Warrior cat fanfic!! :)

Chapter 7

Claret gasped, suddenly jerked from her peaceful sleep. Cardinal sat up wearily in the nest next door. "What is it?" he meowed impatiently.

"I-well-um," Claret didn't feel comfortable discussing this with her littermate. She called for Brightbush and he rushed out of his den, half asleep.

"Yes?" he panted, out of breath as he reached her.

"The kits are coming!" she hissed, as a spasm gripped her and she jumped to her paws and began pacing, panic flashing in her eyes as a convulsion seemed to twist her like an adder curling around its prey and– Claret couldn't go on pacing, so she lay down, panicking as she searched for a stick to bite down on. She remembered the hawthorn branch and clamped her aching jaws around it.

Pain rippled through Claret like a restless river and she cried out as a little bundle of membrane tumbled out and Brightbush sliced it open, revealing a tiny wet bundle of fur. The pain slowed and Claret got up and began pacing fervently, the first kit letting out its first meow. Hours later, a second bundle rolled out and the pain melted away. Claret heaved in an attempt to sit up, but Brightbush instructed her to keep down. He guided her kits to her and she gazed at them with loving eyes as they mewed, helplessly reaching for their mother. Blindly one kit stuck out his paw and tripped the other she-kit. The she-kit mewled and batted the Tom-kit away.

The flash of agony in Claret's eyes was instantly replaced with a burning love for her kits. She licked their ears clean and purred loudly as the tom-kit nuzzled her head. The she-kit was already suckling at Claret's stomach.

As Rainstalk padded in, his eyes widened at the sight of the kits and he approached slowly, before looking at Claret for permission and giving the kits gentle licks on the head. "Once their fur dries, we can tell what colour it is!" he mewed estatically.

"I already can." purred Claret, gazing lovingly at the two kits huddled together at her belly. "The tom-kit has a patch of dark blue on his white tail, so he will be Huckleberrykit. As for the she-kit, she has a pelt of muddy-red fur, so she will now be known as Spindlekit, named after the Spindle Trees alongside the Thunderpath."

Cinnamonrain lifted her head sleepily and nodded approvingly, before turning to Rainstalk. "Let's set off for Highstones at once." Rainstalk nodded eagerly and dashed out to fetch Shroud. Claret sighed wearily and rested her muzzle on her blood-stained tail as she drifted off to sleep.

Cinnamonrain nodded as well and rushed ahead, the wind powering against her fur.

When they arrived, Rainstalk stared in awe at mothermouth, and padded in with Shroud and Cinnamonrain. Cinnamonrain crouched by the moonstone and slept, while Shroud and Rainstalk took turns keeping watch.

As midnight crept forwards, Cinnamonrain leapt to her paws and frantically scrambled around, eyes full of shock and panic.

"You're awake, Cinnamonstar!" meowed Rainstalk cheerfully, nudging their leader happily. "Did StarClan wisen you up?"

"No, I'm not Cinnamonstar!" she wailed, looking distressed. "StarClan-They said I'm not destined to be leader!"

"What?!" Shroud exclaimed, paddin over. "But the deputy always becomes the leader!"

Cinnamonrain looked with dull eyes at them. "Rainstalk."

"Yes?"

"They said–well, you're the destined leader of WarClan."

"I can't!" Rainstalk looked down at his large, white paws.

"You are! StarClan demands it!" screeched Cinnamonrain strictly. "Sleep by the moonstone. We will keep watch." she kicked him back and padded over to Shroud, who let her bury her muzzle in his neck fur, taking in his scent as she wailed quietly with disappointment.

Rainstalk looked back at the moonstone, and then closed his eyes, the pull of sleep finally grasping all of his energy.

"Rainstalk..." a clear voice rang out, and Rainstalk jumped to his paws.

"What!?" he panicked, eyes flaring as he looked around.

His sister, Frozenpine, who had passed years ago, beamed at him, with a tiny kit at her heels. "Is that-OH!" he wailed, as he caught sight of Curtclaw's deceased kit. He bounded forward and nuzzled the kit, then Frozenpine, ferverently as grief welled up inside him and he wailed in anguish for his lost loved ones.

Frozenpine gave his ear a comforting and affectionate lick and rubbed his muzzle against his as she purred, "It's alright! We're here, and now we will grant your nine lives."

Rainstalk winced as he realised that their tender licks and nuzzles swept right past him like a cool breeze through his whiskers. But at last he meowed, "I'm ready."

"Yes, Rainstalk. It's us." Swayinggrass purred, her long choppy peanut coloured fur swaying elegantly.

Bloodyrain stepped forwards.

The first StarClan cat that approached him was a tabby she-cat he had seen many times before. She had been WarClan's old leader, Ciderstar.

Ciderstar meowed loudly, "With this life, I give you power and respect, but with that comes a lot of responsibility. Be careful." She touched her nose to Rainstalk's and pain flared through his eyes. She stepped away.

Bloodyrain stepped forwards, "With this life, son, I gift you with bravery and clarity, and the will to get up after being knocked down." He pressed his muzze to Rainstalk's. Rainstalk instead of pain felt a surge of energy and pride, which must have been how Bloodyrain felt about his son. He stepped back.

Swayinggrass took his place. "With this life, my love, kindness and love will bless you. You will show the most of it. I believe in you." This time, as his nose touched his mother's, a warm, soft feeling of pure love and joy filled him, and the sound of the tiny mewls of kits. Which must have been how she felt when he was first born.

The ritual went on. "I bless you with cunning, heart and beauty in this life." Frozenpine purred.

"I give you wisdom, gratitude, and a sense of care for every cat around you." Lonelykit mewed clearly, his chest puffed up and his eyes glistening with a wisdom beyond his years.

"Laughter and joy!"

"Playfulness and sass."

"The true qualities of a leader, creativity and integrity."

And finally, the final cat approached him. "Loyalty to your clan, always and forever. She purred, and he realised who this was. "Good luck, Stalkstar..."

"Rosemuzzle!" he exclaimed, nuzzling his first love, who had been killed by a wild dog on a border patrol. Rosemuzzle purred and licked his back tenderly, then began to fade into faint stars. "No!" Rainstalk threw himself on the rapidly disintegrating cat. "Don't go! I love you!" he wailed as he was sent spiralling into darkness once more.