Warriors AU: Forest of Secrets

Chapter 22

Goldenflower went on ahead, and by the time Sandstorm and Cinderpaw reached the camp with Graystripe's kits, the whole Clan knew what had happened. Warriors and apprentices had gathered outside their dens, watching in silence. Sandstorm could almost smell their shock and disbelief.

Oakstar stood at the entrance to the nursery as if she was waiting for them. Sandstorm half expected her to turn them away, refusing to take care of a different Clan's kits, but she only meowed quietly, "Come inside."

In the heart of the bramble thicket, all was dim and quiet. Whitestorm was curled around her kits, asleep in a heap of gray and tabby fur with Brightkit's white and ginger coat shining among them like a patch of snow. Close by her, in a nest of moss lined with downy feathers, Tigerclaw lay on her side, suckling her new kits. One was a dark ginger tabby and the other dark ginger with one white paw.

"Tigerclaw," murmured Oakstar, "I have something to ask you. Can you manage two more? Their mother has just died."

Tigerclaw raised her head, her startled look softening when she saw the two helpless scraps of fur dangling from Sandstorm's and Cinderpaw's mouths. They had begun to wriggle feebly, giving out thin, high-pitched mews of fear and hunger.

"I suppose—" Tigerclaw began.

"Wait," Smallear interrupted; she had padded into the nursery just behind Sandstorm. "Before you agree to anything, Tigerclaw, ask Oakstar to tell you whose kits these are."

Sandstorm felt a pang of anxiety. Though Smallear was a good mother, she had a ferocious temper, and he guessed she would not look kindly on kits that were neither one Clan nor the other.

"I would not hide such a thing from her," Oakstar meowed calmly. "Tigerclaw, these are Silverstream's kits. Their mother was Graystripe—a Riverclan cat."

Tigerclaw's eyes widened in astonishment, and Whitestorm, roused from her doze, pricked up her ears.

"Silverstream must have been slinking off for moons to see her," Smallear hissed. "What loyal cat would do that? They both betrayed their Clans. There's bad blood in those kits."

"Nonsense," Oakstar spat back, her hackles suddenly raised. Sandstorm winced—he had rarely seen his leader so angry. "Whatever we think about Silverstream and Graystripe, the kits are innocent. Will you take them, Tigerclaw? They'll die without a mother."

Tigerclaw hesitated, and then let out a long breath. "How can I say no? I have plenty of milk."

Smallear let out a snort of disapproval and pointedly turned her back as Sandstorm and Cinderpaw gently laid the kits in Tigerclaw's nest. The dark brown tabby queen bent over to guide them toward her belly, and their miserable squeaking died away as they burrowed into the warmth of her body and found a place to suckle.

"Thank you, Tigerclaw," purred Oakstar.

Sandstorm realized that she was looking down at the young kits with an expression of longing. He wondered if she was thinking about her own lost kits, and his doubts about what had really happened to them came flooding back. Could they possibly be Blackclaw and Stonefur, alive and well in Riverclan? Did she have any idea?

His thoughts were interrupted when Cinderpaw turned abruptly and made his way out of the den. Sandstorm followed him, to find him crouching outside with his head bowed onto his front paws. "What's the matter?" he asked.

"Graystripe died." Sandstorm could hardly hear his muffled reply. "I let her die."

"That's not true!"

Cinderpaw looked up, blinking. His eyes were blue pools of misery. "I'm supposed to be a medicine cat. I'm supposed to save lives."

"You saved the two kits," Sandstorm reminded him, moving closer and pressing the side of his face against his cheek.