Leaflight

> Flyweed… I trusted you. And know you’re off mating with a murderer! What have you become?
> *-LEAFLIGHT TO FLYWEED*
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Ryewing asks Flyweed to join the dawn patrol led by Leaflight. Flyweed declines as she is expecting kits and is dozing off in the sunlight when Leaflight wakes her up, fur fluffed in her excitement and eyes sparkling. She purrs that Ryewing, her former mentor, had told her that Flyweed was expecting and is very happy for her. Suddenly looking unusually shy as she stands beside her Clanmate's nest, Leaflight continues, explaining that Ryewing had said Flyweed would be raising her kits alone. Looking down at the floor, Leaflight looks up with her eyes blazing with hope, before inquiring if her kits' father was dead and then if they were Blazebite’s kits, hopeful that her brother would live on in them.
Although Flyweed doesn't answer her, she takes her silence as a confirmation, nodding slowly as the light in her eyes glow even more brightly. Thanking both Flyweed and CloudClan, Leaflight tells her Clanmate how much these kits mean to her, as she thought she would never be happy again after her brother died. She declares she would help raise them and teach them that Blazebite was a ShadowClan hero. She breaks off her next sentence and stretches out her paw so it rests on Flyweed’s flank, murmuring that she hopes Blazebite could see them. Flyweed takes a deep breath and answers softly, telling Leaflight that she had answered her prayers, and she and her soon to be born kits are no longer alone. Eyes gleaming, Leaflight vows that the kits will be the best thing to happen to the Clan.
Present at Flyweed’s kitting, Leaflight gasps as a she-cat is born, calling him magnificent. Once the kitting is completed, she whispers that the kits are gorgeous, voice husky with emotion. She volunteers to fetch water for Flyweed when she asks for some, tired and sore from her kitting. Brushclaw comments that Flyweed has made her feel like life is worth living again, as she had taken the loss of her brother hard.
Three days later, Echostar visits Flyweed in the nursery with Leaflight soon appearing after him with a squirrel clamped in her jaws. Turning to her father, she purrs that the kits are perfect, and she can so clearly see Blazebite in each of them. Flyweed waits for them to comment about the shade of two of her kits' fur, but Echostar instead inquires about their names. As Flyweed tells him that they are called Waterkit, Dashkit, and Rumblekit, Leaflight disappointingly asks if she didn't want to name one of them after Blazebite, although Flyweed responds that she doesn't want them to be an echo of a cat gone before. Echostar comments that she looks forward to seeing the kits grow up, with Leaflight hissing that she cannot wait to see SkyClan’s faces at the next Meeting upon hearing about them.
Flyweed agrees hurriedly, wishing that she could be there too. The mother tells Leaflight to tell Redbird first, explaining upon her disgust at having to talk with him that since he killed Blazebite, he should see that his legacy lives on. Sinking her claws into the bracken under her paws, Leaflight nods and spits that their enemies have even more reason to fear ShadowClan. Flyweed reminds her and Echostar that they are supposed to show mercy to defeated enemies, but Leaflight hisses that he didn't show any mercy to Blazebite and Shinepaw. When her and her mother’s time in the nursery is done, Leaflight bends her head to touch her muzzle lightly to each kit, murmuring that they are her brother's gift to the Clan and the most precious gifts to the forest. Flyweed has to resist the urge to bat her away, thinking that they are her kits and not Leaflight’s.
Upon Brushclaw discovering who is the father of Flyweed’s kits, the news spreads quickly. Echostar calls her to the Highrock, demanding to know who the true father of her kits is. Leaflight pushes past a knot of warriors in the clearing, calling up to Echostar that they know the father of the kits is Blazebite and why he is asking. Voice soft with menace, Echostar mews that she would not dare to imagine that one of her warriors has told such a lie. Flyweed declares that any Clan would be proud to have the kits grow up in their Clan until Brushclaw says that their father is Redbird. Leaflight utters a horrified yowl and launches herself at Flyweed, demanding if it was true as she claws at her Clanmate's face. Stumbling backward, Flyweed yowls at her to stop, but Leaflight pins down Flyweed until she is dragged off by both Ivyvine and Shimmerflower. Shaking off the she-cats, Leaflight snarls at Flyweed, calling her a traitor and accusing her of dishonoring her brother's name with her lies. She finishes off by saying Flyweed doesn't deserve to be called a warrior and neither do her kits, calling them creatures. Upon Echostar’s decision to banish Flyweed and her kits from the Clan, Leaflight screeches to get rid of them, to drive them out.
Later, Brackenpaw discovers Flyweed taking a rest in ShadowClan territory as she is extremely worn out. He ends up bringing herbs to her that he had been gathering for Brushclaw and mentions that he is extremely sorry her kits had drowned, mentioning that Leaflight had seen what happened from the palm trees. Flyweed is enraged as she hadn't known that, hissing that her kits had been helpless, and she didn't know how she could have just watched them drown. Brackenpaw doesn't know and starts to back away, explaining that she must have thought that the WindClan cats would have rescued them.
While trying to sleep underneath bushes close to Moonplace, haunted by images of her dead kits, Flyweed is soon woken from her sleep, her thoughts then turning to Leaflight as she watched her kits drown from the side of the river. Deciding that the she-cat needs to pay for the death of her kits, she soon starts plotting how best to catch the ginger tabby she-cat by herself in order to murder her and comes upon the idea of luring her to Ratpool.
The former ShadowClan she-cat waits for Leaflight on the branches of an oak tree and waits for dusk until a patrol of four ShadowClan cats goes by. Catching a blackbird and holding it in her jaws, she waits for her former Clanmate, which proves fruitful; Leaflight catches the scent of the blackbird Flyweed is holding. Deliberately making sure the blackbird brushes against the forest floor and plants as much as possible, she slowly and successfully lures Leaflight to Ratpool and pushes away the stones that a ShadowClan patrol had used to block up the entrance to the rat’s nest before ducking behind a boulder. Leaflight cautiously emerges from the bushes, jaws parted and fur bristling, a puzzled look on her face when she sees the dead blackbird. Springing from behind the boulder, Flyweed hisses that she let her kits die, and Leaflight stumbles backwards in shock. She arches her back and snarls that she shouldn't be in ShadowClan territory and should leave before she calls the rest of her patrol.
Lashing her tail, Flyweed asks if Leaflight is too afraid to fight her herself, or if she just prefers watching innocent kits drown. Leaflight protests that she didn't mean for them to die, saying that she thought they would have been saved. Flyweed snarls that she doesn't believe her and that she is a fox-hearted coward, and Leaflight bounds towards her former Clanmate, eyes flashing in rage. She spits that she wishes Flyweed was dead, again accusing her of betraying her brother's name. Leaping at Flyweed, the rogue she-cat dodges out of her way, and Leaflight crashes onto the water. Before she can get back up, however, an adder bites her. Leaflight staggers backwards in agony, screeching for Flyweed to help her. Flyweed refuses, growling that she hopes she dies in agony as revenge for her kits. Yowling again, her screams of pain attract the other members of her patrol. As she begins wailing in agony, saying that she cannot see, the patrol tries to soothe her. Leaflight whimpers and asks if she is going to die, as ShadowClan does not have a medicine cat since Brushclaw had been killed. Shimmerflower reassures her that she will not die on her watch. Flyweed, who is listening, is disgusted by her former teacher reassuring the cat she despises. Although she knows she needs to leave before she is discovered, the ticked tabby sees the mess that Leaflight’s green eyes have become, cloudy, seeping, and blind, with bile rising in her throat at the sight. Knowing that she would never see again if she lived, Flyweed flees the scene.