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| - This story is told by the point of view of Leafpool, and it takes place just after the clans recovered from the battle with the Dark Forest. Chapter 1 was by Oakswirl, and has been adopted by Darkstripe for continuation. "Hey, Leafpool, can I talk to you for a second?" Leafpool looked up at the sound of Squirrelflight's voice. The ThunderClan deputy stood in the entrance of the nursery, looking excited and nervous at the same time. "Okay, just a second." Leafpool turned back to Ivypool, pushing several herbs toward the tabby-and-white queen. "Eat this borage, Ivypool." "Again? It takes so bitter!" She complained. "You want the best for your kits, don't you?" Leafpool retorted. Ivypool sighed. "Of course I do." She pulled her two newborns, one a light brown tabby and the other silver tabby-and-white like her, closer to her side with her tail. Besides Ivypool, there were two other queens in the nursery. Dovewing had had her kits, Fogkit and Tabbykit, a quarter-moon ago. Their eyes would be opening any day now. In the corner lay Hazeltail, her stomach just starting to swell with unborn kits. Leafpool padded toward the entrance of the nursery, following her sister into the forest. "Okay, what is it?" She asked. "I'm going to have kits." "Congratulations!" Leafpool pressed her muzzle aganist Squirrelflight's. "Bramblestar's, right?" Squirrelflight's eyes shone teasingly. "No, they're Purdy's." "What? You think just because I'm old and fat now no cat ever wanted to be my mate?" The two cats froze as Purdy stepped out from behind a tree. "Purdy, I'm sorry!" Said Squirrelflight, mortified. "I didn't-I just-" "It's all right." Purdy murmured, flicking her with his tail. "I know you didn't mean any harm." He glanced down at himself. "Y'know, back when I had an upwalker to groom my fur and enough good hunting to keep me in shape, I was a very good-looking cat. And yes, I had a mate. Her name was Raindrop. She was very brave and beautiful. Stubborn, too." He let out a mrrow of laughter. Oh no. Leafpool wasn't in the mood for one of Purdy's endless stories. But Squirrelflight was looking at Purdy with real interest. "What happened to her?" When Purdy hesitated, she quickly added, "You don't have to tell us if you don't want to." "No…no, I can tell you. Well, one way we were out hunting. We went out farther than than usual, and…well, we got lost. We got all excited when we found a road-what you'd call a thunderpath- that we recognized. But then the pound monster drove along-" "What's the pound?" Asked Leafpool. "Twolegs that trap cats and dogs." Leafpool and Squirrelflight shivered. "So anyway, to make a long story short, they caught us. I was wearing a collar, so they took me back to my upwalker. But Raindrop was a loner. She respected my decision to be a housecat, but she'd rather die than be with twolegs. She was stubborn, like I said. The upwalkers drove away with her, and-" Purdy's voice cracked- "and, I never saw her again." "Oh, Purdy…" Leafpool's heart ached. She couldn't imagine how awful that would be. "I looked for her every day." Purdy murmured. "But then a few days passed. She would never let a upwalker adopt her, and I know what happens to unwanted cats at the pound…" Purdy's voice trailed off. "Purdy, I'm sorry." Squirrelflight murmured. "It's all right." Purdy gave his pelt a shake. "Now, why don't you head back to camp and tell that mate of yours he's going to be a father." TTT "Let all cats old enough to catch their own prey gather for a clan meeting!" Leafpool sat up drowsly, quickly grooming her pelt before padding out to join the rest of the clan. "The scent of a loner was found on our territory." Bramblestar begain. "What?" Berrynose leaped to his paws. "I'll rip the mangy furball's pelt off!" "It's not like that." Bramblestar replied calmly. "From the scent, the loner is clearly not in fighting condition. She is the age of one of our elders, and very weak-possibly starving to death. I will send a patrol to track the scent and find out more about the intruder. The patrol will consist of Cloudtail…" Leafpool's mind wandered. "…and Leafpool." Leafpool looked up at him, startled. "Why am I coming?" "This loner is very weak, perhaps ill. You may need to give her herbs." "Oh, okay." Leafpool got to her paws and followed the patrol. They had only walked a few fox-lengths out of the territory when Leafpool heard a hiss from the front of the patrol. She quickly bounded forward. An old she-cat was backed up aganist the roots of a tree. She might have been pretty once, but now her long gray-and-cream fur was tangled with burrs and twigs, like she hadn't groomed herself in days. Leafpool could see her ribs. The she-cat was spitting at Cloudtail: "I can manage on my own, thanks!" "Clearly not, since you've had to steal our prey!" Cloudtail retorted. Then his voice softened. "We're not saying you have to stay for good. Maybe we could just get you some food?" Her eyes flashed. "Oh, no! I've survived this long without upwalkers, Blizzard! I'm not going to go crawling to them now!" "Why are you calling me Blizzard? My name is Cloudtail, and I'm not a kittypet." The she-cat paused. "Huh." She peered at him closely. "Yeah, you're right, Blizzard has green eyes." She frowned. "But you look exactly like him." "Cloudtail, slow down for a second!" Leafpool exclamed, darting between the two cats. She turned to the loner. "First of all, what's your name?" She blinked at him. Her eyes were a strange color, light brown. "My name's Raindrop." Leafpool gasped, hardly believing her ears. They'd found Purdy's mate! "You're Raindrop?" She asked excitedly to prove her mind hadn't played any tricks. The loner squinted her pale eyes at Leafpool. "Yeah." She meowed, whiskers twitching a touch uncomfortably. "And your name's... Toad, isn't it?" Her eyes clouded with confusion. "No, you can't be Toad, she died two moons ago. Are you her daughter, then? I didn't think she had any kits, but maybe my old noggin's a bit murky." Leafpool concluded silently that the elderly she-cat was not all that well in the head, but didn't voice it aloud so she would not offend her. TBC
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