Claws; Forest Of Fire

Leafbright stared at Willowclaw in shock, her mouth hanging open. Her gaze kept flitting to Willowclaw's stomach, and Leafbright's heart seemed to leap into her throat when she thought about the fact that within a moon Willowclaw's stomach would be bulging. And within two she'd be a mom.

"How?" Leafbright murmured, dragging her gaze back to Willowclaws blind eyes.

"I thought you knew how this stuff happened," Willowclaw murmured with humor in her voice.

Leafbright rolled her eyes.

"You know what I mean," Leafbright meowed, nudging Willowclaws shoulder playfully.

"You don't hate me, do you?" Willowclaw asked, all humor gone from her voice.

"Of course not! But I have a question," Leafbright meowed with a slight tease in her voice. "Does that mean you and Flametail are mates now?"

Willowclaw purred, nodding, and Leafbright grinned. This was probably the happiest she'd seen Willowclaw since she'd been made a warrior, so she wasn't going to ruin this for her.

"You're going to be a great mom!" Leafbright purred, nuzzling Willowclaw. But she just noticed a faint aching in her chest, and felt a pang of sadness, but didn't know why.

"You really think so?" Willowclaw purred. Leafbright nodded then remembered she couldn't see her.

"I know so," she responded.

Together they walked from behind the warriors den to see Birchfrost looking at them both wide-eyed.

"You heard, didn't you?" Leafbright asked, wincing when he nodded. She expected him to start yowling at Willowclaw but instead he ran over to her, purring.

"I'm so excited for you!" he purred, licking Willowclaw's ears. "Leafbright's right. You'll be a great mom. And Flametail will be a great dad."

Leafbright was surprised by Birchfrost's complement to Flametail, but she was very happy he was taking this so well. But she still felt the aching in her chest as she walked into the warriors den. The sun had started sinking below the horizon, and Leafbright was tired. Plus, she didn't feel like eating anyway.

She had just laid down and started to drift to sleep when she heard squeaky voices outside the den.

"This is the warrior's den, right?"

"Yeah, I think so."

"We'll be sleeping here soon."

"No we won't!"

"Yeah, you have to be an apprentice first."

Leafbright stood up and peeked her head outside the den. Otterkit, Lionkit, Nightkit, and Dawnkit all jumped, looking at her.

"Hi, Leafbright!" Dawnkit squeaked, bowling into her paws. Leafbright purred and nudged the small kit back to her paws. Nightkit tumbled over his sister, purring as he rolled into Leafbright's paws.

"What are you four doing?" Leafbright asked, sitting down as Nightkit and Dawnkit hopped back over to Lionkit and Otterkit.

"Lionkit and Otterkit were showing us around!" Nightkit squeaked happily. "They're gonna be warriors soon!"

"No, they have to be apprentices first," she purred. "But close."

"Told you!" Otterkit meowed to Lionkit, giving his brother a smug look. Leafbright purred as the kits fell into a mock fight.