Chapter 17

Spiralkit stared in horror at Reddawn. The red she-cat was writhing around in pain. Reddawn’s kits are coming early! Spiralkit felt a pelt brush hers and turned to see Crystalkit beside her, her sister’s green eyes staring at the queen in horror. Spiralkit pressed against her sister comfortingly. “She’ll be okay,” she murmured.

“But there’s no medicine cat,” Crystalkit mewed. “She’ll have to do it all by herself.”

Spiralkit nudged her sister. “Come on, Crystalkit, I’m sure Cinderlight’s gone to fetch Leafstem. They’ll be here in a moment.”

Crystalkit buried her nose into Spiralkit’s shoulder. “I’m scared for her.”

Spiralkit licked her forehead reassuringly. “Don’t worry,” she soothed, “she’ll be fine.” Will she? she wondered.

Reddawn let out another cry of pain. Heatherclaw, her mate, burst into the den and licked her shoulder. “You’ll be alright,” he murmured. “Just wait a mo–”

Suddenly Cinderlight burst into the den. The pale brown warrior looked around wildly. “What are you doing here with your sister, Spiralkit?” she demanded. “And you, Heatherclaw–”

“We were getting prey for her with you, remember?” Spiralkit mewed. “Then Reddawn–”

“Yes, yes, right,” Cinderlight muttered. “I–”

“Where’s Leafstem?” Crystalkit interrupted.

“I sent Swirlpaw and Curlpaw to get her,” Cinderlight meowed.

“Swirlpaw?” Spiralkit echoed.

“Yes, Swirlpaw!” Cinderlight thrust her face forward until their noses nearly touched. “Curlpaw’s sister! The apprentice who got injured? Your friend?”

“She knows who she is,” Crystalkit meowed. “You don’t need to remind her. It’s just that Swirlpaw didn’t come back last night.”

Cinderlight frowned. “Yes–”

The entrance rustled and a silver tabby she-cat slid in with a yellow one behind her. Cinderlight turned around in surprise and dipped her head, slipping out of the den. “Thank you, Silverstripe,” she called.

“Here,” Silverstripe mewed cheerfully, setting a few herbs beside Reddawn. “Calm down. You’ll be fine…”

“See?” Spiralkit whispered to Crystalkit as the silver tabby gave the red queen the herbs. “I told you she’d be fine!”

“She must be the WindClan medicine cat,” Crystalkit murmured as if she hadn’t heard Spiralkit. “Thank StarClan it’s not Leafstem.”

Spiralkit turned her attention back to Reddawn. The queen was pushing her hind paws against the moss. Spiralkit saw the small body of a kit slide partly out. Then Reddawn let out a screeched as the kit slid out. Spiralkit gasped as blood spurted out after it. Is that supposed to happen? she wondered, her heart thudding in her chest.

Silverstripe hurried forward and picked up the kit. “Here,” she muttered, passing it to the smaller yellow she-cat. “Sunblaze, lick it.” The yellow cat started rapidly licking the tiny red kit’s fur the wrong way. Then her ears twitched and she looked up at Spiralkit and Crystalkit.

“Kits!” she exclaimed. “What are you doing here? Get out! This isn’t for you to watch!”

Spiralkit gasped and immediately slid out of the den, Crystalkit right behind her. Oh, great, have I managed to anger one of WindClan’s medicine cats? No. She was sure she had seen amusement in Sunblaze’s eyes.

“Spiralkit, Crystalkit,” Cinderlight greeted them outside. “How’s Reddawn doing?”

“She’s fine,” Crystalkit mewed in triumph. “We saw her give birth to a tiny red kit!”

Cinderlight purred. “That’s great!”

Spiralkit glanced around and saw Swirlpaw and Curlpaw standing together at the edge of the clearing, watching the nursery entrance anxiously. She bounded over to them. “Hi, Swirlpaw,” Spiralkit mewed. “How are you?” She didn’t normally ask this question; Swirlpaw would usually come to her.

“Fine.” Curlpaw answered for her sister. “We slept out in the forest last night. Swirlpaw wanted to say goodbye to Violetblaze.” She moved over. “Come on,” she meowed, flicking her tail at the space between her and Swirlpaw. “Sit with us.”

Spiralkit trotted over and plopped down between the two sisters. They look so alike, she thought. Sometimes I wonder if they’ll combine and make one cat! It sure looks like it, when they sit so close together.

Spiralkit lifted her head and realized Cinderlight was bounding over to them. “Swirlpaw, Curlpaw, Spiralkit!” she called. “Reddawn has kitted!”

Swirlpaw let out a purr. “That’s great! How are the kits?”

“Fine,” Cinderlight replied, her eyes glowing. “They’re perfectly healthy. One’s red just like her, and the other is pale ginger like Heatherclaw!”

“I can’t wait to see them!” Curlpaw exclaimed.

“Can we go now?” Spiralkit added.

“Sure,” Cinderlight mewed. “Crystalkit’s already there. Go ahead. They’re beautiful.”

Spiralkit raced across the clearing to the nursery and slipped inside. Crystalkit and her mother, Flowerstem, were sitting beside Reddawn’s nest, gazing at the newborn kits curiously. Spiralkit gasped as she saw the kits; one was so tiny and weak that it almost looked like it was dead, while the other pale ginger tabby looked stronger than its mother.

Heatherclaw was licking Reddawn’s ears. “What should we name them?”

Reddawn gently nosed the red kit. “This one’s Rubykit.”

“How about Flamekit for the other one?” Heatherclaw suggested. “He looks just like a bright flame on a dark night.”

“That’s perfect,” Reddawn purred.

Spiralkit made her way over to where the two medicine cats were sitting, watching the cats proudly. She nearly crashed into Crystalkit. “Spiralkit!” her sister exclaimed. “You’re here! I was going to ask Silverstripe if the red–I mean Rubykit–will even live.” She glanced back at the kits. “She’s so weak!”

Spiralkit purred. “Me too, Crystalkit. Let’s go together.” She padded over to the two medicine cats.

“Will Rubykit live?” Crystalkit asked anxiously.

The two WindClan cats exchanged glances. “I’ll stay in ThunderClan for a while to make sure she does,” Silverstripe decided. She turned to Sunblaze. “Sunblaze, I think you can manage on your own.”

Sunblaze dipped her head. “I’ll do my best, Silverstripe.”

“You’re Sunblaze now?” Spiralkit turned and realized that her mother had made her way to the corner of the den. “Congratulations.”

Sunblaze blinked proudly. “And my littermates are Echobreeze and Icestorm,” she meowed.

“That’s great,” Flowerstem mewed. “Thank you so much for helping.”

“It’s what medicine cats are for,” Silverstripe replied.

The entrance to the nursery shivered and Nightstar padded in. “Great StarClan, it’s crowded in here,” she muttered in surprise. The black she-cat turned to Silverstripe and Sunblaze. “Thank you so much for your help,” she mewed, dipping her head respectfully.

Silverstripe dipped her head back. “We’ll always be there to help. And I’ll stay for a while, if that’s okay with you, to make sure Reddawn and her kits get the best care they can.”

Nightstar blinked at her gratefully. “Thank you, and Spiralkit, I want a word with you,” she added, turning to the silver-and-white tabby.

Spiralkit shivered and followed her leader out of the den. “What do you want?”

Nightstar turned to face her. “We need a medicine cat.”

Spiralkit sighed. “Nightstar, I know. Everyone’s been worried about that ever since Ambercloud died!”

Nightstar blinked at her. “But don’t you see? What if one of Reddawn’s kits can be our medicine cat?”

Spiralkit just stared at her, speechless. But what if they want to be warriors? she wanted to wail out loud.

Nightstar flicked her tail and brushed it against the ground. “Spiralkit, I want you to keep a close eye on those kits,” she meowed. “It’ll be easy for you since you’re also a kit. I trust you, Spiralkit. Watch them closely and report to me if you find any signs that one of them is destined to be a medicine cat. I know you can do it.”