Warriors: Peace under the Willows

Willows

Willowmist purred happily, watching the sun dip behind the edge of the forest. That was her favorite time, and she was sitting in her favorite spot- under a willow tree.

"Hey, Willowmist," Willowmist's mother came padding over.

"Hi, Quailflight," she nodded in greeting. He fur was very much like her mothers'. It was grey and white, and had a few stripes in it. But the blue eyes came from Willowmist's father, who had died when she was a kit.

"You've been a Warrior for moons already," Quailflight meowed. "Your sister has a mate and kits already! I think it's time you start searching."

"You come to me about this almost every night!" Willowmist snapped. "Just let me make the decision in my own time. Please. I know you want more grandkitties- we all know you do! But please, stop asking me!"

Quailflight didn't seem to know what to say to that, except, "we will talk again. Goodnight."

Willowmist didn't even look as her mother left. She just gazed at the sunset, and sighed.

She would figure things out in her own time, wouldn't she?

------

"Willowmist! Dawn patrol!"

Willow grumbled, rising to her paws slowly. It was too early! But the rest of the Dawn patrol were all outside and ready to go, so Willowmist gave herself a quick meal and followed them out.

"I smell an intruder," Thornblossom hissed.

"Me too," Orangetalon agreed. "A rogue, maybe?"

"Probably not."

"But that would make the most sense!"

While the two other cat argued, Willowmist caught a whiff of the cat- a kittypet. She couldn't fight her instincts, and snuck away slowly, one pawstep at a time until she was far enough to start tracking.

She moved slowly, over a few roots, and around a few bushes, but then she heard... a pawstep.

Not her own. It was a heavier pawstep. And it thumped behind her.

She jumped, spinning around to see... a hansom black and white tomcat.

"Sorry, did I scare you?" He asked, rushing over to her.

"No, ugh, get away!" She tried to swat him away, but she was still a it dizzy from the surprise.

"Not friendly? Oh! Are you one of the 'clan cats'? I hear that they can get grumpy!" He laughed.

"Yes. So get off our territory!" She wasn't in the mood for joking. Especially with a loner.

"Your territory?! You're the one on mine!"

Willowmist's pelt burned with embarrassment when she realized that he was right. "Wha- well, you were on our territory."

"But I'm not anymore." He was stubborn, she could give him that.

"But you were. And if I ever catch you, you're done for."

He didn't seem to see a threat. "Hey, I don't see you around often enough. You should come visit more."

Willowmist couldn't decide if he was joking or not when she left.

------

The next few days, Willowmist couldn't stop thinking about the tom. His bright yellow eyes were in her dreams. His black and white fur was in her thoughts. She couldn't stop.

Her mother was getting suspicious of how she was acting, and it was only a matter of time before she would ask.

The days went by in a blur, and soon, during the time when the rest of her clan was at the gathering, Willowmist realized that she couldn't keep doing this.

"I... I think I need to go for a walk," she murmured to her sister, hoping the excuse was enough. "I'll be back."

"You do you look like you could use a little time to clear your head," Dawnpounce agreed.

With that, Willowmist left to go find what she felt was missing.

"You just couldn't stay away, could you," the tom greeted her when she slowly stepped out of the forest.

"No, I guess I couldn't," Willowmist sat, letting the moonlight wash her fur.

"But seriously. Why are you here?"

"I... You never told me your name." She knew that excuse was lame, but it was better than nothing.

"Oh, right. But you never told me your name," he countered. "And we only met for like... a few heartbeats last time."

"I'll tell you my name if you tell me."

"Fine. I'm Eclipse. Now tell me yours."

"Okay," she agreed. "I'm Willowmist of Riverclan."

"Willowmist..." he repeated the name a few times before purring, "that's pretty."

A loud yell sounded from the other side of the fence.

"That's my friend. It's suppertime. We don't go into the house till late at night, so we don't have our last meal of the day until nighttime... would you like to come in with us?"

Willowmist didn't want to be rude, so she nodded, and followed him in.

"Who's this?" An orange she-cat asked when the two cats entered.

"This is Willowmist," Eclipse replied. "She will probably be coming more often."

"I probably will."

And so, for one full moon, Willowmist went and met with Eclipse.

Then it happened.

"Willowmist, what happened?!" Eclipse let her lean on him as she stumbled into the clearing where they usually met.

"I'm- We're-" she broke off, and curved her tail, purring.

"What is it?"

She took a deep breath. "I'm going to have your kits."

"What?!" He stumbled back.

"I said, I'm-"

"I know." He purred, licking her ears. "And I'm happy for that. But... what will your clanmates think?"

"Oh..." Willowmist stopped purring. "I never thought of that... I'm not sure..."

"You could move in with me..." he suggested. "I'm sure Lark wont mind."

"But I belong in my clan!" She protested. "And I want our kits to too."

"I know. Whatever happens," he twined his tail with hers. "We'll get through this together."

Word count: 888 (I hope that's not too much)

This entry is for BlueshadeAssassin  's contest. I know it isn't very good. I was going to add more details and stuff, but I was at my max for words sooner than I thought. So I guess this will have to work :)
The next chapter will be for Frostwind88  's contest, because nothing in the rules says it can't be connected or anything like that. And they're different stories, so they can be read separately.
Eclipse is a real cat, by the way. He used to live at my house, but we had to give him away. He was also one of Luna's kittens, and he was very cuddly and hansom.

Also, I try to add as much feeling to the stories just for the readers, because I feel like the readers need to understand the characters.
So... yea. I'm not expecting to win, I just had a LOT of fun writing this :)