Dawnstar's Message

Chapter 13

P.S. Hey people! I have almost 400 reads on this story now.... Thanks so much! I hope you are enjoying my story. I will soon be posting the alliegances for BeachClan, TreeClan, and FieldClan. Hope this is interesting enough for you guys... Thank you for reading! ~brownie-1029~

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CHAPTER 13

"Whoa! Look at the size of that mole!" Scorchkit exclaimed. The little black kit jumped at the prey as Dawnstar put the mole on the floor of the nursery and purred. It had been a half moon since the Gathering when Icestar had stormed out, and an EarthClan patrol had already retrieved some of the herbs she'd stolen. Dawnstar asked for only half, because Icestar needed them more than EarthClan at the time. Whisperpaw, his daughter, had gone back into training, and was close to becoming a warrior. The new warriors were proving themselves, and Dawnstar was proud.

Scorchkit batted the limp body out of reach of his littermates and curled up behind his mother with it, fending off his siblings from the mole. Ringpool gave Scorchkit "That Look" and he groaned, giving it back to her.

"Thanks for the mole, Dawnstar," Ringpool purred.

Squirrelcloud grumbled. "I can't wait until those pesky kits move to the apprentice's den!" Her belly was swelled with kits. "They're annoying, and loud, and... and..." She yawned and closed her eyes. Mistyfur stirred beside her, but fell still again.

"You're welcome, Ringpool. Whisperpaw caught it this morning; she's amazing at it!" His whiskers quivered at the thought of his daughter. "I've decided to apprentice your kits when she becomes a warrior."

Ringpool sighed in relief. "Thank StarClan!" She seemed more gracious to give up her kits than most mothers. "And when is that, exactly?"

"A moon or so."

"A moon! They'll be bigger than warriors by then!"

"No, they won't I assure you. Cherryfoot could probably tell if they could get that big at all!" Dawnstar chortled.

Ringpool nodded, her black coat shining despite the low light. "Okay." She looked at the mound of kits behind her and growled softly. "Kits! Get off of each other! I get to eat, too!" She heaved herself up onto her paws and walked over to her kits. Dawnstar slipped out of the den so he didn't wake up Mistyfur or Squirrelcloud.

The camp outside was shining in the sunlight. Cats were basking in the warmth and sharing prey. Rosefang and Bouncestorm were sharing tongues; they'd become close since they were both warriors. There were a lot of kits, a lot of warriors, and EarthClan was doing well.

Dawnstar trotted over to the cats at the prey pile:  Stormeyes, Brindlepelt, and Lightwing. He picked a thrush from the top of the pile and sat next to them, where they were talking about the Clan.

Stormeyes was laughing. "I bet Bouncestorm and Rosefang'll end up together! They're obviously mooning over each other; any cat could see it."

Lightwing nodded. "They look so cute together!"

Brindlepelt was the first to notice the leader's presence. "Hi, Dawnstar! How are you this morning?"

Dawnstar nodded. "Fine, thanks. Do you know where Cherryfoot is?"

"She went to collect herbs with.... Lightwing, who'd she go out with?"

The creamy she-cat thought for a moment. "I think she went with... Fawngaze, right?"

Dawnstar nodded. "Thank you. I need to go find her. Brindlepelt, when I finish my thrush can you come with me to find her?"

Brindlepelt nodded. Dawnstar ate his thrush quickly, and he and Brindlepelt walked out of the clearing and into the forest.