Not Exactly to Code (Apprentice x Leader) [Bacon]

"You must still complete your quest." Sparrowflight replied softly. "You must never let your guard down until your kits have been birthed. Then you, and they, will be beyond the reach of Starclan."

The she-cat pinned her ears and she frowned, "So, are we to complete this current mission? Or to head home now? So we can begin to plan for what is to come?" She questioned the she-cat, her tail curling around her paws lightly.

Sparrowflight dipped her head. "That's correct, Lavenderstar. I can only hope that cooler heads will eventually prevail, but until then it is you versus your ancestors."

The she-cat sighed, pinning her ears and lashing her tail lightly, leaning against her mate, "Then that's why the dogs attacked... I've been attacked before... But even hunting dogs aren't like that" She murmured, glancing toward her mate.

"But it's going to happen again, love!" Birchwing replied, grooming Lavenderstar affectionately to try to get her spirits back up. "Not only that, but they'll be so powerful and important!"

"Yes." Sparrowflight replied. "However, Starclan wishes that these kits never be born. They want their clans to remain unchanged, but change is the only way for them to survive. They refuse to see this, and blocked me from visiting because I disagreed."

The she-cat pinned her ears at the mention of kits, "Well, it'll be a while before we have kits again... After what happened..." She murmured and glanced away, her head low and ears back, her posture slumping.

"For generations, I've been the sole living cat to have regular contact with Starclan. But now they've cut me off, and it's to further their sinister plans. I can see the future- You, Lavenderstar and Birchwing, lovers for life- are going to have kits, and these three kits will forever alter the destiny and structure of the five clans."

Birchwing'S eyes widened.

The leader's ear flicked as she felt her mate's breath in it and she swatted at him lightly, "I know that" She huffed at him, her ears twitching, "Well, tell us then" She mewed to the other she-cat, watching her closely.

"Yes, I am Sparrowflight, and I am far more than a simple tall tale." The she-cat replied, turning to face them once more. "And while I'm not the cat you must meet at the sun-drown place, I bear an omen for you as well."

"This has to be real." Birchwing whispered excitedly into Lavenderstar's ear. "She'd look like an old hag otherwise!"

The she-cat flicked her ears and watched the other she-cat, "Honestly, Starclan works in strange ways, it could be, or maybe she was reborn, or just someone pretending" She shrugged lightly, sitting back up and stretching, becoming more of herself as the herbs kicked in.

"As much as I would like to provide them to you, I'm simply not allowed." The she-cat spoke timidly, shaking her head. "I'll be in enough trouble for giving them to you as it is."

"Who are you?" Birchwing mewed, eyes narrowed and locked on the strange she-cat.

"An ancestor of yours, though I started my days in Shellclan." Replied the female truthfully, hustling her remaining herbs and sweeping them back into the crevice they'd come from.

"Wait..." Birchwing felt a faint throb of recognition pass through him, and it suddenly hit him. "Lavenderstar, I know it's just a tall tale queens tell their kits, but everything matches up. Her appearance, her strange abilities, could it be…?"

Lavenderstar slowly laid down, her tail lashing lightly, beginning to feel more energized, and feeling like she had a clearer mind, "Where did you get those? The clans need to know" She mewed lightly, her ears twitching back lightly.

The herbs were unlike anything the clans had, tasting sweeter than mouse blood but not quite as tasty as honey, yet they still sat much better than any traveling herb. The she-cat who administered them purred softly, waiting eagerly for their effects. They were potent, this she knew. Hopefully Lavenderstar would first feel warmth and love, followed by a fire burning within her, newfound energy pulled from thin air. Then, for the first time in days after the tragic loss she'd suffered- this was evident by her aura- Lavenderstar would feel mental clarity again.

Lavenderstar let out a whine and kept rubbing herself against him and licking at him, slowly coming back down to earth and she whimpered softly, lowering down and starting to eat the herbs.

Birchwing tried to bring her back down to earth, gently nudging his mate and mewling "You need to take your medicine, love. Then we can all be fine, because I am." He nuzzled her lovingly after speaking, then looked to the she-cat, who simply stood over them and watched.

Lavenderstar completely tuned out, pressing close to her mate and grooming him wherever she could, her body trembling heavily, having thought he might have been killed out there.

Birchwing helped her lay back down gently, flopping down at her side and grooming her paws clean of her own blood. The other she-cat dug through a crevice until she returned with a mixture of herbs, mewing a soft "eat them."

"Birchwing" Lavenderstar mewed when she saw him and she forced herself to her paws, staggering to him and rubbing herself against her mate, whimpering and lapping at his face, her ears pinned back.

Finally, after an eternity, two sets of pawsteps were heard outside, their owners scrabbling into the den, none other than Birchwing and the helpful she-cat.

Lavenderstar jolted as she heard the sound and she whimpered, trying to get herself back up to try and find her mate, but the sudden movements caused coughs to wreck through her body, her own blood starting to stain her paws.

Almost as soon as she darted away, another shot from the thunder stick ricocheted off of the den's roof, with more following, surely aimed at either the she-cat or Lavenderstar's own mate.

Lavenderstar was about to speak up before she fell back after the other she-cat left, she huffed out and laid on her side, trying to steady her breathing.

"Don't!" She protested, jumping before the she-cat. "It-It's imperative that you survive. Don't ask why now, I'll explain it to you two later. I'll go." She meekly stepped out of the den, taking a deep scent of the air before dashing off in the direction the leader had come from.

The she-cat stumbled and started coughing, her ears back and blood spurted onto the ground at her paws, "I need to find Birchwing... He's by himself" She let out a pained whine as she tried to leave, her head low.

The she-cat's eyes were wide, the lithe cat clearly shaking and fear scent blanketing the air in the warren. "That thing killed my best friend with one shot. I j-just didn't want you to be hurt." She protested meekly.