[ti]Private[/ti]Spending The Day With The One I Love (1,000 Word Challenge)

[Dragon]

Tumblefoot woke up very early that morning. Like everyone else, they had been working hard on returning their camp to normal the past couple of days. He wanted to do something to surprise his clan but most importantly to make his mate Snowstorm happy. He wanted to nuzzle her but he didn't wish to wake her just yet so he quietly padded around the body's of sleeping warriors until he exited the warrior den. The rocky ground was still slick with mud and he had to grip with his claws to make sure he didn't sleep. On the good side, they had cleaned the spot where they put freshkill real good so he didn't have to worry about where to put the prey he would be coming back with. 

As he padded around the waterfall a shiver went down his spine as he prayed to Starclan that it would never flood like that again. So many lives had been lost in that flood, and many more had been injured. Halfpaw who had been Halfkit at the time had injured himself rescuing Maplekit from drowning who had broken his leg and wasn't allowed to be made an apprentice with his siblings. Silvermist a queen from the nursery had grown ill and had green cough. Thankfully he and Snowstorm along with Pebbleshade had made it out safely. Who knows if Pebbleshade would have made it out of the grotto if Snowstorm and he hadn't found him and offered to help get him out. It had been hard work, possibly the hardest thing he had ever done and he hoped he never had to do that ever again.

Once out of the cave and away from the flowing water Tumblefoot paused and looked up at the sky, stars and moon were still out and shining brightly. You couldn't even see the sun rising yet. Though he knew in about another half hour or so maybe sooner he wasn't really sure but soon enough it would start rising and the clan would begin to wake. Fluffing up his fur Tumblefoot continued on his way going as far from the grotto as he could in hopes of finding some prey to bring back for everyone. The ground was icy where it had been flooded but Tumblefoot slowly made his way up above the flood line and the ground was only covered in an inch or so of snow. This was much better than ice that was for sure.

As he got farther from camp he could hear the soft chittering of birds who were just now starting to wake up. They weren't in their full swing songs yet but once in a while, he would hear their songs here or there. The sky was beginning to gradually grow lighter and Tumblefoot could see fewer and fewer stars in the sky. In the distance, he could see where the sun was just now beginning to rise. He better get going if he wanted to get back before all the patrols headed out for the day.

Opening his mouth he scented the air. He could smell a thrush, slowly he began stalking towards it. Tumblefoot soon spotted it trying to tug a worm out by the root of an old oak tree where the ground had almost no snow. Crouching down he slowly slid one foot forward being careful to not make a sound. The thrush was concentrating so much on the worm it didn't even notice him. Just as the bird gave it a last tug and the worm came free he leaped and pinned it under his paws. With a quick nip to its neck, he killed the bird then buried it under a light covering of snow to protect it before moving on in hopes of finding something else. The thrush hadn't been able to give out a cry of alarm so there was still a chance he might find more prey around here. 

As Tumblefoot padded past a bush a rabbit raced out. He quickly darted after it all the while cursing himself out for not noticing it sooner. His paws flew over the ground slowly gaining on the rabbit. He was right at its tail when it dove into the ground. But instead of stopping and turning back he flew himself down the tunnel without pause and continued after if. It took him only a minute to catch it for the tunnel led into a dead end. He sank his teeth into its scruff and gave it a shake to stun it long enough for him to finish it off. Eventually, the rabbit grew still and he began the hard trip out. It was hard for he had to walk backward and couldn't tell how far he was from the entrance. He began to panic, it was so dark in the tunnel, he felt suffocated. When at last he felt the cool air on his tail and he finally burst out from the tunnel he dropped the dead rabbit and took in great gulps of air. "I'll never do that again," he mumbled to himself and giving his pelt a shake before grabbing his kill once more and turning back. The rabbit would feed three or four cats. he would take it straight to the nursery while he shared the thrush with Snowstorm. Once he had backtracked to where he had buried the thrush he dug it up grabbed it and began the slow journey back to camp.

On the journey back Tumblefoot' couldn't stop thinking of the happy cries from the kits and their moms as he brought the rabbit in. But more importantly, the smile on his mates face when he woke her up. The sky was getting lighter and lighter by the time he got to the waterfall. He entered the grotto with his head held high and his mouth full of prey. He saw there were already cats up and about. He headed straight for the nursery. He noticed Silvermist wasn't in the nursery with her kits. Was she in the Frostfall and Daisypetals den? He set his kills on the ground and ripped a plump leg off the rabbit then picked up the thrush as well before heading the Medicine Cats Den. He entered and found the queen awake and coughing. She looked pretty rough. He set the rabbit leg down next to her. "I thought you could use this. I took the rest of the rabbit to the nursery." Tumblefoot then bowed his head and left with his thrush and headed back to the warrior's den with the thrush.

WC: 1107
@mousestep

[Deleted]

Snowstorm, was glad to be back in the Grotto. She has been helping the clan getting the grotto back to normal. The first place was a fresh-kill pile, while there was plenty of warriors helping there she decided to help some warriors with getting the nursery set up, so the kits and the queens had a place to rest first.

She noticed some of the warriors that didn't help with the fresh-kill pile, or the nursery helped with the medicine cat's den. She figured those where the three main parts that should get worked on as soon as possible. Once those were done she noticed they went to the apprentice's den and warriors den. Sure there are many places that still needed to be worked on, but it was starting to look a lot like home again. '

The white young warrior was asleep in her nest beside her mate's. As they where young warriors had the nest closes to the outer parts of the den, which often made it a colder place as fewer bodies to be against for warmth. She didn't even notice her mate leaving his nest and so leaving her alone in their nest.

She was rolling in her sleep, she was dreaming of something. What she was exactly dreaming of, was of four tiny kits at her belly. What they may look like wasn't clear. What was clear was her in the nursery and Tumblefoot giving her something from the day's catch. It seemed to be a young bird, a sign that it was new-leaf with how young the bird looked.

The four young kits looked to be just two-days-old or so and asleep. She woke with a start when the dream finally registered in her mind. She sat up and noticed her mate wasn't there. She looked for him for a bit, before she figured he went off to hunt or help clean the camp. She could tell he was gone for some time as his scent started to smell hours old.

She settled on grooming herself, to groom stuff from their nest out of her pelt. She started with her tail and moved on to her face. She was finishing up as more warriors started to wake and leave the den to start cleaning up the rest of camp. She started to think what she can do, to help the clan today.

She got to her paws and headed out of the warriors' den and her white face was showing through the opening when she noticed her mate leaving the medicine cat's den and heading over to the warriors den. She grew worried some that maybe he was ill, when she remembered he most likely was giving Silvermist some prey and that she was sick.

She noticed the thrush in her mate's mouth and headed over to met him, with her white pelt shining as the morning sun hit her white pelt just right to make it glow and shine.

Snowstorm pressed her white pelt against her mate, purring loudly in greeting. Her blue eyes shined with love for her mate. She pressed her tail against her mate as she walked away to someplace more private so they can eat in private and spend some time together before they started to help the clan-mates to fix up the camp.

Once in the private area, she purred, "My favorite!" she purred, thrush was her favorite prey out of all their prey. Her mouth was already watering just at the scent of the freshly killed thrush. She wrapped her white tail around her paws, and let her mate enter beside her and have the first bite of the thrush. "Missed, you." she whispered. She always misses her mate when they split up.

She wondered if she should tell him, of her dream. She wasn't so sure though. She was nervous to tell her mate of her dream. She was sure, the clan wouldn't be surprised if the two end up having kits someday. Maybe someday soon with how much time the two seem to be together.

She picked at the feathers of the thrush as she tried to get some of the meat. After a bit, she started to get to the meat and took a bite of the meat and felt the juices freshly killed thrush hit her tongue and felt a purr in her throat from. The bird was enjoyable, she enjoyed every bite of the thrush. She made sure she left room for her mate to take bites while she chewed her bites.

Over time, she finally decided to share her dream, "Had a dream, before I woke," she meowed, tilting her head a bit. She wasn't sure though how her mate would handle what her dream was about. Was she too young to be dreaming about kits? She was only just made a warrior this moon. It seemed a bit early to her. Would he think they were too early too? She didn't mean right now since it was still leaf-bare.

She finished her share of the thrush and let her mate have the finishing of the thrush as it was his share of the thrush. The white warrior grew even more nervous over telling her mate of her dream. The dream of their future family. Of course, she knew the chancing of if they had any kits the chancing of it being that exact number depended on Starclan really.

She licked her chest fur a few times as her nervousness grew to where she felt she had to do something. She decided to wait until her mate finished his share of the thrush as she didn't want him to check on the thrush of what her dream was about. Her heart seems to speed up as he got closer to finishing his share of the thrush. she closed her eyes for a bit, and taking a deep breath, then opening her mouth and closing it again as she wasn't sure how to start it.

[Dragon]

As he headed for the warrior's den all he could think of was finding a private place where he and Snowstorm could get away for a minute or two to share the thrush before they had to head out on patrols for the day. Before he even reached the warrior's den he spotted his mate leaving it. He purred happily as she pressed against him. He nuzzled her neck and breathed in her scent. It felt like forever since her scent and touch had last filled his senses. He wrapped his tail around hers as if to say she was his forever and for always no matter what. They were young Tumblefoot had only been a warrior for a month while Snowstorm had only just been made a warrior. But he already knew that the two of them would spend the rest of their days together. Someday when the time was right they would have kittens maybe even more than one litter. Their kits would make the clan stronger than ever and who knows maybe someday one of them would even become the leader. But for now, he was happy just with having Snowstorm at his side. They had plenty of time to have kits. He padded at his mate's side as they snuck away from the rest of the clan and found a sheltered spot out of sight from the rest of Mistclan. "Did you sleep well love?"

As they lay down he nudged the thrush closer to Snowstorm so she could have the very first bite. He knew how much she loved thrush, it was her favorite prey after all. "I missed you more," he purred and licked her cheek and gave a loud rumbling purr. 

Tumblefoot bowed his head and began plucking feathers from the thrush and setting them aside. "This will make great bedding for Silvermist... when I stopped in to give her some freshkill I noticed she looked even worse. I hope she gets better soon her kits need her. Maybe I'll give a couple to her kits to play with as well to help distract them from their worry for their mom." More than anything he hoped no one else became sick as well. A greencough or whitecough epidemic could not come at a worse time for Mistclan. "Snowstorm promise me you'll stay away from the medicine cats den. I don't know what I would do if you became sick." Tumblefoot buried his face into his mate's fur but drew back after a moment when Snowstorm mentioned a dream.

"A dream? What was it about? Was it a good dream? Was it about us? I'm dying to know," he asked in a purr. "It wasn't a nightmare I hope..." He nuzzled her comfortingly to know everything was going to be all right whether it was a good dream or a bad dream he would always be there for her no matter what. As Tumblefoot waited to hear more about this dream he took a small bite from the thrush and sighed. The juice from the thrush filled his mouth. It was a bit on the scrawny side but it tasted good none the less. This small bird would be the only thing the two of them would eat all day most likely. If they were lucky they might get something later tonight but prey scarce in leafbare it always was... at least that's what he had been told. The last leafbare he went through he had still been a kit and all he remembered was a warm den with his mother and Snowstorm and her mother and plenty of milk he wanted and later on plenty of prey as well. Bowing his head he took another small bite from the bird then pushed the rest towards Snowstorm. "You eat the rest I'm good." Two bites wasn't enough to feed a kit but he wanted to make sure Snowstorm stayed healthy and strong. "I'm full that was good," even if he had to give a small lie about being full. 

Tumblefoot began to groom Snowstorms fur with slow gentle licks. This was the best time of the day when he could just lay or sit side by side with their fur brushing one another's and no one else in sight to bother them. Life couldn't get more perfect than this. "I hope Newleaf arrives soon, it will be nice to feel the warmth of the sun against my fur again." He could picture it now the two of them walking through the forest side by side with no hurry in the world. All the snow and cold would be gone and all the trees would be budding with green. Prey will be found everywhere and everyone would have full bellies. There would be no illness, and Maplekit would be healed and finally be an apprentice on his way to becoming a warrior along with his siblings. Silvermists kits would be made apprentices as well about then. Who knows maybe he would even have an apprentice of his own by then. Tumblefoot shook his head and chuckled, highly unlikely no leader would give an apprentice to such a young warrior. He would get an apprentice someday he hoped but it probably wouldn't be for several moons or seasons.

Turning to look at Snowstorm he couldn't help but smile. No matter what happened or came to be as long as he had her by his side he didn't care what else happened. All Tumblefoot needed was Snowstorm and maybe a litter of kits someday if she wanted them. If she didn't he was fine with that as well. But he couldn't help but picture four tiny bundles of four curled up against her stomach. He pictured one looking a lot like his sister, one looking a lot like himself, one that looks just like her mother and another who looked like the perfect combination of the two of them.

[Deleted]

Snowstorm took her final bite finishing the thrush. She noted that she remove the bones of the bird later. She nodded as she figured that was a good idea to give the feathers for Silvermist's nest and some to her kits to play while they waited for their mother to recover.

She nodded her head when he asked her to stay away from the medicine cat's den. Of course, the plan to stay away from the medicine cat's den unless she gets sick herself. She hopes she doesn't. "I, don't want you to get sick either," she meowed, worry on her face.

<p>She relaxed some when he was fine with whatever the dream was about. That got her to think more of that tiny image of tiny kits. She moved closer to him, purring as he licked her pelt with gentle licks. She kept her eyes half closed, enjoying their touches with no bother to the world.

She almost forgot what she was going to tell him, as it was easy for her to fall asleep with his gentle touches. As her eyes where half closed again, she noticed the kits again. That reminded her of her dream that she had to tell him. "It was a good dream," she meowed, rolling to her back, to expose her belly, and so her face can look up at her mate from upside down.

"It was, of us..." she started, she felt a purr grow from inside her, as she thought of the kits again. "It was of us having kits." she purred at last.

Snowstorm, let that sank in before she lifted her head a bit to lick his check before she laid her head against his front paws. She was against him, that she couldn't get any closer to him. "I want to kits someday." she meowed, never leaving from her position.

She was content against her mate, and never wanted to leave her position, but she would move if her mate so wanted to move or change position. She watched her mate closely, to see his reaction to it. The white young warrior licked his chest fur as that was the place she could reach from her position.

It was like she was in her own little bubble. She knew, her mate would be a great father. She was sure he be involved with their kits lives unlike her own father Barkfur. To her, it seemed her parents only had kits, to the good of the clans, and that her mother wanted a litter. It worried her now that it was quiet, and she had time to think. She grew worried that maybe she wouldn't be a good mother.

Snowstorm was deep in her own thoughts and worry that she could totally miss her mate's comment to her dream and of her becoming a queen. She sighed, shaking her head to get her mind off of it.

Once she was able to get that worry off her mind, she enjoyed her time with her mate. That was all she needed, was her mate. She was sure, they spend the rest of their time together. Even if they where very young, she had no guess in her life, she found her mate for life. She knew it wasn't often that cats took one mate for life. But she wasn't like most cats in this regard. Sure she was like most clan-mates in regard to knowing how to defend herself and her clan-mates and to hunt to provide for her clan-mates but that was pretty much it.

She noticed she has been feeling a bit off since they returned back to camp. Off, she wasn't sure off how. But it has been for the last few days really. She was worried maybe she was getting sick. She hasn't complained yet since it didn't seem that big of an off.

She noticed she suddenly had this urge to cough. She tried to keep a cough down, as she didn't want to worry her mate, but it seemed she couldn't keep it down. She found herself, start to cough. It seemed she was getting sick. She was sure it had to have something to do with swimming in water during leaf-bare.

The white warrior, closed her eyes while she coughed a bit more, it sounded like a good coughing fit, as it went on for almost like forever though it was only for about a heartbeat. She wondered if it was a one-time thing, but before she knew it, the coughing started again, after like thirty minutes later. This one sounded worse than the last coughing.

After about five minutes of coughing, she rolled to her belly and sat up as to try and cough up whatever was making her cough. She felt only off this morning but it seems to get worse now. She figured now wasn't the time to get sick. She knew the clan had work to do, to get the clan settled back in camp. Now they would be down a paw with her being sick like this.

She made sure her fur was dried when she got out of the water, but she guessed not good enough if she got sick from it. She felt guilty for that she was sick. Maybe this was her fault that she was sick. "So...sorr..." she rasped out between coughing.

She knew this messed with their alone time and them doing anything together today, or anytime while she was sick and unable to do any duties. She was annoyed with herself for being sick as she felt with her being a new warrior she had to prove herself even more since she is so new. Now she wasn't able to for a bit. She hoped she wouldn't be out for too long, as she wanted to get to work more than anything. The newly sick white warrior, looked to her paws, as she accepted the fact that she was now sick.

[Dragon]

Tumblefoot continued his slow steady licks and he continued to groom his mate's fur. He was beginning to feel drowsy and probably could have fallen asleep right then and there curled up next to Snowstorm. It was so nice and quiet and relaxing there together. It was decided this was his new favorite place in all the territory. A place where Snowstorm and he could get away to some privacy and have no one bother them but still inside the camp and in hearing reach if there was any trouble and they were needed to protect their clan.

At Snowstorms words, it awoke him slightly from his daze. "No worry I'll be careful, neither one of us will be getting sick any time soon I..." Tumblefoot had almost said I promise but he couldn't promise neither of them would get sick. He had no control over that stuff. Only Starclan could control whether someone got sick or not and when their time was to go. But he could only pray that nothing would happen to either of them.

A moment of quiet again before Snowstorm brought the dream back up and told him it had been a good dream. He paused in his groom as she flipped onto her stomach and instead he looked down into her beautiful blue eyes. They were as gentle as a slow-moving stream and as filled with as much love for him as he was for her. It was of us... It was of us having kits. The words rang in Tumblefoots head and brought a smile to his maw and filled him with such joy and happiness he thought he would just burst with it. "Are you... Are you pregnant?" Was it possible she was pregnant right now? The thought made him nervous and happy all at the same time. But more than anything he was happy whether it was real or just a dream. But then when Snowstorm said she wanted kits someday he knew that she wasn't pregnant, not yet anyway. He smiled and licked her muzzle. "I want kits someday too when the time is right for both of us."

Tumblefoot began to groom her once more purring louder and louder until he was sure the rest of his clan could feel his purr shaking the ground. But his purr was cut short when Snowstorm gave a small cough. A few seconds later she coughed again. His worry grew as over the next several minutes her cough grew steadily worse. He gave a small frightened mew, "Snowstorm? What's wrong baby? Are you ok?" When she rolled back onto her stomach he pressed his muzzle into her fur and took a deep breath and that's when he noticed it. Why hadn't he noticed it earlier? She had that same scent that Silvermist had but much weaker. This was all his fault he should of giving himself a good grooming after going to see Silvermist. "You have nothing to be sorry for Snowstorm, this wasn't your fault. You can't help that you ended up getting sick. I'll take care of you I promise." Tumblefoot stood up and balanced on his hind paws for just a moment to look around the camp clearing. "We need to get you to the Medicine Cats Den so they can give you something for your could ok love?" 

Tumblefoot pressed against his mates side to help her to her paws giving her small nuzzles of encouragement. "You're going to be perfectly fine it's just a cough that's all." At least he hoped it was just a cough and nothing else. But only Daisypetals or his mentor would know for sure.