Dawnflower's Sorrow

Chapter 12

A moon has passed and Dawnflower woke to warm weather and a hungry feeling in the pit of her stomach. She got to her paws and stretched with a yawn and then quickly padded to the fresh kill pile. She grabbed a mouse and a rabbit for herself and she dug in hungrily. "Um, Dawnflower? With all do respect, maybe you should lay off the prey a bit..." Blackpaw said and she stopped eating and looked up at him. "What?" She asked through a mouthful of food. "Your stomach. You look like you're putting on some pounds, no offense." He said with a laugh and she almost choked on her food.

"My-my stomach?!" She exclaimed and he jumped back and nodded. Her face formed many emotions. Fear, happiness, anxiety, joy, embarrassment of her stomach and not noticing it, everything all wrapped in one. She got to her paws and bounded to the medicine cat den. "Flamepelt!" She exclaimed and Flamepelt emerged from sleep, her pelt unkempt and messy due to sleep. She looked groggy and seemed to wobble. "BlackpawmentionedmystomachandIthinkImightbepregnant!" She blurted out and Flamepelt told her to slow down, now awake at Dawnflower's excitement and terror. "My stomach." Is all she could say and Flamepelt had a wide smile on her face.

Flamepelt looked around her sister and did circles, frowning and seemingly deep in thought. "Have you noticed any changes with your daily life? Such as eating more, having to catch your breath more often with the simplest of tasks, pain in your stomach region, morning sickness, a pounding in your stomach?" She asked. "Now taht you mention it, all of that." Dawnflower said with a scared look on her face. "Well, your stomach is also getting huge so good news. You, my friend, are surely pregnant." Flamepelt said with an excited smile.

"I've been looking everywhere for you! You worried me half to death!" Tigerstorm exclaimed as he padded in. "Are you ok?" He asked frantically, trying to look her over for anything unusual. "I think you're missing a big detail, Tigerstorm." Flamepelt said and he looked at her, confused as a mouse. "Her stomach." She said with a laugh. "Oh, I see. It's bigger but I didn't even notice. I only notice her endless beauty." He said with a smile and licked her ear. Dawnflower purred and Flamepelt interrupted.

"Look closer." She said and he did. He flicked his eyes between Flamepelt, Dawnflower, and her newly bulging belly. He did that a couple times and then he gasped and a wide smile appeared. "You're pregnant!" He exclaimed excitedly and Dawnflower nodded with a smile. "When is she do?" He asked and Flamepelt shurgged. "Let's find out, shall we? Lay down." She said and Dawnflower obeyed and laid down on a moss bed. Flamepelt pressed her paw gently to Dawnflower's belly.

"Well, when I found you two that was about a moon ago so another moon should do it." She said with a smile. Dawnflower and Tigerstorm looked at each other lovingly. "So come back if your pains increase or if you feel you need to." Her sister said with a smile and Dawnflower nodded. "Thank you." Tigerstorm said as they left the medicine cat den. "I should probably tell Leafstar just so she knows ahead of time." She said and Tigerstorm nodded. He padded to the fresh kill pile and sat down, waiting for his mate.

Dawnflower padded in the den after asking for permission and she saw Leafstar sitting and grooming herself. "Hello Dawnflower, what brings you in here today?" She asked with a smile and Dawnflower smiled and sat down, her somewhat bulging belly protruding out. Dawnflower moved her paw and looked at her belly, a slight red tint in her ears. She then settled for standing and she smiled awkwardly. "Yeah, if you can't tell, I'm pregnant." She said with a laugh and Leafstar smiled. "When it gets to be too much, let me know and I'll make an announcement for another cat to train Blackpaw." She said with a smile and Dawnflower nodded.

"If it's not too much, I would like to have Brackenheart train him when I'm ready." Dawnflower said. "Of course." Leafstar said with a nod and Dawnflower padded out and back to Tigerstorm. She nodded and he smiled and nuzzled his mate. "I'm so happy." He said softly and Dawnflower nodded. "I can't wait until we can see our little kits." She said with a purr as she looked down at her belly. Mistyheart padded out of the warriors den and to Dawnflower and Tigerstorm. "Hey. How are the kits doing?" She asked and Dawnflower gave her a confused look. She never told her about their kits, unless it was that obvious. "Blackpaw and Rainpaw." She clarified and she smiled. "They're doing good. Blackpaw caught his first piece of prey today. But it's too bad taht I won't be able to train him for much longer." She said with a smile.

Mistyheart looked at Dawnflower's belly and she smiled. "Aww. Does Blackpaw know?" "Not yet. But I'll tell him today." Dawnflower said and Misyheart nodded. "Well congratulations." The blue gray warrior said with a smile and the orange and white queen nodded with a smile. "We should go." Dawnflower said and Tigerstorm nodded. They found their apprentices eating under a shady tree. "I don't want you doing much. I'm worrying about you now. I don't want you going out there alone. It could be dangerous." Tigerstorm said softly and away from the apprentices. "I'll be fine." Dawnflower said with a reassuring smile.

Reluctantly, Tigerstorm nodded. She smiled and she called Blackpaw over. "Let's go." She said and padded out of camp with Blackpaw beside her. "So, are you ok?" He asked after they got away from camp. "Yeah, why?" "You ran to the medicine cat den looking scared but exciteda t the same time." He said and looked at her. "Oh, well it's just that I'm pregnant." She said with a shrug of her shoulders. He gasped and stopped walking. "What!? I thought you were going to wait until you were done training me?" He asked. "Well it kind of just happened." She said with a shrug.

"Oh. Well I'm a little disappointed but the fact that you and Tigerstorm are having kits and that I get to see them is better than disappointment." He said with an excited smile. "And why would you be disappointed? Would you miss your best friend?" She asked in a baby voice as she licked his pelt like a mother would. "No." He said and tried to scramble away but she tightened her grip on him. "Fine. Yes, I would miss you!" He said with annoyance. She laughed and let him go. "That's all you had to say." She said and he mocked her laugh playfully.

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When they returned to camp, they had prey in their mouths. They put it in the pile and she took a plump rabbit for herself. "Good job on that new move today." She said before he walked away. He smiled and nodded and padded to Jadepaw, who was alone. Dawnflower watched the scen unfold; Jadepaw getting fiesty with her brother. She growled and stalked over to her.

"What is going on?" She hissed to Jadepaw. "I asked if she wasnted to eat with Rainpaw and I and she got mad at me and said that she didn't need anyone and that she could take care of herself." Blackpaw said sadly. Dawnflower had never seen him so sad before. In fact, he was rarely sad and it pained her to see him this way. "Is this true, Jadepaw?" She snapped. She could tell that having kits was affecting her mood and making her angry and hostile. Jadepaw glared at Dawnflower and snubbed her away.

"Siblings need each other, Jadepaw. What if you're in trouble and you call out to them for help? They're not going to be there for you because you kicked them out of your life and then guess what?" She said menacingly and she leaned in to whisper something. "You'll be dead and it will be your own fault." She whispered, her tone laced with venom. Jadepaw didn't know how to feel. "Think about that." Dawnflower said as she moved away from Jadepaw's ear and stalked off to Tigerstorm.

"What happened?" He asked as she sat down beside him. "Jadepaw, that's what." She said angrily. "What about her." He clarified. "She thinks she doesn't need her siblings at all, even during battle." She said as she looked at him. He nodded and continued to eat. She then padded to teh warrios den and curled up to go to sleep.