sensitive topics A BIRD SINGS A SONG, IT'S ALL FOR YOU ─ birth

[Swallowflutter.]

WHATEVER HAPPENED TO THE YOUNG, YOUNG LOVERS?
( ONE GOT SHOT AND THE OTHER GOT LOST ) ​

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swallowflutter & 18 moons & polygender & any pronouns & shadowclan queen

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─ ─ The discomfort starts early - the day before even. She shifts, and paces, and fusses about - or at least, as much as she can, with =in the confines of the medicine den and hindered by her ever rounder belly. Swallowflutter simply cannot get comfortbale, no matter how hard she tries - something is always wrong about the nest, or perhaps the den itself - and it's not only that Lividsmoke isn't here.

Stars - how is she supposed to do this without them?

Sun rises, and sets, and then discomfort becomes pain - tired wails echoing through the camp, keeping many of her clanmates awake through the night. It's a good thing this is shadowclan, where sleepless nights are not uncommon, else she likely would've made an enemy out of them all - honestly, she still might have.

And yet, though contractions become closer and closer, it is dawn before she gets any further. Exhaustion lines her split-face, two-toned blue eyes blinking dully by the time the first kit slips into the world. She says nothing, doesn't even more to greet them or clean them up - letting Marbleleaf do it, or perhaps her mother if she can be bothered. All her focus is instead on getting the next one out.

Through the haze of it all, she has only one thought - 'Why had she wanted this?'

Miracle of childbirth - hah. What a joke.

Another pale bundle slips into the world, and as the pain eases she begins to pay a bit more attention, managing a few weak laps of her tongue against splotched fur before she is drawn from her focus once more. []'Three - there will be three'[/i] - she holds onto this as time passes, taking comfort in the medicine cats assurance that she will have her perfect three. Just like she wanted. Just like they planned. Just like her Ma'.

The last comes into the world with a quiet mewl, and at last it is over - she can breathe again.

In truth, she is almost scared to look at them - are they okay? Has this star-cursed illness ravaged them, the way it has heer? Are they healthy? ... Do they look like her, will they look like them? Does she want them to? But slowly, timidly, look she does - upon three tortoiseshell kittens. Three little she-kits.

Two, a perfect blend of her and Lividsmoke - with blue and cream patched beneath silver-flecked stars. They look - they look okay. Healthy, even, maybe. She blinks - names. She needs to give them names, doesn't she? " Robinkit " she says for the first - thinking of the round-bodied birds that flit and flutter about the trees and bushes. She'd been thinking of names for moons now after all - it's simply time to settle on them. " And... Kingletkit " the other has a little splotch upon their crown, just like her namesake - fitting, isn't it?

But the last little one is different then the others - a tortie, yes, but not blue. Instead of Lividsmoke's greys and a plae imitation of Swallowflutters creams, soft creams and tan meet her gaze, and she blinks. With such pale colors, soo soft and pristine, it is neither her mate nore herself she thinks of, but instead - eyes flit to Duckshimmer, and with a twitch of her lips she decides upon a name. " Swiftkit. " an 's' name, just for her.

" Meet the newest members of our family. " she says, blinking up at those who surround them.

─ actions & " speech " & 'thoughts / qoutes'​

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BLOOD ON HER KNEES ─ BLOODY HISTORY

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// Welcome to the family @KINGLETKIT @Robinkit. @/???
@MARBLELEAF for meddie ping; @Duckshimmer @SINGEGLARE @sneezeduck come meet the worms!

 

[Robinkit.]

𓅪 The she-kit is born wet and cold, the cradle of her mother's womb suddenly stripped away from her. Her mewls are desperate as she wiggles blind, deaf, and utterly helpless. It is a shock to have all the security taken from her, a near horror at how cold the world already was. And yet, she settles into the misfortune of being born very quickly. Her sisters are by her side after all, and she's comforted by their pelts, a trio of warm little bodies pressing against hers. An even bigger presence is there, though, the scent of milk instinctually driving her closer, allowing the infant named Robinkit to nurse. She settles after this, drying and feeling comforted by her mother and her siblings. The weight of the world is not fully felt by the young tortie and wouldn't be for sometime. For now, in all of her helplessness, she would settle into the routine of being cared for before gradual self-realization would dawn on her.​

 

[Swiftkit]

Everything feels so big, so loud. It's overwhelming, but amidst the chaos, there's a warmth. It's still dark, your eyes shut tight as you wiggle helplessly. But you can smell now, your tiny nose catching new scents. You catch a familiar one, a presence close by. It smells like safety. With a soft mewl, you squirm closer to it, soft and warm. Whatever else, you know you need to stay near it.

There are others wriggling beside you, siblings you'll come to know in the moons ahead. For now, you focus on pushing past them for milk. You wiggle forward, gently latching on and nursing. The taste is sweet, instantly soothing, and it calms you. The world feels steady, and for the moment, Swiftkit is content.​

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[Duckshimmer]

*+:｡.｡ It's a disgruntled afterthought when Duckshimmer realizes she's more stressed for her child's birthing than she ever had been for her own. Having gone through the experience already with one successful litter, she didn't think the next one would've been any different. And it hadn't. But this would be Swallowflutter's first and...and...

What was Duckshimmer meant to do?

The woman bites back her irritation as wails fill the air around her. Coming from her belly and now from the distant medicine den, the cacophony was leaving her head reeling and her heart aching. Helplessness was a bothersome feeling, one that ruffled her coat in an incredibly unflattering way. Still, even if she waned her beauty sleep (which she very much did) she knew her duties enough as a mother to accept she was in this for the long haul. Casting her gaze out of the nursery, she worries her lip, waiting with both hope and dread for the kitting-wails to cease.
Should she be there while Swllowflutter gives birth? When he's still so sick? Did her baby need her? Copper fills her mouth when she bites too hard and, somehow, the taste of it makes the decision for her.

"Keep and eye on the twins" she demands out of the nearest queen before rushing to her feet.

Dawn's morning light leaves her blinking rapidly as she rushes from one den to another, arriving just in time to peek through the medicine den to see her child's process. A little one comes into the world, seemingly the first, and without too many complications. Duckshimmer hesitated, glancing at Marbleleaf for permission on what to do, where to be, but for the most part hanging back. What is she meant to do, exactly?

Comfort, ease, talk, groom, stay back - Duckshimmer decides to keep watching, fighting the urge to flatten her ears against her child's keening and whimpering. Birth was never fun, she'd never attempted to sugar coat the experience, but watching it unfold from someone tied so closely to her left her heart aching in a way she couldn't transcribe. If she could take Swollowflutter's pain, would she?
Duckshimmer lashes her tail at the thought.
What a useless question.


Of course she would.


One, two, three - just like her mother. Duckshimmer breathes a sigh of relief when each new life breathes cold morning air. All tortishelles, all girls - there must be some sort of trend going on with the new mothers. The chocolate tortie wonders how the five new members of the family might get along. Helplessness once more digs its cruel claws into her chest as she wonders if she's good enough to ensure they might.
She'll simply have to be, she supposes.

Robinkit, Kingletkit...and Swiftkit. Duckshimmer fights the urge to blink as her child meets her gaze, keeping her expression carefully refined as something soft flutters in her chest. "Should've continued the bird theme with another Duck-kit" Duckshimmer sighs, though the smile crinkling the corners of her maw denotes the playfulness of the statement.

She waits for Marbleleaf's go ahead before she approaches, gliding forth on careful steps she refuses to admit are hesitant. "You did fantastic, my dear" she whispers, pressing her nose into her child's ear. Somehow, her next breath escaped her as a shuddering sigh, the last remnants of her concern dissipating at last and leaving her feeling weak. Thank Starclan you're alright she thinks, but doesn't say.

*+:｡.｡ Updated 2/8/25

• 
  GENERAL:
  ⚜ Duckshimmer
  ⚜ DFAB— She/Her — Bisexual
  ⚜ 41 moons
  ⚜ Mother to Singeglare, Swallowflutter and Sneezeduck
  ⚜ Shadowclan — Queen
  
  
  
  
  
  COMBAT:
  ⚜Physically medium | mentally hard
  ⚜ Attack in bold #ffa98f
  injuries: Currently pregnant

 

[KINGLETKIT]

Quiet, aside from the occasional high-pitched beep, the newly named Kingletkit is unaware of her resemblance to her namesake, or the circumstance of her birth, or even the fact that she is a living being who exists upon this earth. She is aware of warmth, the wiggling bodies of her sisters, and the enticing smell of milk, and that's pretty much it. It was cold, at first, but object permanence isn't the strong suit of a newborn, so she's already forgotten how it felt to be wet and shivering and newly born. Nothing really matters to her besides an instinctual desire for food, so she wiggles to the source of the delicious milk-scent, latches on, and happily starts to nurse.

☾ ⋆*･ﾟ:⋆*･ﾟ

KINGLETKIT. ㅤBIOGRAPHYㅤ / ㅤTOYHOU.SE
✦ cis female (she/her) ㅤ/ too young
✦ㅤ 0 moons old ㅤ/ㅤ ages realistically, every 0th of the month
✦ kit of shadowclan for 0 moons
✦ㅤ swallowflutter x lividsmoke ㅤ/ㅤ littermate to robinkitㅤ, swiftkit
✦ㅤ mentoring n/a ㅤ/ㅤ mentored by n/a
✦ㅤ penned by solaire ㅤ/ㅤ message aurumbones on discord for plots!

A blue tortie point kit with her eyes and ears still sealed shut. She bears a charmingly rotund build similar to her dam's. Kingletkit is merely a barely-sentient bundle of fluff, not able to do much besides squirm, sleep, and nurse. Her resemblance to a golden-crowned kinglet is enough to have earned her the name she was bestowed upon her birth.