Dawnflower's Sorrow

Chapter 7

Dawnpaw woke to the sound of birds chirping and the sun shining in the cracks of the den. She got to her paws and padded out, eager to see Tigerstorm. But to her dismay, he wasn't there. A cat must've set him free of his vigil. She sighed sadly and kicked dust as she padded to the fresh kill pile. "You seem gloomy." Brackenheart said as he approached her. She looked up and shrugged. "I just wanted to see Tigerstorm." She said and he nodded. "I relieved him of his vigil duty awhile ago. But don't worry, you'll get to see him today." He said with a smile and she smiled back and picked out a mouse.

She ate quickly, eager to train and eager to become a warrior with Tigerstorm. They padded to the sandy hollow and he tackled her out of nowhere. She yowled in surprise and instinctively unsheathed her claws and fought back. He slashed at her 'enemy' not realizing it was Brackenheart. She batted hard at her surprise attacker and climbed onto his back and bit his shoulder hard. He yowled in pain and screamed her name with a laugh. Realizing it was her mentor, she sheathed her claws and quickly got off of him.

"Sorry." She said with a bashful smile. He chuckled and licked his minor wounds. "It's alright. At least now I know you can hold your own." He said with a smile. She nodded and got to her paws. "So, how about a new trick?" He said and Dawnpaw nodded eagerly.

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At the end of their training seesion, they arived back at camp well after midday and it was just beginning to become sunset. She ate once more and then when she was done, she padded to the nursery to see how Mistyheart and her kits were doing. What she didn't expect to find was Tigerstorm on his back, letting the kits jump on him and 'attack' him. She stood there watching the scene unfold in front of her. The kits grow up so fast. They were at least a week old and they were already playing. But what caught Dawnpaw off guard so much was how grown up Tigerstorm is. He would make a great father as well.

Dawnpaw shrugged off the thought and padded in more and as if on cue, all three kits ran over to her- or what they thought was running- and jumped up at her paws. Dawnpaw giggled and pretended to be attacked like Tigerstorm did. "Oh no! Enemies attacking me!" She exclaimed playfully. "Yes, stay down ShadowClan warrior!" Blackkit exclaimed as he struggled to keep hold on Dawnpaw's chest. "Oh, a ShadowClan warrior? I'll show you, brave ThunderClan cat!" She said and flopped him on his back tickled him with her tail. He giggled and Rainkit bit at Dawnpaw's tail. She flicked it around, making it a toy for the three kits.

She looked up and saw Tigerstorm looking at her with admiration sparkling in her eyes. He looked away quickly and his ears turned pink with blush. She smiled and then spoke. "So how was your first day of being a warrior?" She asked and he laughed and looked at her. "I didn't do much. When I was done sitting vigil I went to sleep and then when I got up, I ate and then I was on patrol for the rest of the day. It's good to hear cats call me my warrior name." He said with a smile as he stood tall and proud.

"And you should. I' proud of you, Tigerstorm." Mistyheart said with a smile. Dawnpaw smiled and she swung her tail again to spark their interest. "So did Brackenheart tell you how soon you are to becoming a warrior?" He asked and Dawnpa shook her head. "No. But in the next two moons I will be. I just know it." She said and Tigerstorm nodded.

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They spent awhile in the nursery, talking and playing with the kits and bonding with them. Now, Dawnpaw was trying to get comfortable in a moss bed, and it wasn't working out so well. She laid on her back, looking up at the ceiling of the den. She sighed, for she couldn't sleep. Thoughts of Tigerstorm unravelled in her mind and she soon found herself dozing off with thoughts of him and a smile on her face.

She felt prodding on her face and she blinked her eyes open and looked up to see Tigerstorm. She smiled and so did he. He licked her forehead and she smiled wider. "Come with me." He whispered and she got to her paws. "Where are we going?" She whispered back and he chuckled. "You'll see." He whispered as the exited the den and bounded to the entrance of camp and ran a distance away from the clan.

Silverpelt was high in the sky and so was the almost full moon. A couple more days and there would be a gathering. They padded side by side and their flanks were touching. This time, Dawnpaw didn't move away. They padded to the abaondoned badger den and they padded in. Once they cleared the tunnel, memories started piling up. Her breathing became uneven and Tigerstorm noticed this. "Are you ok?" He asked as he wrapped his tail around her and let Dawnpaw rest her head on his shoulder.

The night of the argument, I came here and I fell asleep crying and then.." She said and he understood. "You have me and I'm never leaving you in a time of need again, ok?" He said softly and she nodded with a smile. They stared at each other in the moonlight for a moment, stars in their eyes. "We-we should go to sleep. That's why I brought you out here; so you can sleep peacefully in my paws." He said sweetly and Dawnpaw's heart melted at those words. He laid down and she laid beside him and quickly fell asleep in his paws, as he wished.

In her dreams, Dawnpaw saw five kits playing. Four of them looked brown but only one looked like her. She couldn't see much; it was blurry. An orange and white she cat was sitting and gazing down at the kits with another brown looking cat.

She woke and she felt cold on the side where Tigerstorm was last night. The nights are getting colder, which means leaf fall is on it's way. Tigerstorm wasn't in the den and her heart dropped at that. She liked seeing him right when she got up. As if on cue, he padded through the tunnel with prey in his mouth. "Good morning." He said throught the mouth full of fur he was getting. She smiled and he dropped a piece of prey at her paws and he licked her forehead and she smiled.

She ate quickly and then laid down and gazed at Tigerstorm. Maybe she didn't mind that everyone thought they were going to become mates one day... She actually kind of liked him too. Her heart fluttered at the thought and she smiled. When he was done eating, he padded behind her and laid down and began to groom her pelt in the act of sharing tongues. She purred as he did so and she almost fell back to sleep.