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A ginger head peeked out of the den, quickly scanning the camp. She didn't see the familiar tabby tom, and that gave her the courage to step out of Littletimber's den. She didn't want him to see her and jump to conclusions without being able to tell him herself. She strode quickly across the camp, putting as much distance between herself and the medicine cat's den as she could.

Emberstorm made her way to the fresh-kill pile, sniffing around until she found something she liked, which happened to be a plump squirrel. She had just settled down to eat when four cats entered the camp. Green eyes followed the head of the patrol as he went to Lionstar's den, no doubt relaying what the patrol had seen.

She kept her eyes trained on Lionstar's den, waiting until her brown and black tom emerged. As his eyes swept over camp, she waved her tail, flagging him over to her. When he came close, she smiled up at him, blinking her eyes slowly.

She motioned for him to sit, before her face drew into a more serious expression. "Thornstrike, we need to talk."

@lacihparg

[Deleted]

t h o r n s t r i k e
senior warrior, treeclan

Thornstrike quickly led the border patrol back into the camp, eager to give Lionstar the good news of a calm patrol. Those were welcome in the times leading up to leaf-bare, when the focus was stockpiling for the coming cold season and preparing for less prey. He dismissed the others from their post, watching them disperse throughout the camp before ducking into his leader's den. Once done with the report, he emerged, thoughts on his nest while scanning the camp.

Any thoughts of sleep left him when a familiar pair of green eyes caught his gaze and a bright ginger tail danced in his vision. Thornstrike trotted over to his mate happily, purring when he got closer. Touching his nose to hers, he noticed the remains of a meal and his stomach lurched jealously, wanted something for itself. He was about to go grab a bird when Emberstorm's manner turned much more serious and he sat out of reflex.

"Thornstrike, we need to talk."

The words crashed into his head like thunder, and he had to stop and think before he replied. That phrase never meant anything good. Not in his forty-nine moons had anything good come of those four words, and he didn't expect anything better now. Was she sick? Did she get hurt? Did something happen to Dustfall? Tiny snippets of worry danced in his head, but Thornstrike steeled himself and met his mate's luscious eyes with the most comforting expression he could manage.

"What is it, Emberstorm?"

you will never be alone again
love will make it all right

Amber ; emberstorm :tags
252 :words
he's totally shitting bricks right now:notes

[Deleted]

Emberstorm managed to surpress a giggle as she could practically feel the worry radiating from her mate. She loved that she could get into his head so easily, and it was hard to resist reaching up to snuggle into his neck and reassure him. But she did, by sheer force of will, and maintained the serious look on her face.

She rose from her prone position to sit up, tucking her paws close to her belly and curling her tail around herself. She looked down at the somewhat fluffy appendage, wondering just what it protected now; her paws, or something more precious? She took a short moment to gather her words, before looking up into her mate's eyes with a neutral expression.

"Remember the discussion we had about our family last new-leaf? About how you and I, and Flamedance and Silvercloud, and Nettleflower, and Leafdance, Pebblepool, Dustfall, Honeypaw, and even Pineneedle are all connected to each other?" She paused a moment, taking a deep breath.

"Well, our family, me and you, is about to get a little bit bigger." Emberstorm shuffled her paws a little bit, letting her excitement begin to show through her green eyes. A small smile began on her face, and grew bigger until she finally made everything perfectly clear. "We're going to be parents!" She practically beamed at him, unable to contain her joy any longer. Sure, she had been concerned when they first spoke about kits, because the last thing she wanted was to be cooped up in camp all day for the duration of her pregnancy, but now that she was expecting, she was actually looking forward to meeting her new little ones.