**OLD** Valley Cats: Of Sky and Stone 1- Daughters and Darkness

Chapter Thirty-Three

 Twistertail woke with a start, her ears perking at the screeching.

 "That's not fair! Only the senior warriors sleep in the middle!"

 "If I could just move this stupid bracken-!"

 "Siblings usually get nests together. Maybe we should do that?"

 She sat up suddenly, blinking at Finchpaw and Sparrowpaw. The air was gray and dark in the cool moments before dawn, and everything smelled of rain. The two apprentices were bouncing around the warriors' den, planning out where their nests were going to be.

 "Settle down, you two. We're still using these." Crowpelt grumbled from his place in the warm center of the den. Since he was the oldest warrior now, he got to sleep in the best spot, especially now that the weather was getting cold again.

Twistertail slowly stood, yawning and stretching. Most of the warriors were awake now, grumbling at the senior apprentices. The black-and-white she-cat stepped outside into the dull, bluish-grayish light from the sky. Brightspirit was the second cat out, licking his muzzle profusely.

 "Those rascals! Finchpaw stepped on my face and made me bite my tongue!" he spat.

 "How terrible! The mighty Brightspirit defeated by that dreadful beast!" Twistertail flicked his ear with her long tail. "Lighten up, you. Have you seen your mentor's kits recently? I was going to eat something, but it'd be wiser to bring the queens something to eat, especially since it's getting colder by the day."

 Brightspirit nodded proudly, racing off into the frosty morning. He returned a few heartbeats later with a mockingbird in his jaws.

 Inside the nursery, Parsleyshade and Squirrelstrike were curled up with their young kits. Brightspirit leaped over to the ginger she-cat and nuzzled his mate furiously. "I brought you something. I caught it yesterday on the moonlight patrol, and I guess no one took it." he purred.

 "Thanks." Squirrelstrike said simply. Ever since she had stopped visiting the Frozen Forest and started a family, she had become a lot less aggressive. Now, she curled up with Brightspirit and watched their two kits lovingly. Both where a mix of white with ginger tabby patches.

 Twistertail crept closer to the fluffy queen, who was grooming her litter of four kits. The black-and-white she-cat crept closer, admiring their perfectly striped pelts. "Has Sagepool named them yet?" she prodded.

 Squirrelstrike nodded simply. "Yes, he has. The larger one is Duskkit, and the smaller one is Sparkkit."

 The kits were three moons old, but they were small and underfed. The cold season had been hard on everyone, but it preyed on the young and old the most. Pansypool and Cedarspike had been defeated by the harsh weather, even before the first frost.

 "Poor me, forgotten by my own apprentice." Parsleyshade commented from her side of the nursery.

 Brightspirit lifted his head before stepping over to the older queen. "I didn't forget you, of course. Who is going to mentor your kits?" he asked, pricking his whiskers at his mentor's four six-moon-old kits.

 "Cardinalheart hasn't had the time to visit with them, what with being deputy and all. And Sandystar is sick, isn't she? That infection never goes away, does it?" Parlseyshade shook her head. "I was talking to my brother, and he said Moonsweep was receiving signs of a new leader of ForestClan. She's getting more intense visions, talking about hail and snow. I hope it isn't about this terrible weather." the queen glanced at the sky, as if she could see it through the nursery roof.

 ForestClan cats had a lot to worry about. There were growing mouths to feed, plus heavy rain and frozen mud. But Moonsweep's dire predictions had only made them even more concerned about the future. The old healer was beginning to grow gray hairs around her muzzle, and she wouldn't gain weight. But she still talked nonstop about strange prophecies.