The lilac female sighed. Her body twitched with the cold wind, but she just turned her head away from the breeze, eyes shut. She had passed it on, hadn't she? The little fawn one... too tiny for her own good. Legs short and stubby. Short tail wiggling... what if something managed to bite her too? Would she lose her mobility, her right to become a warrior ripped from her little white-tipped paws?

Lilydream shivered. It was cold. Her paw pads were freezing, the cold dark slate glinting under the moonlight. She slid into a spread out position, body sprawled out behind her. She lowered her head to her paws, green eyes stinging from the frosty wind. She glanced upwards as a cloud began to cross in front of the moon.

-{}-

"They're beautiful, Lilydream," the pearly white cat purred, her lithe shadow falling over the suckling kits.

"Thank you, Frostedheart," she smiled up at the she-cat. She looked down at the other queen's paws, where a scrawny kit meowled, wobbly pawing at her mother's tail. "Snowkit is getting big!"

"Yes, and quite the little attention-hogger," she grumbled, scooping the mewling kit away from her tail. "For StarClan's sake, can mommy talk to another cat for just one heartbeat?"

The snow-white kit mewed and wobbled back to her mother's paws. She tripped and landed on her mother's snow-white feet, and mewed again. Frostedheart sighed and pulled her closer, and the satisfied kitten bit at the paw that was holding her with a mrowl.

Ears flattening, Frostedheart gave a long sigh through her fangs. "If you'll excuse me, Lilydream."

Smiling as she watched the exhausted queen dragging her squirming kit back to their nest, Lilydream looked back to her day-old kits, still not named. Porridgefur would be back any moment now.

Lilydream looked towards Goldblossom. "Hey, I'm sorry about you and Shadestorm."

The gold and white foldie looked up from her nest, wide brown eyes softening a bit. "Ah, it's okay. I don't think he ever really wanted kits anyways," she said lightly, giving a faint attempt at a smile.

"Well that's awful, Goldie. I-" Lilydream stopped, giving her lower lip a bite. She had no idea what to say.

The golden queen gave a sad smile, and tilted her head sympathetically.

"Pssht," scoffed Frostedheart. "Toms are dumb, and they smell. And they can never tell when they have a good one on their paws. And they smell," she added hastily, as she juggled her snow-white kit between her paws.

Goldblossom and Lilydream chuckled, and a silent look of mutual kindness passed between the two queens.

Lilydream felt a little push on her belly and she looked down. The dark cinnamon male and the lilac tortie were jostling for the same spot. Lilydream bent down and gave them licks on their little heads, cooing to them as they calmed down. Noticing the golden fawn kit wasn't moving or suckling much, she pushed her a bit closer to the others, and licked her on her little head too.

Smiling as the kit's cries began to soften into little mewls, she turned her attention back to the she-cats.

"Y'know, Birddapple was an idiot, but I figured with his strength and size he'd make a better father than any of the other single toms in the clan," said Frostedheart, pulling Snowkit off of her ear. "Plus he was pretty."

"He was pretty," said Goldblossom with a smile. Then she frowned. "Y'know Frostedheart, I'm so sorry-"

"Bah!" Interrupted Frostedheart. "The last cat you should give your condolences to is me. One-leg was his uncle, I think the last cat who cared for him," Her face screwed up a bit. She added quickly, "I mean, I liked him as a frie-... as an acquaintance. He was just a little too...below my intelligence." Her ice blue eyes widened. "I mean-"

Goldblossom pressed her paw over her muzzle in an attempt to suppress a giggle. She relaxed a bit, her gold-and-white paws tucking themselves underneath her fluffy chest. "I understand Frostedheart. I think I kind of knew deep down I didn't really love Shadestorm..." The polite smile vanished from her face, and after opening her mouth twice more with only silence succeeding, she looked down.

Frostedheart tilted her head sympathetically. "Aw, you just got a little attached is all." Seeing the misery in Goldblossom's downcast brown eyes, Frostedheart most likely remembered a bit that she wasn't too good at consoling others, so she left Goldie alone with her thoughts. The pearly white cat, pulling Snowkit closer, turned to the small amber she-cat on a worn nest nearby. "What about you, Callingbird?"

As usual, the wistful she-cat looked up with cloudy eyes, and it took her a moment to process that the question was for her. "Huh?"

Frostedheart grinned, slinking forward; a gossip-worthy pose that would have been better accomplished if not for the snow-white kit dangling from her shoulder. "Who's your kits' father?"

Callingbird broke into a small smile. "Oh, no one special..." she whispered, dreamily etching patterns into the ground with her claw.

A collective smile swept over the she-cats. They sat there for a moment, gathering their thoughts peacefully. Then Snowkit began to meowl, and Lilydream's kits responded with grateful enthusiasm. The she-cats sighed, then giggled at the uniformity of the sigh. Frostedheart pulled the mewing Snowkit from her back and began to groom her, while Lilydream cooed to her kits in an effort to quiet their stubborn meowls.

"Well, with all due respect to Callingbird's beloved, I'm pretty sure Lilydream is the only one with a stable relationship as of late," chuckled Frostedheart.

Lilydream burst into a grin, and looked away, her face feeling flushed. Changing the subject quickly, Lilydream asked Callingbird, "Hey, how are your boys?"

As if they had been waiting for their cue, two balls of brindled thunder came crashing through the den entrance, leaving a trail of dust and dark brown fur in their wake. "MOOOOOOOOOOOOOOM!"

The younger one, who was bigger than his brother, used the lighter-furred male as a launchpad and went tumbling over Callingbird's head, crashing into the burrow wall behind her. His head popped up on the other side of her amber pelt. "Mom!" He said just as urgently, as if he was concerned she hadn't noticed their presence.

The lighter-furred smaller male, meanwhile, had delicately climbed over his mother, gave her a gentle lick to her shoulder, and tackled his bigger, younger brother to the ground.

"Mom-" the darker male said between giggles as his brother pummeled him with his paws. "Mom, Stagkit thinks that -hehehe- Stagkit thinks that the clan was made eight hundred moons ago-"

"Brackenkit, it waaas!" Stagkit grumbled. Brackenkit kicked Stagkit off with his hind legs, and the older male tumbled to the ground, laughing.

"Then why was it made eight-hundred-thousand moons ago?!" retorted Brackenkit as he leaped into the air, pouncing on his older, littler brother.

"That's not even a real amount!"

"You don't know! You weren't there!"

The kits tumbled around, laughing and hitting each other with - luckily - sheathed paws.

"My StarClan, boys, gentle!" Called out Callingbird.

But the two didn't seem to hear. Brackenkit shouted, "And the warrior code said that older kits were mouse-brains!"

"No it did not!" Stagkit shouted, and with full force he batted his brother's cheek, and Brackenkit tumbled into the dirt.

The she-cats had sharply inhaled, ready to call in Honeythroat and scold Stagkit, but Brackenkit had jerked his head up, wide baby-blue eyes staring into his brother's own wide eyes for just a heartbeat. Then the two collapsed into hysterical laughter. "You killed me, Stagstar!" Brackenkit gasped dramatically. "Luckily for me I am Brackenstarstarstar and I have three times as many lives as you!"

"FOR STARCLAN'S SAKE!"

The kits, along with Lilydream and Goldblossom, jumped. Frostedheart and Snowkit just settled in; the show just got more interesting.

"I told you to be gentle, did I not?" Callingbird growled, her gold eyes narrowing. "You have to be careful with one another or you'll get yourselves hurt!"

The two kits nodded excessively, their kitten-blue eyes staring with fear at their normally timid mother. The two jumped when Frostedheart spoke. "Ah, let them play," she said as Snowkit struggled between her paws. "My mother always said that you don't have to draw the line until they draw blood." At this the two boys inspected each other, and then began nodding wisely once they found no blood. Then they began to wrestle again, albeit quieter.

Callingbird huffed, but lay down anyways. "No offense to your mother, Frostedheart, but I think rouge life was a little rougher than what my boys are used to."

Frostedheart cackled. "You got that right. Though at first we closer to a clan then anything else," she purred as she groomed the squirming Snowkit.

The queens perked up a bit, thinking they might hear a bit more about Frostedheart's cloudy history, but Snowkit broke free of her mother's grasp before they got the story. She waddled over to the wrestling boys, mewling "P-play!"

Stagkit and Brackenkit stopped hitting each other for long enough to warily examine the new contender. Snowkit stared at them expectantly, her tiny tail lashing impatiently. The boys looked at each other, and then glanced at Frostedheart.

"We're a little big for you, Snowkit..." Stagkit began, as Brackenkit lowered his head to nudge her back towards Frostedheart. Annoyed that the boys hadn't seemed to recognize what she was saying, Snowkit bopped Brackenkit on the nose with her baby claws.

"Pla-a-ay!"

Brackenkit jumped back, and then burst into the widest grin. "Pla-a-ay!" he roared, tapping Snowkit's nose before pushing Stagkit to the ground. Then he started to run.

Stagkit shook out his fur and picked Snowkit up by the scruff. "Get him!" He shouted, and Snowkit attempted to snarl, unsheathing her baby claws as Stagkit chased Brackenkit.

The queens laughed heartily as Stagkit dropped Snowkit onto Brackenkit's back, and she held on somehow as Brackenkit strutted around the nursery.

Although the boys had become significantly gentler since Snowkit entered the equation, Callingbird was still visibly concerned. "Be careful boys, she's only a moon-"

"GIVE HIM THE DARK FOREST SNOWKIT!"

Callingbird looked at Frostedheart with an annoyed expression as Goldblossom and Lilydream burst into laughter.

"Your clan can't help you Snowstar! I am Evilstar, and am too powerful for-" Snowkit bit into Brackenkit's scruff, and the tom-kit made a big deal of falling to the ground, hacking and twitching.

"I don' need help," Snowkit declared regally, wobbling on the twitching Brackenkit's shoulders. She dug her claws into them to steady herself, blue eyes wide. "Help."

Stagkit padded over to help Snowkit off of his brother's back, as Brackenkit was too busy "dying" to let her get off easily. The queens cheered as Snowkit declared Stagkit her deputy for his help.

The three kits spent the next quarter-day living out the saga of Snowstar, with Stagkit playing most of the clan and Brackenkit cycling between various enemies that Snowstar could defeat with one blow. Asterkit and Violetkit, Snowkit's older sisters, watched once they returned from hanging out in the apprentice den.

Before the sun even touched the horizon, the three kits had fallen asleep in a pile next to Callingbird, exhausted. Callingbird had begun to doze off herself. Frostedheart was already asleep in her nest, happily spread out in the space that Snowkit usually took up, and Asterkit and Violetkit dozed in their own nest. Goldblossom had gone out on a walk with Honeythroat and Missingpaw, to keep her legs strong.

Lilydream, however, was wide awake. Her kits softly pawed at her belly as they nursed, but she barely noticed the tickling sensation that she usually enjoyed so much. She was staring out of the den absentmindedly, her thoughts churning with worry.

Who had gone on the patrol?

Fogfur had gone. He was strong, and she trusted him to sniff out any danger. And with an apprentice he'd want to be more cautious, even though he already kept a cool head.

His apprentice Applepaw. Lilydream didn't know much about her; Applepaw always foiled her attempts at a friendly chat. From what Dawnflight had said, she's a bit standoffish and hotheaded unlike her mentor, which was troubling.

Adderpounce had gone, and- well, she knew her littermate's antics by heart. He was strong despite his size and could take more than a few hits, but he acted like a wild apprentice and had mouse-dung for brains, especially when it comes to confrontations.

Bluespark was quiet and Lilydream didn't know them all that well. But she did know that Bluepaw had been suggested to be a warrior early by their mentor, and passed their apprentice exam with flying colors. They were also a major contender for deputy along with Pumapelt- all-in-all Bluespark was an excellent warrior and it calmed her to know that they were among the patrol.

The group had left at sun-high the day before. They should've been back before sundown.

Lilydream knew that if Porridgefur had known she was going to kit, he wouldn't have left her side. In fact he didn't want to leave anyways; he was worried about her. He's always worried about me, the she-cat thought with a smile. It quickly faded as she remembered why, and her back leg twitched instinctively.

Shaking her head free of worrisome thoughts, she turned her lilac head towards her three bundles of joy. "Once Dad gets here," she whispered to them with a small smile, "You'll finally have names. Although, I can guess what they'll be, I've known what he likes for a while."

She touched her pink nose to the dark cinnamon tomkit, who was squirming furthest from her. "You'll probably be Aspenkit. Though aspen trees are more of a light color...so you might be Maplekit. I know Porridge- I mean, your Dad, he likes that name too." She chuckled as the kit attempted to mew, his little head wobbling towards her voice. She gave him a few licks and nudged him back to her belly, where he happily continued his exploration away from her.

Her green eyes turned to her eldest kit, who had one paw firmly placed on her mom's belly as she nursed. Not wanting to disturb her determined feeding too much, Lilydream gave the lilac tortie a single lick to her head before speaking softly. "You will most likely have the name Willowkit. As you'll see someday, willow trees are big and strong, and graceful too. Just like you." Lilydream smiled, and gave her daughter another lick.

Then she turned to her youngest. Her smile faded a bit, as the scrawny fawn kit was not moving, just curled up tightly a little ways away from her. The lilac she-cat gently placed a paw onto the tiny kit's back, and the kit whipped her head around with a mrrowl, biting at the paw that had awoken her.

Lilydream burst into a grin. "Honeythroat told me you were a fighter. I thought of the name Fawnkit for you, because of your light fur..." Lilydream paused in thought, examining the now softly purring she-kit whose small head tilted towards her mother's voice. "But you don't seem like a fumbling fawn. You seem like... a strong feline. One of the old tales. Your dad knows the stories better then I do..."

Lilydream pressed her head back down to her paws, blinking out sudden tears. She pulled her kits closer to her belly, and their purrs made her sigh in contentment. She blinked into the moonlight filtering through the burrow, sending a silent prayer to StarClan that her mate would make it back safely.

-{}-

part 2 of 3

2650 words
fin june 28 2021