Spiderleap paced outside the medicine cat den. A small black head poked out from the mouth of the den and Blackrose stepped out. "How is she?" Spiderleap asked. "You have a son and a daughter. They are both alive and well," she said softly and wouldn't meet his eyes. "What about Sootmask?" He asked. "She...she..." Blackrose choked out and looked up with tears in her hazel eyes. "She's not looking too good. She wants to talk to you b-before..." she didn't have to finish. She stepped aside and let the black and white tom inside. "Sootmask?" He asked. She smiled at him from a nest. Her fur was thin and eyes gaunt. "Hi Spidey," she smiled. "Y-you okay?" Spiderleap asked. "I think...I think we both know the answer to that..." Sootmask said sadly. Spiderleap sat beside his best friend and mate. She rolled over slightly and revealed two kits. One, the tom, looked like himself and the she kit was almost an exact replica of her mother, with his underbelly fur. "They're beautiful," he whispered and licked the kits' heads. "I'm so proud of you." "You...you have to promise never to neglect them...not to blame them..." Sootmask whispered pleadingly. "B-but you have to be here to help me," Spiderleap said through tears. "You know...you know I can't do that...you can not blame them for my death...love them like you've loved me..." a tear fell from Spiderleap's eye onto the den floor. Sootmask had gotten sick not too long after she found out she was pregnant. Spiderleap always knew one of them wouldn't make it. "Don't leave me," he whispered and pressed his head on hers. "I'll never leave you Spidey...I'll always be here..." she whispered back and her smile faded and breathing stopped. Spiderleap sobbed. Blackrose and Flamespark came inside. "Sh-she's gone..." Blackrose said, her voice less than a whisper. "She's really gone..." Tears spattered to the ground as she lifted each of the tiny kits over to Spiderleap who lick them both on the head. "I will never leave you," he whispered to the kits. "I will always be here for you." Blackrose and Flamespark lifted their friend's body to the clearing for vigil. They covered her body in lavender and mint and buried her. "Are you okay Spiderleap?" Blackrose asked her friend. They were sitting in the nursery, getting the kits settled in. "No," the tom answered honestly. "But these kits, they're my life now, and I will take care of them." "What are you going to name them?" Blackrose asked carefully. Spiderpaw thought a moment. "The this one," he said, resting his tail on the she-kit, "Ashkit, after Sootmask and her gray fur. This one," he put his tail on the tom. "CloudKit." CloudKit, with his white paws and tipped tail. He seemed to be off somewhere else. Ashkit was rolling around the den floor. "She will live on in spirit in your kits," Blackrose whispered reassuringly. She was the one who'd assured him about his feelings with Sootmask as apprentices. She was the first one he told, although she kind of already knew. "They'll be the pride of ShadowClan. I'll let you to them." She stood up and left the family in the nursery.

I like writing sad stories. Although I bout cried the whole time.