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The babbling of the brook soothed Breezepelt’s nerves in a numbing sort of way, briefly enveloping him in his own little bubble, distancing his memories so that all he was focused on was the present. Further up the brook grazed a rabbit, lazily nibbling at the fresh strands of greenery that sprung from the lush ground; Breezepelt crept forward on silent paws, his black pelt twitching as he focused all his intent on the rabbit before him.
Bunching his muscles and wiggling his haunches, Breezepelt braced himself for the lunge, ready to haul forward and pounce on the prey at any given moment -
“Breezepelt.”
The lithe tom cat flung himself straight into the air with a startled hiss, twisting mid-leap to land facing the source of the voice; he hit the ground ready to rumble, his claws unsheathed and hackles raised, tail lashing behind him to show he meant business.
It was only when he comprehended the gray tabby standing in front of him as Jayfeather did Breezepelt straighten up, smoothing down his black fur, now burning with embarrassment at the sight of the smug grin plastered across the tom’s light gray face.
“You jumped high,” Jayfeather observed laxly with a twitch of his tail tip, earning an exasperated look from Breezepelt, who sniffed, “How can you even tell?”
“Took you longer to land on the ground,” Jayfeather explained casually as he padded towards his half-brother, flicking his tail tip against the other tom’s dark flank. Breezepelt huffed, ducking his head to lap his tongue over his chest fur a couple times, trying to hide his embarrassment as he grumbled defensively, “You should know better than to sneak up on me like that.”
As Jayfeather took a seat, Breezepelt followed suit, deflating like a winded animal as the realization that he was merely dreaming dawned on him; as soon as he woke up, he’d be thrown back into the cold embrace of late leaf-bare. He glanced longingly to the spot where the rabbit had once been, wishing it would come back into existence sometime.
“I didn’t come here to listen to you drool over a dream rabbit,” Jayfeather snorted, and Breezepelt whipped around with a huff.
“Then why did you come here?” He retaliated, flicking his tail behind him, before he softened up a little bit, murmuring, “I haven’t seen you in a few nights.”
“You haven’t needed to see me,” Jayfeather stated simply, “Come on, now, quit moping.”
“I’m not moping!” Breezepelt shot back defensively, and Jayfeather simply bumped his shoulder against his brother’s, “Yes you are. Your shoulders have drooped so low I could nudge them with my paws.”
“Are you only here to bully me?” Breezepelt grunted with a flick of his tattered ear; Jayfeather dismissed his comment with a wave of his tail, “No, no, as much as I enjoy it. I’m here to test you, I’m afraid.”
Jayfeather brushed his paw against the ground, and from the soil sprouted a plant, lined with soft, jagged-shaped leaves. Breezepelt bent forward, touching his nose to the leaves momentarily, before pulling back, and, feeling sure of his memory, answered the silent question, “Raspberry leaves. Though, these ones aren’t on an actual bush.”
“I’m not going to summon a whole raspberry bush for you to look at, Breezepelt,” Jayfeather sniped, continuing on, “Do you remember what they’re used for?”
“Pain relief,” Breezepelt answered swiftly, “Usually in kitting. And - and I’m sure they can also be used to stop bleeding during that, too, right?”
A soft smile graced Jayfeather’s countenance, “That’s right. Can you tell me what other herbs are used for kittings?”
Breezepelt fidgeted for a moment, silence falling between the two brothers as he pondered over his answer. After he was confident enough, he spoke once more, “Ragwort leaves, to help keep the delivering cat’s strength up, and chervil root can help with the pain. Oh! And, I guess this counts, a stick? Something for the delivering cat to chomp on.”
“Excellent,” Jayfeather rumbled, giving Breezepelt an approving nod, “You’re really coming along as a medicine cat, Breezepelt. This was a good choice for you.”
Breezepelt felt a sense of pride begin to warm his fur at the praise of his brother, the corners of his mouth twitching upwards ever so slightly; he attempted to hide the small smile worming its way onto his face by lowering his head and wiping his paw over his ear, a meek attempt to disguise his glowing pride.
Jayfeather let out a content sigh, before gathering himself to his paws and offering Breezepelt another short nod, “Well, that was all I was here for, so I’ll be off about now.”
“Wait!” Before Breezepelt could even realize what he was doing, he was leaping to his paws and stepping towards the lanky StarClan cat, “Wait, Jayfeather, please wait.”
The tabby tilted his head to the side, his whiskers twitching with intrigue, “What is it?”
Why was he hesitating now? Something in Breezepelt choked up, his throat tightening as he struggled with the question he desperately needed to hear. He breathed in, a shaky kind of breath, and spoke, praying his voice wouldn’t crack, “How’s - how’s Nightcloud?”
He had seen his mother once since he last lost her, when Hollyleaf had taken him to be announced as SproutClan’s new and first medicine cat; he had run to his mother first, burying himself in her soft fur and wailing like a kit in her embrace. He had held on to her memory desperately, even sleeping in her nest in the weeks before he, Heathertail, and Leaftail transferred to the new camp, and the moment he was with her again, he couldn’t help but sob for the mother he so desperately missed.
So here Breezepelt stood, still aching for the company of his mother. Jayfeather flicked an ear, responding softly, “She’s happy. She and Squirrelflight have really been hitting it off ever since they joined StarClan.”
A sigh of relief escaped the battle-scarred tom, while Jayfeather shook out his pelt, complaining dryly, “Now I’ve got three mothers fussing over me, Breezepelt.”
Breezepelt breathed out a light laugh, for he could hear the smile in Jayfeather’s voice, hidden behind his sardonic tone.
After a few more heartbeats of silence, Jayfeather breached the quiet once more, “She’s so proud of you, you know.”
“Is she really?” Breezepelt couldn’t fight off the shining grin any longer.
“Extremely so.” There was a hint of a purr to Jayfeather’s voice.
The next thing Breezepelt knew was darkness, so much darkness, and a sharp, persistent prodding to his side, growing more and more frantic with each moment. Snapping open his amber eyes, Breezepelt shot up in his nest, sucking in a breath of air, where he came face to face with the wide-eyed face of Dawnpelt, her cream fur disheveled and her sides heaving as if she had just come barreling from SproutClan’s camp all the way from ShadowClan’s.
“Breezepelt! Breezepelt, it’s Pinenose! Her - her kits! She’s in labor!” Dawnpelt rushed out between uneven gasps, her pelt bristling with urgency.
Breezepelt was on his paws in an instant, sweeping around Dawnpelt and rummaging through his herb stock feverently; bundling raspberry leaves, chervil root, and ragwort leaves together, held together by laurel leaves, Breezepelt shoved the first medic bundle towards Dawnpelt, instructing swiftly, “Hurry! Take this to ShadowClan camp, I’ll be right on your heels. I’m making another bundle just in case. Now, go! Go!”
Dawnpelt blinked appreciatingly at Breezepelt before whirling around on her paws and shooting past the medicine cat’s den entrance, nearly shoving Hollyleaf to the side as she passed in a blur of paws. Once Breezepelt had finished getting together the second bundle, he bounded past Hollyleaf, who followed after him.
“Hazeltail, I’m leaving with Breezepelt, you’re in charge while I’m gone!” She called out to where the plump gray and white molly was sitting beside her brother; Lilykit sat between them, her eyes wide with curiosity as she watched the older warriors hustle about. With the siblings was Spiderleg, Heathertail, and Leaftail, all standing at attention with their ears pricked and their tails in the air.
“Heathertail, Leaftail, can one of you run down to RiverClan to let them know what’s going on? I’m sure they’ll be eager to hear the news.” Hollyleaf instructed, and Heathertail was the first to pelt towards the entrance, hollering back to the thick furred molly, “I’m on it, Hollyleaf!”
And with that, Hollyleaf bounded out after Heathertail and Breezepelt, tearing off through the territory towards the heart of ShadowClan.
❋ ❀ ❁ ❋ ❀ ❁
“Quit washin’ my head, Mousewhisker!” Lilykit protested noisily, attempting to duck from the tom’s tongue as he bent down to lap at the fur between the calico kitten’s ears. Mousewhisker snorted, and as Lilykit made a bolt for Hazeltail, Mousewhisker swept his foreleg forward and caught the kitten by her legs. He yanked her closer towards him, effectively trapping her against his chest.
“Would you calm down?” Mousewhisker snickered lightly, “You act as if I’m tearing your fur off!”
“You’re not tearing my fur off! You’re licking it off!” Lilykit retorted, pouting obviously as Mousewhisker carried on, cleaning the kitten’s fur off, “I just want you to look nice for meeting Pinenose’s kittens.”
“And when is Hollyleaf gonna come back?” Lilykit whined again sticking her paws over Mousewhisker’s foreleg, staring at the SproutClan camp walls, her small tail whipping back and forth with impatience, “I want to go see them now!”
Mousewhisker chuckled lightly, before resting his chin next to Lilykit, relaxing his paws so that she could clamber away from him if she pleased - which she did, naturally, still fussy over Mousewhisker’s grooming, only to tuck herself against Mousewhisker’s shoulder and side.
“She’ll be here soon, Lily, don’t worry. You’ll see them in no time.”
Lilykit huffed again, sinking against the plush gray and white fur, glaring at the entrance, perfectly still with no signs of any approaching cats.
Hazeltail snickered from where she sat, shooting her brother an amused glance that Mousewhisker immediately returned; it felt like only yesterday the twins were causing their own ruckus with Berrynose, back when the three of them were kittens under Daisy’s care. Mousewhisker felt a sudden pang in his chest, a dull ache that he knew would never fully heal, and by the similar look on Hazeltail’s face, he knew that she felt exactly how he felt.
Hazeltail shuffled towards her brother and settled down on the other side of him, letting Lilykit have the entirety of Mousewhisker’s left side to sprawl against; Hazeltail leaned her shoulder against Mousewhisker’s, turning and resting her chin on her brother’s neck.
“Actually, Hazeltail,” Spiderleg spoke up from where he was sitting, close by the group; Leaftail and Heathertail, who were also lounging next to the twins, pricked up their ears at the senior warriors voice. The tom glanced Hazeltail over, “ Do you know when Hollyleaf will be getting back? Surely you spoke with her last night.”
“I - how would you know that?” Hazeltail doubletaked at Spiderleg’s comment, and the older warrior squinted at the molly, “I saw you sneaking out to meet her last night? I know you thought you two were being quiet, but I could hear your rumbling purr from the middle of the warrior’s den.”
Mousewhisker bit back a snicker as he felt Hazeltail’s fur warm up as Spiderleg practically called her out, and she turned her gaze towards the entrance of camp, avoiding the intrigued glance from Heathertail (and the absolutely confused stare from the rather oblivious Leaftail).
“So what if I was purring? I was excited. Hollyleaf came back with some great news - Pinenose and her kittens were all healthy and strong.”
“You were excited Hollyleaf came back, more like it,” Mousewhisker muttered teasingly under his breath so that only his sister could hear him, and he was met with a spiteful thwap from Hazeltail’s wiry tail.
“We just have to wait until she gets back to let us know if Pinenose is ready for visitors.”
And so they waited, huddled together in the chill leaf-bare air, dozing off in the sunlight as they waited, and waited, and waited.
And soon enough, it paid off; the branches of camp entrance stirred, and the SproutClan cats all snapped their heads up, ears pricked up and alert. Hollyleaf brushed past the branches, shaking her pelt out as she stood before her warriors, “Hey, everyone, how have you all been?”
“Impatient,” Leaftail snorted, eyeing the kitten at Mousewhisker’s side who had immediately leapt to her paws the moment Hollyleaf came through the entrance. Mousewhisker shot Leaftail a narrowed stare, before he and Hazeltail got to their paws, following Lilykit as she clammered around Hollyleaf’s round black paws.
“How are they? Are they small? What are they like? What do they look like? How’s Pinenose? How many are there? When will I be able to play with them?” Lilykit rained down a barrage of questions at Hollyleaf as she hopped around the tall molly’s legs; Mousewhisker snaked his tail around Lilykit and pulled her back, mewing to her, “I know you’re excited, Lilykit, but Hollyleaf only just got back - give her a little air.”
“But I wanna see them!” Lilykit huffed, glancing towards Hollyleaf; she simply grinned at the kitten, before lifting her head to her fellow clanmates, “Well, let’s not keep Lilykit waiting everyone - and I’m sure you’re all excited to see the litter of kittens, so let’s head out everyone.”
As they made their way through the territory, Mousewhisker lowered his head to Lilykit’s level, “Now, you’ll tell me if you start getting tired, won’t you?”
“ Ye-e-es , Mousewhisker, I’ll tell you,” Lilykit chirped back, “I’m four moons old, now! I can make the walk.”
However, by the time they had all reached the ShadowClan border (faint as it was, Mousewhisker noted, since there had been no real patrols sent out since the Dark Forest battle), Lilykit was beginning to trail behind, her breath puffing out in light clouds as she began to grow weary.
“I’m not tired,” Lilykit mumbled when she caught sight of Mousewhisker’s worried expression, “I swear I’m not tired.”
“Hey,” Spiderleg paused, dropping his pace to a full stop, to which Mousewhisker and Lilykit each stopped after they reached him; the older warrior crouched down, offering his shoulder to Lilykit, “C’mon, I’m tall enough to still carry you on my shoulders. Hop on, kiddo.”
After Lilykit clambered onto Spiderleg’s shoulders, the group carried on once more, towards ShadowClan camp.
“I see we’re not the first visitors,” Hazeltail joked lightly as the SproutClan group entered ShadowClan camp, and Mousewhisker peered around her to see Mistystar sitting with Dawnpelt and Snowbird in front of what Mousewhisker assumed was the ShadowClan warrior’s den. He wondered briefly if Dawnpelt and Snowbird even slept in there, or if they just slept in the nursery with Pinenose.
“Sorry, I’m afraid we couldn’t help but hurry on over,” Mistystar laughed back, an inviting light in her old eyes as the cats began to disperse. Hollyleaf and Hazeltail immediately trotted towards Mistystar, Snowbird and Dawnpelt; Heathertail exchanged a few murmuring words with Leaftail, who simply shrugged in response, before turning and bounding after Hollyleaf and Hazeltail while Leaftail simply hung back.
Spiderleg lowered himself until his belly brushed the ground of ShadowClan camp, to which Lilykit slipped off his shoulders. Mousewhisker gave the kitten a light nudge with his muzzle, prompting her in a gentle tone, “What do you say?”
Lilykit turned to Spiderleg and practically beamed up at the older warrior, “Thank you for carrying me, Spiderleg!”
“Aw, it’s not a problem, little miss,” Spiderleg rumbled lightly. Mousewhisker gestured to where Hollowflight and Breezepelt sat with a twitch of his tail, “Why don’t you go see Breezepelt, Lilykit? I’m sure he can tell you all about the kittens.”
As she bundled off, Mousewhisker turned to flash Spiderleg an appreciative glance, “Thank you, again.”
“Like I said, it’s no problem,” Spiderleg assured, giving his fur a good shake, “You’re raising her well, you know.”
Mousewhisker dipped his head, murmuring back to him, “Thank you. You’ve really come through for her, too.”
There was a distant pain in Spiderleg’s eye as he nodded, and Mousewhisker once again felt that familiar pang in his chest - for a silent moment, he shared that grief with Spiderleg, his former mentor, who had been mates with Daisy and father to Mousewhisker’s half-siblings, Rosepetal and Toadstep, all of whom were lost to the casualties of the war.
The silent heartbeat of grief was interrupted by a soft groan from Spiderleg, and Mousewhisker touched his gray tail tip to the older tom’s black flank, “You okay?”
“Yeah, yeah, I’m fine,” Spiderleg sighed, rolling his shoulders uncomfortably, “I’m not as young as I used to be, unfortunately. I need to go rest for a moment.”
Mousewhisker offered the tom a polite nod as he slinked towards the other cluster of cats, settling down on his flank by Mistystar, who said something to Spiderleg that Mousewhisker couldn’t quite pick up, but Spiderleg responded with a laugh of his own.
“Mousewhisker!” It was Hollowflight who called him over, flicking his tail as if beckoning the older warrior to come on over, to which Mousewhisker did, pleased to see Lilykit situated between the two cats.
“Hey,” His tone was casual and friendly, and he met the two toms by bumping his head against their shoulders - the trio had formed a special kind of bond, being the only surviving former Dark Forest trainees, “How’s it hanging?”
“Petalfur and Podpaw are in there right now,” Hollowflight began eagerly, “But after that, I definitely think you and Lilykit should be the ones who go in next. They really are the cutest things, and Breezepelt’s taken great care of them these past couple of days.”
Breezepelt cleared his throat awkwardly at the praise, dodging Mousewhisker’s gaze when the gray and white warrior attempted to make eye contact with him, “Really, it was nothing. All I did was help deliver them, Pinenose carried ‘em.”
“Still, you certainly helped her out a great deal, Breezepelt,” Hollowflight gushed, “And think of all the cats you’ll be able to help in the future! I wish - I wish I could help others that way.”
“Then why don’t you?” Mousewhisker chirped, tilting his head to the side, “Become a medicine cat, I mean?”
Hollowflight dipped his head, pelt fluffing out against the air and paws shuffling across the ground, “Oh, I don’t know. It’d be nice, really, but, I don’t know. Would I be good at it?” A silent question hung in the air - would my clanmates even trust me enough?
“I think you’d be great at it, Hollowflight,” Breezepelt commented, giving the stocky brown tabby tom a light tap to the flank with his tail tip, “You should really think about it.”
The younger tom cat seemed to brighten up greatly at his friend’s encouragement, eyes lighting up, “Maybe - maybe I will.”
“Hollowflight!” The group turned to the source of the voice and spotted Mossyfoot, Hollowflight’s sister, waving her tail as she stood in the camp, “Hollowflight, where ya at?”
“Over here!” Hollowflight called back to his sister, and the brown and white bicolor molly tipped her face in Hollowflight’s direction, ears swiveling at his voice, “Hey! Do you wanna go hunting with me? I was thinking we could get some prey for Pinenose and the others.”
“Sure! On my way!” Hollowflight gathered himself to his paws, dipping his head to Mousewhisker and Breezepelt, “I’ll see you guys later, hopefully with some food.”
He paused, then flicked his bushy tail tip against Lilykit’s nose, purring to her, “And I’ll be sure to bring back an extra tasty meal for the little one!”
Mousewhisker and Lilykit mewed their thanks to Hollowflight as he brushed past them, trotting towards Mossyfoot; as Hollowflight padded away, Mousewhisker couldn’t help but notice Leaftail watching them with slit eyes from across the camp. A knot twisted in his stomach: it was no secret that Leaftail was still untrusting towards Breezepelt, and the fact that Breezepelt was still so close to his fellow former trainees most likely didn’t help his case, either.
Mousewhisker jerked his gaze away and, choosing to think of something else, shot Breezepelt an amused glance.
“What?” The tom snorted at Mousewhisker, his amber eyes narrowing with intrigue, to which Mousewhisker simply shrugged, “You’ve been awful modest since stepping up to be medicine cat.”
He could practically feel the flustered warmth radiate off of Breezepelt in waves, “Why do you say it like it’s a bad thing?”
“I’m not, I’m not,” Mousewhisker soothed, blinking amicably at Breezepelt, “It’s just - it’s just a different Breezepelt than the one I knew - albeit barely - back when we were apprentices. You’ve changed.”
“We’ve all changed,” Breezepelt mused, glancing around the camp, “For better or for worse, I’m not sure.”
“I think, well, I think we’ve changed for the better,” Mousewhisker murmured, “We’ve all grown closer together, our bonds have strengthened and,” He paused once more, brushing his tail tip across Breezepelt’s side as he continued on, “We’re moving on, healing. Y’know?”
“Yeah,” Breezepelt’s fur stirred as a small gust of wind rushed through the ShadowClan camp, “Yeah, I think so, too.”
The conversation was interrupted as the nursery den’s entrance rattled, and out emerged Podpaw and Petalfur; the once sullen and withdrawn apprentice was looking much brighter today, Mousewhisker noted. Even though Podpaw still kept himself close to Petalfur’s side, Mousewhisker could see the improvement in his mentality; the tom was grinning, for the first time in a long while, his eyes sparkling as he glanced to the SproutClan cats.
“Oh, the kittens really are beautiful,” Podpaw spoke up, without having to be approached first, “Such sweet things. You should really take a look at them, Mousewhisker! Lilykit will love them.”
“I know I will!” It was Lilykit who piped up now, from where she sat next to Mousewhisker; the little kitten was practically buzzing with giddy excitement as she turned to Breezepelt, “Can I go and see them now? Please? Please?”
Breezepelt’s eyes locked with Mousewhisker for a moment and, at the sight of the gray and white tom’s pleading expression, Breezepelt relented - though he wasn’t putting up much of a fight in the first place - and nodded to Lilykit, “Of course, but go in slowly , please, and quietly .”
And so they did, softly tip-toeing into the nursery den, ducking under the top of the entrance and crouching down.
“Pinenose?” Mousewhisker whispered, low enough to not disturb, but enough that Pinenose, if she were awake, would hear him; the duo were met with a shifting figure, and slowly, Pinenose lifted her head, her eyes hooded and sleepy as she offered a weary smile to the SproutClan warrior and kit.
“Mousewhisker, I’m glad to see you,” She murmured, “I hope you brought Lilykit?”
“I’m right here, ma’am.” Lilykit’s voice was also just a whisper, albeit a little squeaky as excited as she was; Pinenose let out a content purr and gestured to her stomach with her muzzle, “Well, come on over then, you two, say hello.”
There were four kittens in total - three tortoiseshells, and one solid black kitten, just like Pinenose. Lilykit stared at the kittens with wide, shining eyes, her whiskers quivering.
“They’re so small!” Lilykit gasped, and Mousewhisker couldn’t help but let out a purr of amusement at Lilykit’s wonder, before he spoke up in a hushed tone, “They’re beautiful, Pinenose.”
“Aren’t they?” Pinenose grinned again, giving her kittens a little brush with her fluffy black tail, and Mousewhisker settled down, tucking his paws beneath his chest and belly; he curled his tail around Lilykit, and she leaned against him, still watching the kittens with such awe and wonder.
“Have you thought of any names for them?” Mousewhisker purred, and Pinenose nodded, touching her nose to each of the kittens as she spoke, “This tortoiseshell, I was thinking of Brindlekit, and the other one, Emberkit, since she and her siblings are, y’know, like the beginning of the new clans, and embers from a fire, all that.”
“Fitting!” Mousewhisker chirped, keeping his voice low as to not disturb the kittens, and Pinenose touched her nose to the smallest of the tortoiseshell kittens, “I was thinking of Littlekit, for this one, both because of her size, and after Littlecloud.”
“That’s beautiful, Pinenose.”
For a moment, Pinenose hesitated, and Mousewhisker wondered what was keeping her; she finally spoke, her eyes glowing with a passion as she gazed down at the last kitten, “And for this little black kitten? I was thinking of - of Ivykit, both for his dark fur and after -,”
“Ivypool,” Mousewhisker couldn’t help but interrupt, his throat suddenly tight as he thought of the molly who so bravely led him and so many others against the Dark Forest, who risked her very life and safety to spy on the Dark Forest to assist her family and clanmates in the final battle. She gave her life to the clans, fighting until her last breath, and she went out as she lived: protecting the innocent with every fire that blazed within her being. The survivors thought of her with remorse and honor, grieving for the loss of someone so brave, but they cherished her memory dearly.
“Yes,” Pinenose’s voice quivered a little, before she rested her chin on her paws and let her gaze fall upon Lilykit, “I know they’re a little small now, Lilykit, but don’t worry. In a couple more moons, they’ll be big enough to play.”
“You’ll let me visit?” Lilykit squeaked, and Pinenose leaned forward to touch her nose to the calico kitten’s head, “Oh, absolutely. I know you’ll be best of friends with my kittens.”
“I’d be honored!” Lilykit lifted her head, puffing out her chest as she gazed brightly at the tiny bundles sleeping soundly by Pinenose’s belly. A light purr rumbled from Pinenose, filling up the nursery den with a lulling white noise; Mousewhisker let himself revel for a moment, comforted by this soft, continuous noise and the gradual warmth of the den, filled with tiny little bundles of life.
“Well,” Mousewhisker began after a few more heartbeats had passed, slowly gathering himself to his white paws, “We should let you get your rest, Pinenose. We’ll see you soon.”
“Yes, I’ll see you two soon,” Pinenose murmured, her sleepiness beginning to seep back into her voice once more, and she didn’t raise her head from where it lay between her black paws, although she kept one eye on Lilykit. The ShadowClan queen spoke up once more, hushed and delicate, “Oh, Mousewhisker? Lilykit looks tired, she can take a rest here, if you’d like.”
“‘M not tired,” Came the mumbled reply from Lilykit, who was simply hunched over, leaning a majority of her weight against Mousewhisker’s leg. A lighthearted snort left the gray and white tom’s muzzle, and he bent his head down, rasping his tongue over Lilykit’s head; he nudged her lightly with his nose, guiding her towards Pinenose, “It’s alright to be tired, Lilykit. This was your first long distance trip outside of SproutClan territory, you must be wiped out.”
Lilykit muttered something incoherent under her breath that Mousewhisker for the absolute life of him could not make out, before the calico kitten curled up in the nest next to Pinenose’s, “‘Night, Pops.”
“Night, kiddo,” Mousewhisker echoed, touching his nose to Lilykit’s ear and struggling to attempt to ignore the swelling of emotions in his chest - never before in the three moons since the battle had Lilykit referred to Mousewhisker with a fatherly nickname, and he still wasn’t sure those three moons was enough to prepare him for this moment.
After a couple of seconds watching the kitten and the queen, making sure everyone was resting safely and soundly, Mousewhisker slipped towards the opening of the nursery den, ducking below its low hanging branches and squeezing out into the slowly dimming light of camp.
“I’ve always hated how early it starts to get dark at in leaf-bare,” Mousewhisker scoffed disdainfully to what he expected to be Breezepelt - only to realize that Breezepelt was not by the nursery entrance anymore, nor was anyone else, actually.
Glancing around the camp, Mousewhisker spotted his sister, Hazeltail, still sitting beside Hollyleaf as the two mollies chattered with Dawnpelt and Petalfur; by Petalfur’s side lay Podpaw, curled up in a small ball with his mentor’s tail wrapped around his figure and his eyes closed, either lounging or dozing off. A little ways down sat the older section of the survivors: Mistystar spoke laxly with Snowbird and Spiderleg. Mossyfoot and Hollowflight were also returning from their hunt, carrying a few pieces of fresh kill in their jaws.
Towards the center of camp was Breezepelt, accompanied by Heathertail; the molly said a few words to Breezepelt that Mousewhisker couldn’t quite catch - but he did notice the way the scarred tom brightened, albeit subtly - before she began to pad away, heading back towards Hollyleaf, Hazeltail, and the others once more.
And it seemed as though she were being replaced by, to Mousewhisker’s horror, Leaftail. The dark ginger tabby tom was padding towards Breezepelt slowly, almost cautiously, and Mousewhisker felt his own paws break out into a speedy little scamper, as if he alone could buffer whatever confrontation was about to happen.
Unfortunately, despite his long limbs, Mousewhisker was too late - Leaftail had reached Breezepelt before Mousewhisker had, although he was close enough to be within earshot.
Oh, StarClan , Mousewhisker sent a silent prayer through his head, Don’t let this end bad.
“Hey.” Leaftail greeted tersely, met by Breezepelt’s own curt, “Hi.”
There was a tense moment of silence between the two toms, before Leaftail cleared his throat, his ears twitching towards the nursery, “I’ve heard some, uh, good things about Pinenose and the kittens.”
Breezepelt shuffled his dark paws, shrugging his lean shoulders, “They’re healthy.”
“Well,” Leaftail glanced somewhere else in camp, avoiding Breezepelt’s eyes - though even if he were to look at Breezepelt directly, the medicine cat was also avoiding eye contact, “I suppose that’s all thanks to you.”
There was no response to Leaftail; Breezepelt remained silent, watching Leaftail almost fearfully, like a trapped mouse, waiting to see how the other tom followed up that sentence.
“I mean, it’s true,” Leaftail continued on, scuffing his paw against the dirt as he took in a deep breath, “You did a wonderful job helping Pinenose deliver those kits, and caring for her the past few days, and all. You’ll - uh - well, I mean… What I’m trying to say is that you’re gonna be a good medicine cat, Breezepelt.”
“I,” Breezepelt began, almost stunned by Leaftail’s praise, only to be cut off by the dark ginger tom, “It was a good choice to follow this path, is all. I’m gonna go join Heathertail now, see what she and the others are gabbin’ about. Later.”
And with that, Leaftail slunk past Breezepelt, padding by Mousewhisker on his path towards the aforementioned group of mollies; the two tom cats shared a glance that Mousewhisker himself had a hard time reading, before going on their separate ways.
“I gotta say, that went surprisingly well,” Mousewhisker announced as he took a seat next to Breezepelt, who was still watching Leaftail, probably still reeling from conversation. He blinked, dragging his attention away from Leaftail and back onto Mousewhisker, “You think so too?”
“I mean, yeah?” Mousewhisker shrugged, “Better than seeing you two flay your pelts off.”
Breezepelt snorted, a look of mixed emotions swirling in his gaze as he commented, “You haven’t seen the worst of it. When it was just me, him, and Heathertail back in WindClan -,” Breezepelt paused, almost stumbling over his words, “Back in what used to be WindClan, it was so bad.”
“Oh?”
“Yeah. Like, bad bad,” Breezepelt sighed, “We were going at each other almost every day. No wonder Heathertail dragged us here.”
“I suppose it’s done some good for the two of you,” Mousewhisker thought aloud, “I mean, back then, you two were forced to be around each other every moment with no real, I don’t know, helpful confrontation? Like I mean, you guys were obviously confronting each other, but there’s a difference between like, addressing the problem versus just a screaming match. But then you joined us, and you two got to have some space away from each other, y’know? You got some time to start to heal on your own, and now that you two have been healing on your own, you can kinda build up that foundation. You get what I’m saying?”
“Yeah,” Breezepelt’s amber eyes lightened up a bit, a soft smile splaying across his space, “Yeah, I do.”
Mousewhisker offered Breezepelt his own lopsided, small grin at the assurance. He pulled his gaze away from his companion when he heard Dawnpelt’s voice speak up from her side of the camp, “Hey, hey, can I grab everyone’s attention?”
Dawnpelt was standing by Snowbird, her expression genuinely excited, for what seemed to be the first time in a while, “It’s starting to get late, and Snowbird and I have agreed that, since this is such a special occasion, we’d be happy to shelter you guys in our camp for tonight! We can all share some meals and sleep tight together, share some gossip, all that. It’s a wonderful event, these kittens, and it should be celebrated with everyone at peace.”
There was a sweeping murmur of agreement and gratitude across the crowd, until Breezepelt suddenly called out from where he was beside Mousewhisker, causing the wiry gray and white tom to jump, “You’ll be sleeping in the warriors’ den, for sure!”
Breezepelt glanced around the camp, adding on, “Not to be rude or anything like that, but this is a little too big of a group for the nursery at the moment. I don’t want to overcrowd Pinenose and the litter, you understand?”
“Understandable,” Dawnpelt dipped her head politely to Breezepelt, “We’ll all be settling down in the warriors’ den, then! Snowbird and I have enough nests set up there for everyone.”
As the group began to move towards the warriors’ den, hoping to escape the cold air that the upcoming leaf-bare night would blanket across the camp, Mousewhisker found himself making his way to the nursery, despite Breezepelt’s previous exclamation.
“Did you hear anything that I had just said?” The tom huffed in Mousewhisker’s ear after catching up to him, smacking his tail tip right across Mousewhisker’s flank, who retaliated with a shove to Breezepelt’s shoulder from his own.
“Oh, quit fussing, Lilykit’s in there, I don’t want to just ditch her.”
Breezepelt grumbled something under his breath, trotting ahead and standing before the entrance of the nursery, “Fine, I’ll allow it. You can share my nest.”
“Sure.”
With that, they dipped into the nursery den, ready to fall rest easy, thanks to the hopeful glow and unity that filled the survivors this night.