Cloverfall's Prophecy

-Prologue-

The queen would leap from bough to bough of the blazing trees. Smoke would clog up her lungs as she raced through the blazing territory that once was home. She stumbled down to the ground, surrounded by a ring of fire.

"Crookedstrike!" the she-cat howled through the crackling flames.

A brown tom would follow the calls of his mate. His tail would lash as he darted towards the she-cat's yowling. He'd rush through the ring of fire, as it burned the tips of his fur. The tom was smothered in ash.

"Haildust!" he cried, nuzzling his mate. "We need to get out of here before dying of smoke inhalation!"

The flames of the ring died down into embers and coals. The tom would pad down a few coals, soothing them off. He guided his mate through the exit. The two cats' trotting would evolve into a sprint.

A loud "crash" echoed from behind Haildust. The she-cat would swiftly turn around. What she saw was her mate's tail flopped on by a tree. The tom was yowling.

"Anything but this," the she-cat growled in fear and sorrow. She'd lodge her teeth into the tom's scruff, tugging at him. She managed to detach Crookedstrike from the tree. However, a segment of the tom's tail had been burned away. "We need to get out of here, to the other side of the thunderpath."

The two cats raced from the blazing forest using almost all of their energy to bound across the thunderpath. Once they reached the Thunderclan border, the she-cat collapsed to the ground in pain. The medicine cat, Kestrelspots, raced over to the queen. She examined her belly.

Kestrelspots peered up at the brown tabby tom. "Crookedstrike, get to Juniperwhisker for honey root and comfrey root, as well as cobweb. When you're about to return, request Juniperwhisker for dry moss, burnet, and a stick."

"Why all the herb requests?" Crookedstrike growled.

"Just grab the herbs from Juniperwhisker. Do you want your mate to go through a clean kitting or not?" the white dappled she-cat hissed.

Crookedstrike's eyes widened. Without any time to lose, he'd zip off in the direction of the medicine cat apprentice's scent. The medicine cat continued to crouch down near Haildust's stomach a few heartbeats before straightening her legs.

"Once Crookedstrike returns, we must get you to a safer place. We don't want your newborn kits to inhale smoke, or suffocate from flowing ash," Kestrelspots mumbled into Haildust's ear, the medicine cat's breath stirring her ear tuft.

Once the tabby warrior arrived, his now three quarter length tail swaddled in cobweb, he set down a leaf of burnet, dry moss and a stick. "Can she have poppy seeds?" he questioned with a head perk. The tabby's mew was muffled from the leaf in his jaws.

Kestrelspots shook her head. "Queens must feel the pain of kitting so medicine cats know when the kits are arriving for their delivery."

The tabby tom would help the queen up to her paws. She bared her teeth in pain. They'd stagger farther into the border of Thunderclan, avoiding smoke and ash. It wasn't a far trip before the three cats reached an oak, which was sheltered from the smoke and ash. The trunk was carved into a hollow. Kestrelspots nudged Hailrose into the hollow of the trunk.

The queen would hold her breath in pain. Her long tail began to lash, her eyes wide as she gazed at Crookedstrike, who had a worried expression amongst his gaze.

"Try breathing more, not less, Haildust," Kestrelspots instructed to the queen. She set the Burnet down for the queen to swallow them, as Haildust did so. "When you're ready, push, and bite down onto the willow stick if necessary." The medicine cat placed down a stick of willow in front of the white-and-gray she-cat.

Haildust's flanks would heave as she latched onto the stick. Kestrelspots scrambled for dry moss and swerved towards the queen's tail. The medicine cat would crouch down. In a few heartbeats, a kit slid down onto the grass. Kestrelspots dabbed up the blood with the moss, lapping at the sack the kit was contained in. After a few minutes passed by, another kit slipped down into the grass. Kestrel spots, once more, lapped at the sack and dapped up the blood. She placed the two kits next to the queen's belly. "A she-cat and a tom."

Haildust's belly churned. "They're gorgeous..," she breathed.

Crookedstrike's eyes clouded, racing over to his mate to lick her ear. "They are gorgeous." The tom would lie down next to his mate, swadling the kits with his tail. "How about we name the she-cat Featherkit?"

The queen nodded. "The tom will be..," the she-cat paused, "Cloverkit.."