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Post by Jaysong :D on Jul 27, 2010 20:10:10 GMT -5
It was just a few days after Froststar had gone back to being Frostleaf,and her mate had taken her place as leader. She was due to kit any day now,but she had needed to get out for just a moment and have a quiet moment to herself. Telling one of her friends who was also a queen where she was going,Frostleaf had some what snuck out of camp,because she knew that her mate wouldn't approve. Her hugely pregnant stomach was resting on the cool tunnel floor and she sighed contently. She was in the greatest clan in the world,with the best mate in the world,and soon to bear his beautiful kits. It was enough to bring a smile to any she-cat's face.
A few moments later she felt a hard kick from one of the kits and heard a gurgling in her stomach. Her water broke onto the tunnel's floor and she gasped. It was happening. She became frantic. Frostleaf though she had a few more days! And now she was all alone in the tundra tunnels,about to give birth,what was she going to do? What if she died? What if her kits died? "Jaggedstar!"she wailed,hoping that someone might hear her.
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Post by *-*Riku*-* on Jul 28, 2010 5:30:27 GMT -5
Jaggedstar was used to the tranquility of these tunnels, he liked them a lot, it was the one place away from camp where he could relax from all the stress of being a leader and his impending fatherhood. He was walking through the tunnels when he froze and he could distinctly hear the wailing of his mate.
"Jaggedstar!"
Jaggedstar sprang into action almost instantly, racing down the tunnels until he found Frostleaf and nudged her side. "What are you doing out here, love? I've told you not to leave the camp! Are the kit's coming?" When she told him what had happened, he looked even more worried. "Do you think you can walk back to camp? We need to get you back to the nursery." Jaggedstar's ability to keep calm in any situation was shattering, he hadn't expected their kits to come so soon, and the sun had long since disappeared from their territory a quarter moon ago, which meant being outside was no place to give birth. |
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Post by Jaysong :D on Jul 28, 2010 13:14:13 GMT -5
"I..I don't know!"came Frostleaf's panicked stammer in reply. Pretty soon the contractions would start,and she didn't want it to be in the middle of the forest. Breathing in deeply a few times,she tried her best to calm herself. "Okay..Okay...Well,we should probably get me out of the tunnels,no one would know to help us while we're down here." Leaning on her mate's shoulder she hobbled out of the tundra tunnels and into the fresh air.
Suddenly,she had an idea. "Hey! Before I left camp,I heard Blackrose saying she was going into the forest to collect some of the herbs she was low on! I bet she's still out,if we can find her,we can get her to help!" They didn't exactly have the best conditions for giving birth,in the middle of the forest,but with an experienced medicine cat there to make the procedure go smoothly,everything would be okay. "I'll be fine here alone for a few minutes,hurry,go see if you can find her!
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Post by *-*Riku*-* on Jul 28, 2010 17:11:08 GMT -5
Jaggedstar shook his head, not going to ask how Frostleaf knew the whereabouts of FernClan's Medicine Cat. He wasn't about to leave her alone to travel to the other side of the territories for one cat though. "No, come on... we can make it there. The contractions won't start for a moment or so, we have time to get back to the camp! We have to!" Jaggedstar had to yell over the wind which was whipping up flurries of snow in their faces. It was so dark and cold that Jaggedfang's paws were starting to feel numb. If the kits were born here, they'd die.
Jaggedstar gently lead her through the snow, knowing the way back to camp without being able to see, since all he had to do was follow the trench in the snow that they had made coming here. When he knew, however, that Frostleaf wasn't going to make it, he sighed and then came up with another idea. Gently, he positioned himself over her body, sheltering her from the wind and cold with his fur and wrapping his tail around her face as a way to say he loved her even though she was a mouse-brain for leaving the safety of the nursery.
Jaggedstar had talked to Silvertongue about kitting beforehand, and he was glad he had. Otherwise, he would not have known what to do when the first wet bundle slipped out and fell to the icy ground. Nipping the sack open, he picked up the little kitten and placed it on top of Frostleaf's side. Not using his tongue, he rubbed the tiny body with his paws to dry it and warm it up. Soon, the tiny kit responded by purring loudly, the warmth of Frostleaf's body below him, and Jaggedstar's above, keeping him safe. Above him, Jaggedstar's fur was laid flat by the wind and snow and his ears were going numb with chill.
Of all the things Jaggedstar had seen before in his old life, he had never witnessed a birth before, so the cold and the wind didn't matter as, one by one, he helped his new son's and daughters into the life of a Clan cat. Their tiny mewls and purrs made his heart swell up with pride, that warmed him from the tip of his ears to the end of his tail. He fell into a pattern, rubbing his tail against Frostleaf's face and shoulders to tell her that she was doing a good job, and nipping the sacks to save his children as they fell out of her.
There was a bout of trouble with the 6th one though. Jaggedstar could see that the sack had already broken and that the kitten's head was stuck. He could hear it's tiny mewls for help as it tasted fresh air that made even Jaggedstar's lungs sting. Jaggedstar gently took the kitten by the scruff of the neck and pulled ever so slightly to unstick him. The kitten wailed even more and Jaggedstar, not knowing what to do, stopped and looked uncertainly around at where they were. Finally, the kitten stopped mewling and struggling and Jaggedstar was able to pull him loose. A grief so strong it nearly knocked him off his paws swept over him as he realized the terrible truth; that the 6th kitten hadn't made it.
Deciding not to tell Frostleaf at this time was his idea of a kindness, as she tended to the other 5. So he set the tiny body aside and shifted so that he laid down beside his mate and the 5 remaining kittens were between their bellies, some laid on Jaggedstar's side as they nursed from Frostleaf. One of them, a really fluffy light brown tabby was attempting to nurse off of Jaggedstar. Chuckling, he turned the little tom around and watched as he finally got it right. Jaggedstar would tell her the truth when the storm blew over and they were back in the nursery, safe and warm. |
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Post by Jaysong :D on Jul 28, 2010 19:37:54 GMT -5
Frostleaf gave a small nod and started to follow him through the snow,moving slower than a slug,for her stomach got in the way as she tried to lift her paws high to get through the snow. They were about half way there when the first contraction came and,caught off guard,Frostleaf collapsed onto the ground,her flank starting to heave up and down.
The wind was broken a bit by Jaggedfang's body above her,and she was grateful. She wouldn't have been able to stand the contractions and wind buffeting her fur at the same time. The second contraction came,and by then she was terrified. Eventually she just decided to stop thinking and let her instincts take over;after all,her body was intended to do this,if she could loose her worries,everything would work out more smoothly.
As the contractions got harder and closer together she started to push,breathing loudly with effort. Eventually the first kit was out and on the ground,and Jaggedfang nipped the sac open and began to warm the kit's cold wet body. She had enough time to give it a loving look for a moment before another hard contraction came and she had to concentrate on pushing again.
Frostleaf was on the fourth kit,and a lot less worried. She finished warming the third kit and gave it to her mate to join the others. After one hard heave,the fourth kit came out,and Frostleaf breathed a sigh of relief,only to have another contraction hit. She had lost track of the number of kits,and her muscles ached.
Finally,the fifth kit was out,and Frostleaf pulled it toward herself to tend to,removing it from the sac,licking it's fur the wrong way to warm it up. Another kitten followed closely to the last,but having lost track,she didn't realize that the kit never made it to it's siblings. At last,the contraction ceased and she realized it was over. She breathed in heavily then slowly pulled herself into a more comfortable laying position,without disturbing the kits.
Frostleaf pulled the kits in to nurse and smiled as they began to suckle and purr contently. She chuckled when one of them searched for a spot to drink from on Jaggedfang,who nudged him in the right direction and the kit finally found a spot beside his brothers and sisters. "They're beautiful."she mewed quietly and adoringly.
There were five kits,and by each of their scents she identified them as three males and two females. The one who had tried to nurse from Jaggedfang was a male,extremely puffy with light brown tabby fur. There was a black she-kit with little white paws and large,glowing green eyes. An orange tabby she-kit looked up at her and purred loudly,then went back to hungrily suckling. There was an all white kit with blue eyes that looked exactly like a male version of Frostleaf. A gray tom with blue eyes and white points was beside him. "What should we name them?" Frostleaf asked,still staring down at their children. "Let's name the gray one Shardkit."she suggested. "And the orange girl Emberkit."
OOC:Did we decide on Emberkit being evil or Darkkit? I just want to rp someone evil XD
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Post by *-*Riku*-* on Jul 29, 2010 0:18:52 GMT -5
Jaggedstar stopped her from licking. "Don't lick! Rub!" He instructed, rubbing the kit with his paws. "If you lick him in this weather, he'll be even colder because you're making his fur wetter." He said, watching his mate nuzzle each of their 5 healthy kits. Jaggedstar had his tail resting on top of the dead 6th one to shelter it against the raging storm, even though he knew the tiny kitten had already ascended into DreamClan. He could feel the presence of his mother as she took her grandson to the stars. Take care of him, he pleaded silently.
A rumbling, rusty purr answered him. "I will." Came his mother's reply, echoing inside his mind. As quickly as she had come, Nightstripe's presence vanished, and Jaggedstar was left feeling a little colder than before. He shivered slightly and shifted closer to Frostleaf, their kits had curled up in the warm space between them. Their sleepy mews fallen into little purrs.
After a moment, Jaggedstar decided they'd be more comfortable if they could get out of the wind, so he got up and began to dig a hole into a snow, deep enough, and big enough for all of them to fit, but shallow enough that they weren't laying on the frozen soil. He helped Frostleaf inside and quickly passed all 5 kits inside the makeshift den. He then picked up the dead 6th and dug a deeper hole, his claws scraped through the frozen soil, until he was absolutely certain that no predator would be able to sniff out food once the snow melted.
When this was done, he went back to the den to find it had capped over a little, he shoved his shoulder against the entrance and broke through the thin layer of ice. A stream of warm air met his face and Jaggedstar gratefully clambered inside to lay beside his mate and await the morning. It didn't take long for the entrance to cap over again and the pocket of air that Jaggedstar had made them filled with warmth from their body heat.
"Frostleaf, I'm sorry... but there were 6 kits.... the last one... he didn't make it. I've buried him already, but I wanted you to know that." He murmured, softly, as he licked her cheek and wrapped his tail around their 5 kits. |
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Post by Jaysong :D on Jul 29, 2010 12:05:01 GMT -5
Frostleaf curled around the kits to heat them with the warmth from her body and watched as her mate dug a small den in the cold ground,and when he had finished,scooped up each of the kits and sat them inside. Then she layed down next to them and watched as a few burrowed into their mother to sleep,and the others going back to feeding. Every now and then,one would let out a small squeak in their sleep,and Frostleaf would purr and sooth them back into deeper slumber. She noticed Jaggedstar's absence in the back of her mind,but didn't pay any mind,she assumed that he was fixing something outside of the makeshift den or something.
When he returned,his eyes were full of sadness,and Frostleaf blinked at him curiously. Her eyes filled with sadness and remorse at his response. "He's with Dreamclan now,"she murmured. "I think we should name him though. He wouldn't was to go to Starclan nameless,would he?" Even though she had never met the kit who hadn't survived,she couldn't bear the thought od sending him off with no name. Obviously the cats in Dreamclan,their ancesstors,would give him a name,but she felt that if it were her,she would be sad her parents hadn't even known her enough to give her a name. This would be their first but hopefully not last gift to him.
"What about...Jaggedkit?"she suggested. "After his father."
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Post by *-*Riku*-* on Jul 29, 2010 18:39:44 GMT -5
Jaggedstar shook his head. "No, because it sounds as if we're Jynxing me. We should name him Dreamkit, because he will walk in our dreams from now on." He whispered, licking her ears and cheek. He still sounded sad, but it was less than it had been before, especially now that he knew his mother would be taking care of Dreamkit. "Don't worry, my mother's taking care of him now." He said, wanting to share his knowledge with her. He then attempted to distract her by telling her some more stories of his life as a ship's cat, seeing as she seemed to like hearing about life on the high seas.
"...So there I was, one dog coming at me from the left, and another coming at me from the right, my tail up against the wall, and a pack of rats surrounding me on all sides. I fought like the whole of DreamClan was giving me the strength to go on. Rats fell beneath my claws in piles, and when the dogs were about to be on me, I flipped underneath the paws of one, slashed my claws down it's rump, and when he fell down, the other one toppled over in the confusion of dead rats and his falling over companion. Meanwhile, I had 30 mouse-breaths to get back to the ship before it launched off, and I was tearing up dust in my haste to get back to the dock.
When I got there, the ship was already moving, but it hadn't left the dockside yet, so i ran right up to the edge of the dock and took a flying leap to land in a bloodied heap amongst some old coils of rope. As you can imagine, me mum gave me a bad lecture for almost missing the ship, but I didn't care, I'd gotten to see where the fish went when we went ashore."
Jaggedstar kept up like that for a while, telling her first one story, then another... at least until she fell asleep and their kittens were purring loudly, alternately sleeping and nursing when they woke up during the night. After a moment, Jaggedstar also fell asleep. |
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Post by Jaysong :D on Jul 29, 2010 19:16:24 GMT -5
Frostleaf nodded. "He will always be loved."she murmured quietly. The white she-cat perked up a bit as Jaggedstar began to tell her tales about the adventurous life of a ship cat. Being a ship cat seemed like it would be exciting,but life in the forest was much more to her liking. However,it was quite entertaining to hear about,but also frightening. She didn't like to think of her mate in those life-threatening situations,but as long as she reminded herself he wasn't in that danger now,she was fine.
Frostleaf was eventually lulled into sleep by Jaggedstar's soft voice and the wind outside. She opened her eyes and realized she was in the nursery,but her kits were gone! She stood up frantically until she realized she was dreaming. In her subconscious she felt the warm bodies of her mate and kits and was reassured back into her dream. A cat appeared in the entrance to the Iceclan nursery.
It was a tiny newborn kit with silvery gray for and a white muzzle. The young tom looked up at her with bright golden eyes. "Dreamkit?"Frostleaf asked,though she already knew the answer. Her son dipped his head and stepped forward. Frostleaf broke out into sobs at the sight of her deceased child. "It's okay,mother. We'll always be together. I will always walk in your dreams."Dreamkit comforted her,and she felt a little bit better. "I know,"she replied and took a deep breath. "Your father and I love you so much."she told him and leaned down to nuzzle him. The starry kit yawned and she curled in a ball around him,slipping into a deep,dreamless sleep.
When she opened her eyes again,she was back with her five living kits and Jaggedstar in the make-shift den. She turned to her mate and smiled. "I met Dreamkit."she breathed. Frostleaf knew it would not be the last time she saw her son in her dreams. Hopefully,he would go to Jaggedstar too,so that he could meet their baby. "We haven't named the rest of them,"she remembered,and looked down at their kits. "What did you think of the names I suggested,Shardkit and Emberkit?"
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Post by Amber on Jul 30, 2010 13:34:51 GMT -5
(( -barges in-  CAN I POST HERE TOO GAIZ?! YEEEEY? )) |
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Post by Jaysong :D on Jul 30, 2010 14:04:57 GMT -5
Fine with me amberz,And I think Riku won't mind If you read this before Riku does,then just go ahead and post. It's nawt like you couldn't delete it XD |
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Post by *-*Riku*-* on Jul 31, 2010 15:31:14 GMT -5
(Yeah, sure, why not? xD Amber can find us the next morning, I'm sure IceClan's probably going frantic with Their leader and his mate, who was so close to kitting, having been out all night in a blizzard. >.>)
Jaggedstar was sleeping peacefully, when he had a dream of his mother. Nightstripe was a huge black she-cat as big as Jaggedstar was himself. Her scruffy fur was covered in scars, there was one robbing the sight on the left side of her face, and she was missing a toe on her right rear paw. Her dark amber eye resting on him was warm with pride. Jaggedstar felt as small as a tiny kit beside her. "M-mother?" He mewed, he had seen her in his dreams before, the memory of his leader ceremony was still sharp in his mind.
Nightstripe's mew was soft, as she bent down to touch her nose to his. "Sleep, my son... Dreamkit will be safe with me..." Jaggedstar wanted to protest, but tiredness washed over him in a wave and he fell into a deeper sleep, the dream far behind him.
When he woke up, it was morning, though the sun would still be gone. It'd still be dark outside, though it was a lot quieter. The storm seemed to have blown itself out, and Jaggedstar opened his eyes to see that Frostleaf and their kits were sound asleep. In the darkness, he pricked his ears, the first signs of morning were evident outside, he could hear a snowy owl hooting somewhere outside as it made for a tree to sleep in. Getting up, Jaggedstar carefully pressed against where he knew the entrance to the den was and broke through the layer of ice and snow to the fresh, cold air outside. Shivering, Jaggedstar leaped up to the top of the trench they had been sleeping in and sat down, wrapping his thick tail around his paws. It would be a few sunrises yet before Jaggedstar's coat took on it's winter thickness again.
Breath billowing around his muzzle, Jaggedstar watched as, on the horizon, a reddish-orange glow announced the coming of day, though this was about as light as it would get during Moon-sky. Shuddering, Jaggedstar let his pelt bristle, and he opened his maw for signs of prey. Luck, or Nightstripe, was with him as he immediately smelled the scent trail of a snow-shoe hare. Jaggedstar went off to track it, thinking what better way to wake his mate to the morning than a good piece of fresh kill. |
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Post by Jaysong :D on Aug 2, 2010 9:59:09 GMT -5
Frostleaf smiled when her mate returned to the den with some warm,mouth watering prey. She hadn't eaten since the morning before,and she was starving.They dug in and enjoyed his catch,filling their growling stomachs. Their kits still slept soundly,their tiny bodies rising and falling with each breath.
The air outside had warmed slightly,to where it was not as unbearably cold. A few of the kits shivvered and curled closer to their mother,and Frostleaf wrapped her thick tail around them to sheild them from the still chilly air. Hopefully their light,fluffy kitten pelts would thicken soon enough before the bitter cold got much worse.
Frostleaf opened her mouth and tasted the air. The blizzard had blown over nearly completely,leaving no heavy moisture in the air that would turn to heavy snow or icy rain. Sunlight was filtering into their small den,and the only clouds were a few wisps floating away in the light breeze.
The black she-kit,who had been figgeting in her sleep,rolled onto her gray brother,startling the young tom awake with a small squeak. She removed the she-kit off her brother and soothed them back to sleep,the other kits oblivious the the disturbance. Pretty soon the kits would be used to being rolled upon,and would sleep right through it.
"They're so wonderful."Frostleaf beamed once again,so happy and proud of her newborn children. "They'll be the best warriors in Iceclan."
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Post by *-*Riku*-* on Aug 2, 2010 12:24:37 GMT -5
Jaggedstar licked the remains of rabbit from his mouth and watched as the sun barely lifted it's head above the horizon. It was just light enough to see the area around them, but Jaggedfang knew that in another week, the sun would vanish completely to warm the other end of the earth, and they would be left in total darkness, night and day, for 2 moons. He shoved these worries to the back of his mind as he watched Frostleaf break up a scuffle between the black she-kit and the grey tom.
"What do you say to Darkkit, for the black she-kit? and Ripplekit for the fluffy brown one?" He mused aloud. "And we'll need to move them to the nursery today, somehow... I could take them back one by one, but that would take too long. I'll go to the camp and find some warriors to help." He said, making up his mind as he spoke. |
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Post by Jaysong :D on Aug 3, 2010 8:01:11 GMT -5
"That sounds perfect."Frostleaf replied,looking down warmly at her kits. "So we have Darkkit,Ripplekit,Shardkit,and Emberkit?Then that just leaves the white tom. Well,since he's the only white kit,I think we should name him something that reflects his white fur, what do you think?"she asked,still deep in thought about the tiny cats by her side.
What would they be like? It was hard to imagine them as big cats like their father,or maybe smaller like their mother,but they wouldn't stay kits forever! Whose personality would they each reflect most? What personalities would they develop of their own? The kit they had not named yet looked a lot like herself,but would it turn out to be more like Jaggedstar? Their was no way of knowing,and she couldn't wait for the moons to come to learn about her children.
Then there was the problem of getting them home. Frostleaf and Jaggedstar certainly couldn't carry them alone,so they would need some assistance. "Okay,"she replied,knowing this idea was the best. Not only would they get the kits home easily,but they could explain where they had been all night more quickly.
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CAN I POST HERE TOO GAIZ?! YEEEEY? ))
