Chapt 27

Dovepelt nudged her kits into the nursery, urgent to talk to her own kits.
"Come, my kits.  We need to talk," She mewed in false happiness.
"What are we going to talk about mama?" Honeykit mewed.
"Are we going to be apprentices?" Duskkit exclaimed.
"Not yet, we're going to talk about your dreams." She explained. The family entered the den and went to an empty corner.
"Can anyone tell me what they dreamt about last night?" Dovepelt purred.
"I dreamt I was stalking a mouse last night!" Hedgekit announced.
"Did you catch it?" Stonekit asked.
Hedgekit's head and tail drooped,"No," He muttered.
"What about you Duskkit, what did you dream about?" Dovepelt encouraged.
"Umm...Well..." Duskkit murmured.
"It's okay, you can tell me," Dovepelt purred to her daughter.
"I had a dream where I was clan leader. I had 2 kits and my mate was just like papa, strong and brave, just like you told us he was." She stood up straight and looked her mother in the eye.
"Well, I had a dream of a cat in mine!" Dovepelt pricked her ears at Honeykit's words.
"What did the cat look like?" Dovepelt was terrified that her daughter was being visited by the Dark Forest.
"She was really pretty, she had white paws like Stonekit, but her coat was dappled like Leafpool's. She said her name was Spotted something. She comes to me a lot. She's not a Dark Forest warrior is she?" Honeykit sounded scared.
"I don't think so, but I'll ask Jayfeather. What about you Foxkit?" She turned to her ginger son.
"I once dreamt I fought a badger and I beat him! I drove him all the way to Shadowclan!" He purred.
"How do you know what Shadowclan looked like? You've never been out of the camp." Snowkit countered.
"Papa told me it was covered in mud and pine trees!" Foxkit hissed.
"Kits, come on we need to focus. Snowkit, what have you dream of?"
"I dream of a lot of things. I was dreamt I caught a squirrel as big as the Highledge! Another time I dreamt I swam in the lake. Then I climbed all the way up the sky oak!" Dovepelt purred at her kits innocence.
She turned to her last and smallest kit, Stonekit. He looked up at her expectantly.
"What about you Stonekit?"
"I dreamt I was the biggest cat in the clan, bigger than Mountainkit!"
"Yeah right! And hedgehogs fly!" Hedgekit squealed. Stonekit tumbled over his brother. Dovepelt sighed, at least she had found out what they dreamed about. She would talk to Jayfeather the next time she saw him. She lay down to let her kits suckle. Cinderheart sat next to her.
"Have you talked to Mountainkit?" Dovepelt murmured.
"I talked to both of them, I didn't want Mountainkit to think he was in trouble, which he's not." Cinderheart added looking at the pale gray queen.
"He said he only dreamed of the dark tabby, I figured it was Tigerstar, and it only happened last night. Leopardkit said she dreamed of protecting her clan. How 'bout your kits?"
"Duskkit said she dreamed of being clan leader and having two kits! Stonekit said he dreamed of being the biggest cat in the clan, Snowkit was just like any kit; squirrels bigger than cats stuff like that. Hedgekit didn't catch his mouse, Foxkit chased a badger into Shadowclan, but Honeykit's worried me." Cinderheart looked at her with concern.
"What did she dream of?" She whispered.
"She dreamt of a beautiful dappled she-cat. With white paws and her pelt was like Leafpool's. She said her name was Spotted something. I don't know who she is..." Dovepelt murmured.
"She reminds me of someone, I can't put my paw on it, but I know her." Cinderheart mewed. Then Jayfeather padded into the nursery.
"Jayfeather, can I speak to you?" Dovepelt mewed, careful not to disturb her nursing kits. The medicine cat padded over and sat down, ears forward.
"What's the matter?" He mewed quizzically.
"It's Honeykit. When I asked the kits about what they dreamed, she said she said she dreamed about a cat,"
"What did this cat look like?" He urged, interrupting Dovepelt.
"I was getting to that. Honeykit said she had white paws and had a dappled coat like Leafpool's. She was very pretty and her name was Spotted something." She finished.
"That was Spottedleaf! Honeykit dreamed about Spottedleaf!" Jayfeather purred excitedly.
"So.. that's good?" Dovepelt was confused.
"Spottedleaf was the medicine cat in the old forest, before Yellowfang! Do you know what this means?" Jayfeather chattered.
"No, would you care to explain?" Dovepelt was utterly dumbfounded.
"Starclan has just given us a sign about Thunderclan's next medicine cat apprentice!"
"Are you serious! Are you sure?" Dovepelt was amazed!
"I'm positive. I'll talk to her tomorrow, she needs to know what this means," He turned to Cinderheart who hadn't spoken this whole time," What did you say to Mountainkit?"
Caught off guard, Cinderheart stumbled over her words,"Well, um, I talked to both of them. Mountainkit said the dark tabby was the only one to talk to him and  I guessed it was Tigerstar, he said he only talked to him last night. Tigerstar told him what a big and strong kit he was and told him he could help him train to be the best warrior he could be."
"I see, we'll have to remember to make sure he knows he's appreciated. What about Ashfoot's kits?" Jayfeather asked.
"I don't know, I haven't seen her since after the meeting." Cinderheart murmured. A caterwaul in the clearing made Dovepelt's fur stand on end.
"What's out there?" Cinderheart whispered. Dovepelt reached her senses out into the clearing, she saw three cats, one was barely breathing and was covered in blood.
"Jayfeather! You need to get out there!" Jayfeather raced out into the clearing. The two queens looked at each other. All the kits were now asleep, so they padded after Jayfeather. Dovepelt shrieked in horror at the bloody cats.