Dawnflower's Sorrow

Chapter 14

"Brookkit opened her eyes today and she takes after you. She has green eyes. And Bramblekit too. I don't know about the others yet." Dawnflower said as she ate the fresh kill that Tigerstorm had brought her. He had just returned from training Rainpaw and she was sharing the good news to him. "That's great." He said with a smile. Although he seemed happy about it, his mind seemed elsewhere. "Are you ok?" She asked and he shrugged his shoulders. "Rainpaw smelt the scent of badger today. It was near fourtrees. Even though it's farther from camp, I still worry. What if there's an attack and I'm not there?"He said softly as he looked at the tiny kits that were sleeping or suckling.

"Hey, don't worry. I'm sure the badger will move along soon." She assured and he reluctantly nodded. He inched closer to the kits and saw that Brookkit did, in fact, have green eyes. She crawled over and pressed her nose to his for a split second before crawling back to her mother. Tigerstorm chuckled and looked at the other kits. "Otterkit has yellow eyes." He stated as his daughter opened them for a second before closing them quickly. Dawnflower purred and licked the top of her daughter's head. Bramblekit crawled past his mother's paws and she purred before picking him up by the scruff and placing him near his siblings. He meowled in protest and Tigerstorm chuckled.

"They're becoming a hassle already." Tigerstorm teased and Dawnflower nodded. "Did you hear that Nightclaw is pregnant too, now!?" Dawnflower exclaimed in disbelief. "She is!? Who would ever want to be mates with her!?" He exclaimed and Dawnflower shrugged. "I'd rather be alone than have her in here with me." She said with distaste and Tigerstorm nodded. "I don't pay attention to her so I wouldn't know. When is she going to be in here?" He asked and Dawnflower shrugged. "At least a moon. What if she does something to our kits? You know she's a psycho!" She exclaimed and she now feared for her kit's life between the badger and Nightclaw.

"Well, let's not think about that right now." He said as he laid down in front of her, facing her and the kits for tonight.

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Dawnflower woke to the sun shining in through the entrance of the nursery and her kits were sleeping yet. She slowly got to her paws, making sure not to wake them. Once she was in the clear, she stopped at the entrance and looked back at her kits. Otterkit yawned and strethced her paws but that was it. Dawnflower's tail flicked with uncertainty on whether to leave her kits to eat or not. She sighed and padded out of the nursery and to the fresh kill pile. She picked out a rabbit and she kept her eyes on the nursery at all times. She saw Nightclaw out of the corner of her eye and she ate quicker, eager to get back to her kits and to get out of her sight.

As if on cue, the kits started meowling and calling out to their mother. She raced to the nursery and saw that they were all up and crawling around. They were trying to stand but they fell back down. Dawnflower giggled and gathered them up and placed them near her belly to eat. Dawnflower smelt a familiar scent that sent chills up her spine. Nightclaw was padding to the nursery.

The black cat entered and smirked smugly at Dawnflower and the kits. "What do you want?" Dawnflower hissed at Nightclaw. "Oh, that's no way to treat a fellow queen." She said darkly and Dawnflower growled as she stepped nearer to the kits. "How precious." She said in false admiration. "Leave, now. You're not due for another moon." She said through gritted teeth. "Oh really? Well I just got sent here. I am now a full queen." Nightclaw said as she did circles around Dawnflower and she kept her eyes on the black cat at all times. "I'd rather be alone for these six moons than be here with you for even one day." The orange and white queen hissed.

Nightclaw chuckled and laid down on the other side of the nursery. "Whose the father, then?" Dawflower asked, and edge to her voice. "Wouldn't you like to know?" Nightclaw retorted. "That's why I asked." Dawnflower snapped and Nightclaw laughed. "A queen doesn't have to share who the father is." Nightclaw stated and Dawnflower rolled her eyes. "But we all know who the father of your kits are." She said with a smirk and Dawnflower scoffed. "Obviously, he's my mate." She said with attitude. "Feisty." Nightclaw said and clamped her jaw shut for emphasis.

Dawnflower took a deep breath and rested her head on her paws and closed her eyes. She woke up in Starclan and she realized she must have fallen asleep. She feared for her kits but a cat appeared and assured her they were fine. Blackfoot. She purred as she nuzzled him and sat down. "I told you about Tigerstorm and you didn't listen to me." He said with a laugh and Dawnflower smiled. "And now look at you, all grown up and with a family already. Where has the time gone? And Blackpaw is doing great. He'll be a wonderful warrior." Blackfoot said in admiration and Dawnflower nodded. "I'm glad I got to be a part of his life." Dawnflower said and Blackfoot smiled. "I see you two are best friends as you and I were." He said with a smile. "We still are." She said softly and nuzzled him once more.

He smiled and nodded. "But I didn't come here to reminisce over the past and current events." He said, turning serious. Dawnflower gave him a confused look and tipped her head slightly. "As much as your kits are adorable and perfect and as much I want to talk about them, I came here to warn you of something. Something potentially dangerous to the clan if it is not stopped." Dawnflower tensed and so many things ran through her head. "Darkness will reign but the dawn will rise once more."

Blackfoot faded with the wind but his warning, more of a prophecy, still rang clear. The scene cleared and Dawnflower blinked open her eyes and looked around. She remembered Nightclaw and she looked down to find all the kits there. She let out a breath of relief and rested her head on her paws once more. The darkness will reign but the dawn will rise once more. What could it mean? She needed to talk to Tigerstorm. She remembered that her sister was a medicine cats and that they get prophecies. She quickly got to her paws and left the nursery. Nightclaw wasn't in there so she assumed she was good for now.

She padded into the medicine cat den and called for her sister. She appeared after taking care of Silvermist. Thee former medicine cat wasn't doing so well. She would've retired to the elders den by now but she's not feeling well. "Are you ok?" Flamepelt asked and Dawnflower noticed she didn't seem distracted by a prophecy and she debated on telling her or not. After quickly arguing with herself, she decided that she's her sister, a medicine cat, and she deserved to know. "I need to talk to you in the nursery." She said finally and Flamepelt nodded and Dawnflower padded to the nursery quickly.

A few minutes later, her sister joined her. "I had to tell Silvermist where I was going." She explained quickly and Dawnflower nodded. "So what is it?" She asked as she laid down in front of her. She checked her surroundings and sniffed the air to make sure no one was near the nursery. "I received a prophecy." She said quietly. Flamepelt gasped and her eyes widened. "What is it?" She asked and Dawnflowe recited the words to her. "The darkness will reign but the dawn will rise once more." Flamepelt repeated to herself. "Who told you?" She asked and Dawnflower told her it was Blackfoot. "Intersting." Flamepelt said as she looked deep in thought.

"I don't know. We'll just have to see. Prophecies aren't going to give you an answer to everything, Dawnflower. They're prophecies for a reason." Flamepelt said with a laugh and Dawnflower nodded. "How are they doing?" Flamepelt asked, referring to the kits, and seemingly looking for a subject change. "Great. They opened their eyes yesterday. Well, Otterkit, Bramblekit and Brookkit did. The other two have yet to open their eyes." She said with a smile. The kits were crawling around and still trying to stand. They were getting stronger every day and they did better today than they did yesterday.

"I can't wait until they can walk and run and play." Dawnflower said with a purr and Flamepelt nodded. "Well, I should probably go." Flamepelt said and the orange and white queen nodded.

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Tigerstorm padded into the nursery and Dawnflower was staring at the wall, overthinking about the prophecy. Nightclaw still hadn't returned to the nursery and whenever she padded out to get fresh air, she never saw her. That was good for her though, because then she didn't have to worry about her kits. "Are you ok?" He asked as he placed a rabbit by her paws. "I guess. I don't know. I received a prophecy today and I'm just thinking about it." She said softly and she pushed the rabbit away with distaste. Her stomach wasn't feeling well.

"What was it about?" He asked in astonishment and she explained what Blackfoot had said. "Woah." Tigerstorm breathed and she nodded in agreement. "I think you're that dawn." He said after a moment of silence. "What?" She asked in disbelief. "I think you're that dawn that Blackfoot was talking about." Tigerstorm said with a smile. She gave a look of disgust. "How can I be? I'm a queen." She said with a small smile and he smiled. "For now." He pointed out and she shrugged her shoulders.

"Oh well. We should probably just go to sleep though and sleep on it. Maybe you'll get more information." Tigerstorm suggested and Dawnflower nodded and he curled up beside her.