed, turning his furious gaze to Dewdrop. "So you knew that he was alive! Just asleep in his camp!  Why didn't you say anything when Hailstorm said he was dead?" Oakstar yowled angrily.

Dewdrop shrank back, flattening her ears against her head. "I didn't think he would be of any threat! Now that Spottedrose knows he is returning, she wants to take her kits back to IceClan," she meowed desperately.

Oakstar growled as he stood to leave the den. "I am taking our strongest warriors now, to go and wipe out their clan once and for all. If Blizzardstar is still asleep, it will be easy," he chuckled. He was starting to push through the den entrance but then he turned back to Dewdrop.

"Is Spottedrose fit to fight," he asked, clearly intending for the medicine cat to give him the answer he wanted.

"Yes, her kits will be fine here in camp with me," Dewdrop meowed. Oakstar nodded and then quickly left the den.

Dewdrop sat in Oakstar's den for a long while after that. She listened to him round up his warriors. Spottedrose was hissing and growling as Oakstar pushed her from the nursery. The patrol left with no hesitation, almost all of the warriors had gone off to battle.

Finally, she left the den and padded back over to the nursery. She had almost forgotten that Foxstreak had joined the nursery overnight. Now that she was rounding with kits, she slept a lot of the day away.

Dewdrop quietly padded over to Spottedrose's nest, looking down at the tiny Pinekit and Frostkit nestled inside. She rested her tail around the brim of the mossy nest, watching the kits as they slept.

"With IceClan gone, we WILL live peaceful lives," Dewdrop whispered, "this is the way it is meant to be."