Life of RavenForbidden (discontinued)

Chapter fifteen (Ravens POV)

I flinched as Echos groans bounced off the walls of camp and bounced around. Echo was finnaly giving birth. Swoop, Teller, and Holly where with her, and the camp was buzzing with the excitement of new kits. WhiteWater was at its fullest- Prey was rich, water was warm, weather was perfect.. And in a few days, I'll been enjoying this with Shadow.. My heart beat faster. It was not easy keeping a secret from two tribes.

As I padded slowly over to the crowd of cats to give them orders, I thought about what people would think. They would think I was being disloyal.. But i'm not! I protested silently in my head. I would loose my place as Tellers to-be, of course.. I realized with a pang. I shook the feeling away. This was a chance for a new beginning. A chance to forget the past, and start a new life. What would Starry think? Would she care? How about her kits? Would Swoop be mad? Questions flashed through my head, quick and unanswered. All I new was that I had to make it through today so I could meet Shadow tonight.

After I assigned the patrols, I slunk around camp, trying to secretly give pre-Goodbyes. The first cat I approached was Fang. Taking a deep breath, I padded over to where he lay eating a mouse. "Hey, Fang." I began cheerfully. The grey tom glanced up. "Hello, Raven!" He purred friendly. "How are you?" I cleared my throat. "Fine, thank you." I responded, dipping my head. Before he could ask me another question, I spoke again. "So, uh, thanks for uh.. I mean.. Er.. I know you'll be a great father to Lavender! I mean, your super nice and fun and a great tribe-gaurd! Oh, but your always really good at hunting, and uh..-" I babbled like an idiot. Shuffling my paws, I mumbled "sorry" and slunk away, pelt burning with embarrassment. Okay. So maybe the first one did not go so well. As I approached Blossom, though, I knew just what to say. "Hello, Blossom." I greeted her friendly. The she cat was whispering with Crag. They stopped talking suddenly as I spoke. Unease filtered through me like sunlight, but I tried to ignore it and kept smiling. "Oh." Blossom lifted her nose up in the air, as if she smelled something bad. "Its you." She emphasized 'you' with such force, I flinched away. "Uh, yeah." I gulped. "So, Blossom, I just wanted to say sorry.." For supposedly killing Hawk. That did not sound right. "For.. Er.. Everything." Blossom snorted and mumbled something that I did not catch. I bristled. She had no right to treat her Tellers to-be that way! I was about to put her back on to-be duty, but decided not to and only sighed and turned to Crag. I immediately felt better as his warm smile welcomed me. "And, Crag, thanks for being a great friend. I..." I was interrupted by a yowl. I whipped around. "Wolf?!" I gasped. Strength flooded through my limps at the sound of Echos' mate. Even though I would be leaving soon, that did not mean that I had to forget my position in this tribe just yet.

I raced toward the sound, Crag and Blossom at my heels. Horrible thoughts whirled around my head like a tornado. Are Echo's kits okay? Was there a fox? We skidded to a halt in front of the den. I stood there for a second, listening. Muffled voices came from inside the nursery. I motioned for Crag and Blossom to stay there, and entered the den. Teller, Wolf, and Holly crouched beside Echos' nest. Pitiful cries came from it. My heart melted as I walked forward. A dark brown tabby she cat was nuzzled up against her brother, a black tabby, and her dusty brown sister. "Oh, Echo." I breathed. "They're beautiful." Echos eyes slowly opened. She looked down at her kits. "Yes." She whispered, closing her eyes again. Stoneteller rose. "Lets leave her to sleep." He murmured, looked tired. I stood and turned to follow them out, but suddenly realized that I was not in the nursery anymore. I was outside of camp. I heard laughing. Three kits where chasing a butterfly by a rock. I looked closer and gasped in horror. A fox waited behind it for them. "Wait! Kits! Stop! Fox!" I screeched. I raced forward and tried to grab the kits, but my muzzle chomped on nothing but air. Panicking, I tried again. I kept trying, but it was no use/ Finnaly, I realized that I was not really there no matter how much I yowled, the kits did not seem to hear me. I watched in terror as the kits giggled and jumped to try and catch the butterfly in the space in front of the rock. "Hey! What are you two doing?!" I turned and saw a black cat racing toward the kits. I stumbled back as the cat raced by me. Could she see me? I crouched close to the sand. Suddenly, the fox leaped out and grabbed the dusty she cat. "No!" The black cat and I both screeched. We jumped into battle. I knew that, no matter what I did, this would still be a dream. But I had to try. I snapped and clawed at the air. But the fox must be hungry, because it fought back harder. "Kits! Get behind me!" The black cat ordered. "But we want to help!" The tom protested, looking scared. "Now!" The cat snarled. While the black cat was distracted, the fox ducked behind the rock. I was confused, and relieved, when it left the kit. But as I padded closer, I realized why. The kit was already dead. "Oh, no.." I moaned. I glanced at the black cat, who stood beside me. Her jaw hung open in shock. "No.. Please, no..." She whispered, eyelids flickering. Why her? This could not be her destiny. I was surprised as these thoughts popped into my head. They where not my thoughts, but they floated around me like they where. Could they be... Hers?