Warriors: A Dark Sun

Chapter 39

          Lilymist awoke from her sleep to Hailkit tumbling across her. She quickly raised her head and grinned. Olivenose had already woken up and was playing with the kits. Lilymist stood up and yawned. Lichenkit tumbled away from her and squeaked. The kit had still been sleeping, nestled safely beside her belly. She pulled Lichenkit closer and cleaned the soft fur. Lichenkit obediently sat in front of her as she drew her rough tongue across the brown kit's fur. She purred when Lichenkit was clean and she moved onto the other three kits. Once she was done she had patrols to set up so she left Olivenose with the kits. She jumped on the Tallstone and called out.

"I want Rainwhisker, Sparrowleaf, Skygaze and Reedsplash to patrol the WindClan border. Adderblaze, Feathermist, Appleglow and Duskflower will patrol the ThunderClan border." Lilymist yowled out commands. Brightcloud shuffled out of the nursery and looked up.

"May I go on a hunting patrol? I'll leave the kits with Swanshine." She asked hopefully. Lilymist felt a stab of pity for the queen. She would be in the nursery for another six moons until Lakekit and Maplekit were apprentices now.

"Yes of course you can. Grayheart, Brightcloud, Lionscar and Olivenose will hunt after sunhigh." She ordered then leaped off the Tallstone. She padded through the cats and reached the nursery. She crawled inside the den and saw Swanshine with two bundles by her. Swanshine's eyes were filled with affection at her niece and nephew. She took a closer look at the kits and noticed that Maplekit had light ginger dusted around her fur. Lakekit was pure white except for his brown toes and tail tip.

"They're beautiful." Lilymist told Swanshine. The elderly queen nodded and purred.

"I can tell that Maplekit will be a good warrior already. She already seems to fight her brother for who gets closest to me." She rasped. Swanshine was getting old and she would likely be retiring soon. Lilymist remembered why she came in.

"I think Brightcloud has been over working herself. How will she feed these two? Her milk has been gone for a long time." Lilymist explained her worries to Swanshine. The queen shrugged and looked back at the kits.

"We'll find a way to feed them." She murmured. Lilymist meowed a quick good bye and exited the den to go see Icestar. She padded across the clearing to the leaders den and entered it.

"Icestar? I'm concerned about Lakekit and Maplekit. How will Brightcloud feed them? Her milk dried up a long time ago." Lilymist asked, settling down beside the leader.

"I was wondering the same thing. It's not common, but if a queen of another Clan's kits died and she still has milk, the Clans will trade. Herbs, prey, peace or even a warrior. Anything to keep the kits alive. I was thinking we go to ShadowClan." Icestar explained. Lilymist nodded.

"When should I go?" She asked her superior.

"Now. Bring Pixiepath and Silverdust. Silverdust still has warrior strength and she has seen this happen before. Pixiepath can barter with herbs. Bring one more warrior of your choice." Icestar ordered them settled back down in her nest. Lilymist got up and went to find Pixiepath and Silverdust. She had already decided to bring Berrysplash. She gathered the three and explained the mission. They set off at a quick place towards the ShadowClan territory. They crossed the large forest and camped beside the scent marker until dawn.

          Lilymist woke up to Berrysplash shaking her. They were at the border and a patrol was quickly coming towards them. She recognized Lionstripe, Newtpatch, Starlingpool and Cherrypaw from gatherings. They approached cautiously.

"Hello. We have not seen RiverClan on this side of the forest for a long time." Starlingpool greeted the small group of cats.

"Yes we understand, but we have two kits that are in need of a mother. Our only queen has no milk left and these kits will starve." Lilymist explained. Lionstripe nodded and beckoned for them to follow her. They wove their way through the tall pine trees and they reached a large tree. The ShadowClan warriors looked around then crawled under the tree. Lilymist followed carefully. The tunnel was large and strangely bright. Newtpatch came last and covered the hole with a large bush near the entrance. The tunnel twisted through the roots of the large tree. They followed until it got brighter and they realized they were in the leaders den. A small hole in the top of the den let light in. Lionstripe explained their issue and Lizardstar listened.

"So you are here to offer a trade. We have one queen whose kits were recently killed. We can give her to you. Cherrypaw fetch Wrenglow please."
Lizardstar ordered the young apprentice.

"If I may, you said that her kits were killed. How?" Pixiepath asked. Lizardstar sighed and shifted to get more comfortable.

"We have been constantly threatened by ThunderClan. Our four kits went out to explore and when we found them they were on the other side of the border, slaughtered. Wrenglow was destroyed. To protect ourselves we moved underground." Lizardstar explained. "In exchange for our queen we would like an alliance and two warriors." She meowed. Lilymist only nodded.

"May I know of the names of these warriors you wish to send us?" Shrewpath asked. The tom stepped into the den and sat down beside his leader. The young medicine cat seemed concerned about this trade.

"We will most likely end up sending you Jasperheart and Frostspiral. They are both intelligence and strong. Jasperheart has experience and Frostspiral is young so she will learn easily." Lilymist explained. Shrewpath nodded.

"I will accompany you back to your Clan with Wrenglow." He purred and stood up. They all went back up the tunnel and stopped. They scented ThunderClan. The warriors were confused.

"Their scent ends here how could they just disappear? It doesn't make sense." Badgerpool growled.

"Maybe we should just go back." The delicate voice of Poppyfall whispered. Badgerpool hissed and turned away in frustration. Poppyfall followed then stopped.

"You can come out now. He's gone." The ShadowClan cats exited the den carefully.

"Thank you Poppyfall." Shrewpath purred. The ThunderClan she cat nodded then ran off into the woods.

"She has been helping us lately." Shrewpath explained. Lilymist nodded and they followed Shrewpath and Wrenglow out of their territory.

          It was long past Moonhigh when they returned to the camp. Lilymist ran to get Icestar and Berrysplash went to get Jasperheart and Frostspiral.

"ShadowClan is here." She called to Icestar. The leader crawled out of the shadows, her bright eyes glowing in the moonlight.

"Who do they want?" Icestar asked.

"They want an alliance and Jasperheart and Frostspiral. They have given us Wrenglow." Lilymist told Icestar.

"Send them off at once. You have been gone too long and Lakekit has died." Icestar meowed, with grief seething out of her words. Lilymist felt a stab of guilt. I should have been faster.