"Flowerleaf is missing!"
Starlingpaw sat bolt upright. She and the other apprentices had been fixing the nursery and adding to it, for Flowerleaf was expecting her kits in about a week. But...
"What happened to Flowerleaf?!" Moonfire yelled to Spiderweb, the tom who'd yelled that Flowerleaf was missing. The StormClan deputy was her mate, and Moonfire was ready to protect the young she-cat at all costs.
"I-I...um..." Spiderweb stuttered. The young black tom was clearly still in shock, so Windsilver and Featherfall, who were on his patrol, tried to calm him down. Windsilver looked up, sadness glimmering in her brilliant green eyes.
"We were on a patrol near a Twoleg path. Flowerleaf was taking a walk and saw us, and she came over to ask us something. T-Then a big female Twoleg must have spotted us, so we dove into the bushes. But Flowerleaf wasn't fast enough and the Twoleg picked her up! If we hurry, we can still catch her in time!" Windsilver finished, finally taking a breath.
Moonfire looked like he was about to scream, but then he realized the direness of the situation.
"Okay, fine. Alderbranch, Spiderweb, Windsilver, and Dappledawn will search with me. Spiderweb, can you show us where it is?" Moonfire asked, urgency in his mew. Spiderweb nodded, seeming to have regained some of his former strength. Starlingpaw looked up to see Foxpaw's mentor, Alderbranch, in the rescue patrol. This could be her chance to majorly impress every cat and be a hero! She timidly padded up to Alderbranch.
"Um, Alderbranch... can me and Foxpaw come with you?" she asked, hoping the answer would be yes. The she-cat mentor exchanged a quick glance with Moonfire, then when he nodded, Alderbranch flicked her dark brown ears.
"Sure, why not. C'mon though, we must hurry." Alderbranch said, running after Spiderweb through the bushes. Foxpaw squealed in happiness.
"I mean, I know this is a rescue mission, but...!" Foxpaw meowed, trailing off. Starlingpaw nodded, and swerved to dodge an oak branch that could have whacked her in the head, resulting in a not-so-fun adventure.
"I totally get what you mean." She purred. Foxpaw smiled, and picked up the pace.
"That's why you're my best friend," she meowed, purring. She laughed, and sped up to match her pace. Dappledawn, who had the best scenting nose, skidded to a halt near a bush next to the Thunderpath.
"The scent ends here," the pretty brown she-cat mewed. Moonfire looked like he was going to yowl something, but suddenly, Starlingpaw's ears picked up the unmistakable yowling and chattering of Twolegs!
Because StormClan and BreezeClan were right beside a Thunderpath, and a Twolegplace, Starlingpaw had picked up some Twoleg language. The first Twoleg, a big brown male with a curly black patch of fur on his head, walked over to the female Twoleg, who looked like him but had less fur on her head, wiped his brow and said in a raspy voice,
"Why does Jessica want this cat so much?" he muttered. Right next to Stripepaw, Alderbranch gasped.
"He's talking about Flowerleaf!" she exclaimed. Windsilver shot the dark brown she-cat a look.
"Shut up, we need to hear what he's saying!" Alderbranch nodded, and the five warriors and two apprentices settled down in the elderberry bush to listen, eyes narrowed, ears pricked, claws unsheathed.
"Jessy really wants a cat, Eli, so we got her one!" the lady exclaimed happily. The man, Eli, groaned and slapped his forehead in annoyance.
"Yea, but this kittie's pregnant, Gayle!" he said. He picked up a cage...
Containing an angry Flowerleaf, hissing, snarling and spitting at the Twolegs!
Moonfire hissed, looking like he wanted to spring on the big male Twoleg and claw his eyes out, or something else violent, but Spiderweb held him back.
"No, Moonfire! We need a plan! How about you, Windsilver, and Alderbranch attack the male and make him drop the cage, Dappledawn and Foxpaw can distract the female, and Starlingpaw and I can stand guard in case we need to run for an emergency, because we are the fastest runners." The team nodded, and the seven cats sprang into action.
The two Twolegs let out a yowl of surprise, but Flowerleaf just yowled,
"Help! Please!" there was desperation in her cry.
"Remember, don't hurt them too hard!" Spiderweb yelled from under the berry-bush. Foxpaw leaped into the air, spun around, and knocked the female Twoleg's legs off from the ground. Dappledawn purred.
"Nice one, Foxpaw!"
Moonfire, Windsilver, and Alderbranch made a good team, with Moonfire attacking the front, Alderbranch attacking the back, and Windsilver circling him, but the male Twoleg just held his ground and yowled,
"C'mon, Gayle! Take the pretty kitty an' let's go!" Eli yelled to Gayle, who nodded. Together, Gayle opened the monster's back and threw Flowerleaf in, then they jumped inside the front of the big white monster.
Gray fumes spilled from the back, causing temporary blindness for the attacking cats. When the smoke subsided...
The truck was hundreds of tail-lengths away.
Moonfire let out a cry of anguish. Dappledawn tried to comfort him, but he just shook his head.
"I'm never going to see her, or our kits ever again," he wailed. Everyone started to comfort him, though they were feeling horribly sad themselves. But suddenly, Windsilver looked around and noticed something.
"Hey, where's Starlingpaw?"
•••
Wind blew hard on Starlingpaw's face, making her pale lightning-yellow eyes tear up, but she kept going. Her paws were but a blur, speeding alongst the Thunderpath. The huge white metal monster was just in sight. Starlingpaw put on more speed till she could taste the disgusting fumes. She leaped onto the monster's behind and heard Flowerleaf's terrified mew,
"Starlingpaw? Wha- how- never mind. Help me, please! I-I think I'm having my kits!"
Starlingpaw cursed under her breath, but she knew she had to hurry. She studied the back. The inside seemed to be hollow, and it was held open by a huge black lock. If she could just get her sharp little claws in that hole...
"Got it!"
The back swung open, revealing a pained Flowerleaf. Her blue eyes widened.
"Wait, how did you get in? Arg, never mind that, I need to get home!" she meowed, her voice strained with pain. Starlingpaw hissed in annoyance. How was she supposed to get her home quickly without revealing her deepest secret?
I'm being stupid. It was the life of a pregnant queen, or his secret! Quickly, she hauled Flowerleaf onto her back. She let out an oof as she realized how heavy the queen was. Gritting her teeth, she leaned back...
And sped home.
•••
"Starlingpaw?!"
Foxpaw's face was so surprised, Starlingpaw would have laughed at it if the situation wasn't so dire. Behind Dappledawn, Moonfire's flame-coloured eyes widened as he saw who the moaning cat behind Starlingpaw was.
"FLOWERLEAF OH MY STARCLAN HOW-" he yelled. Flowerleaf's dazzling bright blue eyes were stretched, showing the whites with fear.
"Someone get Blueclaw! I'm having kits!" the ginger-and-white she-cat yowled. Starlingpaw nodded.
"I'll get her." Before anyone could question her, Starlingpaw dashed off through the elderberry bushes.
She navigated through the leafy pine trees, through berry bushes and fern bracken, over tall hills and big rocks. Finally, she spotted the familiar sharp thorn barrier of the StormClan camp. She burst through the wall, leaving some black fluff on the spiky, prickly thorns. The cats in the camp were staring at her, so she lifted her head and yowled,
"BLUUUEEEECLAAAAW! FLOWERLEAF'S HAVING HER KIIIITS!"
A surprised Blueclaw leaned out of the medicine den.
"What's happening?" she asked. Starlingpaw nodded towards the bushes of where she had emerged.
"Flowerleaf's having her kits! She's beside the Thunderpath! C'mon, we gotta hurry!" she yelled to the blue she-cat. Her eyes widened, and she followed Starlingpaw through the bushes.
"But they're not due for another week!" Blueclaw yowled to Starlingpaw, who was dashing through a rocky hillside. Blueclaw was Flowerleaf's only sister, she remembered. Starlingpaw nodded to the side at the blue she-cat.
"I know! But she's having them now, so we gotta hurry!" she exclaimed. Above the tree canopy, the sun was starting to set. Starlingpaw prayed they could get to the young ginger-and-white she-cat soon.
Light broke through the bush the two cats had just gone through, and Starlingpaw realized in a daze that they were there! A couple tail-lengths away, she could see Flowerleaf with two wet bundles of fur next to her. Blueclaw spotted them and her and Starlingpaw ran over as fast as they could.
"There's one more kit, you're doing well." Blueclaw murmured to her sister. She pushed on her belly and a tiny black kit slid out. Flowerleaf and Moonfire both purred with joy at the sight of their three little kits. Blueclaw grinned.
"What do you want to name them?" she asked the happy couple. Moonfire gazed thoughtfully at the first kit, a fluffy white tabby tom like Moonfire.
"He has these black stripes on his white fur like birch bark," Moonfire noted, tracing the long stripes on his little son's belly. Flowerleaf purred.
"Then that's what we'll call him. Birchkit." She mewed. Blueclaw smiled, and nudged the largest kit, a white-and-ginger she-kit that looked just like her mother.
"A petal off the ol' flower, eh?" Blueclaw laughed. Flowerleaf laughed too, and stroked the she-kit with one paw.
"Well, let's call this little version of me Petalkit," she murmured softly. Moonfire purred at the name, then he turned to the last kit, the smallest kit, a tiny black tom.
"He's so small. What if we called him Mousekit? Or Hollykit, for his black fur." Flowerleaf meowed.
"Or Crowkit or Duskkit," Blueclaw suggested.
A feathery black raven cawed and landed on a nearby alder branch. Moonfire noticed it and so did the tiny black tom-kit. He let out a mewl! of excitement and tried to swat at the majestic bird. The black raven squacked and flew down onto a lower branch on the large alder tree.
"Let's name him Ravenkit," Moonfire purred. Flowerleaf nuzzled her mate.
"That's perfect," she murmured. Moonfire turned to Starlingpaw, who'd been standing behind them, watching the couple awkwardly with the other cats.
"Thank you, Starlingpaw. Without you, I'd never have seen my mate again, or met my kits." His eyes were brimming with gratitude. Flowerleaf laughed.
"Yeah, I figured I was seeing things. It seemed like Starlingpaw was zooming along at the speed of light!" everyone laughed, but Starlingpaw and Foxpaw shared a glance. They both knew what had happened on the Thunderpath that day.
•••
"Oh, I almost forgot," Starlingpaw realized. She needed to get to the meeting at the BirchTree at midnight. Foxpaw looked at her oddly, the sunset skies making her beautiful amber eyes shimmer in all different colours.
"What is it?" Foxpaw asked her. Starlingpaw inwardly smacked herself. Did I actually say that out loud?!
"Uh- I- it's nothing, don't worry about it." She hurried. Foxpaw rolled her eyes.
"C'mon, Starling, I can tell when you're lying. Just tell me! I won't tell anyone else, I swear." Foxpaw begged. Starlingpaw wanted to say no, but they both shared her biggest secret. And she knew Foxpaw wouldn't tell anyone...
"I'm going to a secret meeting at the BirchTree at midnight tonight to meet three other apprentices from the other Clans because at the Gathering last night one of the apprentices who's a medicine cat told us to go and that it was important so I'm going." Starlingpaw meowed all in one breath. She gasped for air.
Foxpaw blinked at her. She didn't seem at all surprised, as if she'd seen apprentices sneak out at night to meet cats from the other Clans all the time. She grinned at Starlingpaw, and shook out her fluffy red fur.
"Then I'm coming with you."