Gustclan Post 59

If you had asked Lobsterclaw about it, he would have said his defiance was because of him being a strong warrior, and camp needing as many of those as possible to protect their kits and elders. He would have said that him volunteering to guard the camp was something more immediately useful – that is useful sooner, rather than being more useful – than training Gullpaw. He would have said it was a relax from mentor duties (truthfully mentoring was stressful, as much as it made him proud of his apprentice. He could see why mentoring was used as a test for potential deputies; how enthusiastic they were to lead less experienced warriors when there was just one under their command was a reasonable proxy for how well they would tend to their daily duties and, even, how well they would tend to battle, should it be needed).

All of these reasons were true, but, of course, his real reason went unsaid.

Would defying his deputy’s order to join the patrol – directly to his face, no less – be acceptable if he knew the real reason?

Maybe he’d think that Bugleclaw and Argusheart being alongside Troutstripe would be enough for him in feeling that she had his love and support alongside. Maybe he’d think it ridiculous to bunk off other duties out of wanting to provide support for your mate.

His father would have found it ridiculous. Quite possible his mother, too. But while Lobsterclaw was as hard and tough as his name suggested, he also, much like his name-sake, had a soft, tender inside. There was no weakness in the shell of a lobster – they kept their squishy pink cores hidden deep inside, and had humans not regularly interfered with lobster pots, no cat could possibly know that the whole creature wasn’t just stone-hard shell. Argusheart had chosen her elder son’s name well. Lobsterclaw’s shell made his parents proud, both being more conservative than much of the clan.

His twin brother was another matter. Camberfoot was soft and flighty – again, like his name – and didn’t have the cold iron in his eyes that Lobsterclaw and Bugleclaw shared. He often acted like he belonged with entirely different cats, and Argusheart and Bugleclaw seemed okay with this.

It would have hurt his parents to see both their sons letting themselves be ruled by emotion and sentiment, but Lobsterclaw was not just his father’s son. He was Troutstripe’s mate, and going to be a very proud father within a few days.

After-all, Troutstripe had said this morning she could feel the kits stirring, more than just the usual kicks and turns of the rest of the pregnancy.

And Lobsterclaw knew, without even needing to see them, that his kits would all be adorable, precious, and deeply important to him, no matter what they turned out to behave like. He could even love a second third Clarystorm, and wasn’t that something? Even if they came out with four ears and no tail. Even if they came out as ginger, and obviously weren’t his. They were his mate’s kits, and he would be a dad. And an awesome dad, at that.