Tell me it'll be ok {BIRTHING THREAD}

Moonshadow

Moonshadow

𝒬𝓊𝑒𝑒𝓃𝓈 & 𝒱𝒶𝑔𝒶𝒷𝑜𝓃𝒹𝓈
Jun 14, 2022
76
12
8
ALL THE KING'S HORSES​
Moonshadow had moved into the nursery the same day that she broke the news to Hyacinthbreath. Time had passed quickly after that day, the reserved molly not speaking to many except the medicine cat and the other queens in the nursery. Moonshadow would watch clan life pass by with an expression of hidden sadness.

She watched her belly grow with her kittens as the days passed and whispered stories of her own kittenhood to them, but one night it would appear that they were ready to meet their world. The familiar pain ripped through her sides and she would gasp sharply as she sat up in her nest. She would take a deep breath and look around at the other queens in the nursery before meowing while gritting her teeth in pain, "The kits are coming! I need Honeytwist!"

She would try to make herself comfortable in her nest, digging her claws into the nest as she did her best to get through her contractions. A part of her wondered if Hyacinthbreath would try to be here if they would risk that exposure or the gossip that would spread if she did show.

//
@hyacinthbreath @Lilackit @Periwinklebreeze. @HORIZONKIT

The kits will be born in my next post!!
​

 
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THE HIGHER I GET, THE LOWER I SINK
I CAN'T DROWN MY DEMONS, THEY KNOW HOW TO SWIM

It had always been an unspoken rule that the night belonged to Coldpaw and Hyacinthbreath. While the other mentors would train the apprentices together during the daylight hours, Hyacinth would lead him out only after night had fallen, to train alone in the shadows where their work wouldn't be interrupted. At first the dark gray tom had been annoyed at the disruption to his schedule, but it hadn't taken him long to find he preferred it this way. He had little interest in working at the pace of the other apprentices and quite frankly he doubted they'd be able to keep up anyways, so it was just easier to skip all the bullshit and train alone with the shecat, who probably also would have felt restricted if she'd been forced to move at the pace of the other mentors.

Tonight was no different from any other night.

The sun set, darkness fell, and like clockwork Coldpaw rose to his feet as he spotted Hyacinth heading for the entrance to camp. Words weren't needed, this ritual long since ingrained into both of them. The larger tomcat would fall into step beside her ready to begin his night, only to pause when a yowl ripped through the night. His head would turn toward the nursery, a brow raising in curiosity before he turned back to Hyacinth.

"Looks like that shecats about to kit." he said, the words falling neutral from pale lips as yellow eyes slid toward Hyacinth quietly. He wasn't an idiot. He'd seen the way she'd pushed her way out of camp the day Marigolds careless rumor had caught fire with the other Windclanners, and now, after all the test she'd put Coldpaw through, it was time for him to test her. "So, what's tonights lesson?" he asked, gaze narrowing.​

windclan apprentice - male - 8 months - a large, dark grey tabby with yellow eyes
 

"Oh StarClan..."
The mystifying manner in which kittens were born was not something he was entirely unfamiliar with but it had occurred to the apprentice here and now that this would be the first time he was going to have to be present to see them brought into the world for medicinal reasons. Dandelionpaw's smile is strained, does not meet his eyes, and looks more like the expression of a cat on the verge of a panic attack which he might very well be at this point. Of all the things to occur thus far in WindClan to cause him some degree of stride, he felt this would break him. He was....not scared, but perhaps overwhelmed by the idea of it all and it showed.
There is a flurry of movement from him as he darts from the nursery after being called over by another queen, sepia paws swiftly carrying him to the medicine cat den where he vanishes inside to rouse Honeytwist as quickly as he can. The moment he is told what to gather he prepares to do so to follow her back, tail twitching like a serpent in its death throes from how anxious he is over seeing his first birthing.
'Please don't throw up. Please don't throw up. This is the miracle of life, it's supposed to be a good thing...'
Poking his head out he spots the first pair of cats he can see and waves a paw, "Coldpaw! Hyacinthbreath! Would ya'll mind grabbin' some moss with water an' bring'n it to the nursery?" Apparently having children was very labor intensive. He would not know.

​
 


It had grown obvious to Sootstar awhile ago that, at least part of the rumor, was true. As a former queen it didn't take much to spot the signs of pregnancy on another feline, and not terribly long after the blue smoke noticed Moonshadow made her move into the nursery. Were they Hyacinithbreath's kits? Good StarClan Sootstar partially hopes so, if they had Hyacinith's blood WindClan would have more strong and capable warriors in time.

Nonetheless, she doesn't want her lead warrior put into an awkward situation. Maybe Hyacinithbreath wanted no part in these kits lives, maybe she truly weren't mother to these kits after all. So... Sootstar gives her a chance to not show herself in the nursery if she did not wish to. "Don't make Hyacinithbreath fuss over it." Sootstar hollers to the medicine cat apprentice so that he can hear, "I'll get it."

And the leader plays fetch.
Several minutes pass and the leader disappears then reappears again, only this time shes at the mouth of the nursery with a mouth of wet moss. She is undisturbed by the groans or even yowls of pain and chaos erupting in the den, she's seen it before, she's gone through it. The wet moss is placed by the kitting queen, then Sootstar steps back.

"I am a holler if further assistance is needed." She meows, before departing from the den to give everyone, and most importantly Moonshadow, space.​
 
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Hyacinthbreath had already begun to walk out of camp, having been expecting her apprentice to follow her soon after- he'd gotten their routine down pat quite well now. She knew any day now that Moonshadow was bound to begin kitting, so why was she avoiding the nursery? Because she was ashamed of herself, of course. She shuts her eyes, inhaling a sharp breath and just as she begins to step out of camp completely, Coldpaw speaks something close to her ear, making it flick to listen.

"Looks like that shecats about to kit. So, what's tonight's lesson?"

She inwardly cringes at the question, pelt growing hot as Dandelionpaw yells out for her to gather wet moss for him. She panics then, freezing in place- silent words floating in the air around them. She opens her mouth, wondering how to talk in this situation- what to say. Then, as if graced with the gift of voice finally, she's interrupted by Sootstar volunteering to go fetch the materials instead. There's a moment of thankful gratitude that flashes past her gaze as their Leader heads back to the nursery to set the supplies down, and Hyacinth finds herself doubting her chat with Pollenfur. Sootstar couldn't be that bad, after all- look at that; she was thinking about how she was feeling, wasn't she?

Turning back to Coldpaw, she gives him a curt nod- ignoring his first statement. "Tonight we'll learn the bite and twist move that I've been talking about." She meows softly, eyes blinking as her stoic expression returned. She truly didn't want to think about this right now- when she came back, she would look at the kits properly; but it wasn't her place. Moonshadow didn't need her, and the kits were better off without knowing about their sire.

Though, the guilt still ate at Hyacinthbreath as she walked out of camp, disappearing into the moorland. What had she done? To Moonshadow, to herself?

What would become of them?

//out! ​
 

ALL THE KING'S HORSES​
Once the medicine cat's arrived, Moonshadow would feel herself relax. Her kits would be safe, they had to be. The contractions soon turned into three adorable squirming bodies that all scrambled to her belly, and without a moment of hesitation, the mother would wrap her fluffy tail around them to pull them close to her warmth and milk.

Her dark blue gaze would look to Honeytwist and Dandalionpaw and for a rare moment a tiny ghost of a smile would appear on her maw, "Thank you both, my kits came into this world safely because of you."

She would try her best to chase away the further hurt that Hyacinths' absence caused her. Her mind would flash back to her very first litter, and how Volund had not been there either to welcome his kits into the world. He had been busy, off fighting another of her parents' wars in the name of progress.

The memory of her firstborns caused Moonshadow to curl around her new litter protectively, her nose burying into their soft fur and would allow their mews of protest and scents to soothe her pain. She would watch them with quiet adoration and amusement, pondering what to call them. She would not follow the naming ways of her old home, it would not be right to carry on such traditions after everything.

Her gaze would fall to the first kit, a son, practically a copy of herself if not for the shortness of his pelt. She would make a slight humming sound before deciding that the name Periwinklekit would do, it was one of her favorite plants after all. Onto the next, a daughter who was painted with the silver of the moon, black shadows for markings, and the pure color of snow upon her paws and chest. Longhaired like herself, Moonshadow would nuzzle her she-kit lovingly as she silently named her, Lilackit.

But the last kit would be the one to make her pause. Her gaze would settle onto the kitten who the stars had decided would carry the cruel fate of appearing to be the copy of her sire as she grew. Although now, the kitten seemed to be as pristine as the freshly fallen snow, Moon would just barely make out the faint lynx markings that were to come later in life. The queen would pull her kits in closer as if to try and shield them from the unfairness of life as she finally spoke.

"Horizonkit.." A name for hope, for new beginnings, and a promise that Moonshadow would do whatever it took to keep these precious ones alive.

//
The kits can now be played!
​
 
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Hya in fact stayed clear of the nursery, if it was because she was not the true mother to these kits or because she didn't want to play any role- Sootstar did not care. It was none of her buisness. She knew from expirence that queens could raise their young on their own just fine... sure it wasn't easy, but nothing about being a mother was easy. Aside from the potential heartbreak, Moonshadow was going to be just fine, and so would her kits.

It was customary for the leader to visit the nursery and meet the new members of her clan upon their arrival. When she knows it's okay to go in she slips inside, the fresh scent of milk and newborn kits hitting her nose. It was enough to make her get kit-fever... how she missed when her little ones were this small. Yet now was not the time for Sootstar to have another litter, and she had no mate- that was a work in progress.

Eyes wash over three healthy kits, she smiles with pride. The future of WindClan.
"They are beautiful." She compliments the queen.​
 

Birthing was a whole process and he was thankfully more now than ever he would never have to go through it but it did open his eyes to things he had never thought about before. Bringing kits into the world was painful, it hurt and the kits were immediately dependant on you to such a degree your life stopped in its tracks to provide for them. It was not just having children, it was an entirely new perspective. Moonshadow would not leave the nursery until they were old enough, she would be left restless and unable to do her duties or see her clanmates often as she did before. It was a dedication he had never really considered. His mother had loved him, even though him existing brought her pain and put her own life on a precaurious hold.

However, despite how eye-opening it had been and how he had realized Medicine cats were there primarily for supports more so than actual healing; he was happy when it was over and the kits were cleaned and all looking remarkably fine and safe. If not a little weird. Newborns were so lumpy and strange, he couldn't imagine how he looked when he had just been born. Probably alarmingly like a mouse and about as big as one.
When Sootstar arrived he heard beautiful and wondered if they were looking at the same mishapen little lumps, but it would probably not be polite to comment on it. Instead he smiled, "Sure glad they're all okay!" Outside looking a little like furry worms.

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