Month 14 - Newleaf
“Hey, Bee Face?”
Russetfrond had been starting to drift as he watched Mystique train with the apprentices but her voice pulled him back into focus.
“Yes?” he frowned out of habit despite the fact that he and the kittypet had been getting along a lot better lately. They were honestly getting along a little too well for his liking, although the guilt he felt over his first major indiscretion as a warrior wasn’t enough to stop him from continuing to be indiscreet. It had become an excitingly ill advised routine to sneak off with her every couple days for a bit of private fun. She’d promised to keep it a secret even if she didn’t seem to understand why and he had been grateful.
He realized he was drifting again when she said, “Hello? You there?”
“What?” he blinked and Floodpaw and Barleypaw chuckled softly to themselves.
“I said,” Mystique frowned, looking green in the face, “I think I’m done for the day. I don’t feel so good.”
Russetfrond nodded. “Alright, then we’ll break.”
“Aw, come on,” Floodpaw groaned, “We barely did anything!”
“She’s not feeling well,” Sparrowpaw chided him, “It’s not like we can’t train without her.” Russetfrond suppressed a smile of pride.
“Yeah, come on,” Barleypaw said, “Why don’t we take turns doing two on one fights if you really want a challenge?”
“Mm, alright,” Floodpaw relented. Russetfrong gave a grunt to Mystique that meant ‘let’s go’ and she nodded, falling into step beside him. They left the sandy training ground and started back towards camp as the sound of fighting resumed behind them.
“Ugh,” Mystique moaned, “I feel like I’m gonna puke.”
“Please don’t,” Russetfrond grumbled. Still, he glanced sideways at her in concern. “Did you eat anything strange lately? Any rabbits?”
“What?” Mystique scrunched her nose at him. “No, why?”
“Sometimes they catch a sickness that can kill the cats that eat them,” he said, “but if you didn’t have a rabbit it's fine, then.”
“Wait, why do you eat them if they could kill you!?” cried Mystique.
“Because we need to eat?” he rolled his eyes. “You can usually tell if they’re sick before you catch them. It doesn’t happen often.”
“If you say so…” said Mystique. She took several slow, deep breaths through her nose as they walked and Russetfrond realized she must really feel sick.
“We’ll have one of the healers look at you when we get back to camp,” he said. “They’ll give you something for your stomach.”
“Okay,” she said, sounding strained. “You guys don’t have any pumpkin treats do you?”
“No, we do not have pumpkin treats,” he growled, “It’s the middle of spring!”
“Why should that matter?” asked Mystique. “The Folk have them all year round.” She dropped her gaze and mumbled, “they always make my tummy feel better…”
“Tummy? Really? You are such a child.”
“No, I’m not,” she said defensively, then flirtatiously, “you would know.” He blushed and lashed his tail, glancing around to make sure no one had heard.
“Shut up,” he hissed, fur prickling with embarrassment.
She snickered impishly. “It’s fine, Russie, there’s nobody around!” That only made him more embarrassed.
“You don’t know that for sure,” he snapped. “We’re almost to camp, just-!” He stopped and took a moment to flatten his hackles and lower his voice. “Just be quiet please?”
“Okay, okay,” she relented with a bit of a laugh. “You’re so touchy, Bee Face.”
He grunted and said nothing else.
They slipped down into the camp. Goldenstar and Scorchplume were sharing tongues by the Stoneperch, Fogkit and Slatekit were picking out prey for their meal, Pantherhaze was sunning on top of the warriors’ den. It was quiet and lovely. Russetfrond nodded to Goldenstar as he passed and she nodded in kind, then turned to listen as Scorch whispered in her ear. She smiled and twined her tail with Scorchplume’s and Russetfrond frowned. He still didn’t like that Goldenstar had fallen for such a scheming fox. Still, it wasn’t like there was anything he could do about it. When Goldenstar got an idea in her head there was no talking her down.
He and Mystique entered the healers’ den. Aldertail and Oddstripe were talking near the herb stores and when Aldertail noticed them she squeaked and dropped into a frightened ball. Oddstripe sat up straight, his big ears grazing the roof of the den, and smiled awkwardly.
“Russetfrond! Mystique! Oh, what brings you in today?”
“Mystique’s stomach is sick,” Russetfrond said flatly.
“Oh, alright then, why don't you settle into one of those nests and I’ll come help you in a second,” said Oddstripe. He turned back to Aldertail and whispered to her a bit. She nodded mutely and then quickly slank out of the den, hugging the wall farthest from Mystique. The kittypet tried to shoot her an apologetic grin but she wasn’t looking. Mystique sighed.
“I wish she wasn’t so scared of me,” she said as the warrior’s tail tip disappeared.
“She’s been through a lot,” Oddstripe said, lips pursed tight. “We’re working on it. Anyways!” He stepped up to her and leaned in to sniff her breath. “Tell me about your symptoms.” Russetfrond settled into a lean against the wall, watching impassively.
“Uh… I dunno,” Mystique shrugged. “I’ve been queasy since breakfast. It got worse just a little while ago.”
“Any gut pain?” Oddstripe asked, “Dizziness? Fever? Issues making dirt?”
“No,” Mystique looked away uncomfortably, “none of that.”
“Hmm…” Oddstripe frowned in thought. “It couldn’t be… would you mind letting me look at your belly?”
Mystique glanced back at him, tried to hide a grimace, and then said, “Sure.” She settled onto her side and lifted her arm to give him better access. He sniffed around, used his paws to push some of her fur out of the way, and then laughed to himself.
“If I had a mouse for every time this has happened,” he grinned, sitting back.
“Every time what has happened?” Russetfrond growled.
“I’ve discovered a sudden bout of nausea was morning sickness!” Oddstripe said brightly. “Congratulations, Mystique, you’re going to have kittens!”
“What?” Mystique and Russetfrond said at the same time.
“You’re pregnant!” Oddstripe reiterated pleasantly. “Nausea is a totally normal symptom of the early stages of pregnancy. I’d say you’re probably a week or two into it based on how you’re pinking up.”
“That’s impossible,” Russetfrond was on his feet again. “She’s a kittypet!”
“Not all of the Exalted are altered,” Mystique twitched her ear in annoyance.
“Why-!” Russetfrond nearly shouted but caught himself. Gritting his teeth, he said in a more discreet tone, “Why didn’t you tell me?!”
“‘Cause it’s not a big deal!” Mystique rolled her eyes.
“Not a big deal?!” His jaw was starting to ache with how hard he was clenching his jaw. “Mystique, did you get your brain replaced with bees? Of course it’s a big deal! I didn’t think that-” He stopped himself again when he remembered that Oddstripe was still right there. The healer was staring at him with wide-blown eyes and a mouth pursed into a tiny, scandalized line.
Russetfrond swallowed. “Uh, Oddstripe, look-”
“Oh, don’t worry!” Oddstripe quickly said, waving his paws in front of himself. “I’m not judging you or anything! I just feel like maybe I shouldn’t be here, I can give you guys some privacy-!”
“No!” Russetfrond blurted. “I mean… Thank you, but you can’t tell anyone.”
Mystique groaned loudly. “Ugh! This again!”
“It’s important!” he said to both of them.
“Of course, Russetfrond,” said Oddstripe, “I won’t tell anyone if you don’t want me to, but…” He glanced over his shoulder, “It’s not going to stay a secret for too much longer. I mean, Sagetooth is going to do the math and know it had to have been someone in the Clan, y’know?”
Russetfrond shut his eyes tightly. This was a nightmare. “Right. Of course.” He started kneading the ground in an attempt to calm himself. “Just… I’ll handle it, just don’t say anything before I do, alright?”
“Of course,” Oddstripe said again. “I’ll let you two talk.” He turned and stepped out of the den with a swish of his tail. Russetfrond sighed and started to pace.
“This is bad,” he said.
“No, it’s not,” Mystique said. “Look, I’ll just go back to my Folk and they’ll take care of it.”
“What do you mean, take care of it?” he glared at her.
“If you’re upset that there will be kits around,” she said as if it were common sense, “I’ll just go to my Folk and, once they’re weaned, the Folk will take them and place them with Folk of their own! It’s fine!”
“What? No!” Russetfrond whirled on her. “Absolutely not!”
“Why not?” protested Mystique, “I’ve done it before.”
“I don’t care,” said Russetfrond. “You’re just going to abandon the kits?”
“It’s not abandonment, the Folk find them homes!” Mystique was getting angry now, her claws sinking into the moss of the nest she was in. “If you don’t want kits then why do you care?!”
“It’s not that I don’t want kits,” he said, trying very hard not to shout, “it’s that I don’t want anyone to know that we’ve been messing around!”
“Why not?” she cried again. “Literally, who cares?”
“I do!” he snapped, tail lashing. “You’re a prisoner of war! I’m not supposed to- to- fraternize with you!”
Mystique laughed mean-spiritedly. “Oh, okay. That never stopped you from letting me pin you down and-”
“Stars Blood!” he hissed, blushing profusely. “Will you shut up for once in your life? This is serious! I’m the deputy! My- my reputation is on the line!”
“No one will care,” Mystique rolled her eyes. “Even Odd-face said she was fine with it-”
“He,” Russetfrond stressed.
“Ugh, whatever!” Mystique tore a line through the edge of the nest. “My point is, who’s gonna be mad? It’s fine! Stop stressing out!”
“You don’t get it,” he shook his head.
“Okay, then explain it to me, moron,” said Mystique, her voice catching in the back of her throat in irritation.
Russetfrond snarled, tearing himself away from her steely gaze to start pacing again. “Fine,” he said. “In the Warrior Code it says that our Clan needs to come first. That means we aren’t supposed to form relationships that could compromise our loyalties, with members of the other Clans or rogues or kittypets.” He shot her a stern look. She rolled her eyes. “So when cats find out that we’ve been together, my loyalties will be called into question. I could lose my position as Deputy.”
“Will you though?” Mystique frowned, “Cause Goldenstar is all over Scorch and that doesn’t seem to be an issue.”
“Scorchplume became a warrior of RisingClan,” Russetfrond said, still pacing. “So if you joined the Clan then maybe it would be fine.”
“Nah, I don’t think so,” Mystique shook her head. “I still wanna go back to my Folk so they can handle all this stuff.”
“First off,” Russetfrond growled, “We’ve already told you why you can’t go home. You would be a liability and that’s not even accounting for what Razor will do when he knows you betrayed him.” Mystique’s ears pressed back against her head briefly. “Secondly, you’re not giving our kits away to become kittypets.”
“I don’t want them!” Mystique protested. “I’m not in any rush to be a mother.”
“So you’re just going to let them snatch your kits away from you?”
“It’s not like that,” she laid her head on her paws, lips skewed to the side petulantly. “I’ve done it before and it was totally harmless.”
“You’ve done it before?” he asked, paling. Did cats in the city just not raise their own children? He was horrified.
“Yeah,” she shrugged like it was no big deal. “I wasn’t even a year old, fooled around a bit too much, got knocked up. The Folk fed me twice as much and gave me extra attention and helped me through the birth. Then different Folk came to visit and play with the kittens and eventually they all went home with a new family.”
“What happened after that?”
“I dunno, I never saw them again,” she shrugged. “It’s not that big a deal.”
“Would you stop saying that?” he hissed, dropping his chest to the ground in a frustrated arch of his back. “It is a big deal! If you don’t want the kits, then that’s fine,” he spat the word, clearly not convinced that it was, “but they’re my kits too. I want to be there for them.”
Mystique groaned. “Ugh. You’re not gonna give me a choice are you… If I try and leave you’ll just drag me back to that stuffy old den.”
“Yes,” he said, glaring at her. She sighed and spread out over the ground like a kitten throwing a tantrum. It was moments like these where Russetfrond remembered how much he hated her. If only he had been able to remember the whole time, this wouldn’t have happened.
“Then I guess we’ll do things your way,” she said eventually.
“Good,” he said. “And we’re done messing around.”
“Oh, come on!”
“I’m serious,” he said firmly. “I should have never been so weak in the first place. This is StarClan’s sign that I need to get my act together.”
“No it’s not,” said Mystique, “it’s what happens when cats have sex together. Not everything is some magical sign.”
Russetfrond lashed his tail one last time and said, “Just keep your mouth shut about our activities together. I’m going to handle this.”
“Whatever,” she groaned to the ceiling. “I don’t caaaaare.”
He shook his head and stalked out of the den. Oddstripe was sitting a short distance away and looked up as he did, offering a hopeful smile.
“So?” he asked.
“I’m going to talk to Goldenstar about it,” said Russetfrond. “Just keep her and the kits healthy, alright?” He made sure to lower his voice just in case.
“I will,” said Oddstripe dutifully.
“Thank you,” Russetfrond sighed. At least he could take solace in that. His head was swimming. He was going to be a father. A single father, at that. He didn’t feel ready. He felt a thousand different dreams and plans shattering away like ice under his paws. He had dreamed of meeting someone strong but gentle, someone devoted just like he was, and courting them like a proper warrior until they were certain this was what they wanted. He had dreamed of raising kits with someone his mother could be proud of. He closed his eyes and tried not to think about what she must think of him now.
“It’s gonna be alright,” Oddstripe said, brushing his tail over Russetfrond’s paws reassuringly. “I’m sure everyone will understand.”
“It’s over anyway,” Russetfrond said, feeling sick himself. “I never should have been so foolish but I’m certainly not going to let it happen again.”
“I know what you mean,” Oddstripe said, a pained smile on his face. “But have faith. Kits are a gift, even if they come from less than perfect circumstances. I’m sure they will be a blessing to you when they arrive.”
“I know…” he sighed again. “If you’ll excuse me.”
“Oh, of course, Russetfrond,” smiled Oddstripe. “Don’t let me keep you.”
Gratefully, Russetfrond stepped away to go find Goldenstar. This wasn’t going to be pleasant. It was time he started acting responsibly, though.
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