Squirrelflight and Dovewing sat at the camp entrance, anxiously awaiting the familiar drumming of padding paws. The elders had retired for the night and were quietly chatting in their den. Several loud mews came from the nursery as Daisy was desperately trying to calm down Squirrelflights rambunctious kits.
Dovewing glanced sorrowfully up at the Silver pelt, her eyes were in a sad daze. "Are you alright?" Squirrelflight couldn't help but ask.
Silently the gray she cat shifted her paws, before looking into the deputies green eyes. "No, not really." She murmured quietly. "What's wrong?" Squirrelflight asked, hoping she could fix whatever was bugging Dovewing.
"I am USELESS!!" Dovewing wailed, loud enough for everyone to hear. Squirrelflight was taken back by the sudden outburst. "I can't hear anything other then the elders snoring and the chirping crickets!" Sighing, the ginger she cat scooted over to brush her warm pelt on her friend. "Your NOT useless!" Squirrelflight calmly meowed. "Those things are the loudest things I can hear." "I know!" Snapped Dovewing. "I used to be able to hear what was happening on the other side of the moor, but now I'm regular!"
Knowing that the young she cat needed time alone Squirrelflight rose to her paws and padded into the forest. "I'm going to see what's holding the clan up!" She called over her shoulder.
The woods was eery at night, the small bugs scuttled along the forest floor and swarmed up your paws if you didn't stop moving. The sky oaks leafy branches streached into the dark blue sky. Squirrelflight heard the familiar paw steps of the cats, and rushed deeper into the dark forest to meet them.
"Squirrelflight?!" Bramblestar gasped. "Why aren't you at the camp?!" The orange she cat rolled her eyes. "Dovewing's guarding, plus, you have been gone a long time!" She pushed her head into Bramblestar's soft tabby fur, breathing in the warm scent of her mate. "I've missed you." She whispered into his ear.
Nodding Bramblestar held his head high, clearly trying to show off. Squirrelflight pulled away from him and noticed a strange tom flanked the tabby leader. "Who is he?!" She eyed the ginger tom suspiciously. Bramblestar lowered his head so his eyes were level with Squirrelflights.
"We'll talk about that when we reach camp."
The cats continued toward camp, and soon Squirrelflight realized that there were a lot of unknown cats padding with the Thunderclan warriors.
They were cats of all ages including two brown kits, who slowly trailed along the warriors, and a elder who she found out to be called,
Billy-something.
The large group of cats entered the camp, catching Dovewing off guard.
The ginger tom muttered something to Bramblestar, who nodded. "Squirrelflight!" The muscular tabby tom called, as he leaped onto the high ledge and padded into his den. The ginger tom returned with two cats and followed Bramblestar inside the leaders den. Jayfeather crawled out of the medicine cat den and carefully leaped into the cave.
Squirrelflight sighed as she hopped up the path to the leaders den and walked calmly inside. "Squirrelflight, this is –" "Sorry Bramblestar, but I'll introduce myself." The ginger tom spat. "I'm Sharpstar, leader of Skyclan." Squirrelflight gaped at him. "You mean the clan Firestar and Sandstorm put together?!" Sharpstar growled "yes."
Glancing at Bramblestar, Squirrelflight backed out of the den and sped into the elders den. "Sandstorm! Sandstorm!" The pale ginger elder opened one eye and stared up at her anxious daughter. "What is it Squirrelflight?" "There are cats in our camp who claim to be Skyclan!" Sandstorms eyes went wide. "Let's go."
The two she cats hurried back to Bramblestars den where the cats were waiting. Instantly Sandstorm let out a purr. "Sharpclaw!" Dipping his head respectively Sharpstar corrected her. "Sharpstar" The elder gasped, fluffing her fur. "Where's Leafstar?!" "She was killed by the rats."
"But, how? I thought we drove them out!?" "Not for good."
Squirrelflight glanced at Bramblestar, who was watching Sharpstar carefully. "I'll go find a den for your cats." Squirrelflight muttered to the ginger leader.
Once outside in the camp Squirrelflight assessed the situation. About a dozen warriors plus five for Sharpstar and anyone else. "The moss storage cave should work." She stated to herself. Padding over to the small clan, she walked over to a flame coloured tom, who seemed to be deputy.
"Um... Excuse me," "huh? Oh, what is it?" The tom gently asked. "Your den is ready." "Thanks!" Turning back to his clan he announced, "come on cats!"
Squirrelflight watched as the clan walked to the den, a noticed a ginger elder trying to pickup the two kits. "What's wrong?" She asked him, picking up the other kit. He flashed a grateful look at her as he set the other kit down. "They ... Well... Their parents died.... So I've been trying my best to care for 'em." Squirrelflight gasped. "That's horrible! Look... Why don't you go to our elders den, I can take these kits to the nursery." A look of relief spread on the toms face. "How old are they?" She asked, staring down at the two gray she kits. "About five mons old." He answered. "Perfect!"
Squirrelflight watched the elder limp to the nursery where she heard Sandstorms excited meow say, "Billystorm!" As she filed the sleepy kits to the nursery she glanced up at Bramblestar who was sitting on high ledge. "Why don't you bring the kits hip here for the night?" He asked and She nodded.
The nursery was completely quiet now, other then the sound of unhappy kits. "Sorry! I tried to calm them!" Daisy cried when she saw Squirrelflight, who just blinked grateful at her. Squirrelflight picked up the gray kits once again and allowed her own kits to walk up to their fathers den.
