Warrior Cats: The Legacy #2: The Afterglow Of The Sun

Chapter Twenty

Cherryfeather licked Leafkit, who shied away, clearly embarrassed. She giggled slightly before padding out of the nursery and out, into the moonlit clearing. She watched as cats finished up fresh-kill, buried it and hurried to escape into their dens to avoid the cold air blasting through. Marshwillow was watching her kits when she went and got Tigerstorm so that Marshwillow could tell her something 'very important'

"What could be more important than sleep!" muttered Cherryfeather to herself, before trotting off to the warriors den and peering in.

"Tigerstorm..?" she mewed quietly. A dark figure sat up immediately and made it's way to the entrance. As the figure came to the front, the moonlight shone on him and lit up his pelt.

"Oh, Cherryfeather!" purred Tigerstorm. "Is there something wrong?"

"No, I was just wondering if you could keep an eye on our kits for a bit, Marshwillow wants to talk with me about something," smiled Cherryfeather.

"Okay!" purred Tigerstorm, making his way over to the nursery. Marshwillow trotted out just as he came in and signalled with her tail to follow her as she made her way over to the entrance to camp. Cherryfeather caught up quickly and padded out of camp behind Marshwillow.

"What is it?" asked Cherryfeather, slightly annoyed.

"We-We're part of a prophecy!" Marshwillow looked as if she could explode with excitement. It took a moment for Cherryfeather to take it in.
"What.. what do you mean?" asked Cherryfeather, shocked.
"The afterglow of the sun will shape the Clans destiny, and help it or not, when Dusk tries to unsettle the bright day, cherries will grow on the marshes and help bring it back to life, that was the prophecy!" continued Marshwillow, "Aren't you excited about this!?"
Cherryfeather nodded and quietly slipped back into the camp, her mind twirling with what Marshwillow had said. She hadn't made it obvious to Marshwillow that she was slightly scared, she didn't want to be known for that - 'The cat who was scared of a prophecy' - Cherryfeather shook her head, Marshwillow couldn't have noticed, she was good at hiding things from her sister, that reminded her... Smokepelt!

Cherryfeather anxiously closed her eyes and willed herself to the place of no stars. Instantly, she was up again, she looked around the dark forest, slightly fearful.
"Cherryfeather!" came a voice from the darkness. "I can't believe you're here! I've came here every night, just in case you came."
"Oh Smokepelt!" purred Cherryfeather, as she saw him trotting over to her in the gloom. "I'm really sorry, stuff has been pretty busy for me."
"What like?" purred Smokepelt, coming over and sitting beside her.
"Well first, Tigerstorm and I had kits," she smiled. "They're called Maplekit, Leafkit, Spiritkit and Squirrelkit. Leafkit always comes up the best ideas, Maplekit's quite shy and quiet, but very clever, Spiritkit reminds me of Marshwillow, loyal and considerate, and always happy and bouncy, and then there is Squirrelkit, the only male kit of the litter, he is strong and independent." Cherryfeather purred as she thought of her kits, but Smokepelt had gone deadly silent.
"Are.. you.. meaning.. to tell me.. that.. YOU HAD KITS WITH SOME RANDOM CAT FROM YOUR CLAN?!" yelled Smokepelt, fur standing on end, shaking with fury, "How could you! I thought we were going to be mates!"
"You're jealous," mewed Cherryfeather, with no emotion. "You don't want me to be happy, do you? I thought we were friends, must've been wrong, hm?"
Smokepelt had started backing away from Cherryfeather, he knew she was madder than he ever could be, Cherryfeather was coming closer to him, creeping towards him, as if she was stalking her prey. She was smiling.
"You're angry at me because I had kits. Got a mate. That's why you're angry at me? Well I'll tell you something, I'm never coming back here and if I do, it's to make sure you'll never come back." Cherryfeather mewed emotionlessly, her blue piercing eyes lighting up the dead, shadowy forest.