What If? (A Leafpool&Crowfeather Story)

Gifts of New-Leaf

The dark, cold leaf-bare had not brought much snow, sleet etc., but was gloomy, windy and depressing. New-leaf was here now. Rosestar had been Clan leader for a moon, now. Two addition had come to the Clan. Dovepaw, formerly named Diver- a 9 moon old she-cat with grey fur and amber eyes. Next was Wolfstreak- formerly called Wolf. He was an elder- dark grey, fluffy and slightly pessimistic. He had avoided joining the Clan until he was almost killed by a twoleg monster. It had driven over his tail- making it bleed for what 'seemed like eternity'. Blackstride had taken on the task of mentoring the mild she-cat- who was so willing to learn. Willowsky and Leafpool were searching for juniper berries and rasperry leaves. "Here, Willowsky! Look how bright and ripe these are!" Purred Leafpool. "Yes, they look very nice," Her apprentice agreed. After they'd collected both herbs and carfeully staggered them among their rightful positions, they seperated- each to find another activity. Leafpool found Crowfeather- who was just padding out of the camp on a solo hunting patrol. "Hi there!" His mate called. Crowfeather halted sharply and whipped his head round to meet her warm brown eyes. "Oh. Hey, Leafpool," The couple walked and talked for a while. "Hey, Crowfeather! How about... We have a little race. See that shrew? Whoever can catch it first- gets to eat it, push the other in the pond... Or... Something else." Crowfeather dipped his head. "Ok, bets first. Something else." Leafpool groaned. "Push you in the pond." The two cats eyed the shrew. As they crept forward, Crowfeather, before he was a tail-length away- much too far away- leapt and bit down on the creatures weak neck, instantly sending it to sleep. "I win! Ha, Leafpool, you goodie two-shoes, right way medicine cat! Haha!" Leafpool's eyes filled with dread. What would her punishment be? Well, punishment, not exactly. But ordeal? Probably. But, instead of pushing her into a tree trunk, or telling her to check him for fleas and ticks, Crowfeather simply licked her ears in nuzzled her chin. His mate relaxed and pressed her tail against his back and purred into his shoulder- relieved. Back at the camp, Iceriver was panicking- and so was Willowsky. But who was the cat who was panicking the most? Blackstride. He was pacing by the white she-cat, trying to calm her down, but only getting himself more stressed out. Willowsky had never delivered kits before! She gave Iceriver a couple juniper berries to boost her energy. After a couple minutes, the first kit had come- a white, blue-eyed  female kit with a crescent shaped black patch of fur on both of her shoulders. Suddenly, Leafpool and Crowfeather burst in. "Iceriver!" Leafpool yelped, knowingly. "We heard the yowling." Crowfeather said, bluntly. Leafpool grabbed some raspberry leaves and borage. She raced to the queen, practically shoving the raspberry leaves down her throat. "Get her some water- mouse-brains!" She demanded, immediately regretting her harsh words. "Sorry..." She muttered, narrowing her eyes in embarassment. Willowsky shook her head. "It's ok, I should've thought of that." She said, respectively. After the next kit- a black kit- female, with yellow eyes, Blackstride returned with a heap of moss- positively dripping with fresh water. Iceriver began to lap up the liquid appreciatively. Then, she screeched in agony as yet another contracting shook her whole body. The last kit took a long time to arrive- a little tom with pepper like fluff and blue eyes. "This one's name is Birchkit." The new mother meowed. "This is Moonkit." Intervened Blackstride. "And this is... Nightkit." They said together, staring at the kits in awe. (Nightkit is the one with yellow eyes and black fur, Moonkits the one... Do I really have to explain?) These gift of New-leaf didn't end here though.

**********ONE MOON LATER**********

"Umm... Crowfeather, I need to speak to you." Crowfeather sighed softly- pessimisticly. "Yes? Good news or bad news?" He mewed. "I-I hope i-it's good n-news," Leafpool stuttered nervously. "Crowfeather, I'm expecting kits." Crowfeather's shoulders drooped. (In relief? Or in disappointment? Read on to find out!)