Warrior Cats One-Shots

What if Squirrelflight had told Brambleclaw the truth?

*Image Credit*

Found on Google. Rights reserved to original artist.

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I walk into the ThunderClan's camp, Leafpool's kits trailing behind me. They run around my legs, rubbing up against me, thinking that I am their mother. Leafpool doesn't watch them, but I can sense that it hurts to have them forget her so quickly.

     "Hey! Squirrelflight and Leafpool are back!" one of my Clanmates calls out.

     "Looks like you're a father, Brambleclaw," another cat mews upon seeing the kits at my paws.

     I see my mate come out of the warriors den, his amber eyes wide with surprise and disbelief. But when he spots me and the kits, the disbelief fades, replaced by instant love. He races up to me, and presses is nose into my fur. "Oh, Squirrelflight," he murmurs. "I'm so happy."

     "Me, too," I reply, giving his shoulder a lick. When we break apart, I catch Leafpool as she quickly heads back to the medicine, her tail drooping behind her. My heart aches for my sister, but this is for the best. If the Clan knew, she wouldn't be able to be a medicine cat anymore, and that's been her calling since we were kits. She can't give that up, not even for her kits.

     I turn from my sister, using my tail to herd the kits towards the nursery. Brambleclaw and Daisy help, keeping them from running off for the first interesting thing they see. They are so innocent, these kits, and I hope to StarClan they remain that way. It'll be better for everyone if they never know the truth.

     "I didn't even know you were expecting," Ferncloud says when we arrive in the nursery. "It's a good thing Leafpool was with you," she adds as Daisy ushers me into a nest and gently presses the kits to my belly. They quickly begin hunting for milk, though I know they'll find nothing.

     Leafpool arrives at the nursery a few moments later, her mouth full of leaves that she sets in front of me. "These will help your milk come," she tells me. Then she bends down and gives each of her kits a quick lick; it's her way of saying goodbye to them, I think. From now on, she'll be nothing more than a medicine cat to them. After she's said goodbye, she exchanges one last sad glance with me, and leaves.

     My mate arrives soon after, and his eyes glitter with pride as he watches me with the kits that he thinks belong to him. My heart aches at the lie, but it's for the best. "What are their names?" he asks, his mew soft as he gazes at the now-sleeping kits.

     "The golden tom is Lionkit," I tell him. "The black she-cat is Hollykit, and the gray tom is Jaykit." I let out a yawn, stretching out my body to better curl around the young ones.

     "I'll come back later," Brambleclaw says, giving my head a lick. "Get some rest." When he's gone, I quickly fall fast asleep, curled around three sleeping bodies that have no idea that they don't belong to me.

It's been two sunrises since Leafpool gave birth to her kits and I took them in to raise as my own. Now the problems of such a task are beginning to arise.

     "Why isn't her milk coming?" Daisy asks, sounding worried. I understand her concern, though it is entirely misplaced. Only queens should be worried when their milk doesn't come, and I'm not a queen, so I'm not worried. But no one else can no that. I have to play the part of worried mother, otherwise my Clanmates might begin to suspect the truth.

     "The borage isn't working," Leafpool mews. "Ferncloud, would you be able to feed them?"

     "Will I have enough milk to feed them and mine?" the queen asks, looking nervously to her own kits.

     "Yes, I'll make sure of it," Leafpool replies.

     I gather the – my kits to Ferncloud's belly with my tail. They begin to suckle earnestly, hunger setting in after two days of finding no food from me.

     "I'm going to go for a walk," I mew. "But I'll be back soon, I promise." The queens nod, and I walk out of the nursery, heading towards the camp entrance.

     "Are you okay?" Brambleclaw calls out, padding up beside me. "I heard that you don't have any milk." I see panic in his amber eyes. He is so worried about kits that aren't really his. A sudden streak of guilt shoots through me. I'm not worried about them because Ferncloud can make sure they're fed, but he is panicking! It doesn't seem fair, that he should have to be fed this enormous lie like the rest of the Clan. He's my mate, and he's going to be raising these kits as his own. He deserves to know the truth.

     "Let's go for a walk," I mew softly, sliding my tail lightly across his back.

     He nods, and we head out into the woods, towards the lake. The sun glints off the blue surface of the water, and I can see the Twolegs in their boats way off in the distance. Other than them, we are entirely alone. Good. This way, no one will overhear us.

     For a minute, I stare in silence at the rippling water, contemplating just how I'm going to tell Brambleclaw the truth. There doesn't seem to be a way to do it without him freaking out.

     "What's wrong?" my mate asks softly.

     I breathe deeply. Alright. It's now or never. "The kits . . . they're . . . they're not ours." There. I said it. Now I dare not look at him, because I don't want to see the hurt and shock on his face when he realizes just how much I've been lying to him for the past two days. Not to mention that he's probably angry, too; I know I would be.

     "Oh," is all he says in reply.

     Now I look up at him. The shock is there, as is the hurt, but the anger, it's not. That surprises me.

     "I know I should have told you sooner," I mew softly, my voice breaking. "But I just couldn't find the words to say it."

     "It's fine," he says, touching my shoulder gently with his tail. "At least you've told me now, instead of later." He pauses before adding, "If they're not ours, than who's are they?"

     "Leafpool's and Crowfeather's," I whisper. My sister will be angry when she finds out I've told Brambleclaw the truth of her mistake, but right now I don't care. Brambleclaw is my mate, and I won't lose him, not even for her.

     "Does he know?" Brambleclaw asks, and he doesn't sound all that surprised. I wonder if he's suspected that there's been something between them. I hope not. If their affections for each other were that obvious, than cats will guess about the kits, and I can't have that. Brambleclaw might know the truth, but no one else can.

     "Leafpool and I decided that it would be best not to tell him," I reply with a slight shake of my head.

     Brambleclaw nods.

     "Those kits think that we're their parents," I continue. "Unless you don't want to pretend anymore."

     There's a long moment of silence as I wait for Brambleclaw to make his decision. He's under no obligation to keep up the pretense, but I hope he will. If not for Leafpool, for me.

     "We should head back, then," he says finally, a glint in his eyes. "Our kits need us."

     I nod, relieved. He's going to do this with me. He's not going to leave.

     As we head back to camp, to the kits we've adopted as ours, I have this confident feeling in my heart that nothing can separate us now.