━━━━ basslight licked her stomach as she lay in the nursery, basking in the quiet. loachpath's kits had roamed off elsewhere to cause chaos, leaving their mother behind to relax.

❝ how are you feeling? ❞ loachpath questioned with a gentle purr.

❝ i'm alright. i've settled in well, i'm glad the clan has taken me in... i don't think i'd have survived if i was out on my own with these, ❞ basslight replied and she gestured to her stomach.

❝ i think it'll be a big litter. i'm sure of it. i can feel it in my whiskers ❞ the pregnant she—cat added.

⛰︎

━━━━ bushkit bounded out of the medicine den with her tail pushed high. her greencough had since passed, as declared by daisyknoll, so she thought of nothing better than to find her siblings and play, now that she was able to again.

with a heart full of eagerness, bushkit didn't see her brother and sister, until it was too late. with an unintentional yowl of surprise, she crashed right into them, sending all three tumbling into a laughing heap.

❝ guys guys guys! i'm finally better! ❞ bushkit spat out in a hurry.

❝ can we play now? you have to make up for all the play time you missed! ❞ willowkit purred loudly.

❝ yes! let's play! ❞ wailed bushkit, bounding across the camp to the nursery to tell her mother the news before she returned to her brother and sister to play.

⛰︎

━━━━ gorgestar rested her nose on honeypaw's head, and spoke out. ❝ honeypaw, from this moment onwards, your warrior name will be honeystream. starclan honours your generosity and judgement ❞

the crowd thrilled and beckoned honeystream's name as the she—cat cowered from embarrassment. her brother, while upset that he wasn't yet made a warrior, hollered the loudest for his sister.

⛰︎

━━━━ almondstripe trudged back into camp with a bird in his jaw. he had had a successful hunting trip. but, he could've swore he heard honeystream arguing with another cat.

and when he went and investigated, being the nosey cat that he is, the cat didn't wear the scent of his clan, or hemlockclan's.

almondstripe was concerned for the strange cat as honeystripe looked as if she was ready to claw out its eyes. almondstripe stalked off before he was spotted by his clan mate, not wanting to get a mouthful off of her about why he shouldn't be spying.

⛰︎

━━━━ berrykestrel ventured in the darkness and frolicked in the solitude of his walk. the air was crisp and the scents of leaf—fall pierced his nostrils. it was quiet, save for the rustling of fallen leaves, or the call of distant creatures.

the calm was shattered abruptly. he felt a sharp jolt in his flank, and in seconds, his feet had lifted off of the ground. talons as sharp as thorns closed around the deputy.

despite the shock of the sudden attack, he lashed out and twisted in the grip of the bird, clawing at its legs biting at its skin, his teeth finding purchase in it's flesh.

the bird lost its grip and berrykestrel felt himself falling, quickly. he jerked and writhed in the air and winced, ready to take the blow of the fall. the ground rushed up towards him.

he landed with a thud, the impact jarring his bones. he flopped down into the grass and remained there to regain his senses. his fur was ruffled and he could taste the coppery flavour of blood in his mouth.

but, he was alive.

❝ nice try, bird ❞ berrykestrel huffed as he staggered to his paws. his muscles groaned in protest. he eyed the sky and watched as the bird flapped off.

painfully, berrykestrel walked back to camp.

⛰︎

━━━━ scrubstorm looked at his reflection in the rippling water that lapped at his feet. he sighed out a breath while his eyes traced the kinks and bends of the scar across his face.

he looked up, having heard the rest of his patrol was readying to return back to camp.

while he had healed, and was back to patrolling, and was happy with such, it felt strange to be marked by a scar.

━━━━ doespots entered the nursery, three mice in his grasp. as described by his peers, doespots has been considerably generous and sweet towards the medicine cat turned queen.

he placed down the rodents in front of the sleeping she—cat and tip—toed towards the entrance, trying to not wake her as he creeped out.

❝ you don't have to sneak around... ❞ basslight said softly, stifling a yawn and licking her lips at the meal displayed before her. she drummed her tail beside her.

❝ join me, ❞ she whispered.

doespots trudged back over and positioned himself next to her. he accepted a mouse that basslight had pushed over.

❝ how do you feel about co—parenting? i can't do it alone, and well... i'll have to get back to being a medicine cat once i've healed, ❞ the she—cat asked. she could see that doespots was processing what she had asked.

his whiskers twitched. he nodded his head, and then smiled. ❝ i'd love to ❞ he purred, leaning his head against hers for a moment.

doespots was excited about basslight's kits, eager for their arrival so he could be a father.

⛰︎

━━━━ ❝ doespots! ❞ daisyknoll called from the nursery. the brown and white tom sprinted across the camp, shuffling and skidding across the stone as he entered the den quickly.

he leaned his head towards basslight and huffed out to catch a breath. ❝ did i, did i miss it?! ❞ he gasped.

daisyknoll shook his head.

basslight pushed aside her tail to show a singular kitten and doespots melted at the sight of the tiny, wriggling ball of soggy fur. quickly, he rushed behind her and closely pushed himself into her to comfort her, resting his head on her back as he waited for the rest of the kits to arrive.

basslight successfully gave birth to four kittens: geckokit, hawkkit, rattlekit and stoatkit.

doespots remained by basslight's side throughout the duration of the birth, happy that they had finally arrived, and proud at basslight for bringing them into the world.

⛰︎

━━━━ rabbitneedle watched as her son took a step forwards. it felt like it was just yesterday that he and honeystream were running about as kittens, and now, he was becoming a warrior.

❝ cragpaw, from this moment onwards you will be now known as cragspark. starclan honours your justice, ❞

rabbitneedle called out her sons name the loudest, her eyes misted with tears and pride.

⛰︎

━━━━ rabbitneedle limbered into the medicine den, her head throbbing. she spluttered as she walked and ambled towards daisyknoll.

the medicine cat checked her over quickly, before declared she had fallen sick with whitecough.

⛰︎

━━━━ splitpaw gulped. she took a cautious step towards gorgestar, who pressed her nose to her head. ❝ splitpaw, we welcome you as a full warrior of peakclan. your warrior name is splitmimic, starclan honours your judgement, ❞

splitpaw was pleased with her new name. but something lingered deep inside her gut. something just didn't feel right.

she sought out daisyknoll. perhaps he could sort out the strange anxious feeling in her stomach.

❝ you okay, splitmimic? ❞ daisyknoll questioned from the other end of his den. he eyed the she—cat and looked at her nervous display.

he plucked some herbs from his pile and hurried to her side. ❝ have you ever considered a change of pace? ❞ daisyknoll meowed, a brow lifted.

splitmimic was confused.

❝ being a medicine cat, ❞ daisyknoll added on, and splitmimic's face softened. she shuffled her paws and looked down.

❝ it might be what you're looking for, it might help sooth your nerves. you won't be looking over your shoulder as much as you do now, ❞

splitmimic pondered the idea before quickly nodding her head. she had to admit, she did find herself wandering the territory when she attended training sessions, and payed no attention to the lessons, only wanting to focus on the flowers and smells.

splitmimic is made a medicine cat.

⛰︎

━━━━ gorgestar swiftly exited camp with a small patrol consisting of goldrain and almondstripe following suit. she suggested that the three of them partake in a practice battle, to sharpen their skills.

the patrol goes as planned, and the trio enjoyed it. they returned to camp exhausted from the training.

━━━━ almondstripe rushed to see daisyknoll and splitmimic, complaining of a cough and a running nose.

the tom—cat was told he has greencough.

⛰︎

━━━━ the sky unleashed a torrential downpour on goldrain and doespots as the two tom—cats pressed on through the sodden undergrowth back to camp. their fur was matted against their bodies, plastered by the relentless rain that hammered down on them.

they were on a hunting patrol spurred by doespots ' determination to fetch something fresh for basslight, to ensure she was strong enough for her kits.

they navigated their way back to camp with a modest yield of hunt. they stepped with a heavy gait, their waterlogged fur weighing them down as they walked.

goldrain slipped. a slick rock caused him to loose his footing, and the tom—cat's body flipped mid—air before he collided with the ground. his leg twisted underneath him in a sickening motion, and a sharp cry of pain tore through the muted sounds of rain.

❝ goldrain! ❞ doespots called, rushing quickly to his side. the wounded warrior tried to rise. pain etched onto his face, but it wasn't clear what he had done, all goldrain knew was that it hurt, horribly. 

❝ i'm fine— ❞ goldrain lied through gritted fangs as he battled with the raw agony that sparked through his leg.

❝ you're not, ❞ retorted doespots with a heavily worried tone to his voice. ❝ let's get back to camp, give me your prey, lean on me. don't put pressure on your leg... ❞

doespots helped goldrain scramble to his feet and supported him on the agonising trek back to camp.

daisyknoll assessed the leg on their arrival back at camp — goldrain dislocated his leg.

⛰︎

━━━━ locusttree's wounded tail healed. he was glad, as he could now continue to jump on the idea of a patrol. it's scarred heavily, however.

the tom—cat felt a little nauseous, and wandered over to the medicine den. greeting splitmimic and daisyknoll, he was given some herbs for a horrible headache he had come down with.

and, to add to it, daisyknoll noticed an on—coming fever and a crackling noise coming from his lungs. he is given herbs, and told to quarantine, after he's told he has greencough, alike almondstripe.

⛰︎

━━━━ rabbitneedle has rumoured to have been loitering around hemlockclan's border, as if to be looking for someone.

when confronted, the she—cat changes the topic of conversation.

⛰︎

━━━━ gorgestar beckoned for the clan to gather in the clearing. she gleamed a prideful smile down at the growing crowd of cats, sighing happily at how far they had come, again.

❝ we have three young faces to add to the ranks of apprentices today... ❞ she began, looking towards the three kittens in the crowd.

❝ dustykit, you've reached the age of six moons and you are now ready to become an apprentice, and will be known as dustypaw until you receive your warrior name. your mentor will be cragspark, ❞

dustypaw pushed his way forwards and touched his nose to cragspark. cragspark smiled down at his apprentice, eager to begin training.

❝ willowkit, you will be known as willowpaw until you receive your warrior name, and your mentor will be doespots, ❞

excitedly, willowpaw trotted through the crowd of cats and pushed her nose towards doespots, who dipped his head at her and grinned.

❝ and finally, bushkit. you have also reached the age of six moons and will be known as bushpaw until you receive your warrior name. and i will be your mentor, ❞

bushpaw was anxious. she tucked her tail between her legs before she touched her nose to her mentors. after, she scampered off to her siblings.

⛰︎

━━━━ bushpaw hoped that gorgestar forgot about her training. she blinked open her eyes to see the dark furred she—cat looking down over her, with an impatient expression present.

gorgestar flicked her whiskers, turned quickly and twitched her tail for bushpaw to follow her out of camp.

❝ and up there, just past the carp river, is the herding territories. it's dangerous, so i won't take you there on your first lesson, ❞ gorgestar spoke out to her apprentice, and turned to see if she was paying any attention to what she had talked about for the whole walk from camp.

gorgestar walked back along the side of the river, the way they had just trailed, ready to return to camp.

she stopped, having scented another cat.

❝ stay behind me, bushpaw ❞ she ordered and her fur thrilled out. ❝ i can smell you, come out ❞

a young cat emerged from a bush over the opposite side of the river.

❝ i'm, i— i'd like to join peakclan... ❞ the cat spoke with a tremor in their voice. the cat forced down a heavy gulp, and looked over their shoulder.

❝ i'm mountainpaw, of hemlockclan... i'd like to join, please, ❞ the apprentice asked again.

gorgestar's brows folded into a frown. ❝ and what if this is a trap for an ambush? ❞ growled gorgestar as she protectively curled her tail towards bushpaw to keep her close.

the apprentice shook their head. ❝ no, no, no it isn't. i just don't want to be in hemlockclan anymore... ❞

gorgestar paused and used their lengthy moment of silence to think. she screwed up her face and let her whiskers wrinkle.

❝ this won't help relations with hemlockclan, you are aware of this? ❞ gorgestar muttered after nodding her head with approval for the apprentice to join them on the unclaimed side of the river.

mountainpaw hopped over the river and stood near gorgestar. he nodded.

❝ i understand, ❞

gorgestar escorted mountainpaw back to camp, who expressed her dislike for her old clan. she joined the clan as a medicine cat apprentice.

━━━━ berrykestrel meowed at the front of his leaders den. he was welcomed in, and lowered his head down to greet her. he sat down and allowed his break from the bird attack a few moons ago to rest.

❝ berrykestrel, evening ❞ gorgestar purred from her nest where she cleaned her scruffy pelt after a long day of training bushpaw.

berrykestrel sighed. he didn't want to say what he was about to say, but his aches and pains of old age have since fired him out.

❝ i think it's time for me to step down as deputy, ❞

gorgestar stopped licking her stomach. she let her tongue sit, the barbs tangled with fur, as she eyed him. she unhooked her tongue from her fur and sat herself up.

she brushed past berrykestrel and stalked across to the calling tree. she hopped upon it and yowled for the clan to gather. once everyone had settled, she began.

❝ berrykestrel has served our clan for many moons now, as our beloved deputy, but has come to me about retiring, ❞

the crowd gasped and whispers spread, but gorgestar silenced them quickly with a strict 'shh'.

❝ berrykestrel, is it your wish to give up the name of a warrior and join the elders? ❞ gorgestar asked.

berrykestrel hopped forward. ❝ i do, ❞

❝ peakclan honours you and all the service you have given to us. i call upon starclan to give you many moons of rest, ❞

berrykestrel heaved out a breath of relief. the retired tom—cat limped towards the elders den.

⛰︎

━━━━ ❝ i say these words before starclan, so that the spirits of our warrior ancestors may hear and approve of my choice. the new deputy of peakclan will be scrubstorm, ❞

scrubstorm's ears throbbed. did he hear that right?

he was deputy? him? out of everyone, gorgestar chose him.

⛰︎

━━━━ swiftpaw flexed out his toes and looked up to splitmimic. ❝ thanks splitmimic, daisyknoll. i feel as good as new! ❞ the apprentice excitedly mewed.

he rose to his paws and stretched out his limb. it felt pleasant to finally be able to use all four of his legs again.

⛰︎

━━━━ honeystream dragged herself back into camp and painfully wailed out for help. she threw her head around to look at her mangled, broken leg and her face shrivelled up with disgust and agony.

splitmimic dropped a mouthful of herbs she held and rushed to the she—cats side. ❝ are you okay?! ❞

honeystream shook her head and flopped down, too exhausted to carry herself anymore.

❝ i got attacked by an animal in the herd territory, i think my leg is broken! ❞ she shrieked, holding back a waterfall of tears.

with the help of daisyknoll, splitmimic carried the wounded warrior to the medicine den and checked over her injuries.

⛰︎

━━━━ ❝ swiftpaw, you have reached the age of fifthteen moons, and are ready to become a warrior. your warrior name is swifthawk. starclan honours your energy and bravery, ❞

swifthawk's face warmed with joy. he turned to look at his clan mates as they called out his name. he had not been in the clan for long, and had bee sheltered in the medicine den a lot of the time, but peakclan was home.

⛰︎

━━━━ gorgestar, cragspark and doespots trailed down the mountain and into the valley, all of their apprentices following behind as they talked amongst the small group.

the idea in mind was a large training session for the lot of them, but doespots found a sunny spot and a patch of snowless grass to lay in.

gorgestar allowed for them to rest, teaching the 'paws a verbal lesson rather than a physical one. it was an enjoyable training session. the apprentices asked to do more in the future.

━━━━ having rested in the medicine den for a few moons, goldrain's dislocated leg is finally better. it was popped back into place by splitmimic, and it was a painful process — but goldrain's glad to be back on his feet again.

⛰︎

━━━━ almondstripe trotted out of the medicine cat den. he had his final check—up, and was clear of his greencough. he breathed in the crisp, cold air and was relieved to no longer be spluttering.

locusttree followed after the tabby tom—cat.

❝ the stars have aligned! we are both better, ❞ the orange tom—cat yowled triumphantly. laughing at locusttree's comment, almondstripe just shook his head and challenged the tom to a race across to the other side of camp.

⛰︎

━━━━ stretching, basslight watched as her kits tumbled in the snow. she smiled and shook out her pelt upon standing.

spying doespots in the corner of her eye she called him over. ❝ i'm ready to return to my duties now, i will spend my time within the medicine den, as well as the nursery now, ❞ she mumbled.

doespots nodded, understanding that she had a lot on her paws. ❝ i'll keep them entertained, ❞ he said with a flick of his nose towards the playing kits.

⛰︎

━━━━ bushpaw walked across the snow layered grass of peakclan's valley, the rest of the patrol had scattered around to search for prey.

❝ i have an idea about how to catch squirrels? ❞ she spoke aloud and looked at the turning heads.

she explained the idea: suggesting that they find a sheltered tree, climb it and then shake the branches to scare the rodents out.

the idea was strange, but the patrol tackled the idea. they caught a small number of squirrels.

dustypaw, cragspark, bushpaw, gorgestar and rabbitneedle all returned to camp cold with little to show for their hunt.

⛰︎

━━━━ daisyknoll walked beside mountainpaw as the apprentice explained a dream she had the night before, one that she thinks may have been some sort of prophecy.

daisyknoll is unsure about what mountainpaw told him, but they have a successful herb collecting session and return to camp with betony.

⛰︎

━━━━ loachpath and swifthawk stalked through the shadows of night, patrolling. swifthawk catches the scent of a large creature and pauses in his steps.

thankfully, the canine wasn't on their territory and he looks to his partner with a furrowed brow. ❝ so, do we tell hemlockclan? ❞ he asked.

loachpath shook her head. ❝ why risk your life and pass such a beast. they'll find out eventually, ❞

⛰︎

━━━━ the territory was quiet. scrubstorm stopped upon hearing an ear—splitting cry of pain. alert and tense, his ears swivelled and he ambled cautiously towards the distressed creature.

he moved swiftly and stealthily towards the noise. as he neared, the soft hiss of pain grew louder, guiding him the two dead trees. there, he found the origin of the distress — a loner.

the loner tried to stand and fluff out her fur, in an attempt to scare off scrubstorm. but, the attempt only brought forth ankther wince of pain. the cat was in no shape to fight, or even stand.

❝ easy there... ❞ scrubstorm spoke softly. ❝ you're injured. let me take you back to my camp, ❞

the she—cat looked up. pain pooled her eyes.

❝ my names scrubstorm, deputy of peakclan. those peaks up there? that's our home, ❞ he added and he turned to point towards the mountains.

❝ my names... bee, ❞ growled the she—cat, mainly due to the splitting pain in her mangled leg.

scrubstorm approached once the she—cat nodded to accept his aid, and he offered his flank for support.

they journeyed back to camp. bee was walked to the medicine den, and her injured leg was inspected.

bee joined the clan, and gained her warrior name of coldbee.