It had been a few days since the Gathering, and some cats were still fearful that at any moment, MistClan would sneak up behind them and attack, even though they had agreed to wait until the next Gathering to hear Flamingstar's answer. On the other hand, LightningClan was angry about something, too. They hadn't stopped hunting on BrightClan land. Foxkit and Blizzardkit were talking to Mudheart, while Brackenkit had been pulled aside by Whitefeather for a talk about his behavior.
Mudheart began, "Well one leafbare, the-"
"Mudheart!" Frostpaw, Tornleg's apprentice, came running over to him. "The Evening patrol is leaving now, are you ready?"
"I suppose," Mudheart mewed as he climbed to his paws. "See if the elders will tell you."
Mudheart had been telling them about the worst leafbare he had seen. Whitecough, a sickness, was a really bad illness brought by leafbare, and it could eventually lead to Greencough. Greencough was a life-threatening sickness that was not often cured before the patient died.
Foxkit padded to the elders' den, followed by Blizzardkit. Most of the elders were in their den, the only one missing was Jaggedtail, who had gone to the fresh kill pile. "Hey, guys! Our father was telling us about the worst leafbare he has ever seen, but he had to leave for the Evening patrol. Could you-"
"Of course I'll finish his story for you, Foxkit!" Graybelly interrupted. She was a black cat with a gray belly. Foxkit and Blizzardkit looked at each other. "So your father is Mudheart. Am I correct?"
Foxkit nodded. Blizzardkit blurted, "Yeah".
"Then I have to think about all the leafbares I've seen since he was born. Did you know that Smallnose is his mother?"
Foxkit was surprised. Looking at her brother, so was he. She shook her head.
Graybelly looked thoughtful. She continued, "Ah! I remember. There was one leafbare - and this was when Mudheart was Mudkit - Greencough invaded many BrightClan cats, and it killed several kits and elders, including two of Mudheart's brothers. Mudheart was a lucky survivor of Whitecough, thanks to the medicine cat, who was not Grasstail, because she was Grasspaw."
"Wow!" Said Brackenkit, trotting inside the den. He had obviously overheard a portion of the story before coming in.
Blizzardkit corrected, "No, not wow, horrible."
Foxkit shook her head, "Who was clan leader? Did they get Greencough? How many siblings did Mudheart have?"
Graybelly chuckled. "That's a lot of questions, kit." She once again wore a thoughtful expression. "But it was not Flamingstar, he was just an apprentice. Or maybe a warrior, I really can't remember. Our leader was Windystar. She was a wise and skillful leader. I believe she... no... I can't remember how she died."
"And what about Mudheart's siblings?"
"Oh! Yes, Mudheart had four other siblings just in that litter. The litter... was it three toms, two she-cats? Ah, yeah, it was. Neither of the females died from greencough, but later on passed."
"Where was I?" Graybelly said, "Oh yes, that leafbare, the snow was a lot thicker. A full grown warrior would sink up to his ears in the layers of snow!"
Smallnose shot Graybelly a look.
"Okay, maybe not up to their ears... but anyhow. It was a lot harder to hunt, as any cat could guess, and there was barely any food to go around..." Graybelly shuddered before moving on. "Kits could not leave the nursery and apprentice training was on hold. Well, at least Grasstail was able to train. She was an apprentice, but she played a big role with all the sickness."
Blizzardkit asked nervously, "Are all leafbares like that?"
Graybelly chuckled. So did Smallnose. She and Graybelly were the only elders in the den that were still awake. "No, that was just a really unfortunate leafbare."
Jaggedtail came in at that moment. "Ah, we're telling the kits stories, are we?"
The others nodded.
"My favorite part about being a kit," he smiled. He moved slowly to his nest and laid down. "It's too bad you kits had to be born at a time like this."
"Jaggedtail!" Smallnose said, sounding shocked.
"I'm only saying," he shot back defensively, "that it's a time of high tension!"
"Yes..."
"And you do remember what happened when they were born?"
All the elders froze. Jaggedtail seemed to realize too that he had crossed a line.
"What? What happened?" The three kits asked almost at once.
"It's really nothing you need to worry about now," Smallnose said. "Now, back to the nursery with you!"