Chapt 33

Dovepelt yawned, settling down for the night. Honeykit was the only kit left awake. She was still chattering about being Jayfeather's apprentice. She had told her daughter to be quiet and sleep, but it was no use.
"How can I sleep knowing I'll be helping the clan in only 2 moons! How can anyone sleep knowing that?" Honeykit yawned. Clearly she was tired, and it was almost moonhigh. Dovepelt sighed and looked around the nursery. She didn't want to wake any queens or kits, so she brought Honeykit to the clearing.
"Come, let's take a walk out into the forest," Dovepelt suggested. Honeykit squealed in excitement, and raced out out of the camp. Dovepelt used her powers to make sure Honeykit wasn't in any danger. She spanned her senses across the whole territory. She could hear a fox on the Windclan side. It was chasing a mouse across to Windclan. She could see Honeykit talking to Oakfur keeping guard of the camp. She padded out to meet them.
"Honeykit, you have to go back to the nursery," Oakfur mewed gently.
"But I'm here with Mama," Honeykit mewed defiantly.
"Hush now, we don't to wake the whole camp, come I'll take you back to the nursery," The two cats turned around and saw Dovepelt.
"Oh, er sorry. I didn't think she was actually here with you," Oakfur mewed.
"It's okay, come Honeykit," They padded out into the forest. Dovepelt was yearning to run away from camp and to forget all her troubles, but she knew she couldn't. Honeykit was sniffing every plant, every seed asking to know what each one was.
"Well that is a beech tree. The nuts that grow on it attract mice and squirrels. I don't know what their used for medicine though," She wondered how any cat could be excited about treating sick cats and all the blood. She loved fighting battles, and hunting for the clan. Plus her kits were more than she could ask for, all nice and smart cats. She was proud of her kit anyways. She would help the clans in more ways then one. One day she would save lives, know every herb, and speak to Starclan!
"Mama, what's this one?" The pale ginger she-cat sniffed at red berries. Dovepelt raced over to her kit.
"No you mustn't eat those, those are deathberries!" Honeykit shrank away in fear.
"Don't worry, you havn't touched them have you?" The little kit shook her head.
"Good, but remember what they look like. If you eat these you could die. There was a warrior named Sorreltail, she died before you were born," Dovepelt began explaining.
"Did she eat deathberries, is that why she died?" Honeykit mewed.
"No, but when she was a kit, an evil warrior named Darkstripe tried to poison her. Cinderpelt saved her life. Darkstripe was exiled from Thunderclan and in a battle Graystripe killed him. Graystripe was Firestar's best friend," Dovepelt mewed.
"Did this happen when you were alive?" Honeykit asked anxiously.
"No, my mother told me. Her mother was Brightheart. She was an apprentice when this happened. This was back in the old forest, when Tigerstar ruled Shadowclan. Darkstripe was secretly telling Tigerstar about Thunderclan and our plans. Sorreltail followed him, thinking it would be an adventure, but when Darkstripe foudn her, he tried to kill her. Graystripe saw it and eventually he was sent away. Darkstripe went to Shadowclan with Tigerstar," Dovepelt remembered fighting Darkstripe in the first start of the war with Foxleap. The dark warrior was not very skilled in battle, but he was much bigger than the both of them. He had killed Foxleap. Dovepelt would find this cat when the time came and she would kill him a thousand times over.
"Then what happened?" Honeykit yawned.
"Tigerstar brought evil cats called Bloodclan to help take over the forest, Scourge, the leader of Bloodclan, killed Tigerstar with a single blow to the stomach. Brightheart said it was very scary. Scourge said the clans had three days to leave the forest or they would all die. Firestar convinced the other clans to stay and lead them to battle Bloodclan. Graystripe and Firestar battled Darkstripe,"
"I thought Darkstripe was in Shadowclan, why would they attack a clan cat?" Honeykit asked again.
"Well Darkstripe left to join Bloodclan. Graystipe killed him, then Firestar fought Scourge and killed him. The clans had won and stayed in their home!" Dovepelt mewed happily. She looked down to see her daughter's reaction. Honeykit was asleep snuggling closely to her mother's belly. She sighed and snuggled around her kit. Her other kits would be okay until morning, so they slept in the forest.

It was past sunhigh when the pair of cats woke up.
"That was fun mama! Let's do that again!" Honeykit purred.
"Come on, let's get back to camp, I'm sure your brothers and sisters are all worried sick," She laughed as they padded back to camp. Honeykit zoomed past her, and ran off towards the medicine den. Dovepelt hoped Jayfeather wouldn't be too upset with Honeykit's eagerness. She padded into the nursery, listening for the worried mew of her kits. Instead she found them playing with Firekit and Sandkit. Sheeppaw and Petalpaw had been apprenticed yesterday night, their mentors were Nightcloud and Onestar. Leafpool sat in the corner, happily observing the kits.
"You may as well ask me," Leafpool spoke to Cinderheart and Dovepelt.
"What do you mean?" Cinderheart asked Leafpool.
"How I feel about having kits even though I was a medicine cat," She answered. Dovepelt was curious, she couldn't lie.
"Well, how does it feel?" Dovepelt managed to squeak.
"It feels strange. I've had kits before, but now I can say their mine. Not that I've ever been ashamed of Jayfeather and Lionblaze," She seemed to forget about Hollyleaf. Dovepelt could see some strange emotion well up in her eyes when she mentioned her kits.
"And Hollyleaf," Cinderheart reminded her.
"Yes, Hollyleaf," She continued," I know Crowfeather is happy, too. He'll be a great father, I know it. I think there is 2 in there," She murmured, gently rubbing her belly with her tail. The other queens nodded.
"I don't think Starclan dissaproves either. My destiny was chosen long ago just like everyone elses. These kits were meant to be born, all of them," She mewed confidently. Dovepelt nodded. She felt the same way about her kits. She always knew Foxleap was in love with Rosepetal first, when she died she layed by his side, comforting him. Dovepelt loved him, but she wasn't sure Foxleap loved her back. They grew close, sharing meals and tongues. Foxleap told her he loved her one day, Dovepelt said the same. She new he struggled with this, thinking he betrayed Rosepetal by loving her. She didn't know how he overcomed this, but hoped he was happy in Starclan, watching over her and his kits.
"How many do you think are in there?" Dovepelt knew her guess would probably be better since she used to be a medicine cat.
"Only one," She looked down to her growing belly. She was almost due to be having kits, it could be any day.
"I'm sure it will be beautiful," Cinderheart purred. Dovepelt knew she was upset about Mountainpaw, and frankly, she couldn't blame her. She would scream and yell about her kits being made apprentices too early. Cinderheart's other kit, Leopardkit, didn't seem to mind. In fact she bragged about it a lot to the other kits. Dovepelt asked her kits to follow her out into the clearing and said bye to the other queens.
"Mama, Sheeppaw says you can hear things far away, is that true?" Foxkit asked. Dovepelt was a little uneasy discussing this with her kits.
"Well, yes. I can." She spoke briskly.
"Can you hear to the mountains?" Hedgekit squeaked. Dovepelt cast her sense out towards the rocky mountains, way past clan territories. She could not see any cats there, only birds, big birds. She could here cats in the forest, a large group. Suddenly, a familiar face burst into the clearing.
"Squirrelflight! You're back! Where's the rest of the patrol?" Dovepelt rushed to her friend.
"They're helping the Tribe, I must speak to the leaders. She looked around for them.
"I think Bramblestar is on hunting patrol," Dovepelt explained
"We met up with Bramblestar and his patrol coming in to clan territorry. He said Rowanstar was here, and Mistystar and Onestar are doing a border patrol, one on each side." Dovepelt nodded, she knew all this already.
"Do you wantme to help you find them, Cinderheart could watch the kits," As she spoke Tawnypelt and Crowfeather padded through the gorse tunnel with a strange cat and Bramblestar. More cats began to appear in the cleaing, with kits and elders, struggling to stay up.
"How are we going to fit all these cats in the camp?" Dovepelt murmured to herself. Bramblestar padded off to explain things to Rowanstar, while Ashfoot told Cedarclaw to find Mistystar and Cherrynose to find Onestar. Soon all the leaders arrived, and the leaders spoke together. An older cat was also talking to the clan leaders, so Dovepelt guessed that this was the leader of the tribe. Soon all five leaders stood atop the highledge.
"Hello clan cats. My name is Teller of Pointed Stones, or Stoneteller. I am the leader and healer of my tribe. The Tribe of Endless Hunting has shown me the way of helping the Tribe of Rushing Water stay alive, and that is to join with the clans to defeat The Place of No Stars," Dovepelt thought all the names the Tribe used were too long.
"I am am hoping your leaders and you will accept us for the time being," The leaders nodded along with the rest of the clans.
"Thank-you Stoneteller. Now we have much to talk about, would the senior warriors and the medicine cats join us while we discuss. Stoneteller feel free to bring whom ever you like," Mistystar spoke with calm authority. Stoneteller dipped his head and signaled for a few warriors to join him. One was Stornfur, she could tell, she'd heard stories about him, and he never really lost the scent of fish on his fur. A brown tabby joined him, but he whispered something in her ear and she padded back to three young kits. She padded up to the brown she-cat.
"Hi, I'm Dovepelt," She dipped her head to the cat. The other cat dipped her head.
"I'm Brook Where Small Fish Swim, but my tribemates just call me Brook,"
"The nursery is over there, how old are they?" She looked down at the three kits.
"I know, I lived here for a short time. This is Cloud that Floated in Sky, Mouse that Fell between Cracks, and Water that Rose to Belly," All three of the kits were long haired silver tabby toms.
"Their father is Stormfur, he was once Riverclan. His father was Graystipe." She nudged her kits and carried them to the nursery. Dovepelt picked one up and slowly carried it back to the nursery. Brook shot her a grateful glance.
"They are less than a moon old, they were born on the way here. It took us a long time to get here, some of the elders died, one of Moss's kits died, but this is what we needed to do," Brook sounded as if she was repeating words. Her eyes were dull and her ribs were visible. The other Tribe cats were no different. Soon they were in the nursery, with the other queens.
"Brook, it's good to see you again," Leafpool rushed up to touch noses with the brown she-cat. Brook purred with delight in seeing her old friend.
"Their beautiful, they must be hungry, and you too. Come let's get you some food," Leafpool guided the cats back out into the clearing. Dovepelt couldn't see her own kits, which made her worried. The last thing the Tribe cats needed was six kits pestering them. Sighing she padded back out into the clearing as the leaders padded onto the Highledge. Mistystar's yowl brought all the cats back into the clearing. Her kits were following a dappled Tribe cat, she hissed at them to join her. They sat next to her, squeaking excitedly.
"Do you think we'll be made apprentices?" Honeykit squealed.
"Not if you don't be quiet," Dovepelt mewed sternly. She turned back to the leaders.
"Cats of the Clans and Tribe, as you can see, many cats are going to be staying in the camp. We will need to expand all dens, Ashfoot could you organize that please," Onestar adressed all the cats," Also, since the Tribe has divided up task with Prey Hunters and Cave Guards, the prey hunters will go on Hunting patrols and the cave guards will go on other patrols. All cats will get battle training, Bumblestripe can handle that. We must be strong, for when the Dark Forest attacks," Onestar's gaze flickered uneasily over Hollyleaf, Dovepelt was sure she was the only one who noticed this.
"We will win this war with the Dark Forest!" Bramblestar howled. The clearing erupted in yowls of encouragement, except for one. Dovepelt could sense anger and revenge hidden behind one yowl, but she wasn't sure who it was.