Warriors #3: Shifting Shadows

Chapter 23

Goldenshine's POV

It had now been a moon since Lionblaze and Dovepaw had left for their journey. It had seemed that they had left seasons ago, and things in the Clans unfortunately were representing that. To say the least, the cats of ThunderClan weren't doing so well. Many of the warriors were cranky (including myself), the elders and kits were becoming weaker, and the prey was practically disappearing because there was no water for them to drink.

I was drowning in these negative thoughts in the nursery as I sat there silently. I could just barely hear the other queens whispering and gossiping to each other at the other side of the den. Their dehydration was already obvious enough, but hearing their hoarse voices made it seem much worse.

I shook my head slowly,  let out a weak sigh and then looked down to where my son, Swiftkit, was taking a nap. I couldn't help but smile as I stared lovingly down at the little gray-black bundle. I knew already that someday, he was going to grow up, become an apprentice and then become a warrior, but there were so many times that I wished that he could just stay right here, curled up in my belly for the rest of my life.

I found that that thought was reoccurring more and more as he began to noticeably grow. And soon after he was born, he had already began to develop a personality. Fortunately and unfortunately, one of the first things I had noticed was that Swiftkit reminded me a lot of Breezepelt. He was a very sweet cat - considerate, thoughtful, and very intelligent, but his quickness of temper was quite apparent. To my dismay, he was sometimes very impatient with Cherrykit and Molekit, his very new denmates.

"Hey, Swiftkit?" a squeaky voice meowed kindly, interrupting my thoughts.

I glanced over, following the voice, and saw that it had been Cherrykit that had spoken, her head tilted and her tail lashing back and forth excitedly.

"What?" Swiftkit asked sharply, clearly angry that Cherrykit had interrupted his sleep. I sighed, trying to sooth my son by running my tail along his smaller flank.

Cherrykit seemed taken aback for just a moment, but then she shook her head quickly and began hopping around. "I was just wondering if you wanted to come outside and play?" she asked, then running up to stand in front of our nest. "C'mon, please?"

As angry as Swiftkit seemed to be at Cherrykit initially, I was surprised to watch my son look up at me as if to ask for permission.

I smiled, pleased that Swiftkit wasn't letting his crankiness close him off from his friends. I let out a small purr and pushed him softly forward with my tail. "Go ahead, and have fun!" I said to my little tom gently. "And be nice, for StarClan's sake!"

Swiftkit gave me one last warm glance before running off with Cherrykit and Molekit out into the camp clearing.

I watched them for a few moments, making sure that they were going to play safely, I stood up. With Swiftkit busy, I might as well go out and take a walk, I thought to myself. As much as I love being with my son, I would enjoy getting some time to myself!

So, with this in mind, I took a stretch and left the nursery. I gave nods of greeting to every cat I passed - some sharing tongues, some assembling for patrols, and some simply sharing a quick meal - and then finally crawled through the gorse tunnel and out of camp.

I slowly walked through the forest and took in the greenleaf weather and my surroundings. As thirsty as I am with this drought, the greenleaf air is still very nice. It's almost a shame that I have to stay inside in the nursery when the forest looks like this!

For a while, I somewhat just wandered aimlessly around the forest, taking in all of the grassy and leafy scents, and enjoying feeling my paws brush against soft grass with every step I took. But before I knew it, the lake came into my view.