The n e w e s t Warriors

[Stormeh]

A silhouette was illuminated solely by the moon's soft glow. Against
her back was the gaping entrance of the nursery, darker than any
part of the camp. The silhouette was definitely a cat, and her belly
was definitely bigger than the normal warrior's should be. Her
delicate frame supported her belly but only barely, and her face
seemed as if it were too gaunt for the rest of her body. She had
taken good care of herself, of course, as any good mother would,
but her face hadn't changed from her pregnancy. She still had her
thin legs as well.

The she-cat's light gray tabby face was turned up towards the full
moon that illuminated her sparkling blue eyes. Most of the cats were
at the Gathering. She hadn't been able to attend on account of the
kits. Stress filled her because of that fact and because of her friend's
recent death. She didn't know how she was going to keep going
without Tawnystone. She had basically meant the world to
Ashenwind.

Something felt different tonight, though. The kits were kicking more
than usual and she had acute abdominal pains, just as Tawnystone
had told her she would before the tortoiseshell had died...

Suddenly, Ashenwind felt a kick unlike one she had felt before.
Rather than alert any other cat, she slowly made her way into the
nursery. She let herself lie on her side as slowly as she could before
allowing her head to rest on the soft moss. Her breathing came
quickly and shallow. She closed her eyes and let the pain take over
her body.

"Pantherstorm," she whined before she focused on the moment...

&&

Ashenwind rested her head on the nursery floor's spongy moss.
Everything was tranquilly quiet. She knew that the fifth body that
had exited hers was the last. All of them curled up against her belly
and merely suckled. She pulled her head up for a moment and gave
one of them, a dusky gray kit, and gave her a tiny lick on the head
before letting herself fall back onto the comfortable moss.

She was exhausted, but scared to sleep before any cat got back
from the Gathering to let her know that everything was going to be
okay. And certainly one of them would notice the scent of kits before
long, so she...wasn't...very...concerned....

But it wouldn't hurt...to...to let her eyes...rest....

[Raven-chan]

Resting in the Warrior's den wasn't doing him much good. He really wasn't tired enough to rest, for he hadn't been doing much out of camp lately. He didn't want to stray from Ashenwind for too long, so his normally exhaustive hunting expeditions were cut down to a minimum twice a day, quick jaunts through the territory.

She hadn't been herself lately, and Pantherstorm could understand. Heavy and awkward, he could almost feel bad for putting her in this position, except for the fact that he was excited beyond belief. It was weird, no matter how often he had dreamed of having kits, he never had really expected it to happen.

His nose caught a scent. What...was that? Milk-scent mixed with...kits! Launching himself onto his paws before he truly realized what had happened, he tore towards the Nursery entrance, slowing his pace a fraction of a second as he entered, and his dark pond green eyes took in the scene.

There, lying exhausted, was Ashenwind, and curled up next to her side were five beautiful little kits...his little kits! He purred, loudly, unable to stop himself, his eyes taking on a delightful shine. He stepped forward, looking down at his little family, nudging each of the kits gently before lying down beside Ashenwind, her warm form a comfort to him. He didn't sleep, but just watched the kits, his kits, their kits! The only thing that would have made this moment perfect would have been Clearpool's presence.

He meowed softly to Ashenwind, because he thought she was asleep, "Oh, Ashenwind, they're so beautiful...you're so beautiful..."

[Stormeh]

The she-cat's lithe frame didn't move, with the exception of the rise
and fall of her flanks as she breathed, until Pantherstorm curled up
beside her. She couldn't suppress a purr as she glanced back at him
before returning her gaze to her kits, and then letting her eyelids
droop again. This was the first compliment she had received that
she didn't feel embarrassed about. It seemed so...right to have him
here with her. The only cats in the den were their small family...well,
maybe large family. Five kits were an abnormality for a
first-time mother. Maybe one or two, three at the most, but
five kits?

Once again she turned her neck back to face Pantherstorm, but she
gave him a lick on the forehead as she had with one of the kits...just
at a different angle, as was to be expected. A moment after she had
turned back around, she quietly allowed words to escape her
throat: "I love you." Ashenwind had never
felt such emotion ever in her life, not in BrookClan, not with her
parents, not with any other cat. She had never experienced an
emotion quite like this one. Although she hadn't believed in love
before, she did now. This felt right. "And I love our kits, too."

She knew at that moment that she wouldn't have felt bad if he
didn't say it back. It was her choice to murmur the words in the first
place. She had finally found love. It made her turn warm on the
inside, made her feel as if everything was going to be right in the
world.

And it had been unconditional.

Up until she knew she was pregnant and a short while after that,
she and the dusky gray tom hadn't spent much time together, but
the more that she grew to know him, the more she began to adore
him. She was his, totally and completely.

"Have you thought about any names yet?" She was anxious
to name the five little furry creatures that suckled at her belly.
Having names made the bond even stronger, she knew, and this one
would be no different, even though she already felt one of the
strongest bonds known to any animal.

[Raven-chan]

Pantherstorm's heart seemed as it if would burst at any moment- there was nothing else he could think about except for who was in this den with him, in this moment. He purred, a deep, rumbling sound, yet sort of quiet at the same time. He loosely intertwined his long tail with Ashenwind's, his pond green eyes closed as he murmured softly, his voice a husky whisper in her ear,

"I love you too. More than I ever thought I could love..." He hadn't known what love was, their union had been more of an...accident? No, certainly it was StarClan. It was more of two cats coming together out of loneliness, but the love that blossomed was true and pure. He couldn't love anyone possibly more, except for his kits. They were so tiny, so helpless, they needed him!

A little tom-kit caught his attention, a light-colored cat with honey-hues and auburn melted in, a tom that would promise to be a sleek tabby when he grew up. Nudging his son softly, Pantherstorm murmured, "This little'un might fit the name Thornkit. What do you think? And that one, over there, the pretty brown tabby she-kit could be Leafkit." His heart was fairly thrumming with the sheer idea of naming this little ones, the cats of his heart and his body, and Ashenwind's. He had a family again...

[Stormeh]

[Even though I know this seems pretty...personal...I'd like for everyone to know that they can post. *nodnod* It'll just have to be post-Gathering in the role play, since she had the kits while most of the cats were gone.]

Her blue eyes caught his green ones, and she felt like her heart was expanding with every second that she got with the tom, every word that escaped his mouth. His voiced soothed her down to the core, even though she was worn out from the kitting. Five was such a large number, not only for a new queen, but for one as small as Ashenwind. They would probably be a pawful to watch after, too.

The tabby smiled as she considered what the kits would look like when they aged. Maybe a couple would look like she did, what with her blue eyes and striped pelt. Maybe some would be the stunning gray that Pantherstorm was and they would have his stunning green eyes, the ones that had attracted him to her in the first place. That was almost all that Ashenwind wanted was for the tiny kits at her belly to look like their parents.

As Pantherstorm listed the kits' names, Ashenwind nodded weakly. "Those are wonderful," she mewed with a smile. A small gray-striped silvery-gray kit nudged his way closer to her belly and gave it a good knead. The she-cat winced slightly and meowed, "Perhaps this one should be named Tigerkit. He definitely could be a jungle cat at this rate!" She let out a little purr before turning to a white kit with creme markings. "That one's got sand-colored fur.. Sandkit." She turned to the last kit and was struck by how much she resembled her father. She was a dusky gray instead of the dark gray that Pantherstorm's pelt had seemingly captured and stolen from the edges of shadows. The she-cat turned to her mate. "She looks like you," she purred. "Would you like to name her? I think that would probably be better, and I think she'd like to know when she grows up that she was named by her fur-sake." She let out a minuscule mrrow of laughter.