Coalkit scrambled over his mother's soft belly. Her rounded figure was beginning to dissipate, as he was no longer in need of suckling and it had been a few moons since his birth. Twigleg was quick to move him on to eating prey. At first, he couldn't say he enjoyed the kill, but he had gotten used to it by now and felt like he was growing up.
The queen winced as tiny claws scraped her bare belly. "Must you do that, Coalkit?" She breathed.
When he reached the top, Coalkit let out a soft hiss to shush her. He balanced on Twigleg's side, teetering his weight as he looked over the nests in the nursery. "What's going on?" The charcoal Bengal murmured under his breath, outstretching his neck to get a view of the next nest. Jaymoon - if he remembered her name correctly, had just moved into the nursery not long ago. The queen was hiding his sights of whatever was in the nest with her. He had seen her lapping at something just before using his mother as a seeing rock.
He recalled that Twigleg rushed him out of the nursery to go play a while before this. He wasn't allowed back inside, no matter how hard he tried to get back in, a warrior would push him back and say, "it's best not to interrupt."
"She had her kits," Twigleg snapped his attention back to the present with her gentle whisper reaching his ear. Coalkit's ear twitched as her breath stirred his fur, but he couldn't tear his eyes away. "Can I see?"
Rockpelt watched as Twigleg announced orders to the clan. If her kit is anything like her he will make a great leader, he thought. He held the two squabbling kits in his jaws. The air was damp and cold with night closing in. Doekit squirmed and wiggled determined to break free of Rockpelt’s grasp. The kit she were hungry and cold, two things rockpelt couldnt solve.
He hung back and watched as the diggers weaved their way through the see of cats. He looked down at his paws as he felt a cat tap him lightly with their tail. Coalkit looked up at him, curiousity filling the young tom’s eyes.
Twigleg watched them disappear into the medicine den, rising her head just slightly to look at Rockpelt. The light tabby stepped forward to touch her nose to the tom's ear. "That kit fought till her last breath," she murmured. "She will bring StarClan joy." The queen pulled away after that, returning to the crowd.
She stood, blinking. "We need our diggers," she raised her voice so that the clan could hear. "The den needs to be cleared and sturdy by moon-high."
Jaymoon sighed as she pulled away from rockpelt. She glanced at her paw. Jaymoon hadn’t really realised how much damage the rock had done to her paw. It was mangled and twsited in a funny shape. She had only been paying attention to the remaining kits rather than her own well being.
deerkit roller over and batted his sisters tail with his overly big paws. She let out a squeak like a mouse would in it’s final battle against a Cat. She rolled over onto her stomach away from deerkit. “Not much of a fighter...” The medicine cat remarked with a hint of sadness. “Let me check out your paw.” They demanded seriously. Jaymoon reluctantly limped on her three other working paws following the cat into it’s den. Glancing behind her only to see rockpelt picking up the two kits and curling his tail around the third. As though he were saying goodbye.
Coalkit watched as Twigleg hung her head and shook it between her shoulders. She had explained to him before that losing a kit was a loss to everyone. He glanced around the circled cats. It must be true, because they all had a look of sadness dimming their expression. Coalkit didn't understand, being so young. He didn't even know how to grieve Scorchkit's loss. He only wished the tom were here so they could have known one another. Coalkit's hind legs buckled from underneath him and he plopped down with a sigh.
Twigleg gave the two mates a moment of silence before stepping forward to sniff at Jaymoon's paw. "We will need to get that taken care of. It looks..." she paused, examining it. Some blood drooled from a few open cuts, but mostly, it looked like a mangled mouse hanging from its tail. She would have to hope that nothing was severely damaged. "Once you get it taken care of we can hold a vigil for Fawnkit."
Jaymoon had been limping, her paw had been crushed in one off the rocks. She set down fawnkit and doekit, the medicine cat set down deerkit bear them. “What now?” The queen asked, she looked down at fawnkit. The she kit was lying still, the other two kit she squirmed about the cold hard stone. Cats gathered around demanding to know what happened. Rockpelt ran up to Jaymoon nuzzling her. Jaymoon purred happy to see her mate. “Fawnkit is gone...” She flicked her tail indicating to the kit unmoving. He pressed his flank against her, comforting as she started to cry.
On the way out, she hurried Coalkit out of the tunnel, where he had been waiting. The tom's ears were pricked, alert as he heard the rocks give out from behind the larger felines. His eyes widened as he saw what was happening. Heavy dirt and rocks crumbled and the floor shook for a moment as the den gave way until the hole was completely filled. Dust fluttered through the tunnels and blew into his face. It made his eyes water and he coughed, his shoulders shaking voilently. He saw the two queens make it out successfully, but he caught sight of the still kit swaying in Jaymoon's jaws. His pelt prickled and his skin crawled. What happened? He couldn't even speak, he could only echo the words in his mind.
Twigleg let out a breath, chest heaving. She looked back at Jaymoon, her green eyes rounded and shock clouded them. "Are you okay?"
Jaymoon looked at the crumbling rocks. She was too distraught to think. She stood up slowly reaching for fawnkit. She look at her other two kits they cried out to their mother. She picked doekit up by the scruff, she reached for deerkit but the rocks crumbled and one fell on her front paw. Jaymoon let out a yelp almost dropping doekit. The quick thinking medicine cat grabbed deerkit gently by the scruff, deerkit squirmed and yelped at this unfamiliar cat. Jaymoon turned to look at her third kit. She lay so still and peacefully. It brought tears to her eyes, but she couldn’t dwell on that now. Grieving would be done later.
She listened quietly. She understood that Jaymoon would need time to mourn. It was natural to need time to grieve. While she was listening to the soft cry of her denmate, a crumbling echoed in her ear. Tiny bits of rocks began to tumble against the wall. Her fur bristled. "Get up," she ordered, swaying to her paws. She grabbed a kit by the scruff. "We need to leave." More rocks dropped, this time from above them. They would soon be stuck in a cave in. If they survived the weight, they'd be lucky, but they only had moments. Twigleg nudged Jaymoon, encouraging her to stand up.
Jaymoon Stared down at her kit. Unable to process. Her face frozen. She couldn‘t even bring herself rob to look at her other kits. “Please don’t go...” She whispered. “I need you more than they do.” Fresh tears rolled down her face as she spoke. The tears fell silently onto the kit and soaked into her pelt. The other two remaining kits gave angry mews at their mother, hungry most likely. The queen’s head swung, the air seemed suffocating and the thick wall street of the nursery closed in. Jaymoon couldn’t quite gather what was happening. Her stomach churned and she felt sick. The kits cries grew louder and louder as the seconds past. But for jaymoon time seemed to stop.
Everything stopped as her slowly grew colder and her others grew hungrier.
”please...” She begged, looking upwards. “Give her back...”
When they arrived, Twigleg couldn't watch. The pain in her voice was enough to fill the air with sorrow. The tabby and white she-cat placed her tail gently on Jaymoon's shoulder while staring down at her paws. She got lost in the bedding beneath her, eyes swirling into the dim green abyss. At the same time, she could hear the muffled tone of the medicine cat in the background.
"It's been too long," she heard him say. Jaymoon's hope had to be in her other children now.
When time had passed, she snapped back to reality. Twigleg never moved from her side. "I know," she started with a quivering breath. "I know what it is like. What I'll never know is why StarClan takes them, but it has to be for a reason." She glanced over her shoulder, making sure Coalkit was well from hearing. When Scorchkit died, she believed it was a punishment, but she had become stronger for Coalkit with time. Once, she had acted as a hollowed out shell with fur, but she had seen what that was doing to the young tom. "We will see Fawnkit again. Silverpelt has taken her under their care."
Jaymoon didn’t even notice Twigleg leave. “Wake up little one, please.” she begged the kit tears filling her eyes. “You can’t take him her yet starclan... please don’t take her she is needed here...” Jaymoon place does the kit on her paws and her head was resting beside the kit. She hummed what sounded like a lullaby. A lullaby to put a kit to sleep. Usually they were soft and comforting, but this one was sorrowful and weak. Jaymoon closed her eyes as she nudged the kit, pleading her to take one more breath. Another one. Just one. If she breathed again there was a chance of saving her, the queen knew that there was a very little chance in the kit that she would survive. After all a kit who struggled to breathe and at suxha young age stood no chance, but she had to hope. To believe that it was possible.
The ferns russled as two cats came back in. One was Twigleg and the other the medicine cat. Jaymoon opened her eyes to see the two cats. Tears still falling from her eyes. “She isn’t breathing, help her please...” the queen was a state to look at. Her ears flat against her head and her face had the expression of immense pain. It hadn’t only been a few days since the kits arrived. Jaymoon was not willing to let one go so soon.
Almost reluctantly she handed over the fragile figure of the kit to the medicine cat. She seemed so delicate and gentle. But she was colder than the other kits, and her body temperature was still gradually dropping.
The kit had taken her last breath. There was nothing any cat could do now.
The kits fate rested with starclan.
"Coltsfoot is usually used to help shortness of breath," she mewed quietly. Her eyes widened slightly and she fumbled around for words. "A-at least, that's just what I heard. But I think this kit is much too young to try consuming any." The queen tried to respond positively in her tone, to at least ease the stress of the new mother. Her eyes flickered from the she-cat to her kits, keeping a careful eye on the scrap.
It was just then that the sides of Fawnkit's flank fell and didn't rise once again after a few silent moments that Twigleg felt a twinge of pain rise in her chest. Her throat began to hurt. The sight had reminded her of her beloved son, and she wasn't prepared to see the look on Jaymoon's face. The long legged she-cat got to her paws quickly and turned towards the exit. "I'm going to get help," she informed the queen before brushing past the thick cave wall.
The charcoal tom, once hidden behind his mother had been revealed, and only saw a glimpse of the still kit before his mother brushed him out with her tail. A kit didn't need to see such things.
Jaymoon listened to the queen as she talked. Jaymoon’s eyes wondered over her kits. When Twigleg pushed the little kit over on its side she let out a feeble mew. Jaymoon looked up at Twigleg who was looking on in worry. Jaymoon realised this must remind her of Scorchkit. “Is there anything we can do?” Jaymoon half mumrmed to herself and half to Twigleg.
Coalkit drew her attention when she noticed deerkit had tried to wriggle away. She’s reached over and grabbed deerkit by the scruff. He squealed in protest.
Fawnkit started to cough and her breaths didnt have a regular pattern, coming at random times, the kit sounded as though she wasn’t struggling to breathe. Jaymoon nuzzled the kit affectionately. Hoping for the best. She’s heard doekit squeal as deerkit‘s tiny claws scrape her lightly on her tail, she wriggled in protest to the kit. Jaymoon was listening carefully to fawnkit’s breathing when suddenly her breathing fell short and stopped
No short ragged breaths, just silence.
Twigleg leaned down, tilting her head to get a good listen on Fawnkit. The queen was right. Fawnkit's breathing didn't sound as healthy and clear as the others, in fact, she remembered sounds like this coming from Scorchkit before he passed days later. The she-cat pulled away and cleared her throat as she felt it dry up with worry. "This doesn't always mean bad," she said slowly, though the unsure tone in her voice wasn't fooling anyone.
The queen reached forward with her muzzle and rolled the kit gently onto her side. She was mimicking what she had seen the medicine cat do this with Scorchkit moons ago. She watched for a moment, seeing if the kit would object and make sound. Her own ragged kit had only let out a huff of breath when it was done to him, as a "normal" kit would have tried to get away and squeal.
Jaymoon explained to Twigleg of how deerkit and doekit had been getting along well, she then started to explain the problem. “Fawnkit’:s breathing’s is coming out slow and in short ragged breath’s.” The queen said her calm tone raised with worry. “Listen.” The queen fell silent as they listened, the queens eyes clouded over with fear and worry at the possibil of losing someone so dear to her.
”w-will she be alright?”
Coalkit was about to protest to not letting Doekit out of the nest. She probably wants to come play with me, he thought. Weird bunch. One of them was spiky, one was trying to escape and one was just lying there with a weird sounding mew. When he opened his mouth to speak, Jaymoon spoke. Perhaps the queen just wanted his mother to see her kits again? Coalkit poked his head around to look into his nest and call his mother, but Twigleg was already rising to her paws and lumbering over.
The tabby she-cat came to sit close to Jaymoon, blocking Coalkit's way. Coalkit huffed, "hey, I wasn't done looking." Twigleg looked back over her shoulder, appearing half annoyed. "Please, Coalkit," she hissed. "You can look when I'm done talking." She turned back, her body looming over the nest of kits.
Disappointment filled the tom and he sat down behind the queens. Pricking his ears, he tried to listen to what was going on in the circle. He could hear the low mumbling of his mother's concerned voice, "what is it?"
Jaymoon looked up from her kits, she listened as coalkit talked. “Yes I heard you were quick to open your eyes, my kits aren’t very old.” She mewed. “They will take time to open their eyes.” She looked down at her kits and then back to coalkit, his green eyes sparkling with interest. Jaymoon’s tail uncurled so that coalkit could see the kits more clearly. “This one is deerkit.” She motioned to the kit that he had said looked weird. “This little one is fawnkit“ she flicked her tail motioning to the middle kit. “And this rascal is doekit.” Jaymoon bent her head down and picked up the kit the was scrabbling over her paws and trying to wiggle away. “She hasn’t even opened her eyes and she’s trying to make a run for it.“ She’s chuckled quietly to herself.
Fawnkit’s breathing was slow and quite ragged. Jaymoon looked on worried at the kit and she nudged the kit meekly. The kit squeaked out a pathetic mew. Jaymoon was puzzled and concerned for her kit. She turned back to coalkit and smiled. “Maybe you could get your mother over here for me sweetie?” Her voice gentle and calm but the undertone was shaky and uncertain. Jaymoon was concerned for her kit as she seemed weak and feeble. This was her first litter and anything strange to Jaymoon made her jump to the first conclusion which tended to be the worst.
The warm air air seemed to be suffocating with a fear of something wrong with her kit. It no longer seemed inviting but threatening and dangerous.
The brown tabby cast a glance over her shoulder at the nursing queen. "Just don't bother Jaymoon," she whispered, giving her son a small affectionate lick on the ear. They had been alone in the nursery for some time now. It was nice seeing new faces, and now Twigleg had the chance to gossip with another queen. She watched, green orbs lighting up as the charcoal tom slid down her flank and moved hesitantly around the other nest.
The way he moved could almost match an attempt at hunting, eyeing down the contents of the nest, and from a distance. Coalkit's stance was low as he circled from behind the queen to the front. In the nest, he could see three bodies, a bit smaller than him, wriggling around. Their mews were sharp, and he recoiled as one mewed in protest to her mother keeping her in the nest. His ears flattened against his head.
"Can they play?" He asked, admiring his new denmates. "Why aren't their eyes open yet? Twigleg says I opened my eyes faster than any kit she's ever seen." The spotted tom looked up at Jaymoon expectantly, waiting for an answer. His pelt tingled with excitement. Soon, he wouldn't be playing alone with a bit of twined rabbit fur. "What did you name them?" He nosed his way forward, though was careful not to step onto the nest. He eyed the only tom, seeing the top of his head fur spiked up from being cleaned. "That one looks funny."
Jaymoon was looking on proudly at her three beautiful kits. She and her mate, Rockpelt, had recently named the three, deerkit, who was the oldest of the three and was the only tom next was fawnkit who was a small she kit, and finally doekit the smallest and most timid of the three. Jaymoon gently licked deerkit as her suckled on her belly.
The nursery was warm and smelt of fresh milk. The scents were welcoming and inviting the kits mewed to their dying for attention. One of the kits started to crawl away from Jaymoon clawing at the soft mossy ground. Jaymoon curled her tail around the kit stopping her from escaping. The kit had been doekit and cried out a soft mew like she was begging her to let her go. Jaymoon smiled gently at the kit. “Little one we mustn’t leave its cold out there.” She whispered in a very soft and gentle tone careful not to frighten the fragile and delicate kit.
Jaymoon’s ears pricked up as she’s heard the hushed voices from nearby. Twigleg was talking to her son and he clearly sounded confused. She smiled to herself about the kits naive attitude.