Darkstar's Secret

Petalstar looked up towards the stars and sighed. He couldn’t help but worry about what his dreams had been about. Larkpool padded up towards him.

“Are you alright?” She asked gently and he shook his head.

“I’ve been having these dreams. It’s about sky blueberries, cats I don’t know, and… well, I keep catching glimpse of purplish-black fur. There aren’t any cats like that in camp. Maybe it’s for another clan? Has Starclan spoken to you at all?” Petalstar paced, his long tail waving in the air, his whiskers tingling with annoyance.

Larkpool couldn’t believe what she was hearing. “I did have a message sent by Starclan… but I don’t understand it. They told me that A star will fall and arise again. But I don’t get it…” Larkpool sighed.

“I guess I should worry… that’s what I’ve been hearing in my dreams. Sorry… I called you for a different reason. How is Sootfur? I heard Blackcloud say she could be due at any time.” Petalstar lowered his annoyed tone and went back to the leader Larksong knew, a gentle, kind tom.

“Oh, I forgot. She gave birth at Moon high. While you were still sleeping. Sootfur is strong, and well. She has three kits.” Larkpool informed him.

“Three!? Really, that’s fantastic!” Petalstar cried. “Are they well enough to see? I would like to see our new warriors.”

Larkpool nodded and they padded out of the leader’s den. Larkpool watched Blackcloud leave, heading towards the warrior den. His eyes were bright but he looked tired. Larkpool and Petalstar entered the nursery, which was usually full of kits.

Recently, because of the hard leaf-bare, there had been fewer apprentices and kits. Larkpool thought it was a miracle that Sootfur had managed to give birth to three kits…

“My kits! Somebody help me!” Sootfur’s panicked cries came. Larkpool bolted over.

“What’s wrong, Sootfur? Oh--oh no!” Larkpool whirled towards Petalstar. “Get me Blackcloud, stat. Sootfur has another kit coming…”

Petalstar nodded and bolted across the clearing, into the warrior den.

“Blackcloud!” He panted. “Sootfur is having another kit, something is wrong. Larkpool wants you!” Blackcloud looked up from his mossy nest and leaped to his feet. He ran towards the medicine den without a word and Petalstar followed.

“Sootfur! Hang on!” Blackcloud cried.

“Blackcloud? Calm down, she’s alright now.” Larkpool soothed as she met them at the entrance of the medicine den. Blackcloud tilted his head looking back and forth between Larkpool and Petalstar.

“Can we go in?” The two toms asked at the same time. Larkpool nodded and went back to the medicine den.

“Sootfur! Oh! They’re beautiful.” He said, shocked. The three kittens were looking at him, their eyes open. There was a tom with a black pelt and a cloudy grey zigzag on his back.

Another tom was a grey tabby with white stripes. The other was a she-cat. She had a purplish-black coat and a white tail tip. A mew from Sootfur’s belly caught his attention.

“OH! Did it survive? Is it another tom or a molly?” Blackcloud asked. His dark grey fur rustled in excitement. His tail waved like a flag, the tip white. His ears were white as well and were set off by his amber eyes.

“It’s a molly,” Sootfur said, nearly invisible with her black coat. The only thing that made her recognizable was her green eyes and white tail tip, other than that, she was just a lump in the dark.

The molly also had purplish-black fur but there were silver specks. Petalstar and Larksong glanced at each other. The purplish-black fur from his dream… was it one of these two innocent kits?

“They’re beautiful.” Petalstar smiled. “What are their names?” Now Larkpool, Petalstar, and Blackcloud were looking at Sootfur now.

“The grey and white tom is Minnowkit, the black tom is Thunderkit, the female molly is Darkkit… oh, right there are two… the younger, molly with silver flecks is Berrykit. Darkkit is the older one, with the white tail tip.” Blackcloud smiled at his kits. Petalstar turned to leave but Larkpool gasped and he heard a thump.

“Larkpool? Larkpool! Are you alright?” Petalstar asked, running to the medicine cats’ side. She looked at him, horror filling her eyes.

“Petalstar? The star… the star is here… the star has been born.” And with that, she turned back to normal heading out into the clearing. Petalstar looked at the kits with a new interest.

Which one, Larkpool? Which one will cause our destruction?