Look what the cat dragged in.

Leafstorm made his way into camp, turning frequently to see if his mate was following. He felt eyes trained on him as they made their way to the center of camp- it made his fur prickle uncomfortably and he kept his green eyes focused on his paws.

"Blizzardstar?" He called nervously.

Cherryblossom followed after her mate quietly her bright ginger ears laid back nervously as she followed closely behind him. She stopped looking around the scent of a lot of cats overwhelming to the expecting queen.

Blizzardstar was lying down near the freshkill pile, cleaning her muzzle with some bones between her paws from the meal she had just finished as the two cats entered in camp. At first she didn’t pay much attention, recognizing Leafstorm, but as soon as the unknown cat padded in her ears raised and her whole body entered in a state of alert as she got up, she could bury the bones of her meals later.

She approached with cautious steps yet curiosity filled eyes, her gaze fixed on the she-cat that smelled like the twolegplace, however, she definitely didn’t smelled nor looked like a kittypet, a rogue, perhaps? “Leafstorm, who is this she-cat? Why did you bring her to our camp?” The white leader wasn’t trying to be rude nor insult the she-cat by not talking directly to her, but given the many recent events she had been forced to go through she simply couldn’t bring herself to be all friendly and welcoming even if deep inside she really wanted to.

"This is Cherryblossom. I found her, Blizzardstar. She doesn't have a home, and she hasn't eaten." He lied, shooting a glance at his mate. Now that he thought about it, she did look weak. He made a mental note to send her to the medicine cat soon.

"She seeks shelter. I couldn't just refuse her. She's heard about the clans, too..."
He cleared his throat nervously.

Cherryblossom was quiet she wouldn't admit it but some of what he said was true. She flicked her ears up a bit. She spoke but it was quiet as if the overwhelming scent of cats scared her a bit in reality it did but not enough that she would run."i...im expecting...kiy...kits as well"she mewed voice quiet.

Blizzardstar lets out a deep sigh, clearly hesitant as feelings inside her started an all-out battle. For the first time she was being forced to do the final decision without Darkflight there as a leader to tell her if she was making a mistake or not. She really wanted to take the she-cat into the clan, she really did, but her clan’s safety came first regardless of her own wishes and she simply couldn’t pour all her trust in a cat she had met not less than a couple of heartbeats ago “Leafstorm, you know perfectly well that the fire aftereffects are still strong on the clan, prey is barely enough to keep us going and taking in another cat wouldn’t help, if you just found her there is no way to say she’s telling the truth and even less that we could trust her enough to keep her in camp, even less to make her part of ThunderClan. Plus, you know that Honeypaw is…missing…so there is none in the medicine cat den that could…” Her heart was aching as she tried to explain Leafstorm why she probably couldn’t accept Cherryblossom into the clan, however, her ear closer to the she-cat moved towards her as she spoke, her sharp well-trained sense of hearing being able to pick up her words and causing the rest of what she was going to say to get stuck inside her throat.

With wide surprised eyes and ears straight she turned her head from Leafstorm to Cherryblossom, looking straight to her eyes. She had just hit the weakest spot within the leader “You’re…expecting kits?” She looked at Leafstorm again, wondering for a second if she had been lied to and giving him a suspicious yet somewhat hurt look, as she never thought a clanmate would ever lie to her, especially with something like this. However, she had no proof beyond her own suspicion, so instead of asking and potentially putting the tom into an uncomfortable position if her suspicion was incorrect she turned to look at Cherryblossom once more, trying her best to not give in to the voice in her mind that was screaming at her to just take her in and let her go to the nursery and rest “Is there any way you can prove what you’re saying, Cherryblossom?” Not having a medicine cat to prove it between them would be an issue, she could tell.

The tom's fur fluffed up and he shuffled his paws. "I know she's not lying." He mewed softly.
He took a deep breath. He could sacrifice himself, and make sure his kits had a comfortable life. He could be exiled and Cherryblossom could be hurt, and his kits could grow up motherless,
or he could turn his back on her. He could go back to his quiet life with Falconpaw, Hawkswoop and Specklefang. He could sit alone, in the shade. He could wait for Sunpaw to come home.

"Blizzardstar," He mewed. "What I say is true. I found her, and she's heard of the clans. She has no home." He took a breath, steeling himself. "And I know she's not lying because... well... because for the past few moons we've been meeting. She approached me one day, curious about the clans and their ways, and I saw no harm in telling her. We met and talked, and sitting there, with her, it felt right."
He swallowed. "Cherryblossom is having my kits. It's true that I broke the code. You can do whatever you want to me, but I love her. You can demote me, even exile me but... but that won't ever stop me from loving her, truly, deeply loving her. From the moment I saw her, I felt something, something I haven't felt in a long time, ever since Sunpaw left. It felt like I truly belonged.
And- and I want her kits- our kits -to have a life in the clans, with her. I want them to grow up safe. And if that means I need to leave, then so be it."

Once Leafstorm stopped talking, the clearing went silent. He stepped closer to Cherryblossom protectively, his pelt brushing hers as he waited for Blizzardstar's response. Oh Starclan. We're doomed.

OOC: Well frick frack paddity wack leafy's just a poor innocent bby how did this even happen

The expecting bright ginger and white she cat fell quiet as the she cat spoke. She laid her ears flat again out of nervousness. Her attention went to the tom beside her who was her mate before she looked to Blizzardstar seeing suspicion in her gaze. At her question towards her she gave a quiet nod"y..y..yes I am"She mewed quietly. She then let her blue gaze look down trying to think how she could even begin to prove she was expecting but nothing came to mind"i...i don't know how t- "she trailed off when Leafstorm spoke up telling the truth. Her tail flicked nervously but she took comfort at Leafstorm by her side. She just hoped they wouldn't exile him.

Blizzardshine listened and looked silently as Leafstorm spoke, then her attention went from him to the she-cat. Once both of them finished speaking a deep silence fell between them as Blizzardstar thought. After closing her ice blue eyes and letting out a soft Hmmmmm… sound, words finally found their way back to her muzzle “I wish you wouldn’t have hid he truth from me from the very beginning Leafstorm, that you didn’t have to find yourself cornered to speak” Her words were serious yet not angry, her voice, instead, sounded more hurt and even disappointed as she scolded the warrior “I’m not going to exile you, as I know the heart can work in ways even the oldest and more experienced warriors can’t understand. However, what you did is serious and you know it, and even if I wish I could I can’t let this slide” She gave him a serious look, her long fluffy tail moving from side to side slowly.

“While you won’t be demoted, as ThunderClan needs all the warriors available in these times of need, you will need to fulfill apprentice chores and you’ll be responsible to tend to all of your mate’s needs during and after her pregnancy, until all the kits reach apprentice age, which includes looking for the necessary herbs that will be needed to keep her healthy given the lack of medicine cat in camp. You’re allowed to look for advice from other medicine cats of other clans, but you’ll need to inform me of this before going anywhere and take someone else with you for protection” Her gaze finally left the tom to land on the she-cat “Come with me, Cherryblossom, I’ll make sure you have a nest to rest in the nursery, once your kits are born and reach apprentice age we will need to have a serious talk though” As she spoke she made a quick sigh to Cherryblossom to follow her as she padded towards the newly rebuilt nursery, hoping the queens wouldn’t mind to share the den with a strenger.

The tom nodded, his eyes trained on his paws as he felt waves of guilt wash over him. He could feel the accusing stares on his back as he slowly got to his feet and swung his head back and forth.

He still felt a rush of relief. His mate and kits would be safe.

Cherryblossom waited in silence her blue gaze looking to Leafstorm glad he wasn't being exiled. Nervously the she cat blinked and started to follow after the leader quietly. Her tail flicking just slightly. She glanced back to Leafstorm before entering the nursery with Blizzardstar