Pineshade's Loss

Chapter 11

Pinepaw finishes eating a mouse he is sharing with his brother, Beetlepaw.

"Thank you for offering to share it, Beetlepaw," Pinepaw meows after taking his last bite.

"Any time," Beetlepaw responds to his brother. Then, Milkpaw pads over to the two brothers seemingly excited.

"What's up, Milkpaw?" Pinepaw asks his best friend.

"Juniperleaf had her kits!" Milkpaw announces excitedly. "She's taking visitors! Do you two want to go see them with me?" She asks.

"Nah, I'm good, thanks for the offer," Beetlepaw answers, standing up.

"I'll go," Pinepaw responds to the cream-and-white apprentice, looking into her oddly purple eyes.

"Great!" Milkpaw responds happily. "I didn't want to go alone," she meows as Pinepaw gets up and the two apprentices pad over to the nursery together. They notice that there is not as much as a crowd as there was when Rosedawn had Acornkit. It seems like only a few warriors have decided to visit Juniperleaf and her kits. They enter the nursery to find Silvertuft and Leafshadow sitting by Juniperleaf, who is laying in her nest. By Juniperleaf's belly, two kits are nursing their mother. One of them is a short-furred pale brown kit while the other is a dark ginger tabby ball of fur. Rosedawn is also laying in her nest with a much bigger Acornkit curled up beside her.

"Oh, they're so cute!" Milkpaw meows happily. "What are their names?" She asks. Milkpaw has always been excited when it comes to kits. Both times a queen had kits in the Clan so far in her life, she has been so eager to see them and admire them. Pinepaw doesn't feel the same, but he goes with her to visit them anyway.

"The pale brown she-kit is named Mousekit, after Mousetail, who saved my life when I was an apprentice, and the fluffy dark ginger tabby tom is named Flamekit because he looks like a little flame," Juniperleaf answers.

"That's so cute!" Milkpaw meows excitedly.

"Mousetail saved your life when you were an apprentice?" Pinepaw asks, more interested in that than the kits.

"That will be a story for another day," Juniperleaf responds. Pinepaw lets out a sigh, which gets a purr of amusement out of Juniperleaf.

"Pinepaw!" Milkpaw meows happily. "When we're warriors, we should become mates and have kits of our own!" She suggests boldly. Pinepaw is shocked by the cream-and-white apprentice's words, but as he thinks about it, he realizes he wouldn't mind it at all. He would enjoy being mates with Milkpaw in the future, actually. However, he doesn't know what to say. He is speechless. All of the older cats in the nursery let out a purr of amusement due to Milkpaw's bold claim.

"You two remind me a lot of Volenose and I when we were apprentices," Rosedawn meows. "We were best friends when we were young, but when we became warriors, we became mates as well," the pale brown she-cat shares.

"I would like that, Milkpaw," Pinepaw finally meows, nervousness evident in his tone of voice. "We should do that," he meows.

"Yay!" Milkpaw meows happily.

"I'm trying to sleep," Acornkit whines, rolling over.

"I guess we should leave now," Milkpaw meows. "Goodbye!" She meows to the the cats in the nursery.

"Bye," Pinepaw only meows as the two apprentices exit the nursery together.

"Did I make you uncomfortable?" Milkpaw asks worriedly.

"A little bit," Pinepaw answers honestly. "It's just that you said that in front of all of the cats in the nursery, that's all. Juniperleaf, Rosedawn, Silvertuft, Leafshadow, and even Acornkit," he meows. "It was just... slightly embarrassing."

"I understand," Milkpaw responds. "I should've kept it in until later, but I was too excited," she admits.

"That's fine," Pinepaw meows. "I like that you said that though. It was brave of you," he purrs.

"Thank you, I'll be looking forward to when we are warriors," Milkpaw responds with a purr.

"We'll be the cutest couple by the lake," Pinepaw meows.

"We sure will," Milkpaw responds.

"I wonder how Mousetail saved Juniperleaf's life when she was an apprentice though," Pinepaw meows.

"You're silly," Milkpaw responds with a purr of amusement.