Tragedy {A Warrior Cats Fanfiction}

» Chapter Forty-Three «

Kestrelfur hadn't visited her friends' graves since they were buried, but she was visiting them today.

      All of the cats Waspstar had killed and left to rot in the camp were finally given a proper burial. Kestrelfur lost track of who was buried where, but she felt something heavy in her chest knowing that it could be Rainfoot or Morningleaf who rested beneath her paws.

      GladeClan had taken Firepelt's body back to their camp so they could bury it themselves, and a patrol took Stormstar's body to MarshClan.

      Kestrelfur traced the earth with a claw, wondering whose body was underneath her. Cindertooth? Speckleface? Deerspots? Amberheart? Violetheart? Morningleaf? Rainfoot?

--

Kestrelfur padded back into camp, the scents of CloudClan mingled with GladeClan. She saw GladeClan warriors padding around as though they fit in. After Waspstar had died, GladeClan didn't want to go back to being their own clan, though Kestrelfur wasn't sure why. It seemed like FlightClan would last forever.

      As she padded around, she saw division between GladeClan and CloudClan cats. CloudClan cats stuck together and GladeClan cats stuck together.

      Kestrelfur took a piece of fresh-kill and padded back into the nursery, where she always ate. She didn't mind because she didn't have anyone to eat with anymore anyways. Usually she was quick at making new friends, but she wasn't in the mood to find more at the moment.

      "Look," said Frostfire, moving her tail so Kestrelfur could get a better view of her kit, Snowkit. "She opened her eyes!"

      Snowkit's eyes were a deep kit-blue. They seemed to be soaking in everything around her, not leaving anything untouched by her vision.

      "That's wonderful," said Kestrelfur with a purr.

      "Do you think she can play with us now?" asked Chestnutkit.

      Frostfire shook her head. "No. She has a while before she can play games with you. You two didn't even go outside the nursery until you were a moon old."

      Chestnutkit scowled. "I would've gone outside sooner but Pikekit wouldn't let me."

      "We were tiny and the other cats were huge," said Pikekit. "They could've easily stepped on us. I just wanted to wait until we got a little bigger, but you could've gone outside on your own if you wanted to."

      "But nothing's fun without you!" protested Chestnutkit.

      Kestrelfur smirked—the first in a while. She found it funny and cute how these kits, so tiny and only two moons old, could have arguments between each other.

--

The twig snapped in Kestrelfur's jaws as pain engulfed her.

      "Don't worry," said Cherrynose, though her voice sounded tense as though she were stressed. "Just one more to go."

      Kestrelfur waited and waited for the pain to stop, but it seemed to keep on going. Her sides heaved.

      "Almost there... annnd it's out!" said Vixenpaw happily. "You have three kits."

      Cherrynose slid one in under Kestrelfur's nose. "Start licking him. He needs warmth."

      The kit they had placed uner her nose was the tom. The one who looked like Waspstar. It made an emptiness rise inside her, but she started licking him anyway. This was not Waspstar.

      Cherrynose was licking the other ginger she-cat, while Vixenpaw was licking the mottled she-cat. After a while Cherrynose said they should start suckling, so the three of them released the kits and let them latch on to suckle.

      Kestrelfur let her head fall onto the moss nest, exhausted from kitting.

      "Are you ready to name them?" asked Cherrynose.

      Kestrelfur didn't hesitate. "Yes."

      She ran through the names Waspstar had come up with. "The tom is Tigerkit."

      Tigerkit was the biggest of his sisters. He had the same build as Waspstar. Kestrelfur hoped he wouldn't have the same personality.

      "The mottled she-cat's name will be Alderkit."

      Alderkit was in the middle of her two littermates, squirming around.

      "The ginger she-cat will be named Sagekit."

      Sagekit was quiet as she suckled. While her pelt looked like Waspstar's, she was the tiniest of her littermates. She didn't have the same strong build that Waspstar did.

      The medicine cats leaved and Frostfire, Snowkit, Chestnutkit, and Pikekit came back into the nursery.

      "Wow," said Chestnutkit, looking curiously at them.

      "They're beautiful," said Frostfire. "Waspstar would be proud."

      Kestrelfur winced at his name and felt guilt clawing at her. Was it possible that she could have waited to kill him until after having the kits? No, because the battle would have happened already and BrookClan and MarshClan would either be part of FlightClan or destroyed.

      "Sorry," said Frostfire. "But I know he would be proud."

      Would he really be proud? wondered Kestrelfur. After what I did to him?

      Tigerkit let out a high-pitched mewl. Alderkit mewled too. Kestrelfur felt a surge of love fill her.

      I did what I had to do to protect my kits. I am not alone because I have kits.

      She looked out the nursery, into the rising sun. She wasn't sure what tomorrow would bring, or the next day. She wasn't sure what the kits would turn into. But for now, she was happy, and the clan was happy, and that's what mattered at the moment.

A/N::

That's the end! But don't archive it just yet! There will be an epilogue, as well as some bonus features at the end!

//Edited