Warrior Cat Clans 2 (WCC2 aka Classic) is a roleplay site inspired by the Warrior series by Erin Hunter. Whether you are a fan of the books or new to the Warrior cats world, WCC2 offers a diverse environment with over a decade’s worth of lore for you - and your characters - to explore. Join us today and become a part of our ongoing story!
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The symptoms had been the same as her first pregnancy, so Orchiddrop wasn’t surprised when she received the official diagnosis. Everything was different now- Crow was a respected member of Summerclan, their first litter was basically fully grown, and Orchiddrop had gained a lot of hard earned knowledge from the debacle that had been her first pregnancy. However, even if Crow had still been a rogue and not the deputy, Orchiddrop couldn’t have denied him this time.
There were a lot of mixed emotions gathering in her sapphire eyes when she pulled Crow aside that evening. Joy, fear, nerves, nausea. She wasn’t sure if he already knew what she was going to say, but she basically dragged him out of camp to at least give them some privacy. This time, he would be the first to know. “So… I guess I’ll be stepping aside from my Red Guard duties in two moons or so,” she said with a nervous laugh, flicking her fluffy white tail behind her. The words were left hanging there, in the sun-dappled late summer evening, amid the cheerful birdsong and deep-hued flowers.
If he sensed the way today was unfolding, Crow showed no indication of it; rather, when his mate approached him, he looked nothing but utterly, truly at peace. He was outside the warriors' den, laying far closer than he usually did to it, with his belly exposed to the warm sunbeams and eyes slitted as he dozed, but when he caught the smell of sage, his heart jumped, his eyes opened, and a lazy smile greeted Orchiddrop warmly. "Good morning," slurred a sleepy purr despite that it was, in fact, nowhere near morning.
As he rose, he stepped closer and nuzzled the top of his head against her cheek, lingering for a moment to soak in her warmth, before Orchiddrop herded him from the camp, their chatter stirring the nearby forest critters to peek curiously from the briars. Crow flicked an ear at her comment, tilting his head obliviously. "Oh, are you? It has been pretty quiet around here lately. Good time for a break," he agreed, lightly bumping a pinecone ahead of him with his paws, remaining unaware of the joyful news she was waiting to share with him.
Orchiddrop loved this tom so much it hurt, despite his constant obliviousness. Another laugh escaped her lips as she nudged his shoulder, trying to force herself to relax. This time would be different. This time she would do it right. "Yes, I'll probably need the time off to raise the kits," she said, then she realized her words were still too vague for her doting husband to understand.
"The new ones, that is. The ones I'll be having in two and a half moons." Orchiddrop flicked back her ear, fighting back the smile that pulled on her lips. "They're yours- I mean, obviously they're yours. I just wanted you to be the one to hear it first this time. From me, and not from my sister."
"Raise the kits? Love, they're practically grown adults by now." His brow furrowed, sunbright gaze suddenly hooded and perplexed by his tussled bedhead, Crow taken aback by his mate's concern all of the sudden. He was lost in the swarm of these thoughts he almost didn't hear what followed. "Ratstar mentioned ceremonies a few nights ago, so they should be getting their new ones - I mean, names - I mean.... What? New ones?" The pinecone stilled in front of him, bad leg lifted and poised for the kick that never came, as the tom turned to evaluate his mate with new eyes, taking in her form again. How had he missed the signs? Though to be fair, he hadn't technically - not by his own will - been there for the early moons of her last pregnancy, so he wasn't even sure what signs he should have been looking for.
Orchiddrop's ensuing awkwardness broke him of his reverie, and he laughed lightly, a small, loving laugh. "That's wonderful! Did Gray - Vulturemalice say how many to expect this time?" Crow couldn't imagine another litter of six, bumping their family to twelve, but he knew despite the sleepless nights and petty squabbles of a large litter, he'd be nothing short of over the moon. He pressed another loving nuzzle to her cheek, winding his tail through hers.
Orchiddrop smiled widely, unable to fight it any longer. Some small, irrational part of her brain had expected him to be nervous or agitated or reminiscent of the way the last time had gone. His touch softened her, melted the last of the nervousness away, and she leaned into the touch. "He said it's a smaller litter, four at the maximum. Which honestly sounds like a vacation compared to our first litter."
The tone in which the snowy she-cat spoke was warm and teasing, but the next sentence was serious. "I'm so happy, Crow. So happy that I'm scared- scared that I'll mess it all up, somehow. So don't let me mess this up."
If his heart grew any fuller in his chest, it would explode. He could sense the same feelings lurking beneath Orchiddrop's quieter, more teasing joy, but underneath that was a raw, real fear, one he knew he needed to address gently and honestly. "There's nothing to mess up, my love," he promised, running his nose along her jawline. "There's nothing in between these kits and a life full of happiness, warmth, and joy. They will have a wonderful, amazing mother to love their fears away. Big brothers to teach them how to get into trouble and big sisters that will get them out of it. A clan at their beck and call, ready to defend them and teach them and watch them be better than the two of us combined. They will be beautiful, and most importantly they will be loved. I love you more than the ocean tides love the moon's pull, Orchiddrop - formerly Orchidpaw," he smiled a smile full of memories, "and I am so excited to watch you love these kits."
Orchiddrop sighed softly, closing her eyes against his gentle touch and burying her face in his shoulder. "And I love you even more than that, Crow- Devotedcrow, Crowstar, Devotedstar, whatever you may become. You've always been Crow to me. Sunclan needs to re-evaluate their beliefs, because you've been the best bit of good luck I've ever had."
She clung to his words, the image they brought to her mind. Kits that would have both parents from the first moment of pregnancy through the end of either of their lives. "And they'll have a dad who teaches them to make jokes in the midst of trouble, who perseveres despite everything he's been through. They'll have dad worth looking up to, someone to aspire to be. I've always admired your pure heart, and our newest litter will, too."
He basked in the glow of her words and their sentiment. No matter the darkness, the smog, clouding his memories of SunClan, Orchiddrop was like a beacon glowing through it, allowing him to experience his past without the pain choking him. He could remember it with a cold detachment and know that, despite the last effects it left on him, those events had driven him to her and their life together, this beautiful life they'd built in SummerClan. "I don't care what the clan calls me," he murmured softly, "I know who I am now. You've shown me who I want to be, who I never thought I could be. Though, speaking of SunClan," he raised his eyes to stare into the distance, looking so far away at where he knew his former clan was, and wondered if maybe SwiftClan was somewhere in between, "I think I'm going to visit Ghostcrown soon. I think it's time to ask him about that night, my last night in SunClan."
He knew she would understand the significance of that. One of the things most unresolved in his life had always been what motives had kept Ghostcrown from forcing his kids to flee the flames, and though he frequently visited his family of now nomads, the gap between himself and his father was as deep and gaping as the day they'd parted.
Orchiddrop blinked in surprise before nodding, a small smile crossing her features. She leaned over, giving his shoulder a gentle nudge. "Of course. Of course you should go." She did know the importance of that statement, and she was glad he was finally seeking the closure she'd hoped he'd search for. "You helped me through processing my parents death. It's time for you to find that resolution, if you're ready for it."
With a soft purr, she leaned into his side. "Come back quickly, though. Me and all your many children will be waiting for you."
Crow welcomed her touch, pressing himself as closely as he could to her. "Of course. I wouldn't dream of being away from you long," he promised warmly. "Plus, I can't miss our oldest ones getting their full names, now can I?" Ceremonies weren't being broadcasted yet, but everyone could feel the emotions energy in the air - the anticipation and excitement buzzing around, warriors eager to see their students flourish and apprentices determined to hone their newly acquired skills to show off - and he was just about as excited as a kitten on his first day out the nursery to watch their babies, because they'd always be babies to him, earn the names they would carry the rest of their lives.
Though, he did deflate some, knowing there would be an obvious, gaping absence. "I wish Firepaw would still be here to get his too," he admitted, a twinge of guilt constricting his heart. He and his son never really saw eye-to-eye, especially lately, but Crow blamed himself for Firepaw's choosing to leave SummerClan. He trusted Hawthorne - one of the rogues from the Syndicate - to look after him, but he couldn't help the worry and regret.
Orchiddrop sighed, her chest tightening as she pressed into his side. "I wish he was here, too," she said quietly, gazing at the ants that crawled over an anthill on the ground nearby. "It feels emptier with him gone. I can't help feeling like he'll come back, though. Sometimes we have to leave to find ourselves- when Rose and I went to fight those rogues, when she and Foxkit left for Nightclan. As painful as it is... sometimes we need to give them the space to figure it out."
Orchiddrop and Crow didn't - couldn't - know it but those very ants, they were survivors. They had watched their home crumble around them, struck down by the paws of their ruthless, unfeeling gods, but they were determined to rebuild, to reclaim structure out of chaos and despair. They had bore witness to an unholy act but their spirits could never be diminished so easily. They were not tiny, thoughtless creatures. They were ants, mighty enough to lift over ten times their body weight! They had two stomachs because one could not fit their sustenance beside their bottomless hunger for survival! They relied on one another when surfaces were too slippery to brave alone; they were far older the gods that stormed into their lives and rocked their meticulously crafted world; they had turned the land into a fertile, bursting paradise to be enjoyed by creatures of every size! They scurried, not because they feared what was to come, but because they could be proud of their tenacity, their feral unwillingness to bow to a world so much larger than themselves. They bit, not because they feared death, but because they had survived and would be damned if they didn't defy death to the last essence of their cognizance! They are soldiers. They are survivors. They. Are. Ants.
He wasn't an ant, but Crow did have enough sentience to feel feelings and he exhaled the deepness of those feelings into the soft sunlight. "He'll come back. He needs this experience," he agreed.
Orchiddrop watched Crow stare at the ants for an inexplicable length of time before sighing deeply, and her mouth twitched in faint amusement despite herself. "Of course he'll come home," she agreed quietly. "Sometimes we all need clarity on where home is. Speaking of, we should get back so we can tell the children- and the rest of the clan by default, since Cinderpaw can't keep a secret to save her life."
