Эрин Хантер - Legends of the Clans

Thunderstar bolted into the den. Cloud Spots glanced at him sharply. “Sometimes it’s better for the father to wait outside.”

“No, I need him,” Violet Dawn insisted.

Shivering Rose, her paws on Violet Dawn’s side, mewed, “I think they’re almost here.” Violet Dawn yowled again, pain in her voice.

Thunderstar lay beside her, curling his body around hers. “It’s all right,” he murmured into her ear. “Just think how beautiful our kits will be. They’ll finally be able to kick you from the outside instead of the inside.”

Violet Dawn gave a short mrrow of laughter, which turned into another gasp.

“The first one’s coming,” Cloud Spots announced.

“Take a deep breath and push,” Shivering Rose mewed. “Not long now.”

There was a commotion of movement from the medicine cats down at the other end of Violet Dawn’s body, but Thunderstar’s attention was focused on his mate’s face, her amber eyes locked on his as she shook and panted. “You’re doing so well,” he mewed softly to her. “You’re so brave and strong.”

“A tom,” Cloud Spots announced, his voice warm, and a tiny wet kit was placed next to Violet Dawn’s belly. “Lick him warm.”

Thunderstar bent his head toward the little tom, whose coat was the same bright ginger as Thunderstar’s own. As he began to lick, he was flooded with wonder and love. Why had no cat told him this was how it would feel? Of course he would protect and teach this little one. The path seemed clear at last: He would love his kits. Everything else would follow.

By the time the sun had almost set, it was all over.

“Four healthy kits,” Thunderstar purred with satisfaction. He looked around the nursery. Milkweed was nursing Patch Pelt and Beech Tail in their nest on the other side of the den, and her two kits, who had seemed small to Thunderstar just that morning, now looked enormous in contrast to his tiny, beautiful kits.

“They’re quite nice, aren’t they?” Violet Dawn mewed, gently licking the head of the last to be born, a gray tom even smaller than his brothers and sisters.

“I used to think it was silly when cats called their kits perfect,” Thunderstar confessed. “But now I know what they mean. Our kits are absolutely perfect. All four of them.”

“This one is going to be the strongest, I think.” Violet Dawn nosed gently at one of the she-kits, a ginger-striped tabby. “See how hard she’s kneading at my side already. And look.” She gently nudged the kit over onto her back. “See that?”

The little she-kit had a white stripe zigzagging across her belly. It looked just like a bolt of lightning.

A twinge of grief broke into Thunderstar’s happiness. Lightning Tail would have laughed at the echo of his own name and made a special favorite out of the kit. He would have been so happy to watch over and play with all four of the kits. But Lightning Tail would never see them. I’ll tell them all about brave Lightning Tail, Thunderstar vowed silently. The cat who saved me.

A breeze blew through the high branches of Fourtrees, and a full moon floated high in the sky overhead. Thunderstar leaped up onto the Great Rock beside Skystar and Windstar, leaving his Clanmates to mingle with the other cats of SkyClan and WindClan.

“Where are the others?” he asked.

“ShadowClan’s just coming now,” Windstar replied, nodding toward the edge of the hollow, where a slender black she-cat was leading a stream of cats into the clearing.

“I can hear RiverClan,” Skystar mewed. “And smell fish.” All three cats purred with amusement—Riverstar was a wise and generous leader, but his Clan’s diet left them all with a very identifiable odor.

In just a few heartbeats, the other two leaders had joined them on the Great Rock, and Windstar called the cats in the hollow below them to order.

“What news?” she asked, looking around at the other leaders.

“I’ll go first, if you don’t mind,” Thunderstar mewed. “We have a lot of news in ThunderClan.”

“Starting with your new kits, I assume?” Shadowstar asked with a purr. There were meows of excitement and congratulation from the cats of all five Clans.

“Yes,” Thunderstar said, warmth creeping through his pelt. “Violet Dawn and I welcomed four healthy kits, two toms and two she-cats. They’re all doing really well, and so is Violet Dawn.”

“I’m very happy for you, and I know all of RiverClan is, too,” Riverstar mewed, and Windstar and Shadowstar chimed in with their own congratulations.

“Give Violet Dawn all our best wishes,” Windstar added. “Maybe in a few moons she’ll come to a Gathering again.”

“I can’t wait to meet the kits.” Skystar’s blue eyes were shining. “My own kit with kits.” He draped his tail across Thunderstar’s. “I only wish Gray Wing was here. He would have been so proud of you.”

Thunderstar felt unexpectedly touched by the sincere happiness in Skystar’s voice. Part of me still wants Skystar’s approval, he realized. And it would be good for the kits to have kin in his father’s Clan, if they ever needed SkyClan’s help.

“I have sad news, too.” Thunderstar waited for the Clans to quiet, every face turned up to him attentively. “We sent word that the dogs were no longer a threat, but I didn’t tell you that we paid a terrible price. Lightning Tail was killed fighting the dogs.”

There were murmurs of dismay from every Clan. Every cat had liked and respected Lightning Tail.

Windstar bowed her head in sorrow. Lightning Tail had been born and grown up in her group on the moor, and she knew him well. “WindClan will mourn Lightning Tail,” she mewed, and the other leaders agreed.

“I kept vigil over his body through the night after he died,” Thunderstar added. “It gave me a chance to remember him, and to say good-bye.”

“Did it give you peace?” Riverstar asked solemnly.

“It did,” Thunderstar mewed. “And it felt right. It felt like a way to honor all he’d done for me.”

Riverstar nodded. “It’s a good idea to show respect to our dead,” he said.

The other leaders agreed, murmuring thoughtfully.

“Perhaps we can all honor our warriors by spending a last night with them before they pass on to StarClan,” Shadowstar added solemnly.

“Have you chosen your new deputy?” Skystar asked. “You can’t leave your Clan without one. What if something happened to you?”

Shadowstar agreed. “And you need a cat to help you run the everyday life of the Clan.”

Thunderstar looked around the hollow. His gaze sought out Skystar’s deputy Sparrow Fur; Windstar’s mate and deputy, Gorse Fur; Riverstar’s deputy, Night; Shadowstar’s deputy, Sun Shadow. All cats who were absolutely trusted by their leaders, who had proved themselves good friends and wise advisors. They were all admired and respected by their Clans.

Thunderstar looked over his own Clan: generous Pink Eyes, brave Snail Shell, clever Blue Whisker, strong hunter Leaf. They were all fine cats. None of them were Lightning Tail. No cat was.

A breeze ran through his pelt, almost like the brush of a tail across his back, and for a moment Thunderstar almost thought he heard the purr of his oldest friend.

If Lightning Tail were here, he would tell me not to be a mouse-brain, he thought. The Clan needs a deputy, and there’s one cat who’s right for the job. I decided the night the kits were born; I just haven’t been able to bring myself to tell the Clan.