ColdClan: Sky Of Blood [2]

13. Skyleap

Skyleap awoke from a dream plagued with darkness and shadows. Her mind kept reliving the worst memories of the fight between ColdClan and HeatClan -- the yowls of pain, the fear she had felt, the worry that she would not return to her kits... There was no escaping the night and its evils for the young mother.

Thankfully, all the kits had slept soundly beside her. For the first few nights, Icepaw had visited her multiple times throughout the night, partially for her benefit but mostly for his own. The new apprentice had many worries, and Skyleap could do nothing but offer a soothing word to her son. But eventually, she had encouraged him to sleep the night in the apprentice den; she was glad that she had, as the tom was becoming particularly close to Frogpaw, one of the sons of Fawngaze and Stagfoot who was friendly and well-mannered.

Today, Skyleap was feeling much better. Her wounds were almost completely healed and she'd gained much of her energy back. She'd even managed to make her way out of the dark depths of the den and into the warming sun, lying at the edge of the camp as her kits played with Clementine. 

It was strange how the Scraps cats had seemingly blended into their lives. The ColdClan cats hardly noticed that they were different anymore, and there'd been several hunting trips which they had been part of. There was something that still set them apart, however. At night, the trio would sleep under the stars as opposed to the warmth of the dens, and no amount of encouragement could convince them otherwise. 

Guards around the camp had been upped since the death of Coldfrost. Stagfoot had mainly been in charge of organising such things, with the help of his apprentice, Stonepaw. Skyleap was glad to see that everyone was pulling their weight in clan, and as she watched from the sidelines, she smiled at how effortlessly camp life seemed to move, even in the face of such danger. This was the courage of the mountain cats.

Catching the sparkling eyes of Mudstar from across the way, the leader ambled up to her, giving her a glance over as he approached.

"Feeling better?" He asked. "You certainly look it."

With a warm smile and a nod, Skyleap sat up a little so as to speak to her leader. "Much better, thank you."

Pausing, Mudstar took a moment to look at her kits, and her own blue eyes followed his gaze. They'd grown so big so quickly, and were beginning to grow into their features -- Batkit had huge ears that had always seemed too goofy for her body, and Antkit had always walked a little strange. But now, when she looked closely, she could see that these features were becoming less distinct and more a part of them. 

"Are you ready to return to warrior duty?" Mudstar asked suddenly, his head spinning round to face her once more.

"Huh?" She was utterly confused by what he meant.

"Warrior duty, Skyleap. Your kits are six moons old now, are they not? I'm asking if you want to stay being a queen or return to being a warrior." His face was quizzical, but not in a harsh way. Mudstar always wanted what was best for his clanmates -- they were his friends before all else.

Considering for a moment, Skyleap flicked her tail thoughtfully. She'd always knew this day would come, but so soon? It had jumped upon her like a cat to a mouse. 

"I think I'm ready to get back into it." She answered, though hardly convincingly. 

With a single nod, Mudstar took off and was on his leader's rock in a matter of seconds. 

"Let all cats old enough to catch their own prey gather beneath the leader's rock!"

Skyleap ushered her kits underneath her protectively. As they sat at her feet, Batkit purposefully knocked into Antkit, who fell down onto his chin with an 'oof'. Mothkit gave a disapproving mew.