Blood-Soaked Roses

Chapter One: Fawnstar's Blessings

Redstar sat anxiously for the first time in a long while right outside his den waiting patiently for Cloudeye to walk out. His mate, Specklesnout, was giving birth to kits and he was impatiently waiting to meet them. Finally, he heard the voice of his beloved mate.

"Oh my goodness, Fawnstar has blessed me with two beautiful kits! Quick Redstar come in!" She exclaimed. Fawnstar was their goddess of nature. They always thanked her after the blessing of kits. Redstar almost ran into his den but abruptly stopped when he saw Cloudeye walking out exhausted.

"Please, Redstar walk slowly," the light brown tom said with a sigh, "it's been a long night for all of us, especially Specklesnout." Redstar bowed his head slightly as to say thank you as Cloudeye walked past. Finally, the red cat walked inside his den walking carefully to try and not to disturb Specklesnout. "Come here, come look at them. I hope one of them has your golden eyes, don't you?" Specklesnout purred, gazing with wonder at her two kits. One had dark brown fur, while the other had more of the reddish-brown fur Redstar had. They were suckling on their mother as she started to nod off to sleep herself, but she made sure to force herself awake to name the kits. "You should name the one that looks like you, I'll name the one that looks the most like me. Is that okay?" The she-cat's voice was groggy from exhaustion. "Yeah, I like that idea. Since you did wish for one of them to have my eyes I'll name this one Goldenkit." Redstar started to lick his mate's face. "Oh? What if she ends up with my brown eyes?" She asked. "I have a feeling..." he paused, "anyway what about our son?"

"Dustkit"

"Dustkit and Goldenkit," Redstar purred, and he laid his head next to his mate as they both peacefully fell asleep.

~

"Patchclaw! Have you seen the kits?" A beautiful she-cat named Pureface questioned.

"Wha- Pureface why are you out of the nursery? You should be restin' yourself." Patchclaw stated. Pureface sat down next to the resting deputy and said, "Ah no worries Shadowface insisted she would keep an eye on my kits while I come to ask you." Patchclaw then mumbled under his breath, "damn queens always so nosey..." then speaking up upon seeing Pureface getting annoyed, "well no, I haven't seen the kits at all, nor do I even know their names. I'm pretty sure Redstar fell asleep with Specklesnout though since I was waitin' for him to come out but he never did." He explained. "Ah, I see, well I should be heading back now. Hopefully, we will hear from them in the morning. Goodnight Patchclaw," Pureface walked back to the queens den. Right when Patchclaw began to drift off to sleep he was suddenly nudged awake by a fluffy orange tabby.

"Ehh, Patchclaw can we go on a walk?" The young apprentice requested. The grey tom groaned as he slowly got up and stretched. His apprentice, Swiftpaw, constantly would ask for nightly strolls when something was on her mind. Once he was ready to walk she began to trot to the entrance of the clan almost in a rush. Upon seeing her urgency he began to catch up to Swiftpaw to make sure everything was okay.

"Hey! Swiftpaw, please slow down." He meowed as quietly as he could.

~

Now that the two were walking along the wall rose bushes Swiftpaw began to explain herself, "I smelled my mother's scent today...and my brothers." Patchclaw stopped walking, "What? Where?" He urgently questioned. "Around the edge of Rapid winds."

"Are you sure it's your mother and brother?"

"Do you think I would forget the smell of my kin?" Swiftpaw scoffed, "...sorry that was rude. I'm just a little tense" The tabby suddenly shrunk into herself after snapping at her mentor. "No it's fine, it was a stupid question anyway. Did you see them though?" Swiftpaw thought carefully before speaking. "No...I didn't, but I'm scared. I know they're my family but they're rogues. I thought they left Blooming Meadows ages ago so why did I just smell them. Why are they here?" She stared desperately at her mentor. Her bright blue eyes searching Patchclaws face for any kind of answer. Swiftpaw did consider Patchclaw her father and partially wished he was her father. She was raised by her mother as a kit, but her father was always distant compared to her siblings. She pondered that it might have been because she wasn't a boy. She thought that he was only interested in her brothers because they were always planning on only taking them. She was partially right, but her mother tried to take Swiftpaw with them. Patchclaw was the one to save her from a life without the clan. He also raised her by mentoring her as an apprentice. A small part of him considered Swiftpaw his daughter too.