Old Friends and New

Prologue
A year ago

"The sky is beautiful, Mistfrost." Treestripe curled his tail around his paws, gazing up at the night sky. The cool breeze ruffled his fur, making him smile with content. Next to him sat Mistfrost, who was also gazing up at the sky with pretty blue eyes.

"Indeed." Mistfrost sighed happily.

"How is Tanclaw?" Treestripe asked, looking over at the gray she-cat.

"Can't you ask her yourself?" Mistfrost rose an eyebrow.

Treestripe sighed, this time in grief, and stared at the ground beneath his paws. "I can't face her. Not since... yeah."

Mistfrost laid her tail over his shoulders comfortingly. "Tanclaw is a nice cat, she can't stay mad at you forever. Who knows? Maybe your kits will fulfill your wish after all."

Treestripe shook his head. "Not without Tanclaw's permission, and we already saw what she thinks of it. She was always so kind... I didn't think she would be so angry about it."

"But in the end, it's up to the kits." Mistfrost wrapped her tail tighter around Treestripe's shoulders and looked up at the glittering sky again. After what seemed like a few minutes, it was moonhigh. Mistfrost stood, shok out her light gray fur, and started to pad away. "I think I'll go hunting. I might not catch much this late, but it's better than just going back to camp."

"Mistfrost, you shouldn't hunt so much while carrying kits." Treestripe warned. "You're going to lose them, or hurt yourself."

Mistfrost looked back at the tom, the annoyance in her cool, blue eyes peircing through his pelt. "I'll do what I want, thank you." she replied rudely. "I don't even want stupid kits!" With a sudden change of expression, she looked down at the ground in saddness. "They... well... they might not turn out good. They might not turn out to be good warriors." she looked back up, tears in her eyes. "I can't handle that possiblity."