i CAN'T do t h i s . . . [PRIVATE! Fleetfoot]

[sILVER--»]

Outside, it was sunset. The colors swirled in the sky, all complimenting the beautiful glimmer of sun just resting on the horizon. Once that little glimmer disappeared into the Earth, the land would be plunged into darkness. The icy wind rustled through a bare, cold, lifeless-looking tee, knocking its branches together. But the sun was still up there, as if waiting for something.

Heatherstar's bright blue eyes blinked open like twin flash-lights. Something about her felt heavier today. Something about her stomach. She ignored it as she stood up and stretched, yawning and exposing her sharp ivory teeth. Then she sxtood up and glanced down at her stomach. She had noticed it getting a little bigger and uncomfortable lately, but she had just thought she was eating to much. Now, her stomach was swollen to almost twice its regular size. It was kind of like the queens she saw in the nursery, lying in their nest. Heatherstar froze. Queens?

Then, she knew it. She was going to have kits soon. Her first reaction was happiness, but it was soon overlayed by panic and terror. She knew she couldn't do this...she had a duty to her Clan. What was she going to do? Stay calm, stay calm, she told herself, but she couldn't. Her breath was coming in short gasps now. She knew she was pregnant. Now what?

Heatherstar trotted as fast as she could without being uncomfortable out of her den. Now the sun had finally set, and the world was in darkness. Almost every warrior was asleep except for the night patrol and her. Her eyes were wide. No. This couldn't be happening. It just couldn't.

She rushed to the front of the warriors den and stood at the entrance, desperately searching for Fleetfoot's sleeping shape. When she saw it, her breathing came easier. She rushed over to him and pawed him urgently. Fleetfoot, wake up right now!

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[tiger]

The grey cat was sleeping, his head in the world of dreams. Floating, swimming, just peaceful. Then he felt a hard jab in his side, and sprung up. His ears swiveled back, his eyes narrowed. But he quickly realized that it was Heatherstar, and his ears crept forward, and his mouth upturned into a small, irritated smile. He didn't like being woken up from sleep. But... He held his tongue, before he made the remark most expected from him which was, what! Instead he tilted his head.

"Yes Heatherstar? He wasn't romantic, he never had been. But from Fleetfoot this was like him declaring his love. That's the closest he'd get. He had noticed how she had begun to get bigger around the middle, but thought she was just getting more to eat, for the season was pretty plentiful. He suspected absolutely nothing. His ambition was still fierce, and his interests were still to giving Windclan the best they could have. In fact... He had been thinking about launching an attack on Thunderclan. If he had been less focused on this, maybe he would have noticed the panic in Heatherstar's eyes.

[sILVER--»]

At first, Fleetfoot didn't wake up, and Heatherstar felt a pang of nervousness. How would she handle this alone? She had a duty to her Clan, she couldn't skip off to the nursery and have kits! However, she held her breath until Fleetfoot said something. Just a simple, "Yes, Heatherstar?" He didn't notice anything? No panic? What kind of mate was he? But Heatherstar couldn't stay mad for long - he had never been very romantic anyway - very ambitious, in fact, he had hated her at first. However, Heatherstar still loved him. But she hadn't expected KITS!

She was so confused and scared that she stuttered slightly over her words. Fleetfoot I...I'm p-preg.... She paused for a second. She didn't want to tell him. She didn't even want to believe that she was pregnant! However, she put off talk about that by saying, We should launch an attack on ThunderClan. We have that little patch of forest, and we have the right to hunt in it, so why are they trying to stop us? However, after she said that, she felt a little guilty. If she didn't tell him, he would never know until out popped the kits!

Fleetfoot-I'm-pregnant-I-think-I-will-give-birth-very-soon.

[/color] She burst out as if it was one word. She was nervous, and filled with terror. Plus, wasn't birthing dangerous? Back in the old forest that queen...Silversomething, hadn't she died giving birth? Heatherstar felt a tiny chill of terror crawl up her spine. I don't know what I'll do...I can't lead my Clan from the nursery![/blockquote][/size]