|| chapter five
Owlpaw thrashed around in his sleep, watching Whitepaw suffer in front of him. She gave another violent cough, her eyes fluttering. Then, as she tried to walk, she staggered and fell to the ground with a soft thump.
"Whitepaw!" he yowled, desperately trying to claw his way to her. Suddenly, he sat up with a start. His fur was warm and his golden eyes were wide with horror. Whipping around, his gaze scanning the den, he spotted a wavering shape of a cat.
He screamed again, "Whitepaw!" And he clambered to the calico shape. Unfortunately for the distressed apprentice, the shape dissipated as soon as it had appeared. At that moment, a very irritated Flintpath entered the apprentice's den.
"Cut it out!" he hissed, "What's up with Whitepaw, anyways?" His eyes narrowed at the apprentice, shadowed.
Since the warrior had been rude to him, the apprentice snapped, "None of your business. What's wrong, anyways? Something seems... off."
Flintpath lowered his head and beckoned him with his tail. Unsteadily standing up, the dark brown tom followed the gray-and-white tabby. He lead him out into the camp, where a stiff-legged Stonestar stood in the middle, tail lashing.
"Stonestar? What's going on?" The apprentice queried, and the gray tom's head turned sharply.
As Owlpaw padded over to his leader, he noticed his leader's nervous movements, like his shadowy eyes, his ears flattened, and his overall ruffled appearance.
"Meadowdapple and Heronleap decided it'd be an excellent idea to have kits," he growled to himself.
The apprentice staggered on his paws. He sensed the sarcasm in the leader's tone, but he also caught an undertone of optimism. He was incredulous of why the twosome had decided to have kits, but he wanted to know where they were now.
"Where are they now?" he questioned.
"Meadowdapple had hidden her pregnant belly for so long and nobody noticed. Not even Heronleap. She's been pretty stagnant lately too, of which I dismissed, for I thought she was ill. And she is. The birth will surely last all day, perhaps most of the night. Hazelberry told me to leave the work to her." Then, lifting his head, he murmured, "Do not enter the medicine cat's den. StarClan forbid it, however, hopefully they permit this to go well..." Stonestar did not finish.
"Wha...?"
The words that his leader had just spoken almost just slipped Owlpaw's mind. Flintpath quickly ushered the apprentice out of camp as Meadowdapple's cough drifted from Hazelberry's den.
"Flintpath, why did they have kits now? Meadowdapple is sick-!"
As soon as they were out of camp, the gray and white tabby tom snarled at Owlpaw, who shrunk back, his eyes blinking at the cat who he thought he had known so well.
"Owlpaw, I could give less of a mouse-dung why they decided to have kits. But if Heronleap and Meadowdapple both get sick because of this, I will blame them. We will only have me and Sedgestorm as a warrior and you are the only apprentice. Stonestar will surely make you a warrior, however, then we will only be three strong. I... I don't know."
Then, Flintpath asserted, "Go hunting and come back right at sundown."
"Yes, Flintpath." he murmured, and he padded away, thoughts swirling in his head.
Why would he be so offensive about this situation? he wondered, I thought Flintpath would be a little bit happy that they were having kits?
As if a rock had slammed abruptly into his head, he realized that his past mate had died before the two could've ever had kits. He felt a rush of grief for the older warrior, but the way the white-and-gray tom had spoken to him flicked into his mind.
But why would they have kits? I thought that they were just friends, perhaps mates, but nothing more than that... And I never thought they would go this far!
Then, he shook his head.
I need to hunt, he reminded himself, his ears pricking. Scenting the air, he thought he picked up the smell of a mouthwatering piece of prey.
He had completely forgotten about the events of that morning.
^~^~^~^
The sun sat on the horizon. It had grown tired from its journey across the leaf-fall sky, and now that it was dissipating, the sky followed. The sky turned pinkish orange, and the blue was dissolving away.
Owlpaw entered the camp with a rabbit hanging from his jaws and a small mouse hooked on his claw. His golden eyes wondering where everyone was, he headed to the medicine cat's den. He paused in front of it, lowering his head slightly as he recalled Flintpath's harsh words.
Then, he dropped the delectable rabbit at the entrance to the den and he sighed. He headed over to the fresh-kill pile and he sat down to the left of it. He unhooked the little mouse from his sharp claw, ignoring the blood stained on his paw, and he bit into it. The flavors spread quickly in his mouth, but he couldn't taste it. What had happened to Meadowdapple and her kits?
He left a couple bites left and realized he hadn't caught enough for all of his Clanmates. If he had gotten one more piece, Sedgestorm and Flintpath could've had something. Then he remembered Stonestar also needed to eat. He quickly thought up that someone else had caught something for him, and he remembered Hazelberry, too...
Feeling guilty, he sat outside of the apprentice's den, the sun slipping beneath the horizon as the sky turned colors. He wondered how the birthing was going, for he did not hear anything. Then, voices murmured inside of the medicine cat's den.
He crept over, sitting outside of the den. He needed to know what was going on with Meadowdapple and her kits. He pricked an ear, hoping he was blending well with the shadows. Being caught eavesdropping would be a horrid thing, especially now. Surely Stonestar wouldn't punish him? He needed as many apprentices and warriors working for the Clan as possible, especially now. Then, he heard voices speaking.
"This doesn't seem right..." a voice whispered. It sounded like Stonestar.
A more feminine voice answered, "No, it doesn't. You're right. Fetch me some herbs, the ones that look sort of... Yes, those." Then, after a brief pause, came a horrified, "Oh, my-!"
She was cut off abruptly, for a clipped breath interrupted her.
"Oh, StarClan... The sickness must've been too much for her to handle during the birthing..." the medicine cat whispered, and Owlpaw could almost see the she-cat's head lowering in grief.
"Her body isn't doing what it was a moment ago..." the tom uttered.
Hazelberry replied, "She's gone. Now I need to finish the job for her."
"But... Shouldn't her body still be working to help the kits? Even if she's..." the one who spoke first did not finish.
After a pause, a voice spoke, "She doesn't look alive, does she? Her kits will be the only thing left of her." Her voice faltered slightly. "Don't tell anyone but Heronleap. We mustn't cause panic among our Clanmates. We will tell them sickness took her. Now, all we can hope for is the kits to make it."
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