It had barely been a moon since Brookcloud's death, and now Driftfire felt like the world had fallen out beneath her feet for the second time. After a few days of feeling unwell she'd gone to visit Whispermoon, and the medicine cat had told her she was expecting kits with a smile on her face like she was breaking the best news Driftfire had ever recieved. She didn't blame her for thinking that; she and Tumblefoot had been mates for a long time, they'd spoken of having a family, this was all that most couples ever dreamed of. But all Driftfire could focus on was the panic in her chest that she'd kept in check while speaking to Whispermoon, but had broken free the moment she'd left the den. She had to find Tumblefoot. She had to find him /now/.

To her relief it barely took a second for him to appear, walking through the camp entrance on the tail end of that morning's border patrol. Why was it that terrible things always happened when he was on a patrol. Without caring what the other cats on the patrol thought, she sprinted over to him with her chest heaving and desperation in her eyes. "I need to talk to you," she said, her voice cracking miserably as she fought the urge to just bury her face in her chest and pray to StarClan for everything to disappear.