Warriors: The Untold Legacy Vol. 1

Chapter Twenty-Two

Cliffheart sat outside the nursery, his tail tip twitching with worry and anxiety. Two moons passed since the death of Newtstem. Two moons ago, Pouncepad had told him she was expecting his kits.

I can't wait to meet them! He thought eagerly, his paws shifting as he heard a pained cry from the den. Oddrun was outside with her kits and laid next to the anxious tom.

"Why can't we go inside?" Complained Adderkit as he pawed at his mother with a ginger paw.

"Yeah!" Chirped Larkkit, his eyes bored as he looked up at Oddrun. "We left our pebble in there!"

Oddrun hushed her kits with a stern look. "You can't go in," she meowed firmly, though her eyes burned with a fierce love for her kits. "Pouncepad's kits are coming."

Oatkit and Fallenkit perked up from their game of tag and bounded over, toppling over each other in a heap of fur. The four kits were three moons old and were full of life.

"Coming?" Echoed Fallenkit, her eyes thoughtful and wonderous. "Coming from where?"

Oddrun pulled her daughter close with a paw and licked her head. "I'll tell you when you four are old enough to understand." She purred.

Adderkit looked up at Cliffheart, his green eyes searching the warriors'. "Why are you waiting?" He asked curiously, his stubby tail flicking. "Are you going to have kits like Pouncepad?"

Cliffheart and Oddrun shared an amused glance and burst out laughing. The tom rested a paw on the kit's head and rubbed the fur on his head. "Certainly not," he chuckled. "Toms can't give birth to kits. We're too weak to endure the pain the she-cats go through. That's why they're so tough and stubborn."

Oatkit leaped on top of Larkkit, yowling in pride. "That's right!" She meowed and looked at Cliffheart. "Then why are you waiting?"

Cliffheart tensed at Pouncepad's wail of pure agony and forced his fur flat. "Because Pouncepad is having my kits." He meowed.

"New kits to play with!" Chirped Fallenkit as she leaped into the air in pure joy.

Cliffheart rolled his eyes in amusement and leaped to his black paws as Swallowfeather called for Harepaw, her voice panicked.

"Harepaw!" She yowled, making Cliffheart tense and dig his claws into the dirt beneath him. "Get cobwebs! I need to stop Pouncepad's bleeding!"

The fur along Cliffheart's spine rose in sharp spikes at the sound of the desperation in the medicine cat's voice. What's going on in there?! There shouldn't be any problems!

Harepaw shot to the medicine den and bolted to the nursery, only identifiable by the streak of dark gray tabby fur. Cliffheart's nerves overcame his hesitation and he raced after the tabby apprentice.

"Pouncepad!" He cried, but his view was blocked by Harepaw shoving him back. "Let me in! I need to see her!" Cliffheart mewed and tried to get past the apprentice. "Pouncepad!"

"Cliffheart!" Pouncepad's voice was pained and weak and Cliffheart pushed by the apprentice and ran to his mate's side. There was blood everywhere. Everywhere on Pouncepad's backside was covered in blood.

The smoky-black tom looked at the moss under his mate and saw two squirming bodies. Cliffheart's body swelled in pride but it was short-lived when Pouncepad spat out blood onto his chest.

"Pouncepad, hang on!" He meowed desperately, looking to Swallowfeather. "Help her!" Cliffheart pleaded.

The medicine cat looked at him with sympathy and grief. "I can't, Cliffheart." She meowed softly, looking at the queen. "The bleeding won't stop, she's in the paws of StarClan now."

Cliffheart wanted to believe that she was joking and that his mate would live and watched their kits grow by his side. But that won't happen. He thought with a wail of sorrow and pushed his muzzle into Pouncepad's chest.

His mate licked his head weakly and breathed out the words that made his heart break with grief. "I love you so much, Cliffheart." Before she laid her head on his shoulders and stilled. Her flanks didn't rise and her breathing got shallower until it stopped altogether.

Cliffheart felt hot tears stream down his cheeks and he sobbed into Pouncepad's still warm and fluffy fur. He breathed in her sweet scent many times before he thought he would pass out.

Now she won't watch her kits, our kits, grow up into amazing warriors. She won't comfort me when I need it. She won't be there when I go to sleep and hunt with me. She's gone. Pouncepad, the love of my life, is dead.

Swallowfeather murmured a few words but Cliffheart didn't hear them, too consumed in pain and grief to process anything. He tore away from his dead mate and sulked outside the nursery.

Oddrun looked at him with confusion, as did the other cats in the camp. Cliffheart let out a whimper of grief and lifted his head, his heart heavy.

"P-Pouncepad's d-dead."