camp slipping through my fingers // crying

[rivuletpaw]

Rivuletkit starts... with a muffled squeak.

Her first night of being has come to pass, and admittedly she cannot decide if it was easier than expected or not. After all, she had not expected to be born at all. Her life is only several hours old, and though she's gotten the hang of listening to her instincts and eating when she gets hungry (which seems to be always,) she still has nothing to compare it to. Her ears are still tucked against her head and she has very little want to even try and open her eyes. The world feels bright against her eyelids and simply put, she's not ready for that. At most, she's decided that she can decipher comfort and discomfort - and her sibling clambering over her backside for another meal is decidedly uncomfortable.

The squeak morphs into a pitiful cry, and it seems that doing so breaks the dam. Rivuletkit lets out continuous, pitiful squeals, some muffled by the fur of a sibling, others loud and annoying. She cares not for who she may be bothering, for she is nothing but a newborn, bothered by her own state of being.

@snowkit @CRAGKIT @EVENINGKIT but feel free to post before!! ​

 

[CRAGPAW]

Having brand new kits in the nursery was exciting at first. He likes being older than others. He feels wise and all-knowing, and he can’t wait until Robinheart’s kits are old enough for him to teach them all sorts of things like how to build watch towers in the mud and how to play moss-ball.

The novelty of this quickly passed. Now, the tricolored kit lies with his paws covering his ears and head, eyes squinting in clear annoyance. Rivuletkit has been screaming all morning with no sign of quieting! “Why won’t she stop?!” He loudly complains to whoever will listen, curling into a tighter ball in the nest he shares with his family. Her squeaks are constant and shrill, and the longer they go on more he thinks about how nice the apprentice’s den would be right about now. “What does she want?!” ​

 

[willowroot]

( ☾ ) willowroot's two litters have left her with enough experience that she recognizes the cries of rivuletkit without having to look very hard. she's just entered the nursery, a ball of wet moss in her jaws as a night time drink for her former apprentice, and she smiles softly upon setting the water down. "poor girl is uncomfortable. she's being crushed," the feline tells cragkit, who has clapped his paws over his ears. the warrior understands the boy's discomfort- kit cries are notoriously shrill, so the smoke will bend to sniff the little one. she makes eye contact with robinheart to see if her aid is welcomed. should it be, the feline will gently touch rivuletkit with her nose, rasping her tongue softly across the little one's body. one of her siblings is tumbling over her to clamber for milk, and willowroot will shift the gray and white kit out from under them, freeing her from her imprisonment.

hoping the noise will quiet down now, she stands back, braced for another round of cries, or for silence. "they'll grow out of their noise soon enough, cragkit. pretty soon they'll all be following you around begging to play," she informs the boy, fondness in every word. "let's hope she goes right to sleep now. i brought water, if anyone wants any."

THE ECHOING HYMN ☾ OF MY FELLOW PASSERINE

• // "#91A26C"
  
  
  
  
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  WILLOWROOT ☼ SHE / THEY, WARRIOR OF RIVERCLAN. MENTORING ROBINPAW. PENNED BY LAVS
  
  
  a long-haired black smoke oriental with sage-green eyes. smokey long fur coats the length of willowroot's lithe body, with friendly sage green eyes that narrow in an almond shape. her muzzle and limbs are thin and long due to her oriental heritage.
  
  
  
  

​

 

[robinheart]

She has survived her first night of motherhood - sleepless and wrought with concern not only for her kits but also for her mate tucked away in the medicine den. Robinheart phases in and out of sleep, waking with a start at each cry and squeak. Admittedly she doesn’t know what she’s doing. Instinct kicks in from time to time, coaxing snuffling kits back to her belly or cleaning them should they feel uncomfortable. But for the most part she is lost in the stormy seas of motherhood.

Rivuletkit wails and once more the exhausted queen startles awake. Bleary vision scans over the trio, a mass of fluff and flailing limbs, and she freezes from the stress of not knowing what to do. Heart begins to race, made all the quicker by Cragkit’s complaining. “I-I don’t know,” the mottled queen chokes out, emotional tears springing to her eyes as she gently tries to shush her daughter.

Fortunately Willowroot enters the nursery with water and experience in all things kittens. Robinheart is all too relieved to watch the smoke molly shift poor Rivuletkit from under her sibling, soothing the kit in a manner the new mother had not tried yet. It seems so obvious seeing Willowroot try to calm the squalling newborn - why hadn’t the tortie thought to do that? “Thank you,” Robinheart whispers to her former mentor, wiping the gathered wetness from her eyes with a paw. “I’m sorry they’ve been crying so much. I promise I’m trying… I’m really trying,” she adds for the sake of the older kits and queens. It wasn’t easy being a young mother, especially one who had been gifted frightful news shortly after the birth of her kits.​

[ penned by kerms ]​

 

[hazecloud]

—————————————————————⊰✿⊱————————————————————
Restful nights are a rare occurrence with newborns. Someone's always getting rolled over too forcefully by a littermate, tiny claws are pricking someone's ear uncomfortable, their active dreaming becomes too vivid and stirs them awake. There is no solution, or at least one that Hazecloud has found, that resolved for peaceful nights any sooner than they were ready. She could only soothe, only nudge and adjust, but the unsatisfying answer was a queen could not prevent every possible way a kit could become distressed.

Rivuletkit's squealing is a sound off to other complaints around the nursery, particularly from the older children. A curl of her tail encouraged her own brood to keep their heads down, giving patience to Robinheart to work it out on her own. Willowroot, not bound to a nest of nosy kits, provided a more direct guidance to ease Rivuletkit's mewls (hopefully).

"It's only after your first night, Robinheart." Each passing day she considered herself lucky to only have Apricotflower beside her. A wisdom that held no judgement, something she now naturally emulated to the newer queens around her. "No one expects your kits to be silent, we all went through it."

✿ ———— I'll be your regular mama ✿ ————— And I'll put that gun away

•  
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  Hazecloud
  —⊰⋅ Queen of RiverClan
  —⊰⋅ She/Her
  "SPEECH", 'THOUGHTS', ATTACK
  —⊰⋅ LH blue smoke with green eyes.
  

​

 

[eveningpaw]

Eveningkit wakes with frustration a blooming heat within her belly. It's only to be expected; she doesn't even remember what she had been dreaming of, its contents easily slipping away, but nobody likes to be roused from sleep so abruptly. Kitten cries are always so loud... and that fact's irony falls on deaf ears. Of course her own voice is not so shrill!

One golden eye peers at its surroundings. The other remains closed, that half of her face still pressed comfortably into the nest she shares with the now-awake Hazecloud. Eveningkit is just a half-visible loaf beside her, all limbs tucked underneath herself for extra warmth and coziness.

Cragkit asks what she's thinking, and Willowroot is quick to answer so that repeating is not necessary. It's Robinheart's words (and tears, but let's ignore that) that quenches Eveningkit's emotions like water to fire. It's... an odd feeling. Her heart seems to twist around, like it doesn't have enough space anymore- much like Rivuletkit, she supposes.

Then, there's an idea.

"Maybe I can..." Help, is what she means, but her words are cut short to give way for direct action. Eveningkit slips out of her own bed despite how comfortable she was just moments prior - a noble sacrifice, surely - and claims Robinheart's nest a temporary home. The loafing position from earlier bears to work just as nicely, and she settles beside the crying kitten, dividing her from her siblings. "I'm bigger, so, uh, they can't get past me and crush Rivuletkit."

That feeling is back again. Something within her that writhes until it gets what it wants; an almost identical replica of Eveningkit herself, except it strives to actually consider someone other than its host. "If you don't mind me being here?" Big eyes glance up at Robinheart, almost meek in its submission.
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[robinheart]

Hazecloud’s soothing explanation waters Robinheart’s gaze once more, though in a positive manner. It is nice to have the wisdom of a queen who has experienced the newborn stage already, and has helped other queens through it as well. The tortoiseshell nods her thanks and wipes damp paws over her eyes again to clear her vision.

It proves futile though as Eveningkit slips from the comforts of her family’s nest and settles between Rivuletkit and the others, creating a soft barrier. A sob chokes the sleep deprived queen as Eveningkit asks for permission to take up temporary residence in Robinheart’s nest. “I-I don’t mind at all. Th-Thank you,” she whispers tearfully, aiming to gingerly press her forehead to Eveningkit’s forehead for a moment. Afterwards she’d spare a glance at Hazecloud that would read you’re raising wonderfully empathetic kits. Even if the action doesn’t fully soothe Rivuletkit, it does bring a sense of hope to a brand new mother - and that is worth its weight in gold.​

[ penned by kerms ]​

 

[willowroot]

( ☾ ) soft fern finds tearful citrine, and the pink tongue moves from daughter to mother, rasping gently across her former apprentice's ears. "you're doing wonderfully, love," she tells the dappled girl, voice soft and sincere. her first litter had been a whirlwind of bitter tears and confusion, poppysplash's presence only slightly abating the stress and anxiety that had come with the birth of their children. hazewish and mosspool are strong, grown warriors now, and their siblings carawaypaw, minnowpaw, and bumblepaw had proven to be a much easier, despite the rogue invasion that had welcomed them into the world.

robinheart doesn't have brookstorm right now to help figure out the ups and downs of parenting. the gray, curl eared feline resides in the medicine den after her awful almost-drowning. robinheart is alone in a sea of new experiences. willowroot pledges silently to be there for whatever the girl needs.

willowroot is no longer a queen, but so much of her life has been spent within these walls. she finds comfort in the scent of raspberry leaves and milk. softness melts her heart as eveningkit scrambles into robinheart's nest, settling herself beside the newborn rivuletkit and defending the little girl from her mewling siblings. "smart girl," willowroot praises, eyes glowing with gratitude at the older kit's thoughtful actions. "there, now everyone is alright," her dark nose touches the top of robinheart's head briefly before she stands, nudging the water towards her former apprentice. "does anyone need anything? otherwise i'll see you all in the morning."

THE ECHOING HYMN ☾ OF MY FELLOW PASSERINE

• // "#91A26C"
  
  
  
  
• 
  
  
  
• 
  WILLOWROOT ☼ SHE / THEY, WARRIOR OF RIVERCLAN. MENTORING ROBINPAW. PENNED BY LAVS
  
  
  a long-haired black smoke oriental with sage-green eyes. smokey long fur coats the length of willowroot's lithe body, with friendly sage green eyes that narrow in an almond shape. her muzzle and limbs are thin and long due to her oriental heritage.
  
  
  
  

​