Dawnstar's Message

Chapter 26

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CHAPTER 26

Dawnstar awoke before sunrise. He stretched with a newfound strength; Dawnstar had just lost his first life ever, to a quick-killing case of whitecough. It had taken his first life in just three days. He discovered it was a strange feeling, visiting StarClan for only a moment. He had stopped fighting, and his brother Maskheart had stopped him before he got to StarClan. He took the life he had given Dawnstar at the start, and sent him back to the world of the living. The experience had left him with new knowledge and slightly less strength than before.

It had been over a quarter moon since Snowy and the kits had gone missing. Squirrelcloud was through obsessing over her lost kits, instead tending to her remaining kits Starlingkit and Frostkit to fill the void in her heart. Smokeyes was still depressed, however. His nights were full of nightmarish visions of his kits frozen or eaten.

The forest was peaceful. BeachClan had regained health. FieldClan had three patients of greencough, however. TreeClan had one, as well: their deputy, Bearclaw. In EarthClan, Gingerpelt had gotten greencough. Brindlepelt had just recovered from it, though. Sundance was now in the nursery, expecting Shortwhisker's kits! Rosefang had Bouncestorm's kits, as well: two toms, Acornkit and Viperkit.

Dawnstar skipped down the rocks to the ground. The air was chilly, suggesting snow later in the day. Cherryfoot and Finchpaw were padding in to camp; yesterday was the half-moon, time for a visit to Star Lake. The medicine cats came over to Dawnstar as they arrived.

"How was Star Lake?" Dawnstar inquired.

"Great!" Cherryfoot said. "Finchpaw, care to share the news?"

The creamy she-cat nodded and said to Dawnstar, "I became Finchpetal!"

"That's great!"

"Yep!"

Cherryfoot was beaming with pride. "Rainbowpaw of FieldClan became Rainbowfall, too!" Dawnstar nodded, even though he didn't particularly care. He padded towards the nursery and stuck his head in. All of the queens were asleep except for Sundance, whose willow-green eyes glowed in the darkness. She looked at her leader with recognition. Dawnstar bowed and left.

Next, he went to the warriors den. There were so many warriors under the bush; maybe they should expand all the dens come newleaf? Maybe. He pinpointed some cats and woke them; they came out slowly, but Dawnstar could wait.

As he awaited his warriors' awakening, a white-furred cat rushed into camp to his side.

"Good morning, Lightwing. Where have you been?"

The bright she-cat's eyes were wide. "I-I was taking a walk last night with Creamflight. He is my brother," she said. "B-but we were walking by the farmlands, and we scented Snowy and the kits!"

Dawnstar gasped. "You're kidding!"

"No! We scented the kits, and Snowy by the border! And some other cat... But it doesn't really matter, because they're coming back right now!"

"What do you mean?" Dawnstar didn't follow, but was almost too shocked and amazed to care.

"I mean," Lightwing mewed, "that Creamflight found them all! They're all it bad condition, but Cherryfoot and Finchpaw can help with that!" The warrior she-cat cheered. "Hooray!"

"Hooray!" Dawnstar jumped and celebrated with her. Lightwing ran out of camp but returned less than a minute later. Creamflight had a litle white she-cat and bigger black tom leaning on either of his shoulders.

Sunny almost tripped over herself, running out of the nursery and into the pale morning light. Her eyes glowed with many conflicting emotions: joy, relief, confusion, and fatigue all overtook her face in turn. "Snowy! You've come home!"

Dawnstar looked at the golden she-cat, who held her paws back from racing her over to her daughter. The medicine cats were guarding them from the slowly building group of cats here to see what the commotion was about. "Do you mean to say, Sunny, that you'd like to stay with us?"

Sunny laughed. "Yes, I'd like to." She smiled, though frequently looking over his shoulder to follow her daughter Snowy, who was being carried off to the medicine den. "Rain and Butter have taken to the lifestyle nicely. I have, too. It's really kind of you to let us stay here. Five extra mouths to feed, you know. It's the least we could to to contribute some warriors to you, to help hunt. I'd like to learn; the kits are nearly six moons old, which I guess is a milestone for Clan cats, or so I hear."

"Yes. We could do it later, after you and Snowy catch up a bit." Dawnstar smiled. "This is great! Now, go see your daughter." Sunny nodded and let her paws take her to Snowy's side.

Squirrelcloud then came out of the nursery, with Frostkit and Starlingkit at her tail. She gasped and immediately dashed over to her kits and licked them all, nuzzling them with every form of affection a mother could express. The three little kits had looked woozy, asleep on their paws, but seeing their family at last sparked a boost in character. Smokeyes was instantly at their side, as well.

Dawnstar sighed. What a great day for the Clan. How did Snowy get the moon-old kits all the way across the territory and beyond? It was remarkable; he had to know the story to fully grasp it.

He ran over to the medicine den, shoving aside the group of cats that was gathered around the entrance to the cave. He slipped into the large den, adjusting his eyes to the dim light. Cherryfoot was in the back mixing herbs of some kind. Finchpetal was calming Snowy, who looked nearly unconscious, and the other young cat that had accompanied her.

Dawnstar raced to the back of the den. Cherryfoot mumbled under her breath. "Are... they alright?"

Cherryfoot whipped around, her face dreary with fatigue. "They're getting better, just extremely tired. The black one has a twisted paw. I don't even know who the tom is!" She sighed. "Whatever. We'll find out soon."

"Look," Finchpetal whispered. "Snowy's awake!"

The little white she-cat was indeed regaining consciousness. She lifted her head. "KITS! HARVEY!" She whipped her gaze around the den. She let her fur settle when it rested on the medicine cats. "Oh... Cherryfoot?"

"Yes, little one, it is me," Cherryfoot nodded. "Who's your friend--- Harley?"

"Harvey," Snowy corrected. "He's my friend."

"Would you mind telling us all what happened?" Dawnstar blurted out. He sighed. "Please?"

Snowy coughed, then nodded. "It all started that one day on the search patrol..."