Featherlight's lover

Chapter 8

        Featherpaw deposited her prey at the fresh-kill pile and took a plump rabbit and squirrel to the nursery. Once she got in, the strong milky smell was very faint since Hollytuft's kits now eat prey. Featherpaw dropped the rabbit at Hollytuft's paws. "Thanks Featherpaw." Hollytuft meowed and called to her kits. "Kits, come eat your prey." The kits scrambled to the prey like little furballs in a moving heap. Featherpaw placed the squirrel next to Twigbranch. "Here Twigbranch. Your prey." Featherpaw said in her ear. Twigbranch frowned and turned her head away. She made a stiff grunt while moving her stomach. Featherpaw looked at her confused and nudged prey to her closer. "Twigbranch, you have to eat." Featherpaw said softly. She looked at Twigbranch's belly and saw a small wave going across her belly, growing bigger every ripple. "Featherpaw..." she whispered. "Go get a medicine cat-" Twigbranch whispered and then yowled. Hollytuft looked over alarmed while her kits jumped frightened. "Twigbranch!" Hollytuft hurried to her immediately, looking at the ripples across her stomach. "Featherpaw, go get a medicine cat now!" Hollytuft ordered. "She's having her kits!" Featherpaw stood back, surprised and ran to the medicine den. "Lilyheart!" Featherpaw yowled inside. "Twigbranch's having her kits!" Lilyheart looked up alarmed and faced Spiresight. "Alright, go get some moss and soak it in water for Twigbranch Featherpaw. She will be thirsty." Lilyheart said. "Spiresight, go get some raspberry leaves for her." Spiresight acknowledged her and began rummaging through the herb store. The, Lilyheart ran outside to the nursery that was crowded by many of her worried clanmates. Featherpaw was surprised by her quick act but remembered the moss. She grabbed a clump of it and dipped it at the small pool of water near the medicine den and sprinted inside the nursery. It was hard shoving her clanmates out of the way to get inside. There, Twigbranch was caterwauling in pain while Hollytuft licked her ears. Her kits looked at the commotion scared and hid in their nests. "Water!" Hollytuft cheered shortly. Featherpaw let the water drip above Twigbranch's mouth. She drank it with joy but turned away as a spasm ran through her body and screeched. Twigbranch pushed as another went through and a wet bundle of fur came on the nest. "Good job, Twigbranch. You are doing great." Lilyheart said and licked the kit's fur the wrong way to keep it warm. "A black and white molly." Lilyheart placed it beside Twigbranch's cheek. Twigbranch purred in the sight of her own kit and tried to nuzzle it but a new spasm made her turn away and yowl. Spiresight quickly placed some raspberry leaves in her mouth. "Eat it." he ordered. Twigbranch chewed on it fast and pushed with all her strength. A new kit slid on the nest. "A light brown tom like Finleap." Hollytuft spoke in Twigbranch's ears and placed it next to his littermate. Then, another two kits, a tortoiseshell she-cat and a black cat with green eyes like Twigbranch. Lilyheart placed them next to the rest of their littermates as Twigbranch purred so loudly that even the closest cats outside could hear her. "Congratulations Twigbranch. You delivered four beautiful kits." Then, Finleap raced in the nursery, anxious to see his mate and his kits. When he caught first sight of them, he purred and nosed each of their kits and lastly touch noses with Twigbranch. "Look, our kits that I promised you." Twigbranch murmured softly. Finleap looked at them happily. "They're wonderful. I always wished to have them." he meowed. He licked Twigbranch's ears as their kits snuggled against their mother's belly for milk. "What should we name them?" Finleap asked. "The black and white molly should be Drizzlekit, the light brown tom should be Duskkit, the tortoiseshell can be Havenkit, and the last black cat can be named Shadowkit." Twigbranch said. Finleap nuzzled her cheek. "They're beautiful names." he murmured. "New birth to Thunderclan." Lilyheart murmured next to Featherpaw. "New birth," Featherpaw repeated. "Is a good sight."

         Featherpaw swiped at Poleice and ducked at his blows next. She threw him off backwards and pinned him down. Featherpaw quickly nipped his ears softly and batted his exposed stomach. Poleice hit her muzzle and rolled to the side, knocking Featherpaw off her paws. He pinned her down and looked at her foiled. Featherpaw retreated and loosened her grip off his shoulders. "Okay, you won." she grunted. Poleice stepped off of her and she shook her pelt. When she was about to face Poleice, a big rabbit ran straight at her out of this bush and made herself trip on her paws and fall down on her chin. Owlpaw came out of the bush and chased after the rabbit. Owlpaw managed to apologize quickly. "Sorry Featherpaw!" Owlpaw vanished into the woods. Featherpaw got up and slipped on a leaf and fell back down. At the corner of her eye, Featherpaw thought she heard Poleice making a quiet mrrow of amusement but he stopped immediately. "Did you just show amusement?" she asked surprised. Poleice looked at her back with a cold expression. "No. What are you talking about Featherpaw? Does your chin hurt?" he replied calmly and checked her chin. Featherpaw eyed him suspiciously but didn't say anything back. "Your chin is scratched with your skin showing. There is also dirt on it. Better go to a medicine cat to check it in case it gets infected." Poleice said and waved his tail at her back to the hollow. Featherpaw didn't want to stop training but she knew Poleice wouldn't take no as a answer. She flounced away. When she reached the medicine den, Alderheart didn't look happy to see her. "What happened?" he sighed. Featherpaw showed him her chin and pulled her head back. "Okay, let's get you treated." They walked inside the medicine den. Spiresight looked up from his nest. "Hurt again?" he asked. Featherpaw nodded silently and sat down. Alderheart came back with a poultice of dock. He first washed her chin with wet moss and rubbed the poultice against her chin and then put a layer of horsetail on it to stop infection. "You have to stop getting hurt Featherpaw. Almost every moon, you have an injury." Alderheart warned. "It's not my fault! You think I want to get hurt?" Featherpaw protested. Alderheart sighed and cleaned up the excess poultice. "Have a break for the rest of the day and come back tomorrow for a new poultice." he grunted and walked away. Featherpaw did too and sat under some shade beside the apprentice den. Then, Clara walked out of the leader's den and took a vole from the fresh-kill pile. She didn't even bother to eat with any of her clanmates  and sat by herself. Clara hasn't spoken a lot and shared tongues with any of her clanmates except Cloudstar. Featherpaw thought she was worried about Viper's revenge. Just then, a hunting patrol raced back into camp. "Where's Cloudstar?" Flywhisker asked and stopped at the foot of the leader's den. "Cloudstar!" he called out. Featherpaw noticed the patrol was covered with wounds and blood. They also have no prey on them. Cloudstar walked out the den and stood in front of Flywhisker. "What happened?" he asked shocked. Firecloud stepped in. "We were attacked by rouges in our territory." he said. "They took our prey and left." Cloudstar blinked surprised. More cats started to gather around. "Took our fresh-kill and left? Didn't you attack them back?" Cloudstar asked. Flywhisker shook his head. "There was a lot of them. We wouldn't have won." he panted. Before Cloudstar could say anything, a border patrol and another came into camp, all hurt. "Cloudstar! There was-" Sleekpelt stopped after he saw the hunting patrol. "W-What happened?" he stuttered. Cloudstar sighed in shock. "What happened to your patrols?" Cloudstar asked again. "Our patrols was attacked by rouges." Sleekpelt and Ambermoon said together at the same time. Cats around them began to shift their paws and look around awkwardly. Cloudstar looked down at his paws and thrashed his tail. "I don't know how you guys couldn't attack those rouges yourselves. You are warriors! You were trained to defend your clan at all cost and was learned from the very best." he said irritably. Her clanmates droop their heads in guilt and muttered words to each other. "Cloudstar, our clan is still small. It's not as big as Shadowclan's or Riverclan's. We are still starting to thrive." Flywhisker said. Then he turned to the patrols. "Cats who are most hurt go to the medicine den to be treated. The rest of you, go out and hunt. The fresh-kill pile is not pretty." Flywhisker addressed and cats started to break up. "Featherpaw," Poleice called to her. "Come with me to the hunting patrol." "Alderheart said I should take a break from my injury for the rest of the day." Featherpaw said. Poleice looked at her coldly for a few heartbeats and then walked away. Featherpaw watched as the cats leave and wanted to do something for the clan. 𝑴𝒂𝒚𝒃𝒆 𝑰 𝒄𝒐𝒖𝒍𝒅 𝒉𝒆𝒍𝒑 𝒊𝒏 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒎𝒆𝒅𝒊𝒄𝒊𝒏𝒆 𝒅𝒆𝒏. 𝑻𝒉𝒆𝒓𝒆 𝒊𝒔 𝒂 𝒍𝒐𝒕 𝒐𝒇 𝒄𝒂𝒕𝒔 𝒕𝒐 𝒕𝒓𝒆𝒂𝒕. Featherpaw walked in. The air was filled with a tangy smell of blood. "Featherpaw?" Alderheart said behind her. "What are you doing here now?" Featherpaw turned to him. "I was wondering if I could help here since I don't have any duties until dusk." she asked. Alderheart frowned and picked up cobwebs. "You know the herbs?" "I been in the medicine den long enough when I injured myself from the fox to know most of the herbs." she said. He shrugged and dropped the cobwebs in front of her. "Make yourself useful then. Start putting these on cats to stop the bleeding. Once you are done, find a cat to treat." Alderheart trotted away, carrying yarrow, cobwebs, and dock. Featherpaw began her work with on Spoflower who was badly injured. She looked at all the other cats. 𝑻𝒉𝒊𝒔 𝒊𝒔 𝒈𝒐𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒕𝒐 𝒃𝒆 𝒍𝒐𝒏𝒈 Featherpaw sighed.