This is the prologue of a short story I am writing titled 'Outcast'. I hope you enjoy! This is set 

The sun sank behind the horizon as Greyripple's final kit was born. Her limbs went limp with exhaustion and she closed her eyes, fighting to stay awake. "She's losing too much blood." meowed Hawknose, trying to keep his cool.
Gullwing nuzzled his mate, trying to hold in his anger and despair. Why must StarClan do this to him? He had already lost two of three kits from the couple's first litter to blood loss. He did not need to lose his mate the same way. Haven't I been tortured enough? I know I made a mistake, but that way my fault, not my family's! Gullwing silently yelled at StarClan.

"Gullwing?" the white and grey tom heard a voice behind him say.
It was his daughter, Echopaw, returning from collecting water for her mother. The she-cat looked tired and scared, like she'd just seen the ghost of Waveclaw. Gullwing pulled the apprentice toward him and nuzzled her for comfort. "Is Greyripple gonna be okay?" Echopaw sniffed, looking up at her father.

Gullwing glanced over at Hawknose who looked back at him sadly, shaking his head. "There's nothing we can do, I'm afraid. Greyripple's life is in the paws of StarClan now..."

-ˋˏ ↠ ❆ ↞ ˎˊ˗

Gullwing watched his two newborn kits knead their foster mother's stomach with tiny pink paws. The tom felt his senses flood with sadness and remorse. This was all his fault! If he hadn't offered to take Grassfoot's apprentice hunting he would have been there when Greyripple started kitting. He could've helped her. She could've made it. If only Gullwing was there for her like she had always been there for him. "I failed her." he whispered, staring blankly at his kits.
Their foster mother, Heronclaw, shook her head. "No Gullwing, you didn't. You were not the one who caused her to lose that much blood." the tabby queen meowed.

Gullwing looked up, his eyes sparking with anger. "But it is my fault! If I hadn't fallen in love with Mapleberry, then StarClan would not be angry with me. Torrentkit and Finkit wouldn't have died and Echopaw would still have her brothers. And if that isn't enough, Greyripple just died and now my kits don't have a mother!" the patched tom wailed.

Heronclaw gave him a reassuring nuzzle. "Speaking of your kits, don't you think you should name them?" she asked, gently.

After a moment of thought, Gullwing nodded. "Echopaw, Greyripple and I talked about names." he mumbled.
The tom padded over to Heronclaw's nest and sat down. His kit's suckled from the queen next to her single she-kit, Windykit, who was a moon older. The two looked so sweet and innocent, unaware of how they would never know their real mother.

"Greyripple wanted to name one kit after Torrentkit and Finkit," he told the queen. "So the tom will be Splashkit, after his older brothers."

Heronclaw purred. "Lovely name, Gullwing. And what about her?" she asked, gesturing to the grey she-kit.

Gullwing thought for a while before making his final decision. "Ripplekit. For she looks just like her mother." the tom concluded.

Heronclaw nodded. "Go get some sleep Gullwing. You need to rest."

The warrior heeded her and stumbled in the dark to the warriors den. There was no moon that night so he had trouble finding his nest, but as soon as he lay down, he was asleep and dreaming.