Diverging Paths (Warrior Cats Fanfiction)

Chapter 20

"So, how has it been lately for her?" Highwings inquired to Offpaw, her brother sat beside him. The two siblings faced the tom, sitting outside the entrance to the medicine cat den.

"The kits can't be far away. Nimblereach says it's only a day or two. He won't let her out of the nursery," the medicine cat apprentice chuckled. "You should see her in there. All whining about how she wants to hunt."

"Sounds just like Archpounce," Highwings laughed a bit. It drew a small snort out of Hollowfortune, but his mind was elsewhere.

Determined to bring Hollowfortune back into the conversation, Highwings shouldered him, asking, "What do you think about being an uncle?"

"Oh. I don't know. What about you? Being an aunt, I mean?" he flipped the question back on her.

Rather irritated by this dodge, she pushed further, "Well, I asked first."

"Okay, sheesh," he wheezed, giving in. "I'm not sure how I feel about it, honestly. I can't wait to meet the kits and all, but I doubt I'll be visiting them often. Not Archpounce or Dangerzone's fault," he quickly added, "but kits freak me out."

"Hmph. No need to apologize, I kind of feel the same." Highwings shrugged. "Then again, everyone already knows that about me."

"What, so you guys are never going to visit them?" Offpaw questioned them with a smile and a raised eyebrow. The question seemed half-amused, but also half-miffed.

"No, no! I'll visit. Just no guarantee in me being a quality aunt." Highwings laughed. "I'll still try my best for the kits, though."

"Highwings, I don't know what you're on about. You and Whirlpaw bonded just fine," Hollowfortune teased, nudging her.

"Oh, yes, I connected with one odd kit," Highwings snorted, nudging him back. "I'm the ancient kit-speaker. All hail."

Offpaw and Hollowfortune laughed, speaking in sync, "All hail!"

"Now what's going on here?" Beargrowl and Teasemouth, brother and sister of Sunroar, approached the three of them, with Teasemouth saying their greeting.

"Talking about Archpounce," Highwings informed them while Hollowfortune somewhat physically cringed back from socialization. "Why?"

"Oh. Just seems odd, coming from the two biggest kit-haters in the Clan," Beargrowl chuckled in his deep, gruff voice. Even if he spoke his words in a joking manner, it still made Highwings somewhat uncomfortable and picked on, so her response was defensive.

"Well, she is our sister," Highwings huffed. "And we're going to be an aunt and uncle. It's kind of important to us."

"Ah, of course, of course." Beargrowl sat down with a grin on his face, and Highwings could not tell if it was genuine or condescending.

"You know, I've been thinking. Highwings already knows what she's supposed to do. With Bounceback and all that." Highwings tensed up as Teasemouth spoke about the tom with a crush on her - or rather, the tom who creeped on her. But she was not Teasemouth's subject. "But, Hollowfortune, what have you been doing on that front?" It was now Hollowfortune's turn to tense up.

Beargrowl raised his eyebrows, widening his reddish eyes a bit. "Yeah! Come to think of it, you haven't really done much. Are you taking a mate soon?"

Hollowfortune's white-tipped tail twitched as he sank under the light social pressure. "I will. I just want to find the right she-cat for me..."

"Well, it's been two and a half moons since you became a warrior," Teasemouth bleated. "You should at least have a cat you're interested in."