Glimmer of hope on the horizon

one

Squirrelflight gazed at the bright stars and enjoyed the warm wind that ruffled her short fur. Finally, the harsh emptiness of the leaves had given way to a pleasant freshness and the pile of fresh prey was filling up again. Under these circumstances, the night watch was much more pleasant than usual. Of course, a cold snap could come again at any time, or an almost even more dreaded thunderstorm, which often arose when it got warmer again. Squirrelflight tried to be optimistic, however, and thought the clear sky was a good sign.

Suddenly, a load of soaking wet slush splashed onto her back. She shook herself angrily and began to preen herself. This slush everywhere was really annoying and dangerous too, because it could slide off any tree at any time.

A noise made the she-cat move around. She squinted and recognized a silhouette in the light of the full moon, the silhouette of a cat. She carefully stalked towards it until the she-cat turned around and she recognized her. "Thistlebranch! What are you doing here?" Squirrelflight wanted to know from her sister.

Thistlebranch looked at her, startled. "Oh, I didn't know you were on night watch. I'm just taking my nightly walk..." she replied uneasily.

Squirrelflight looked scrutinizingly into her sister's eyes."What's going on? There's something else. Are you hiding something from me?" she hissed sharply.

Thistlebranch looked around frantically. "Not here!" she whispered. "And don't be so loud!"

Squirrelflight looked at her worriedly."What the StarClan have you done?" she asked, confused, but followed her sister into her den.

It was warm and cozy in the healer's den and it smelled of various herbs. Thistlebranch always had it to herself, because the second healer, Sagebloom, had disappeared without a trace two moons ago and the healer students had their den somewhere else.

"So, what's going on?" Squirrelflight asked her sister.

"I'm expecting kittens."Thistlebranch avoided her gaze.

"Kits?" Stunned, Squirrelflight stared at her sister."You're expecting...kittens? You are a healer! You broke the law! Why did you do that? How long has it been like this? When are they coming?"

Thistlebranch looked guiltily at the ground. "In half a moon," she said quietly. "Haven't you noticed anything?"

Squirreltail scrutinized her. Indeed, for a few weeks her sister had seemed fatter than before, but she had unconsciously blamed it on the plentiful prey that was now available to everyone again. "Not really. I hope the others haven't noticed...But what are you going to do? Farnstar will kill you or banish you along with your kittens!"

"I know!" Thistlebranch looked at her unhappily.

"But who..." Squirrelflight didn't get any further, Thistlebranch cut her off. "That doesn't matter. It's about the kits!" she hissed. Squirrelflight took a step back. Okay, whoever her sister owed the cubs to, she obviously wasn't on good terms with him.

"But what do you want to do with them? Maybe we should run away?" she suggested, even though the idea of having to say goodbye to her companion Goldfunke hurt.

" Squirrelflight, you're such a mouse brain! I can't escape like this!" Thistlebranch hissed at her.

Offended, Squirreltail looked to the ground. "Do what you want!" she hissed and wanted to leave the den, but Thistlebranch held her back.

"I'm sorry. I've been quite irritable lately. You're right. But I can't escape like this! We'll have to think of something else..." with a quick glance at her sister's face, she added: "But I don't want to drag you and Goldfunke into this. I'm sure I'll think of something else..." Hopefully.

"No, you're my sister, I promised our mother I'd always stand by you. We'll find a solution!" Squirrelflight looked confidently at her sister.

"Thank you." Thistlebranch's eyes glittered in the moonlight.