horseplace I'VE BEEN WAITING FOR YOU // birth

[BRIGHTSHINE!]

// @HEAVY SNOW @Lilacstem @POLLENFUR @hyacinthbreath can post in any order! tomorrow will be borth >:) she's just gotta get to the barn!

Yellowcough had left her weakened, but she is alive. Granted to leave the medicine den after her recovery and return to the nursery, where she spent her nights alone except for when Heavy Snow would sneak in to curl around her. Tonight, though, she doesn't sleep. The day prior, her mate and sister had come into the den and ensured no one was near when they told her what they knew. Pollenfur had given birth to three kits - oh, the smile couldn't have been bigger on Brightshine's face upon hearing that! But it was quick to fall, replaced with a look of grief. Her niece - Rose, she had been named, after their mother - had been lost. She bites back a sob. How silly, to cry for a kit she had never even met. But that kit had been Brightshine's family, her kind, and that is just about the most important thing to her.

It is then they tell her what Pollenfur had asked of her. To nurse her two remaining kits, save them from a starving, painful death like their sister. The calico hesitates, not out of unwillingness, but because she knows just how difficult this must be for her littermate. To give up ones kits is to give up one's own heart and soul. Brightshine has felt that; even now, a bit of her very being lives on in SkyClan in the form of an ivory, grinning tom. Another bit lives on elsewhere, in lands unknown, covered in beautiful creamy patched fur. But she won't let her kin die. She won't let her sister lose more kits. She had agreed, and the three of them had come up with a plan. They have to make everyone think Pollenfur's kits are her own.

Tonight, that plan would go into effect. Unable to sleep, Brightshine lies awake when the first contraction hits. She feels it quickly, sharp and painful in her abdomen. Her back begins to throb in a dull, aching pain. She has felt this before. She is in labor. Gritting her teeth, she waits for the first wave to pass before she staggers unsteadily to her paws. She prods Heavy Snow awake and gives him a wide-eyed look. It's time.

The plan is in motion just like that; Lilacstem is at her side in a moment's notice after being retrieved by her mate. They knew when they devised this plot that they couldn't just walk out the camp entrance; there is no way the night-guard would let them go. That left only one way out. Brightshine stares down into the darkness of one of the tunnels, a grimace plastered on her face. She was born in the darkness, raised underground. She knows these tunnels better than anything...and let she can't un-hear the terrified yowl of her father as he was buried in debris. Her legs tremble, but one look at her sister and she knows this is what she has to do. For Pollenfur. For the first time in seasons, Brightshine descends into the tunnel, Lilacstem her dutiful guardian.

They emerge halfway to the Horseplace, and as soon as the queen tastes the crisp night air she gasps in relief. She staggers out of the tunnel and leans against her sister, her breaths coming sharp as her contractions continue. "Just a little longer," She groans as if talking to the unborn kits, begging them to wait. Heavy Snow would meet up with them at their planned spot, which means he had successfully gotten by the night-guard - likely promising he was going out for a hunt, or perhaps just a walk. Whatever he did, she's just glad it worked. "They're coming, they're coming," She tells her companions in a worried panic as they move as quickly as they can towards the edge of the moors, which admittedly, is not very quickly with a plump, laboring queen. But eventually they make it to the edge, slipping through the fence. "Where are they?" She cries in pain, emerald eyes roaming the area for her sister and her exiled mate.​

 

[POLLENFUR]

Pollenfur appears from just behind a fat hay bale, eyes stretched wide and fur scented with straw and dried-up milk. “I’m here, Sunshine,” she meows softly, her fur beginning to bristle. It’s clear her sister is in the throes of childbirth—she’d only just experienced it herself, after all. “We have a nest for you. Come.” She directs Lilacstem and Heavy Snow with a flick of her tail as she disappears back around the bale.

To the barn, she leads her kin, and though she is quick with urgency, her heart begins a slow, draining bleed. This is the last time she will be mother to Downy and Finch. This is the last time she will lick their heads, will feel their now-weakened cries thrum in their tiny throats. She had just noticed the barest dusting of tawny on Finch’s face, a weak ash-gray on Downy’s, but she will not get to count the individual bits of fur darkening any longer.

When—if—she sees them again, they will be half her size at least, coming into their adult pelts with no fretting from her.

She directs Brightshine to a warm nest, full of hay and chicken feathers. It’s the one Hyacinthbreath had built for her to give birth in, but it remains dry and mostly unused since she had wandered elsewhere to birth her kits. “Here. Lie down, sister. We’re here for you.” She searches for her mate, who will have her body tucked protectively around Downy and Finch in her absence. Neither of them can give their children milk, so it hardly matters who shields them from the elements until their siblings are born.

✧ INFO.

•  
• 
  — pollen . pollenfur
  — she/her ; loner ; windclan warrior
  — pansexual ; taken by Hyacinthbreath
  — long-haired chocolate calico with amber eyes
  — “speech”, thoughts, attack
  — penned by Marquette
  — pixel by Birdman

​

 

[Lilacstem]

Kitting. It is one of those experiences that Lilacstem has never experienced personally but has been around enough expectant she-cats to know the gist of it and pains and the joys that can come from it. This will not be Brightshine's first time but Lilacstem is all too aware of the dangers looming this time what with the threat of yellowcough. And then of course there is this plan.

After agreeing with Heavy Snow and Pollenfur that they would ask Brightshine to take in Pollenfur's kits. As expected Brightshine had agreed and in the quiet of night a plan had been formulated.

Lilacstem had been sleeping soundly when Heavy Snow finds her and informs her that the time has come. Although nervous and excited for the impending arrival t more future nieces and nephews, Lilacstem keeps her face neutral as they leave the warrior's den and slip back into the nursery. She cannot afford to give anything away, nobody must suspect anything. She is by her sister's side quickly, encouraging her to learn against her if she needs to. Carefully they make their way to one of the tunnels and Lilacstem quietly leads her sister as the descend. It has been many, many moons since she has properly traversed one of the tunnels. She can move easily enough but cannot help but feel the slight prickle of unease being in here.

The two emerge out of the tunnel and look around wearily. It's a relief to taste fresh air but Lilacstem is still cautious. Although this is the Horseplace she couldn't rule out a WindClan cat passing by on the off chance. She lets Brightshine lean against her and smiles warmly when she sees Heavy Snow approach, knowing their plans must have been successful.

Brightshine informs them in a panicked tone that the kits were coming, looking around fretfully for Pollenfur. Thankfully they aren't kept waiting long, and Pollenfur appears and leads them to the barn where a comfortable nest lies in wait. Pollenfur urges her to lie down and Lilacstem nods in agreement. "Come, Bright," Lilacstem urges, nudging her gently with her head. "We're here for you. You can do this."/justify]
​

 

[BRIGHTSHINE!]

Her sister doesn't keep them waiting long. She spots her poke her head out from behind a hay bale. On trembling legs, she follows as quickly as she can manage, but her walk is more of a hobble. Leaning on Lilacstem still, she looks to her mate for assurance before she grimaces and continues along. Her breath is coming in quick pants by the time she reaches the barn and stumbles inside. A nest, prepared just for her as Pollenfur had said, piled high in plush straw and feathers. She wastes no time in sinking into it just as a sharp cry escapes her. They made it.

The first kit to arrive is a calico she-kit, looking like her mother. Her orange and black pelt is faded, white fever hairs cloaking her back and making her look as if she is sun-bleached. She tries to lean forward and lick her clean but is immediately contracting once more. She trusts her sisters will take care of the cleaning while she pushes, a low, pained grow escaping through clenched teeth. And with the arrival of a second she-kit, pelt white as snow just like her father's, it is over. Another small litter of two, just like her first. She cries with joy at the sight of them, already curling around their tiny bodies and leaning into Heavy Snow's form. "Hello," She trills tiredly, an exhausted smile stretched across her muzzle. She gazes upon them with adoration, head against her mate's leg where he sits next to her.

// BABIES r HERE @PINK-KIT @HEATHKIT​

 

[HEATHPAW]

Breathe. The tiny thing wheezes, stark pelt dusted with barely visible fever hairs. Tiny paws claw at the world suddenly beneath her and she cries. All at once, the comfort and safety is ripped from her and she no longer knows who she is. Before there had been a sense of security, warmth, and most importantly, nourishment. She is unsure where those three necessities are now. Fear is a strange, new emotion, and she continues to cry and beg as she struggles to breathe and adjust, unaware of the circumstances she was brought into. Brightshine's tail falls over her and she stills her shivers, paws kneading forward.

​

 

[POLLENFUR]

Her cream-flecked littermate and Brightshine’s comically bulky white-furred mate guide her to the nest of hay and feathers, and Brightshine before long brings new life into the world. Pollenfur watches with a broken expression—the sooner her sister’s kits are born, the sooner she must sacrifice her own. The first is so tiny, tortoiseshell fur so like Brightshine’s, and the second has a roughened white pelt like her father’s. The earthen calico’s smile is tremulous and false.

She cannot be happy, not when she must lose her children forever. WindClan is still not a kind place—arguably, she fears it may be worse after so many perceived betrayals. Pollenfur’s vision begins to swim so that the objects and cats in the barn seem suspended in gelatinous tears. She bends to lift one kit first—Finch, her baby girl, soft and just barely dusted brown across the cross of her face.

She lays Finch at Brightshine’s belly, beside her newborn kin, and watches as the babe desperately seeks milk, hungrily latches.

“StarClan save me,” she croaks. Next to her is Downy, her child soft as a newborn chick’s fluffed-out feathers. She hesitantly grips Downy’s scruff in her jaws. Slower, painstakingly, she sets the kit at Brightshine’s side, and then she trembles, threatening to shatter.

“Thank you,” she cries, putting her paws over her face. Beads of water stream from where her eyes are shielded, but oh, how selfish are her tears! “Thank you, and I—I am so sorry, Sunshine. I… I never should have…”

She turns her face away, getting to her paws and jerking abruptly to the barn’s exit.

She wants to run so badly that her stomach begins to twist.

✧ INFO.

•  
• 
  — pollen . pollenfur
  — she/her ; loner ; windclan warrior
  — pansexual ; taken by Hyacinthbreath
  — long-haired chocolate calico with amber eyes
  — “speech”, thoughts, attack
  — penned by Marquette
  — pixel by Birdman

​

 

[hyacinthbreath]

They had made a plan together.

Hyacinthbreath would watch her kits nurse on another she-cat, another mother that isn't her mate or herself. It was for their safety, for them to continue breathing gasps of life despite the loss she would feel inevitably. She watches with tearful eyes as Pollenfur sets the two weakened kits to Brightshine's belly, watching them nurse as if their life depended on it- and it did. She has to swallow back her agony then, the familiar swarm of emotions she couldn't quite understand. "Finch and Downy." She shudders as she speaks their names to Brightshine, pelt trembling with emotion. "They are going to be strong WindClanners. It is in... In their blood." She hiccups softly, her voice wrenching from her gut.

Pollenfur turns her gaze away, refuses to look- Hyacinthbreath cannot fathom what her mate must feel, to have to give up her kits so soon. They had barely nested with her for long. Would they remember her, she wonders? Her scent, the smell of milk before it wavered? Alas, Hyacinthbreath brushes her pelt against her mate's softly- tail curling around fluffy white and chocolate. "Take care of them. Do not.. Do not let Sootstar influence them. They are yours, Brightshine. They are yours." They could have been yours. The voice whispers, and Hyacinthbreath's ear twitches in recognition. In pain. She blinks away her tears.

Her eyes peer down at small kits, curled amongst Brightshine's belly- and where she once felt pride, there was an anguish left. Her face twists with emotion, with feelings she can't put her tail on- jealousy, perhaps. That Brightshine would be able to wake up every morning to the beautiful faces of her kits, and not her. Her shoulders tremble as she lowers her head to the ground, forehead pressing to straw as she prays. Please, take care of them. She begs the stars, the ground below- for if one of them were to be gone, she would lose herself. She thinks idly of Nightingalecry and Periwinklebreeze, her babies long grown. At least they would have family there, to protect them- even if they might not know.

When her head rises, Hyacinthbreath turns to follow her mate. "Liebling." She calls out to her love, feels the pull of red string between them- she is never far from her heart. But Pollenfur turns, heads for the exit with words on her tongue that stings her heart beyond reason. I never should have.. Never should have what, had these kits? Hyacinthbreath's breath hitches, hiccups. Pollenfur leaves just as soon as she had been there, and Hyacinthbreath takes one last look at her kits before she too, steps away. It was like claws digging into her body, the denial of StarClan. Would she never be happy, have a family of her own that she could keep? She shuts her eyes as she too rushes for the exit, gasping for air as the cool wind hits her face.

StarClan help me.. Why do you punish us so? Leave Pollenfur out of this, punish me instead- she deserves.. She deserves everything. ​

LONER ✦ WARTORN SOLDIER ✦ 54 MOONS ✦ TAGS​

 

[PINKSHINE]

She is born first; brought into a world that is unfamiliar, in a place that she would not know for long enough to properly remember. Her mewls come quick – a sharp cry for warmth, for food, before she is licked, and settled to feel the warmth of her mother for the very first time. Her thoughts are not quite so thoughts, as they are desires, and she finds them sated as she is able to knead at her mother’s belly and tuck herself close. This – of all scents, is one that is familiar to her.

Others join her. She could feel them, even if she could not see them. Another body by hers – and this was all that it should’ve been. Then there is another, and then three. As far as she is concerned, her family is complete.​

 

[FINCHPAW!]

╭──── ⋅ ⋅ ──── ｡･ﾟﾟ･ ─── ☀︎ ─── ･ﾟﾟ･｡ ──── ⋅ ⋅ ────╮​

By this point, the ache of hunger has grown ever-familiar, though that doesn't mean the kitten has grown complacent with it in the meantime; despite lying so deathly-still at Pollenfur's side, at Hyacinthbreath's side, whenever she picks up movement her heart swells, tiny mouth searching for any sort of relief. It never seems to come, though, no more milk flowing into her, and by the time that Brightshine arrives, Finch's tired, hungry body is close to giving up, clinging on but only just. If nothing else, though, she's stubborn, even in the face of the cruel circumstances pitted against her family, and as she feels herself lifted up, up and into the air, she lets out a thin cry, paws wheeling clumsily and uselessly until she touches down against the ground again, pressed up against a new warmth. There's a larger body, once again, one she instinctively snuffles towards, and beside her is - two pits of warmth? If she'd been able to reason, this might have seemed strange; there hadn't been two other bodies there with her for some time now, not since the fangs of hunger had first sunken into her insides, but young as she is, the slight change doesn't mean a thing to her.

Though proven fruitless over and over again, the desire to drink, to live, is overwhelming, blanketing her already-simple mind with only that one inclination, and so, for what could very well be the last time, Finch begins to squirm, unsteadily pushing her way towards Brightshine's side. The scent is different from that which she's grown used to, but all that pales in comparison to the tantalizing smell of milk, the only thing spurring on her tiny movements. After an eternity without, she finds herself suddenly satiated, and the kitten begins to greedily drink, letting out small warbles between mouthfuls. Hardly does she notice when Downy is placed beside them, as well, another warm body, and she can not begin to comprehend the gravity of the moment, the weight settling down on the shoulders of those around; no, she only feels contentment in this moment, contentment at a finally-filling belly and at a soft bed and soothing siblings all around her. Soon enough, she begins to slow, the warmth in her belly lulling her gently to sleep, and if this time it's by the sides of three siblings and not two or one, that's not for her to understand, not anytime soon.​

i want to spin something out of nothing - (☀︎) - lead to gold, spring from winter

• OOC: --​
• 
• 
  - Finch
  - She/her (AFAB)
  - 0 moons
  - Loner
  - Hearty & scruffy chocolate lynx point with splashes of white and bright blue eyes
  - Art by Jay & base by googaoo respectively! <33
  - Minor powerplay allowed!
  - Penned by Hijinks​

 

[HEAVY SNOW]

Getting past the night guard had been easy. "Hunting in the dark is easier for me, makes my pelt less noticeable when the sun isnt turning it into a beacon of blinding light" he had joked and he and the guard had laughed because it was true. During the day he stuck out like a sore thumb unless it was in the thralls of leaf-bare when snow would conceal him. From there, he had had to run across the moors, too big to fit into the tunnels with his mate and her sister. He curses that fact, curses the need for secrecy at all, but it was a necessary precaution. Stars forbid they were found out. He is not certain how Sootstar would react but he did not wish to find out either.

Finally, he reaches the designated space and he waits, moonlight illuminating his pelt and making it glow softly in the dark. When Brightshine emerges from the tunnel, he is at her side in an instant. "Im here sunshine I'm here" he says, his voice soft in the way it only is for her as he helps guide her to the nest along with the others and then all there is left to do is wait.

He does not have to for long though. The first kit to be born is a calico like her mother and the second is a brilliant snowy white just like him. "They're beautiful" he says as he leans forward to give both of them a sniff and a lick on their heads, stopping to lick the top of Brightshine's head as well, his eyes full of unshed tears as he stares down at his daughters. Two perfect, healthy kits. He cannot ask for much more.

His mismatched eyes pull upwards though when Pollenfur steps forward, a small bundle of fur clenched in her jaws and his smile fades ever so slightly as he watches Pollenfur lay her kits at Brightshines belly, watches as they join the other two in nursing and he leans around his mate to do the same thing he had done to the other two to these kits, giving each of them a lick on top of their head and murmuring soft reassurances.

When he lifts his head up again he cannot hide the tears that are escaping from his eyes "Downy and Finch... those are lovely names" he says softly, noting how Pollenfur turns abruptly away. "We will raise them as our own, don't worry." We wont let Sootstar or anyone else corrupt them he silently vows. He would look after them, guide them, love each and every one of them regardless of whether they were his blood or not.
​

 

[BRIGHTSHINE!]

As the initial exhaustion wears off and the weight of the reality they're in begins to settle, Brightshine looks up at Pollenfur just as a small ivory kit is placed next to her own newborn children. She is a bit larger than them, a whole quarter-moon of development on her side. And she latches quickly, feeding ravenously and the sight just makes her heart break. The next is placed at her side, similarly pale but rather than a fawn face the she-kit bears a sooty nose, only barely. She draws in a breath as they both continue to feed, knowing just how starving they must have been.

She looks up as her sister croaks sad words before turning away. "Polly...." She murmurs, voice wavering as tears gather in her eyes. She can't imagine how difficult this must be for her. Before she can say anything else, her attention shifts to Hyacinthbreath, who utters their names. "Finch and Downy," She repeats, wobbling lips forming a smile. She agrees with Heavy Snow; they are lovely names. She nods along, pressing harder against her mate's leg as she mews back to the blue and white she-cat. "We won't let anything happen to them. They'll only know love, I promise," She whispers, a smile breaking her face once more.

Her attention returns to her newborn little ones, litter now doubled in size. Four kits...if this weren't such a somber moment, this would be a blessing. Green eyes settle on the faded ginger and black calico, and she begins to recall the names she and her mate had talked about at the Horseplace. "Can we name this one Pink-kit?" She asks Heavy Snow with a smile, blinking tiredly up at him. She remembers when she had brought it up, sitting on that fence post, insisting it is a happy color. A happy color makes a happy name, and a happy name makes a happy kit. With her fur dusted in ivory, she almost appears peachy. It's perfect.

"And the one that looks like you. I want to call her Heathkit," Brightshine decides, tired grin still resting on her maw as she leans down to lick each of the newly named kits, and then her newest additions. It had been one of the names they'd talked about together. She'd be named for the moors her family had spent generations upon. She, like her siblings, has the very wind in her veins. As she grows, she knows her legs will carry the power of a morning gust, and twice the speed.

With a sigh, she lays her head back down to rest while her kittens gluttonously feed. In the morning, they will bring them back to camp, tell them their spun tale of how they came into this world. But tonight, they will lie here in this nest of feathers and straw, and spend their final night as a family.​

 

[Lilacstem]

It never stopped amazing Lilacstem how small kits were at birth. She had been present at the birth of Brightshine's first litter, Echolight's litter, and now she got to welcome more of Brightshine's kits into the world. There was also Pollenfur's little ones now too. Of course, Lilacstem had not been present at their birth, nor had she met the one who had sadly passes, but she was here to meet them now.

She watches quietly as the kits are all gathered together and her heart feels full of love but full of pain as well. Lilacstem knows it can't have been an easy decision for Pollenfur and Hyacinthbreath to give up their kits, to know that they would be raised in the clan that had driven them both out, regardless of whether they would be raised under the watchful eyes of kin. Lilacstem looks at all of them briefly, the kits, her sisters, Heavy Snow, and Hyacinthbreath "No harm will come to them so long as I have anything to say about it," She vowed.​