Saving Sable

Chapter Eight

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"I Know Exactly Why I Walk And Talk Like A Machine."
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It's rather boring, being a queen. Dawnclaw thought to herself, as she lapped from a small puddle. It had rained that night, but had cleared up slightly.

The sky was grey, which annoyed Dawnclaw. It was a reminder that Leaf-bare was coming, and Dawnclaw preferred to forget her troubles. But she knew she couldn't do that about Sablekit.

It had been four sunrises since his diagnosis, and Dawnclaw was growing more nervous by the moment. She knew there was only a slight chance that he didn't have the disorder... but she couldn't help hoping all the same.

A small droplet of water hit her back. Dawnclaw didn't feel it due to her fur, but it was soon easy to see the raindrops that fell through the large trees.

The amber-eyed queen let out a hiss of disgust. SpruceClan cats hated the water. In fact, all three of the Clans did.

She began to run back to camp as the rain turned from drizzle to proper rain, her dilute tortoiseshell fur becoming wet quickly.

She arrived back at camp, running between the close group of spruce trees, which was how SpruceClan got their name.

She immediately ran into the shelter of the nursery, and was shocked at the sight of her clanmate, Brindlebee. The tortoiseshell cat was lying peacefully in the nursery.

"Brindlebee?"

The pretty cat looked up, her green eyes looked like large pools of ivy.

"Hello Dawnclaw! Guess what? I'm your new denmate, Swallowpelt and I are expecting kits!"

The she-cat purred.

"Oh.. I.. congratulations!" Dawnclaw was shocked, but a part of her were happy. Brindlebee was going to be a much better denmate then Minkfoot had been. The problem would lie in Sablekit. Dawnclaw knew she would have to tell Brindlebee, how would the tortoiseshell react?

"Oh, I'm so happy! We've wanted kits for ages, and we finally got them! Oh, Swiftear was so happy about them, but he was concerned about the timing, Leaf-bare is approaching. Oh, but he's so nice with kits, isn't he? He's always helping you out. Really, I..."

Dawnclaw tuned out her friend's rambling, choosing to watch the small sleeping form of Meadowkit instead, watching her chest rise and fall.

"Dawnclaw." A low, and surprisingly cold voice interrupted Dawnclaw's thoughts.

Aquiver.

"Bring the kits." She said, her sentences short and sharp. Just with those words, Dawnclaw's heart sunk, slowly swirling to the bottom of her ribs, sinking between the cracks, and sliding down her spine, like a snail.

"And Pinetuft."

The brown she-cat stood back, watching as Dawnclaw stood, numbness clouding her brain.