Spirits on the Wind

Chapter 13

(Sorry! This chapter might be a little lame :|)

Minnowsplash jumped to his paws, rushing in after the tabby medicine cat.

"Thistlefall, go get a stick and moss!" She told the tom. He nodded and charged away.

"Okay, Minnowsplash we need to wait until Silvermoon is ready." Crystalpool meowed.

He looked down at his secret mate, gazing at her with loving eyes. Silvermoon looked back up at him, connecting gazes. He wanted to lay beside her and protect her. He didn't want her to go through this pain. Even worse, he couldn't show affection. That would give it away.

"Now. Place your paws here and here." Crystalpool guided his paws. He gently pressed on his mate's stomach while she hissed with pain. Soon enough, four bundles of kit were born. Ironically there were two she-kits and two tom kits.

Crystalpool looked exhausted. "Crystalpool, please get some rest. I can watch over her." Minnowsplash whispered, nudging her to her nest.

"Thank you." She meowed and rested her tail tip on his ear before curling up into a tight ball and falling asleep.

Then he took a deep breath, the cold mist billowing from his mouth. He sat beside his mate, smiling. "Silvermoon. They are beautiful..." He murmured.

"I know... We need to name then now." She purred.

"How about Mistkit for this one." He purred. He nodded to the small silver tabby she kit.

"That's great." Silvermoon looked at the solid gray tom who looked like Minnowsplash. "Troutkit sounds right." She laughed a little.

There was also a brownish reddish she cat. "Owlkit." Silvermoon said. She let her gaze rest upon a silver and black tabby tom. A silver tear slid from her whiskers and dropped on the tom's head. "Minnowsplash, he- he looks like... Dagger." She finally said. "I want to leave his name Dagger..." She meowed.

Minnowsplash smiled at her. "I like that idea...." He purred and licked his son's head. He squinted and saw Silvermoon's blue eyes go a solid color and she flexed her claws on the ground trying to hold on.

"Silvermoon! What's wrong?!" He asked and licked her head lightly.

She returned to normal, her whiskers twitching with life. "It's Dagger..."

"What do you mean?" He asked, frantically trying to comfort her.

"This is Dagger... He lives again, Minnowsplash. A second chance..." She meowed, more tears wetting her muzzle.

"Mistkit, Troutkit, Owlkit and... Dagger..." Minnowsplash repeated the names of his kits.

He fell asleep in a nest on the other side of the den, scared that some cat might come in and see them together.

He woke up with a cold sunlight streaming into the den. Dagger was mewling in Silvermoon's nest. He was the first one to actually vocalize though it would be a while since they would actually talk.

He padded out of the den, nodding to Minkpelt as he walked past. Then he kept walking, finding that his paws took him straight to the fresh kill pile. He grabbed a thrush and sat down to eat it. He felt a sense of protection wash over him as Wolfhaze sat next to him, and nuzzled his head.

"Hello, son." She purred and then took a bite of a small trout that she had. "So how do you feel about this rouge who came in? And she had her kits! How great." Wolfhaze meowed

"I think she's going to be a great edition and she's nice. The others will love her." Minnowsplash nodded and took another bite of thrush.

"I agree!" She meowed.

Then Quailswoop came beside Wolfhaze. "I just visited Silvermoon. Her kits are adorable. She said that she named them! The names are adorable also other than one has a weird name. It must be from her rouge heritage." The gray she cat shrugged and settled down, enjoying the sun.

"Yes, I heard one is named Dagger." Wolfhaze said, her whiskers twitching.

"Yeah. I was in there and she told me that he was named after her friend." Minnowsplash meowed. then he got up, deciding what to do. "I am going to visit Pebblestream." He dipped his head to the two she cats and trotted to the nursery, pushing his was through the entrance.

The silver and gray queen looked up, her belly still swollen. "Hello, Tinykit." She purred and flicked her tail.

"I came to visit. Has Smokewhisker been in a lot?" Minnowsplash asked, settled down beside her.

"Yeah, when he can. He's busy with helping Rippletalon. I'm sure he'll be the next deputy." She meowed with pleasure and flicked her ears to Brookspring.

The tortoiseshell queen was cleaning her only she kit, Shinekit. The two tiny toms were play fighting and they ran into Shinekit. She stood up angrily, swishing her tail.

"You two are messing up my fur, leave!" She hissed and tried to bat them.

"No! You're not the boss. M-" Stormkit was cut off.

"Shinekit is right. And since she is my little precious kit, she is the boss. What she wants, she gets. Now you two go play outside." Brookspring smiled at her daughter and Shibekit nuzzled her cheek.

"Whatever she wants, she gets..." Streamkit mocked and sneered, slinking out if the den with Stormkit close behind.

"What was that all about?" Minnowsplash whispered to Pebblestream.

"Oh, that always happens." She grumbled. "She favors her 'precious kit' over the others. She thinks that Shinekit deserves more than them and usually doesn't pay attention to Stormkit and Streamkit. It's a shame." Pebblestream meowed, shaking her head.

"Yeah I get it. Maybe I should play with the toms. Or what about Rippletalon. He is the father after all."

"He is also the deputy, Minnowsplash. He's busy most of the time." She retorted, protecting her father.

"Minnowsplash!" A voice called from outside the den.

"Goodbye Pebblestream!" He touched his nose to hers.

"Thanks for visiting!" She called as he walked out of the nursery.