Warriors: Storm and Flood

Chapter Eleven

  Thrushtail felt Puddlepelt freeze beneath him, her fur beginning to rise. "What are you talking about?" She asked, beginning to tremble. "Of course she's had a chance to speak. I heard her!"

Sorrow filled Thrushtail and he hung his head, nuzzling the motionless kits at his paws. "Puddlepelt, our kits are dead. Poppykit and Silentkit have joined Starclan."

A low wail rose in Puddlepelt's throat and she curled herself around her kits; Thrushtail took a step back, closing his eyes tightly. "I'm so sorry." He murmured.

My kits are gone...

"You're not sorry!" Puddlepelt suddenly snapped, rising on weak legs to her paws. "You never wanted them in the first place! You're glad they're dead!"

Thrushtail stared at her, shocked. "Of course I wanted them! They were my kits!" A hot wash of anger and sorrow surged through him as he stepped back, looking down at the kits. "I wanted them just as much as you did!"

"No you didn't," Puddlepelt stalked toward him, hissing with her claws unsheathed. "You wanted this all along. You wanted to become deputy more than you wanted to be a father." Thrushtail stared at her with disbelief, continuing to move backward. He glanced over at his sister, who stood by the kits as if she were protecting them. She'll never forgive me. He tried to steady his breathing, and straightened his posture glaring at Puddlepelt.

"I wanted to raise these kits with you, but that obviously wasn't what Starclan wanted," he began, letting his fur lay flat. Starclan took my kits. "This was a sign."

"A sign of what?"

"That we shouldn't see each other anymore," he meowed softly. "It's done nothing but cause problems. Our clans are going to war because because of us! This has to stop."

Out of the corner of his eye, Thrushtail saw Frosttoe leap up, her fur on end. "You're the ones who have been crossing the border?" She demanded, her blue eyes blazing with fury. "Tumblefoot died because of you! And now more cats are going to die!"

"You think I don't know that?" Thrushtail snapped, his lips curled back into a snarl. "I didn't mean for this to happen. That's why I'm putting a stop to it now!"

"It's too late," Puddlepelt meowed, her tone cold and distant. "Our kits are dead. You're leaving me to become deputy. It isn't fair!" Her meow rose to a screech and she leaped at him, her claws flashing. "It's not fair!"

Thrushtail sprang to the side, missing her claws by a whisker. Frosttoe was leaped beside him, ready to pounce at any moment. Puddlepelt stood her ground, her flanks heaving with exhaustion after kitting. "You've taken my kits away from me... And now you're leaving me alone. I will make you regret this, Thrushtail." She turned to face him, her eyes dark with menace. "I'll make you suffer, just as you've made me!"

"You have to tell Fogstar," Frosttoe hissed under her breath. Thrushtail was silent as he walked next to her, staring at his muddy paws. He couldn't stop thinking about the kits laying limp as he buried them.

My kits...

"I can't tell anyone," he murmured finally, with a soft sigh. "I'll be exiled. Or even worse, Fogstar will kill me. I need to protect my clan."

"Maybe you should have thought about that before running off with some Thunderclan she-cat!" Frosttoe snapped, whipping her head around to face him. "What were you thinking? And with a medicine cat! What must Starclan think?"