"My paws are cold," Irispaw groaned. The ground was soggy from rain and clouds held the promise of a coming storm. "Is it true you're going to have kits? Shouldn't you be in the nursery by now?"
"I will, once you're a warrior and the nursery's rebuilt," Sunstorm replied. "It'll be nearly done by now."
"But Littlerose's kits are just barely warriors and they're so much older," sighed the apprentice. "It will be ages."
Sunstorm rolled her eyes with a purr. "Persistent as always."
They reached the gorse barrier and pushed through. The nursery was mostly repaired, and Tulippaw was holding a bundle of brambles while patting some down to form a wall.
"Fa forns hurf mah mouf," she grumbled through her mouthful of it.
"You're doing fine," Redflame assured her. "Try holding them more with your teeth instead."
Tulippaw scrambled awkwardly to find footing while she shifted her grip on the brambles. "Fhaf's beffer," she nodded. "Whaf parf next?"
Redflame stood back to see which parts had to most holes. "Near the top, in the back," he decided. "Patch up the hole and fill it in with bracken."
Tulippaw let out out a sulky moan and climbed up to the spot he had indicated, balancing on her hind paws in order to be high enough to spread the brambles over the hole.
Sunstorm turned around and saw Flintpaw return with a wad of bracken in his mouth. He bounded over to the older apprentice and placed it next to her. Tulippaw picked it up and began stuffing little tufts of it in the gaps in between the brambles.
"I'm going to go eat," Irispaw told her mentor. "Acornpaw told me Bluestripe and the elders are fed already."
"Help yourself," Sunstorm nodded. Bluestripe and her kits were temporarily sleeping in the elders' den; it was too loud in the warriors' and apprentices' dens. With only three elders there was plenty of room for them to make a comfortable nest.
"How far along are you now?" a voice interrupted her thoughts behind her.
She turned to face Falconwing. "Really close," she informed him. "A little under a half-moon."
"I can hardly wait!" Falconwing seemed to bounce off of the ground. "I'm going to be a father, Sunstorm!"
"And hopefully you can teach your kits to be patient," she teased, gently rubbing her flank against his.
"Are you feeling well?" he asked her. "Do you need poppy seeds or anything?"
Sunstorm sighed. He seemed to be getting more and more critical about her health the closer to kitting she became. "I'm fine," she assured him. "Sometimes I get a little sick in the mornings is all."
"Well... Okay," he replied, apparently unconvinced as usual.
Sunstorm glanced down at her belly, which seemed to be getting slowly heavier with each sunrise. She wondered how many kits there were; how many she-cats and how many toms. It seemed too much for her to bear.
"Do you think you should move in with Bluestripe while the nursery's being built?" her mate asked her.
"No. It won't be long anyway. Bluestripe just needs the quiet because her kits are so young; I'm only one cat."
"I can ask Stormstar to excuse you from patrols and hunting if you like," he meowed. "I can take up Irispaw's training."
"I'm just fine, Falconwing!" she purred. "Irispaw won't have to wait a half-moon, even. I can train perfectly until then - I just need to take it easy. She can always practice battle moves with Patchpaw and Flintpaw to sharpen her skills, if you like."
"How about tomorrow?" he offered.
"Great," Sunstorm purred. "Besides, the less time I spend in the nursery before my kitting, the better. I'll be stuck in there for six moons anyway."
"Falconwing!"
"Yes, Redflame?" Falconwing responded to the deputy.
"I'm going to need you to lead a hunting patrol," Redflame told him. "Take... Let's see... Grasspelt, Moonwhisper, Patchpaw, and Acornpaw."
"Sure." Falconwing nodded and called the cats to him with a flick of his tail. Then he headed out of the gorse tunnel.
"How do you deal with him jumping in your fur all day?" Fogcloud snarled playfully. "You almost look glad to have him occupied."
"No. It's just that he's anxious because he's never had kits before," Sunstorm flicked her tail in a friendly fashion. "Redflame was the same way, and I'm sure when you have kits you will be too. I'm just as nervous, but I show it differently."
"Who said I'm going to have kits?" her brother bristled. But then he let his fur lay flat, looking embarrassed.
Sunstorm looked interested. "What's the matter with you?" she asked. "Surely you consider Tinyblossom your mate by now?"
"Tinyblossom?" Fogcloud forced a snort. "No way. She's a good friend," he insisted.
"Good friend, hm?" Sunstorm nodded. "Okay."
"What's so funny?"
Sunstorm shook her head. "Never mind." She bumped her muzzle against his cheek.
Fogcloud looked curious as to what she had meant but said nothing.
"Why is the ground still wet if it isn't raining?" a tiny voice squeaked from the direction of the elders' den.
Swallowkit was holding a tiny forepaw just above the soaked bracken, his face twisted up in disgust.
"It doesn't get dry immediately, darling," Bluestripe told him. "When the sun comes out, the water goes away."
"Where does it go?" Cherrykit piped up. Bluestripe let out a mrow of laughter.
"No one really knows for sure," she shrugged. "It just... goes."
Both kits tipped their heads to the side while Drizzlekit stared at the sky in interest.
"What are you looking at?" Bluestripe asked her foster son.
"I's looking at the clouds," he told her. "Is Silverpelt really behind 'em?"
"Yes, Drizzlekit. All the warriors of StarClan shimmer brightly when the clouds drift away. You should see it." She sighed dreamily.
Drizzlekit looked up at the clouds in wonder, eyes glimmering. He looked exactly like a WindClan warrior sitting there, Ravenfrost's frosted blue eyes glimmering through Moonwhisper's silver pelt. Someday, thought Sunstorm, he will notice that he is not like his siblings.
"Hi Sunstorm!" Swallowkit piped up, as if he had just noticed her. "Are you going to have kits? They're going to be our kin!" he added to Cherrykit and Drizzlekit, who nodded ecstatically.
Sunstorm and Fogcloud padded up to the little kits.
"Yes, and you can come and see them once they're born," the red queen told them.
"Right after they're born?" Cherrykit asked hopefully.
Sunstorm let out a mrow of laughter. "Perhaps," she mewed.
"There," Tulippaw panted at last. "Is that good, Redflame?"
Redflame looked up from his conversation with Oakleaf and nodded. "Is it sturdy?" he asked.
Tulippaw gingerly pressed a paw to the surface of the brambles, then pressed harder. Redflame nodded.
"Pretty sturdy."
"Let me check." Redflame stood up, flicked his tail to excuse himself, and padded across to the first part of the nursery. He pushed the thick of the brambles to test their sturdiness.
"It's very sturdy," he concluded. "Good as new. Fantastic, Tulippaw."
"Thanks," Tulippaw purred sheepishly. "I have some leftover bracken. Should I take it to Darkspot?"
"No, no - take it to the elders," Redflame told her, coming out of the nursery. "Then tell Patchpaw and Flintpaw to put it around Bluestripe's nest to make it more comfortable."
"Okay." Tulippaw bounded down to the ground and picked up the bundle of bracken, then trotted over to the fallen tree where the elders as well as Bluestripe and her kits were sitting. Just then, Flintpaw returned from hunting with a dead water vole dangling from his mouth.
"Redflame says to make a nest for Bluestripe in the nursery," Tulippaw meowed.
Flintpaw dropped the water vole on the fresh-kill pile and went over to the nursery. Soon his head popped back out.
"Your nest is ready," he told the blue-grey warrior and her kits.
"Come on, kits," Bluestripe purred. The three little cats teetered after their mother, Redflame glancing after his children and his mate proudly. Sunstorm followed her sister and entered the brambles of the elders den, the cool shade feeling good on her rather dark pelt. She chose the nest near the right. The queens' nests were laid with extra moss and feathers. But as she sank into it it felt no different than the warriors den with her large, round belly awkwardly tucked into the nest. She felt so comfortable there, however, that she sank into a deep nap.
Sunstorm awoke to both unfamiliar voices and scents. Through a gap in the brambles she could see a grey tom with deep brown eyes near the gorse barrier, with other cats standing behind him.
"What's that smell?" Drizzlekit mewed excitedly, happy to experience such a strange, new scent.
"Hush," Bluestripe hissed. "That is Creekstar, leader of RiverClan."
Stormstar stood across from him, his black pelt rippling in the weak silver light of leaf-bare. Falconwing seemed to be inching toward the nursery behind him.
"Have you come bearing a message?" Stormstar asked him carefully. The tone in his voice was unreadable.
"You may call it that, Stormstar," Creekstar began, "but we have come to discuss Sunningrocks. It has been seasons now since RiverClan has negotiated with ThunderClan. We have come to propose an agreement."
"An agreement?" Stormstar's ears pricked. "What sort of agreement?"
"If you allow RiverClan to keep Sunningrocks as part of our territory, none of your warriors will get hurt," Creekstar mewed smoothly. "We have not come to spill blood."
"And give up without a fight?" Stormfoot snarled. "Never!"
"Fools!" a sandy tom with blue eyes spat.
"Lynxwhisker, I did not give you permission to speak!" Creekstar hissed, his broad head whipping around to face the warrior. "This is between Stormstar and I."
Lynxwhisker flexed his claws threateningly but said nothing. By the look of it, he would like nothing more than to sink his teeth into ThunderClan flesh.
"If you think ThunderClan is going to hand over its territory, I am afraid you are mistaken," Stormstar went on, his voice as oily as Creekstar's. Meows of agreement swept through the crowd of ThunderClan cats, especially from Redflame.
Sunstorm felt a powerful ripple through her body, surprising her and making her shake. She dug her claws into the moss of her nest and her ears flattened, biting her tongue to keep herself still.
"You are the one who has made the mistake," Creekstar hissed. "Unless you wish to engage in battle with my warriors."
Stormstar stuck his claws into the ground, hackles rising, and all the ThunderClan warriors with him.
"They can't fight!" Bluestripe protested in an urgent whisper. "Not now!"
A shock pulsed through Sunstorm's body again. Bluestripe noticed and she looked at her sister with sympathetic eyes.
"Oh no!" she cried. "It can't be - is it - your kits?"
Sunstorm's eyes widened. "I d-don't know," she stammered, her claws digging deeper and deeper into the bracken.
"I'll fetch Emberfur or Darkspot," Bluestripe breathed. "Kits, stay here. Do not move."
"I wanna see the fight!" Swallowkit protested.
"Absolutely not!" Bluestripe flicked her tail and raced off through the bracken tunnel of the nursery, meowing something to Falconwing outside before dashing into the nearby medicine clearing. Both Clans were tensing; Sunstorm hoped a fight would not break out. Not now, while she was about to start kitting!
It was a heartbeat before Darkspot was pelting into the elders den, Emberfur close behind him with a bundle of herbs. The latter dropped them nearby.
"Deep breaths, Sunstorm - Darkspot, it's time."
"Time for what?" Darkspot's voice rose in sudden fear.
"I'll let you handle this. I'll watch."
Falconwing rushed after them, his whiskers twitching in panic. Sunstorm took a breath as deep as her lungs would allow and pushed, a ripple of pain coursing through her body. Darkspot gingerly placed his paws on her belly and felt what was there, then gently pushed.
"Keep pushing..."
He sounded uncertain, but Emberfur looked perfectly confident. A surge of courage filled Sunstorm's heart and she obeyed, her flank heaving with the effort. She felt she was going to be knocked unconscious when a small, wet bundle fell into the nest.
"A tom!" Darkspot exclaimed in relief that he had delivered his first kit. The fluid from the little sac that had encased it soaked into the little kit's body.
"Don't just stand there like a dead fox, start licking it!" Emberfur ordered. Darkspot jumped and ran his tongue over the tiny creature, nipping its sac, until the little head started to lift. Falconwing let out a gasp of joy and reassurance.
"Looks like there are a couple more coming. Keep pushing," Darkspot ordered. Sunstorm took a deep breath and kept on breathing, her vision seeming to go foggy.
"Bite down on this." Emberfur set a stick near Sunstorm's muzzle. She sniffed it and clenched it in her jaws, biting down harder and harder until it began to splinter.
Another bundle fell into the nest. Darkspot quickly handed the first kit to Falconwing, who starting licking the tom furiously, and then the medicine cat himself nipped the sac covering the second kit.
"Falconwing! We need you in the battle!" Redflame pushed into the tunnel urgently. "You're one of our best warriors!"
Falconwing looked at him pleadingly. "I can't!" he told him. "My mate is kitting!"
Redflame looked pensive for a moment, then nodded. "Very well - I'll have to ask Flintpaw and Patchpaw to fight."
"A she-kit!" Falconwing declared before starting to lick the second kit.
Before long yet another bundle arrived - a tom - and Darkspot felt her belly.
"That's all of them," the medicine cat declared breathlessly.
"Quickly now," Emberfur told him. "I can hear fighting. We better go help. Here." She pushed a small bundle of leaves next to Sunstorm's muzzle. "Eat these."
The queen nodded and quickly lapped them up, sinking into a deep, deep sleep.
The sound of claws and snarling outside was beginning to fade. She woke up to the sound of newborn kits and it surprised her for a heartbeat until she peered at her belly and realized that yes, there really were mewling kits there, kneading her belly as they suckled.
"Are you alright?" Falconwing asked her in a shaky voice the moment she opened her eyes. "Do you think you're ready to name them?"
There was more passion and pride in his voice than Sunstorm had ever heard before. He was gazing at his kits with the greatest love she head ever seen in her mate, who was Stormstar's son.
"Name them?" It had completely slipped her mind. "Of course."
She looked at the first kit - a tom - who was the perfect image his father. His fur was a mottled greyish-brown and his paws churned powerfully for his age as he suckled. They were all small, she noticed, for being born a half-moon early.
"He looks just like you," Sunstorm purred. "So he needs a name like his father. I will call him Eaglekit."
Falconwing's eyes shone. "It's perfect," he agreed.
The next kit was the tiny she-kit; she was a snowy white like Vinestripe's mother in StarClan, Riverspeck.
"She looks just like the ice of leaf-bare!" Falconwing declared. "How about Icekit?"
"No, no... I like Frostkit better," Sunstorm decided.
"Frostkit, then," Falconwing agreed with a curt nod. "Even better."
The last kit was a grey tom, rather like Vinestripe except for faint tabby markings here and there. He was the smallest and weakest-looking of his siblings.
"How about Alderkit?" Falconwing suggested. "His fur is as grey as the bark of an alder tree."
"Perfect." Sunstorm gently nosed each one of her kits, quietly repeating each name. "Eaglekit... Frostkit... Alderkit." Falconwing licked each tiny head.
"I will treasure you forever, my little ones," he whispered.