Warriors: Starbound Paws

Prologue

Blades of grass surrounding the dark gray she-cat rustled, parting to reveal a starry figure before her. Eyes as bright as dawn glimmered mysteriously, the cat's tail flicking towards a small puddle of water nearby. The dark gray she-cat hesitated, but her paws took her forward to stand by the star-cat's side. Glancing down, the pristine water below showed two cats standing side-by-side. Their pelts were as different as sun-high and moon-high, but their eyes gleamed with a secret unknown.

"Blood and shadows will be overrun, and the stars themselves will bow." With a final flick of its tail, the cat vanished, leaving the she-cat to gaze into the puddle. Her green eyes grew wide with fear as blood overtook the water, the crimson liquid seeping onto the ground around her and swallowing her into its depths.

-

"Heatherheart," the urgent mew of her apprentice, Mudfur, roused Heatherheart from her nightmare. His mud-colored pelt reminded her why the name suited him so well. "Cloudsky is kitting," his eyes were filled to the brim with excitement. Paws working furiously at the stone beneath him, he twitched his whiskers impatiently. Heatherheart has almost forgotten that this would be Mudfur's first kitting.

"I'm coming," she grunted. Lifting her sleep-laden paw and giving it a quick lick. "Have you given her raspberry leaves..." Mudfur nodded enthusiastically, parting his jaws to reply. "... and some wet moss?" Heatherheart finished, struggling to hold back an amused purr as his head sank. "Get to it, then," she dismissed. He quickly turned tail and sprinted out of the den, heading towards the camp exit. Shaking the horrific dream from her mind, Heatherheart tried to get in good spirits for the oncoming kits.

Her mind raced at the thought of the two sun-high and moon-high cats, their body sizes as different as their pelts, but Heatherheart couldn't put a face to the pelts. Giving herself a rough shake, she shouldered her way through the bracken covering the entrance to the medicine cat den. The cold breeze cut through Heatherheart's thin pelt effortlessly, carrying fear-scent from the nursery with it. Blood pounding in her ears, Heatherheart felt her paws instinctively bounding towards the scent.

"Thank Starclan you're here," Darkstripe greeted her at the entrance to the nursery, his whiskers twitching wildly. "Do you have anything else for the pain? I'm worried," he added quietly, his ears angled back towards where his mate lay. "Cloudsky won't admit she's in pain, but I can see it." Heatherheart allowed herself a friendly purr before pointing her tail towards a branch that had dislodged itself from the camp wall.

"That would do Cloudsky better than any herbs," seeing the doubt in Darkstripe's eyes, she brushed her tail across his flank comfortingly. "If I were to give her poppy seeds we wouldn't know when the kits were coming," she soothed, seeing the fur along Darkstripe's spine lay flat.

"You know best, Heatherheart." Darkstripe padded towards the twig, snatching it up in his strong jaws and sprinting back towards the nursery. Heatherheart followed him into the nursery slowly, knowing Darkstripe would need as much time as possible to get Cloudsky comfortable. Her ears twitched towards the camp entrance as the sound of Mudfur's paws echoed through the camp, the sweet scent of river water wafting off the moss.

"Have you started yet?" Mudfur questioned, his sides heaving from the run to the sweetest puddle of water on FireClan territory. Heatherheart simply shook her head, flicking her tail towards the nursery to signal her apprentice to follow her through the soft ivy growing on the entrance. Mudfur gently pushed his way past Heatherheart and placed the moss next to Cloudsky's muzzle, watching as the queen turned her head to the side and gave a half-hearted lick at the moisture.

"Place your paws on her stomach," Heatherheart instructed, positioning herself at the end of Cloudsky's nest. "How many kits do you feel?" Mudfur kneaded at Cloudsky's stomach, tail twitching apologetically as she hissed in response. Darkstripe offered her the stick he had picked from outside the den, his tail drooping when his mate turned her head pointedly away from it.