Whew! Done with the next chapter. I was hoping to get this done by the end of Spring Break and- oh, darn, it's Monday! Well, close enough, right? For those of you who are just starting Spring Break, here's something for you to do on vacation! It is kind of a filler, sorry, but it's something to keep the book going. Enjoy!

-Emrysstar✨
__________________________________

A little more than a quarter moon passed. All was quiet and back to normal, aside from the problems that weren't immediately facing RiverClan. Warriors ate their sun high meal, some talked quietly, and others dosed in the light of slightly warm dappled ground. As new-leaf approached, more of these sunbath places appeared for the eager cats.

The sun shone high when Icestar poked her head out of her den after a nap. She stepped out, shook off, and viewed the camp. Spotting warriors gathering around Grasspelt, she padded up to the group to see the patrols go off.

"Ok, erm, Icewing! Would you lead Hollowfern and Ashenfang on a border patrol from about the treebridge to the edge of the ShadowClan border?" When the she-cat nodded, the deputy continued. "Alright, then, let's have Robinwing lead Rushrunner and Cougarheart on another patrol around the other side. And Petalfur, Graybrook and Troutjump be one hunting patrol while Mossylight and Cougarheart be the other. I don't care who leads-" Grasspelt was interrupted as the patrols were about to split off.

"Hey, wait!" Robinwing called. "You have Cougarheart going on two different patrols."

"You promised I could go on a patrol!" whined Brighttail. Grasspelt bit his lip and, noticing Icestar stood behind the crowd, gave her a desperate look.

Icestar smiled and nodded. "What if Cougarheart went with Robinwing, and I took Mossylight and Brighttail on the other hunting patrol?" Grasspelt breathed a sigh of relief, smiled back, and nodded. No one else mentioned any problems, so the patrols made their way towards the camp entrance.

Icestar stepped a little quicker once outside. Patrol following, she started towards the river, splashed through, and sprinted downstream to the island. The lake lay as full as ever with water and fish. Looking back, Icestar spotted her patrol racing towards her.

"You're faster than I remember!" panted Mossylight. Brighttail couldn't speak.

"Or maybe you haven't done enough running lately," teased Icestar.

"Hey!" Mossylight playfully swiped a paw at her leader, claws sheathed, who ducked and swiped back. Mossylight jumped and landed on top of Icestar, who dropped and rolled, landing Icestar on top. She smiled and climbed off of her friend, who scrambled up. When Icestar turned towards the river to actually start hunting, the younger warrior took her chance and sprang at her friend. Icestar slipped and landed on her back, with Mossylight over her. The wind knocked out of her, Icestar surrendered.

"I thought that was going to be a truce!" she exclaimed. Mossylight climbed off.

"No one said so!" Icestar glared while Mossylight did a playful little jumpy-run away towards the river bank. Brighttail had caught her breath and sat looking amused at a warrior beating the RiverClan leader.

Icestar shook off and motioned to the river with her head. Brighttail nodded and they sat, a little ways off from each other, each with their eyes on the river. After a few minutes, Brighttail flashed out a paw and a fish flew into the air. When it landed on the solid earth, Brighttail gave it a swift bite, and it went limp. Icestar glanced at the actions, nodded a congratulations, and went back to the river.

In not too much longer, Icestar had a fish, and decided to try the forest. Padding into the woods, she stopped and held still. Sniffing the air she thought she caught a scent. She followed it deeper into the forest, where it passed the camp and scurried into the less traveled back woods of RiverClan territory. When in a clearing, Icestar nearly lost it, for it seemed to disappear beneath a more powerful stench. That was when she realized what the stench was: badger. Sure enough, not more than a day ago, the badger that killed Willowshine had come back to catch prey, this time only a vole. Icestar froze, not sure whether to go on by herself or call a patrol to go check it out.

After a moment of practical thought, she decided to go back and tell her deputy and elder warriors about it. While walking back to the patrol, thoughts flew in her mind. What would she tell the general Clan? Or should she tell them anything? She might mention to keep an eye out. What if that caused panic? She put these to the back of her mind for a second, as she easily caught two mice.

When returning to the river where Brighttail and Mossylight still fished, she set down her catch.

"Should we head back? I have a good amount." Brighttail seemed to be getting slightly bored, and looked relieved at the offer.

"I'd say. I've got a couple fish, and haven't had any luck since them." Mossylight mewed as she padded over. Brighttail gave a "me too" to the conversation.

The cats had gathered their fresh kill and slowly started padding back to the camp. That was when they heard it. A painful yowl came from behind the rush walls of the camp. Icestar immediately thought of her encounter with the badger scent. Had it come back already? The young leader dropped her prey and looked at Mossylight. "I think it's bad luck for us to go on a hunting patrol together."

Mossylight nodded. Icestar quickly picked back up her fresh kill and raced towards the camp, patrol on her heels. Bursting through the camp wall, nothing seemed out of the ordinary. A few warriors stood outside the nursery, including Grasspelt and Robinwing. When noticing his daughter, Robinwing hurried over to Icestar and the others. Icestar looked at him questioningly.

"Acornstream is giving birth to her litter! It just started, and Beechpaw is in with her now," he mewed.

Icestar sighed, but smiled. There was no emergency- she would get siblings! This was a time to celebrate! All too quickly she again thought of the badger. What would she tell the Clan? With new kits just being born, it might create chaos. She definitely should wait to tell the whole Clan, but also needed to tell Grasspelt soon. Maybe not while we have such a happy event. Later.

After a few minutes passed, Beechpaw came to get Acornstream's family. All the family had arrived home from patrols, so the four squeezed into the small space of the nursery. Acornstream, Beechpaw, and the kits being in there, the nursery seemed to be bursting at the seems.

All eyes gazed upon the kits- one tom, one she-cat. The tom bore a pale orange tabby coat on his back. Soft white fur lined his underbelly, feet, lower front face, and lower legs.

His sister squirmed. Acornstream nudged the she-cat a little, and the kit stopped struggling and settled down. She glowed a brilliant white with a few splotches of shades of darker brown. A spot had been place mischievously across the side of her mouth and cheek, as if she had just been playing in mud. Both deemed a lovable bundle of fluff.

"Well, name ideas, anyone?" Robinwing broke into the silence.

"The tom could be Dustkit," voiced Ashenfang.

"No, something more... special. Important," Acornstream replied.

This time Graybrook spoke. "Goldenkit? Honeykit?"

"I like Goldenkit," Robinwing agreed. When the other family members spoke their consent, it was settled. The tom would be Goldenkit. Now for the she-cat.

"What about Hawkkit?" Robinwing suggested. When the others looked at him strangely, he discarded the idea.

"It sounds too... ferocious. She seems so small now. What about Harekit?" Acornstream mewed. This met some "ehs" and "I don't knows" from other cats. A moment of silence followed.

"Thawkit? Her pelt reminds me of when the ice on the river is just breaking up after leaf-bare. Mostly whitish ice is visible, but underneath is the brown river bottom," Icestar spoke. Slowly, heads started to nod and "yeahs" started to work their way around the assembled cats.

"Then it is decided. The newest members of the Clan: Goldenkit and Thawkit." Beechpaw smiled as she spoke.

Talk started among the cats as they made their way outside to let Acornstream and the kits visit with other Clan members and finally get some sleep. After finishing a conversation with her siblings about kithood memories, Icestar slipped away to find Grasspelt and finally talk to him. He emerged from visiting with Acornstream, and, seeing Icestar approaching, walked towards her.

"They are lovely. Acornstream said you came up with Thawkit? It's a great choice." Grasspelt smiled happily.

Icestar slightly blushed. "Well, yes, I guess I did. It really did fit." Grasspelt nodded in agreement. "But that is not what I wanted to talk to you about. This is a more... delicate matter."

Icestar beckoned to Grasspelt for him to follow her to her den. When inside, the leader sat down and motioned him to. A moment of silence enveloped them as Icestar fished for words. "When I was hunting earlier today, I decided to go into the darker woods in hopes for better prey. What I found was no where close to the prey itself." She related the story of the badger scent and thoughts.

Grasspelt's eyes widened as the story went on. "Wow. Do you really think it is the same one?"

Icestar nodded. "I don't see why another one would venture here. Well, who knows why the first one did anyways. Point being, the badger thinks he already had some success, so why should he give up the chance to get more easier food than what he already has?"

Grasspelt nodded this time. "So he is coming back to do exactly that: get more food. I'm glad you haven't told this to the Clan. That was a wise choice. We especially don't want anyone worrying about the new kits."

"I thought so. Now the question is: what are we going to do about it? We can't very well sneak off just us and defeat a badger. We would need Lionblaze's powers to do that," Icestar mewed, in thought of the ThunderClan warrior's super fighting powers used in the Great Battle.

"Let's just keep this in the back of out minds. Hopefully we can wait long enough for the kits to grow more able, so they can escape the nursery if need be. Then we can spring into action."