Hope- A Warriors Fanfiction (Unedited)

7. Pain

I lay in the nursery with Mousenose as we watched our kits play.

"Raw!"Squealed Mistykit as she pounced on the moss ball. Duskkit leaped over too her and grasped the moss in his paws.

"Mine now!" He giggled. Featherkit watched them from the side; waiting for the moss ball to be thrown towards her. Oakkit and Barkkit were play fighting near the entrance of the den where a slight breeze blew through. However, it didn't make much difference to the stifling heat of the nursery.

"I'm going out. It's far too hot for my thick fur." I waved my kits goodbye and padded out into the forest.

The forest was alive with scents. The burning sun made dappled patterns on the forest floor as it filtered through the leaves and a weird sense of calmness in the air. I padded through the fire like heat and was about to lie in the cool shade of a tree, when I suddenly became aware that a cat was following me.

Pretending not to notice, I sniffed the air for scents. However, it was no she-cat that I scented: it was Waspwing.

"Hopeheart? Don't pretend you don't know i'm not here." Said the brown tabby. I slowly turned my silver head to face him. He stood barely a fox length from me, his tail twitching irritably.

"Waspwing, how nice to see you. What do you want?" I mewed trying to act pleased. I knew straight away that he didn't buy my act.

"You see my dear, we only had one tom and you know very well that's not enough.." He sneered calmly. He was as cruel as his father and as perverted as his grand-father. I hated him.

"You know I can't change that." I said with defiance. I felt like spitting in his smug face as he spoke to me. However, his eyes were burning as hot as the sun and he seemed to have something evil on his mind.

"Oh Hopeheart...I talked to Talonstar and he said we could have one more litter."He said sinisterly Waspwing lunged towards me. Fear pulsed through my pelt as he leaped forwards.

"They're not your kits !" I shouted as I clamped my eyes shut in terror. I heard him gasp and recoil away from me. Angrily, he growled at me and slashed a paw at my flanks.

" I will get my revenge on you my dear." And with that he disappeared into the depths of the forest. My flanks were bleeding a little bit from the wounds he gave me and my head was spinning. What did he mean by revenge?

Suddenly, realization hit me. My kits: he was going to kill my kits.

I ran as fast as I could back to camp. When I reached it, I headed straight for the nursery. Luckily, my kits were safe. I smiled and wrapped my tail around them, surprising them as they played.

"I love you so much. Never forget that. " I whispered. I was never going to let their "father" hurt them ever. I felt their flanks move up and down soothingly as I wrapped my tail around them.

" Hopeheart? Are you ok? You're bleeding." I heard Mousenose mew from the other side of the nursery. Gently, I let go of my kits and faced my friend.

"Waspwing knows their not his..." I mumbled to the brown queen. The kits turned their small faces towards me. They knew that Waspwing wasn't their father, but they were still surprised that he knew that shocking fact.

"Mama? He knows?" Asked Mistykit her tail twitching anxiously. Duskkit and Featherkit stood behind their confident litter mate.

"Yes he knows." I mewed calmly to my kits. " I need you too stay in the nursery with us. Is that ok?"

The three kits nodded their small heads and glanced nervously at one another. Oakkit jumped up and ran over to me.

"I'll protect them!" He said, his voice filled with enthusiasm. Mousenose padded over and placed her tail on her kits head.

"Very well, but I'll help you too." She meowed with a hint of amusement. I was pleased that they were going to help me protect my precious kits from their brute of a "father".

Suddenly, Mistfall burst through the entrance to the nursery, his eyes filled with fear. He stopped in front of me as tears formed in his eyes.

"It's Stonefeather, Waspwing killed her." He panted. My eyes pooled with tears as grief welled up inside of me. My mother was dead and it was all my fault. I should never had let him know the secret. It was all my fault...