[Autumnriver and Softfeather] New changes.

[Chisato Mikami]

Autumnriver stretched as he walked out of the warrior’s den. After his conversation with Brightstar and seeing how his leader looked, he was very concerned. Sighing he gave his chest a couple licks and walked to the nursey. He saw Nighttail, one of the many kittypets that had come to the clan, just outside the entrance with his three kits. Nighttail looked up at Autumnriver as he approached. Autumnriver tilted his head a little, then a little orange and white kit pounced on Autumnriver.

“Look papa!” the little kit said. “I caght the intudor!”

Autumnriver smiled a little as he looked down at the playing kits. He lifted his paw to his chest, made a weird gurgling noise, and fell to the side. He laid still for a while, keeping an eye on the kit.

“I tink I kill him…” the kit said, confused. Autumnriver opened his eyes and glanced at the kits and their father. He smiled a little.

“Careful!” Nighttail said, catching the hint. “The intruder is still alive! What are you going to do?”

At once, the kits ran to attack Autumnriver. Autumnriver laughed as the three kits all pounced on him. He rolled on his back, letting the kits play their game.  

[belloblossom]

Softfeather was doing her part to help her Clan mates. She didn't have any litters of her own yet, despite all her efforts with Timberfall and there was only so much she could do. She thanked StarClan every day for sending the group of cats out to return with catmint needed to save her Clan mates, one such cat being her only daughter, Silverstreak.

As such, she frequently went out to hunt and regardless of the patrols that were out, she would take as many cats as she could with her hunting. As she paced around the camp, looking for any in her sight line that morning, she spotted Autumnriver playing with Nighttail's kits. Perfect.

"Autumnriver," She greeted as she approached. "We all know you're excellent at hunting for herbs and I can't thank you enough for that, but... what's say we let these kits sleep and we go out hunting for prey to bring back for them?" She proposed and smiled over Autumnriver's shoulder to Nighttail. Looking back to the tawny tomcat, she flicked her tail, awaiting his reply for a few moments, before she began to turn towards the entrance herself. "Come along!" She urged as she began to leave.

Chisato Mikami

 

[Chisato Mikami]

Autumnriver looked up at the silver tabby that had called out to him. He rolled onto his paws a she approached, listening to what she had to say. He heard a very audible “aww” from the kits he was playing with. He couldn’t help but chuckle a little as the white and orange kit complained.

“but… we’re not tired…” Autumnriver was about to say something, but Nighttail stepped up and licked the small kit head.

“Come now,” Nighttail said gently. “Warriors have their duties to fulfill. Lets go back to your mother.”

Autumnriver nodded his head toward the other tom and turned to follow Softfeather from the camp. He had wondered what the she-at wanted with him.

“Where are we hunting at?” he asked, taking notice of the odd color to her pelt. ‘She must have been blessed at some point.’ He thought as he waited for her answer.  

[belloblossom]

Softfeather looked to the kits sympathetically, but before she could console them, they were being bustled off by their father. She flicked her ears in acknowledgement and then turned to meet Autumnriver's eye.

"Anywhere we like, provided it's on LightningClan territory." She answered with a small shrug. "Do you have any preferences on where we go?" She asked, heading out of the camp. Her paws made prints in the snow and she already wished she was back in the camp, curled around her sister, but... no. There were bellies to fill. She could sleep when she had caught something of excellence.

"Perhaps we ought to go out a bit further today." She remarked. "What do you think?" She asked him.

Chisato Mikami

 

[Chisato Mikami]

“We could try Temptation rocks or Sandy grounds?” Autumnriver suggested. Maybe some time hunting would get his mind off his troubles. Even if he was still worn out with his long journey in search of a cure for the greencough plague that threatened his home. He did wonder, however, why Softfeather picked him to go hunting with her, out of ALL the other cats in Lightning Clan.

“I heard Silverstreak found a kit out in the wilderness,” Autumnriver began, sniffing the air for prey. “Also heard she’s keeping it too. Have you met the kit?”  

[belloblossom]

Softfeather considered the options and while she wasn't too fond of fish, there had to be other prey that she could hunt around Temptation Rocks. It wasn't as though they had to go into the water.

"Let's go to Temptation Rocks." She agreed and smiled at the mention of Shadowkit. "I've seen her around, the poor dear. I couldn't get too close while Silverstreak was sick, lest I caught the greencough myself. Luckily, since the illness has passed, I've been able to see her around more." She took a moment to consider. "I'm not sure if she knows who I am, in relation to the cat she calls mother. That, by some extension, we're kin." She shrugged. "I'll have to remedy this." She finished.

She looked to Autumnriver.
"What about you? Have you introduced yourself? You seemed to be rather friendly with Nighttail's kits." She purred with a smile.

Chisato Mikami

 

[Chisato Mikami]

"I suppose Firekit reminds me of a time when life wasn't as scarey," Autumnriver replied, remembering when he was a kit himself and all he had to do was play and not have a care in the world. "I'm glad we made it back in time that no one died from the outbreak." 'At least... almost no one...' he thought as his mind went back to Brightstar. She looked horrible when he saw her. He wouldn't be surprised that she lost one of her lives to the illness.

"How has Emberpaw been doing?" Autumnriver asked, curious about his son's progress. When Autumnriver found him, he was scared and alone. Some creature had killed his mother and brother. Sometime after Autumnriver brought him to Lightningclan, Emberpaw revealed he had family, a father, that was a Clan cat. Autumnriver hadn't known he had kits beyond the clan boundaries, but he was glad Emberpaw was alive. He just wished the apprentice's brother had survivied too.  

[belloblossom]

Softfeather nodded along sympathetically. She remembered what it was to be a kit, playing with Greyleaf and tumbling over their parents paws in front of the Nursery. She often wished she could do as much again, but there were expectations she had to uphold now. She had to be a warrior, if she couldn't be a queen, and a mentor at that.

"He's adapting as best he can to Clan life." She replied. "He hasn't had an easy time of it, but I'm trying to do right by him as a mentor and... as a mother, if he'll allow the sentiment. No cat should have to grow up without the love of a mother. He may have lost his first, but StarClan willing, I'll see that he grows knowing he has the love of another." She smiled a little. "Silverstreak took in Shadowkit and I was granted the mentorship of Emberpaw... It's not quite the same as having kits at the same time, but it's a nice thought." She mused to herself, before looking to Autumnriver.

"I won't inquire about the story of how you got your first litter, but I will ask this: Do you think you'll ever want to be a father again, after how your first turned out? It may be different, if you raise them within a Clan." She mewed.

Chisato Mikami

 

[Chisato Mikami]

“I didn’t know,” Autumnriver said quietly. “I’m glad to hear he’s adjusting. After his ordeal, I was afraid he wouldn’t.” He didn’t know how to really explain Emberpaw or how he met his mother. He thought about what she said. Would he want father kits again? Of course he would, but with who? He had hopes with Emberglory, but she disappeared. It took him a while to get over that lost to the point where he needed to start living for himself.

“Are you offering?” Autumnriver meowed, teasingly  

[belloblossom]

Softfeather stopped and looked at the tomcat, noting the teasing tone of his mew. He was handsome enough, she supposed and he was good with kits. That had been proven with Nighttail's litter earlier. She didn't quite know him very well, but she didn't know Timberfall or Willowtail very well before courting either of them...

"Yes." She decided. "I am offering."

With a wave of her tail to indicate she was moving forward again. "You'd have to wait a while, because I'm due to have litters with two other toms first, but if you're still interested in by the time I'm finished, my offer is surely going to stand." She informed him as she walked, her paws making prints on the snow.

Chisato Mikami

 

[Chisato Mikami]

Autumnriver stood there, dumbstruck. He wasn’t expecting for her to just outright say what she said had. He blinked as she began to walk away. What… was going on here?

“Uh…. I was not expecting that…” he said, mainly to himself as he began to follow her once more. “Are you sure? I mean, not that I’m not willing, but that was very… out of the blue… I don’t generally have females so forward like that…”  

[belloblossom]

Softfeather smiled and nodded easily.
"Yes, I'm sure." She turned to look at him with a coy look. "Then clearly you've been hanging around the wrong sorts of she-cats. I'm happy to change that for you." She paused to scent the air, but as per usual, there were no prey scents around. It was harder to leave a scent on snow, unless you stepped in a soft golden patch. She shuddered at the thought.

"It's always been my goal to be a queen. Initially, I would take any tomcat who was interested. The fathers don't need to be apart of the picture, so long as I had kits I would be happy." She frowned. "I did not want to suffer the same heartache I did with Silverstreak's father." She shook herself. "I still don't, but maybe... I don't know, after a few litters, maybe I'll have opened myself to the idea of someone more... permanent." She cast a sideways glance at Autumnriver. "Though I'm not sure which of the two you're looking for. Whether you just want kits or whether you want something more. Have you given it much thought?" She inquired.

Chisato Mikami

 

[Chisato Mikami]

Autumnriver had given it thought. A lot of thought. He could sympathize with heartbreak. After Emberglory disappeared, he thought his whole world would crumble around him. It took him a long time to move passed that to the point where he could live some what of a normal life. When he met Emberpaw’s mother, he wasn’t in the best of mind. He did try to find her afterwards, but she had disappeared.

“I feel like if I were to become a father again,” Autumnriver began, sighing a little. “I would be protective over their mother and my kits. I didn’t get to do that with Emberpaw’s mother. Personally, I would rather have something more permanent, but even if I don’t have that, I’ll be okay with that, as long as the queen understands how… protective I’ll be…”  

[belloblossom]

Softfeather considered what Autumnriver had to say and smiled after a while.
"I'm sure if you told a she-cat like Frostbreeze that, she'd be over the moon. She seems fussy enough, but I'm sure she'd appreciate the protective type." Her tail swished behind her.

"As for me... I don't mind protective, so long as I don't feel smothered. I'd still let my little ones go play with their friends, but I would do my best to see them to good mentors and see that they know the dangers of the world." She continued on. "Autumnriver, I will be frank, I am happy to have kits with you, if you ever are so inclined, but I will not have a hovering father there to frighten them into thinking the world is a scary place." She smiled at the ginger cat. "It is our job to raise warriors, not kittypets, after all."

Chisato Mikami

 

[Chisato Mikami]

Autumnriver chuckled nervously. He looked back at when he found Emberpaw. He didn’t know about his sons’ birthday. He had missed so much. Any kits he had in the future, he wanted to be there to see everything. “I… just want to be there,” he said quietly. “I don’t want to miss anything, you know?”