Hostile

43

Frostcloud was expecting kits. She could tell. The love she felt in her heart consumed her and warmed the entirety of her body, enveloping in the depths of her belly where her kits were beginning to grow safely in her womb. Delight tingled the tips of her toes as she trotted through the forest.

A half moon had passed since she and Buckheart sat by the brook together. Every day, the air became colder, lighter, and dryer. But it was nothing compared to the energy Frostcloud could feel herself emitting. The sky above was clear, and the stars slowly began to fade from the horizon as the sun crept above the trees. She had just finished an early dawn border patrol along MarshClan with her leader and their apprentices. They had been trekking back to camp when Frostcloud began to fall behind as she became lost in thought of her and Buckhearts future.

Frostcloud approached Whitestar, who was sat atop a tree root. He watched the trees above, and the warrior followed his gaze. "Great job, Ferretpaw!" Foxpaw praised as the wirey apprentice followed after her climbing the dry tree trunk.

"Oh?" Frostcloud mewed. "How did this start?"

Whitestar twitched his whiskers. "Ferretpaw expressed an interest in climbing and Foxpaw hopped on the opportunity."

Frostcloud hummed in pride as the two sisters balanced across one of the branches, and leapt onto a sturdy branch of the neighboring tree. "Are those two Marshcats I see?" Frostcloud teased from below. Foxpaws sharp copper eyes caught Frostcloud's. The cheerfulness behind them made them glitter like sun rippling off a dark stream. "MarshClan couldn't be so lucky to have us!" She boasted playfully with her chest out. Somehow, Foxpaw managed to get Ferretpaw to twitch her whiskers next to her. For the last couple moons, Ferretpaw hardly spoke. Her head swung low and her tail dragged in the dirt.

But high in the air, next to her sister, she was beginning to find her glow again.

"Foxpaw is an entirely different cat than she was almost a cycle ago." Whitestar observed quietly, "She's going to make a mighty PineClan warrior."

Frostclouds dark green eyes widened in interest. "Do you mean...?"

Whitestar nodded. "Yes. She's ready."

"I'm relieved." Frostcloud said. She had been starting to worry about keeping up with Foxpaw when her belly starts to grow.

"Oh?" Whitestar said, "Still a thorn in your fur? She seems so much more attentive and obedient these days."

Frostcloud stiffled a purr, "No. Buckheart and I are having kits." She confided quietly.

Whitestars ears perked, "Oh? What excellent news, Frostcloud." He purred. The two touched noses.

"All right, you two!" Frostcloud said as she got to her paws. "You got up there easy, but can you get down?"

Mischievously, Foxpaw waved her bushy tail and crept down the trunk. She leapt off, and landed with a graceful thud in front of her seniors. Ferretpaw followed suit after.

On their way back to camp, the cats took the opportunity to hunt. Foxpaw caught a pigeon. Her nose scrunched in disdain towards the sour Bearwalker stench that clung to its oily feathers. Pigeon wasn't Frostcloud's favorite meal either, she had to admit, but it certainly beat starving in the upcoming moons. Whitestar and Frostcloud managed a couple mice as well before they made it back to camp.

"I can take those to the fresh-kill pile." Foxpaw offered just outside the entrance. Frostcloud dipped her head in thanks and allowed her apprentice to carry them over after she collected the kills from her mentor and Whitestar. While she padded off, Frostcloud noticed her mother basking in the sun atop the dead trunk that they called the warriors den.