#cottonkit

Morningpaw is made a warrior, given the name Morningspot. Morningspot knows that Barleywave was a great mentor, helping her feel more at ease and better at resolving her inner anxieties. She may still be afraid of the Woods - but she truly, deeply, loves her Clanmates. She will help them however she can.

(Morningspot, warrior, female, 13 moons. Nervous.) (Barleywave, warrior, male, 40 moons. Playful.) (Redstar, leader, female, 69 moons. Strict.)

Olive's kits are finally made apprentices, now Branchpaw and Perchpaw. Redstar isn't too friendly with Tree, but she can't deny their impressive skills regarding the Woodcrawlers, and assigns them to train Branchpaw. Redstar also believes that Hopechase is overdue for another apprentice, and assigns Perchpaw to her.

(Branchpaw, apprentice, female, 6 moons. Ambitious.) (Perchpaw, apprentice, female, 6 moons. Adventurous.) (Tree, warrior, non-binary, 42 moons. Ambitious.) (Hopechase, warrior, female, 93 moons. Playful.) (Redstar, leader, female, 69 moons. Strict.)

Riversnow very sheepishly announces that she thinks, she's not sure, she may have to wait a bit, she...might be expecting kits? Several cats offer congratulations, and ask if Barleywave's the sire. Despite Cloudthunder's intervention, Riversnow is, regrettably, a terrible liar. Barleywave's mortified expression across the clearing also doesn't help.

(Iciclepool, deputy, female, 67 moons. Ambitious.) (Riversnow, warrior, female, 60 moons. Adventurous.) (Barleywave, warrior, male, 40 moons. Playful.) (Cloudthunder, warrior, female, 44 moons. Adventurous.)

Riversnow didn't want to take any of the weird herbs Shiverpaw was telling her to take for her pregnancy. She would be just fine, thank you very much. Despite Shiverpaw's appeal, she rejects them, much to the apprentice's frustration.

(Shiverpaw, medicine cat apprentice, female, 11 moons. Loving.) (Riversnow, warrior, female, 60 moons. Adventurous.)

Talontooth, Iciclepool and Morningspot hunt and catch prey, but there's one rabbit that seems...off. But it's leafbare, and they need food. Talontooth catches it, but later, those who eat it get stomach aches. Tree in particular becomes shocked and poisoned.

(Iciclepool, deputy, female, 67 moons. Ambitious.) (Tree, warrior, non-binary, 42 moons. Ambitious.) (Talontooth, warrior, male, 15 moons. Adventurous.)

Tree trusts Shiverpaw to provide them with the best possible care. As Tree expresses relief, Shiverpaw reads a little too far into their kindness.

(Shiverpaw, medicine cat apprentice, female, 11 moons. Loving.) (Tree, warrior, non-binary, 42 moons. Ambitious.)

Hopechase told Barleywave a hard truth he needed to hear. They speak as they watch Cloudthunder's kits figure out snow for the first time.

(Barleywave, warrior, male, 40 moons. Playful.) (Hopechase, warrior, female, 93 moons. Playful.) (Deerkit, kitten, female, 1 moon. Noisy) (Airkit, kitten, male, 1 moon. Polite.) (Cottonkit, kitten, female, 1 moon. Fearless)

---

"Barleywave."

Hopechase approached the dark tom in a moment of privacy, under the branch of a sagging pine tree, weighed down by snow. She made sure that most of the Clan was either having their afternoon nap, or out patrolling. It was probably the least she could do to make him comfortable, given the circumstances.

Barleywave turned to look at Hopechase, and gave a deceptively pleasant smile. He waved his tail in greeting. "Hey Hope."

Hopechase returned the gesture before sitting candidly in front of him. Her blue eyes simmered with intent. She knew that he knew what she was here for. She could tell because despite the tom's straight face, she could read his nervous tick anywhere. His entire body freezing wasn't exactly subtle.

The dark grey molly decided to rip the pine sap off. "So. Riversnow's pregnancy."

"Yup! Uhh, good for her," he blurted. Despite his lighthearted expression, Hopechase's eyes narrowed.

The tom's eyes had a thin layer of terror. Great StarClan, he was really bad at this.

Hopechase sighed. She knew Barleywave since he was a kit. He was never the type to know how to deal with his emotions. Back when Lakestar was alive, fine, it was a method of survival. Not letting a cruel cat know how you really feel about them was vital. But she was dead now, and this wasn't helping him. The Clan wasn't stupid - they saw how Riversnow often padded after him when she felt nervous around Clanmates. They also saw how Barleywave pushed himself to at least be somewhat vulnerable, if it meant that Riversnow would feel less distressed. Their affections weren't a secret.

Which is why they were quite surprised that ever since Riversnow announced her pregnancy, both of them were avoiding each other like the plague.

Yes, technically Riversnow didn't have to declare the sire. But both of them were terrible at hiding secrets.

"Did you congratulate her?"

"Err…no, haven't had the time yet," he answered sheepishly.

"Are you going to?"

Silence.

Hopechase's pale blue eyes narrowed, then softened. She allowed her brief moment of frustration to pass through her, then replaced it with empathy.

Warblerkit. She had a feeling this was about Warblerkit.

Barleywave didn't like talking about his lost son. He and Riversnow came out and were honest with the Clan about his origins. But nothing else.

Now that Riversnow was pregnant - both parents, in theory, had the chance to try again. Maybe have a happier ending than the one they had with Warblerkit.

Or not.

Of course. Of course he'd be afraid of that.

“Barleywave," Hopechase said softly. She placed a gentle tail on his shoulder. The tom glanced at it. "Look. I'm not going to make any assumptions. Maybe we have it all wrong, and that's possible. But I'm going to offer you some wisdom, if you're willing to listen."

Barleywave didn't look at Hopechase in the eye, but his ear twitched towards her attentively. His gaze was focused on empty space in the distance.

"If you DID sire Riversnow’s kits – then don’t hold back on loving them like you did with Warblerkit."

"What?" Barleywave sputtered, his voice tightened. He laughed nervously, his hazel eyes wide with bewilderment. "I'm - I swear I'm not - "

"If you're not the sire, that's fine. You can ignore everything that I'm about to tell you," Hopechase interjected. "But just in case you may enjoy Riversnow's company and wish to bond with her and her children at some point in time…" Hopechase's whiskers twitched knowingly. "You need to understand that you are allowed to grieve. But if you fear every risk of death and every crisis that will come, you’ll lose sight of appreciating those you love when you're here. Any time spent with people we care about matters in this place.”

The world fell silent around them. Hopechase removed her tail from the tom's shoulder and simply waited. She looked out into the snowy clearing, watching Cloudthunder's kits emerge from the nursery with curious eyes.

Cottonkit, the chocolate tabby with a white underbelly, bravely took a step forward and put both of her paws into the snow. Her hazel eyes were wide with shock, but she didn't pull back.

"...Well?" Airkit asked, the tom's copper eyes sniffed at the snow with curiosity. But he didn't seem eager to take the first step until his siblings confirmed it first.

Deerkit stared at her sister, who still refused to move. She tentatively placed a paw into the snow, then immediately pulled it back and hissed. "Nope! No, nuh uh! I don't wanna! Cold!" Deerkit protested and retreated back into the den. Airkit wordlessly decided that was enough for him, and followed after his sibling.

Hopechase's whiskers twitched in amusement. Then, Cottonkit just threw her head back and started yelling for no reason, before slamming her face into the snow. Hopechase let out a mrrow of amusement. Ah, small kits.

Barleywave was watching this bizarre interaction with a hint of weight in his eyes. “...But it hurts when they’re gone," he whispered.

Hopechase turned to face him, then let out a sympathetic purr. “I know. I’ve been there. But the thing we always regret the most, is not spending enough time with them when they were here. Trust me. I'm the oldest cat here. I would know.”

There was a silence again as Barleywave stared at the kits again. He watched as Cloudthunder emerged from the den, groggy and tired, her eyes raised in confusion as she watched her very strange kit burrowing herself into the snow. He closed his eyes, then sighed. “...You really refuse to let people mope, don’t you?”

---

Leader

Littlestar: Female, 67 moons. Childish.

Deputy

Riftsight: Female, 42 moons. Ambitious.

Lead Healer

Lowbreak: Male, 111 moons. Responsible.

Warriors and Apprentices

Dashwave: Male, 78 moons. Rebellious.

Adderpaw: Female, 9 moons. Lonesome (Not Pictured).

Larkfur: Male, 82 moons. Compassionate.

Mousespots: Male, 114 moons. Vengeful.

Splotchpaw: Female, 10 moons. Vengeful. (Not Pictured).

Splashspots: Female, 91 moons. Righteous.

Vinetoe: Male, 97 moons. Charismatic.

Queens and Kits

Olivestem: Female, 105 moons. Righteous.

Barkkit: Female, 0 moons. Know-It-All.

Cherrykit: Male, 0 moons. Sweet (Not Pictured).

Cottonkit: Male, 0 moons. Bullying.

Rowankit: Male, 0 moons. Bossy.