"Quick! Get Flowertail and Owlpaw!" Poolpelt gasped.

On the other side of the nursery, Ashfall sleepily lifted her head. "Are the kits coming?"
"What else would it be?" Blackfrost snapped.
The warrior had stopped by the nursery to visit his mate when Feathershine's pains had suddenly begun.
Ashfall heaved herself to her paws. "I'll get them," she offered.
She padded out of the den, puffing.
A half-moon from kitting, the energetic warrior had become as cumbersome as a badger.

Blackfrost plucked nervously at the edge of Feathershine's nest as his mate writhed in the moss.
Poolpelt licked Feathershine between the ears. "It'll be over soon," she promised.

She tried not to think of Duskwing's long kitting.
Or the death of her she-kits before they'd reached one moon.
At least Shadowkit's strong and healthy, Poolpelt reminded herself.

He was scrabbling out of Duskwing's nest now, stretching up to see what was happening.
Duskwing tugged him back by the tail. "You're as nosy as a squirrel," she scolded gently. "Why don't you go outside and see if you can find Thornpaw?"
"Okay!" Shadowkit chirped. He squirmed out of the nursery just as Flowertail pushed her way in.

"Watch out! Coming through!" Shadowkit yowled as he scooted straight under the medicine cat's belly.
"That kit gets bossier by the day," Flowertail murmured, dropping a bundle of leaves by Feathershine's nest. "I know he's the only kit in the Clan, but he's starting to act like a little leader."
Poolpelt flicked her tail. "Feathershine's kits will give them someone else to fuss over."
She felt almost glad that there would be more kits other than Shadowkit. He always seemed too arrogant and disrespectful for a kit.

Flowertail huffed. "Sorry, Owlpaw's is out herb-gathering."

"How are you doing, little one?" Flowertail bent down to sniff the pale white queen's head.
"I'm thirsty," Feathershine whimpered. "Can I have some wet moss?"
"Good idea," Flowertail mewed. "Blackfrost, please could you get some?"

Blackfrost stopped shredding the moss at the edge of the nest and looked at his mate. "Are you sure you'll be okay?"
"We'll take care of her," Flowertail promised.

As soon as he was gone, Feathershine sighed. "Thanks for getting rid of him before he pulled my nest to pieces."
Poolpelt's whiskers twitched amusingly. It looked like her sister hadn't lost her sense of humor yet.

Then Feathershine gasped, and her eyes stretched.
Flowertail pressed her paw on her belly. "Pain?"
Feathershine nodded, holding her breath.
"Try breathing more, not less," Flowertail suggested.

Poolpelt didn't think she could watch her sister being in agony. "Can you give her poppy seeds for the pain?"
Flowertail shook her head. "She needs to be able to feel it, so we know when the kits are coming."

Feathershine breathed out slowly. "Will it be long?" she croaked.
"A while yet."

"Wait there." Poolpelt padded out of the nursery.

Ashfall had settled on the soft snow outside. "I thought I'd give you some peace," she meowed as Poolpelt trotted past.
"Thanks," Poolpelt called over her shoulder.

She scanned the edge of the camp, looking for something.
The faint scent of leaf-fall tainted the breeze.
Poolpelt quickly saw what she was after: a short, stumpy stick, not too splintery, but tough.
She picked it up in her jaws and hurried back to the nursery.

"What's that?" Duskwing was peering out of her nest.
"I thought Feathershine could bite down on it when the pain came." Poolpelt pushed the stick under Feathershine's muzzle.
Duskwing shuddered, clearly remembering her own ordeal. "I wish I'd had one of those."

"Thank you," Feathershine panted. Her belly quivered and she grabbed the stick between her teeth.

The stone scraped as Blackfrost padded through the entrance and dropped the moss he was carrying. "Is she all right?"
"She's fine," Flowertail reported. "But she'll need more moss. Gather it from the stream outside camp. The water will be fresher there."
Blackfrost nodded, turned tail, and left.
"Thanks," Feathershine murmured to Flowertail.

Poolpelt was aware of the sun moving slowly overhead, sending shifting shafts of light into the nursery.
Feathershine was getting more and more tired, and she kept closing her eyes for long stretches.

"It can't be long now, can it?" Poolpelt whispered to Flowertail.
"Not long." She had just given Feathershine a mouthful of leaves to chew on.
Poolpelt recognized the shape from when Duskwing was kitting: raspberry.
She hoped they'd be more effective this time.

Feathershine groaned as another spasm shook her.
"Here!" Poolpelt pushed the stick toward her muzzle.
"No!" Feathershine shrieked, pushing it away.

"The first one's coming," Flowertail meowed from where she crouched by Feathershine's haunches.

Feathershine trembled as a small, pale white, tabby she-kit slid out into the nest.

Flowertail bent down and lapped at the she-kit, her mouth opening to show her tiny, tongue.

Feathershine turned and sniffed at the she-kit. "She's beautiful," she gasped.
She grabbed her scruff and hauled her to her belly.
The she-kit began suckling at once, kneading Feathershine with fierce paws.
"She's a strong one," Flowertail purred.

Poolpelt felt a flood of relief. "How many more?" she asked.
Flowertail pressed Feathershine's flank. "That's it."
Duskwing sat up. "Only one?"
"A tough little she-cat," Flowertail told her. "You can't ask more than that."

Flowertail then murmured, "Kinda sounds like someone else I know,"
"Hey!" Poolpelt said, unsure whether to take it as a compliment or a teasing.

Shadowkit scrabbled into the den. "Is it over?" he squeaked, peeking into the nest.
He blinked at the pale white she-kit. "Where are the other kits?"
"That's the only one," Duskwing told him.
Shadowkit cocked his head. "That's all?" he meowed. "But it's pale white. It'll never be able to hunt with a pelt that color. The prey'll see her coming tree-lengths away."
Duskwing climbed out of her nest and nosed Shadowkit away. "She'll be a fine hunter, just like her mother," she told him.

Blackfrost appeared in the entrance again, this time his jaws stretched with the biggest wad of dripping moss Poolpelt had ever seen.
"You'll drown the nursery with that," she teased.

Blackfrost's gaze reached his daughter.
He flung the moss aside and crossed the nursery in one leap. "She's beautiful!"
He licked Feathershine between the ears. "Well done," he murmured. "I'm so proud of you."

"What should we call her?" Feathershine asked.
Blackfrost looked thoughtful. "How about... Featherkit? After their amazing mother?" He licked Feathershine's cheek.
Feathershine purred. "Featherkit it is."

Blackfrost leaned forward and licked Featherkit.
The kit mewed in protest, then went back to suckling.
Blackfrost stared down at his daughter, his eyes brimming with emotion.

Blackfrost straightened up. "I'll go get you the tastiest of prey I can find," he promised Feathershine.
Flowertail shook her head. "She won't eat for a while," she warned. "But that moss will be useful."
She plucked a piece and placed it where Feathershine could lap at it.
She did so, thirsty, her eyes half-closed with exhaustion.

"Will she be all right?" Poolpelt whispered.
"She just needs rest," Flowertail promised. "She'll be fine."

Relieved, Poolpelt sat back and watched Featherkit suckle, amazed that she knew what to do already.

Welcome to IceClan, little one. May StarClan light your path, always.

"Look!" Feathershine's soft mew woke Poolpelt the next morning. "She's opened her eyes already!"
"Great!" Shadowkit's head shot up over the edge of Duskwing's nest. "Can I take her out to explore?"

Feathershine looked as if Shadowkit had suggested taking her daughter out to play in a fox burrow.
Shaking her head, she wrapped her tail protectively around Featherkit.
"I woke you up every day to go out and you didn't have a problem with it," Poolpelt purred, remembering their days as kits in the nursery.

Featherkit gazed around the den, her blue eyes but her ears pricked.
Her tiny paws kneaded the bedding, and her tail stuck straight out.

Feathershine sighed. "If she wants to go out, then she can." She wrapped her tail tighter and glared at Shadowkit. "But no farther than the clearing."
"I'll keep an eye on them," Poolpelt promised. "You just rest."
Feathershine still looked exhausted, hardly able to do more than lap at the moss Blackfrost kept bringing. "Thank you," she breathed.

Shadowkit was already out of his nest and balancing on the edge of Feathershine's. "Come on!" he called to Featherkit. "There's loads to see."
Featherkit turned slowly and focussed on her little denmate.
"We're going to be warriors," Shadowkit told her. "We might as well start now."
Featherkit blinked away the fuzziness in her gaze. "Okay," she mewed.
She scrambled up the side of the nest and teetered beside Shadowkit.
"This way," Shadowkit led her to the entrance.
Featherkit followed on unsteady legs.

"Don't take your eyes off her for an instant," Feathershine called as Poolpelt followed the two kits from the den.
"I won't," Poolpelt replied over her shoulder.

Featherkit looked even smaller outside the nursery.
The clearing that stretched away ahead of her might as well have been the valley to Highstones.

Poolpelt felt the sharp memory of her first time out, how big everything seemed, especially the warriors.

Darkcloud padded past. "Is that our new warrior?" he meowed.
Poolpelt nodded.
A purr rumbled in Darkcloud's throat. "Well, show her the warriors's den and tell her to stay out. She'll get there soon enough.
Amusement lit his eyes. Was he recalling the time she had nearly wandered into the warriors's den?
She nodded, whiskers twitching. "I will."

She didn't want Featherkit to grow up for a long time yet.
Let her play peacefully and chase nothing fiercer than a ball of moss for as many moons as she can.

A half-moon later, Splashkit, Riverkit and Robinkit were born.

Splashkit was a dark brown she-kit with a white stomach and both darker and white dapples with blue eyes.

[OC belongs to ArenaTyke ]

While Riverkit was a black, ear-tufted she-kit with pale blue eyes.

And their sister, Robinkit, was a dappled, tortoiseshell with orange eyes.

Ashfall sat up proudly in her nest when Poolpelt came in to visit them.
These were her first kits, but they had been born as easily as a beechnut slipping out of its shell.

"The nursery hasn't been this full since we were kits," Feathershine observed.
"It's too busy," Shadowkit complained. "There's no room for proper games now."

"Why don't you go out and play?" Duskwing suggested. "You could show Splashkit, Riverkit and Robinkit the camp."
Ashfall's kits started to bounce with excitement at the prospect of seeing their new home.

"I'll help!" Featherkit squeaked, trying to beat Shadowkit to the entrance.
Feathershine's daughter had grown well, but she was still no match for her older denmate, in either breadth of shoulder or  stubbornness.
Shadowkit pushed easily ahead of her and led all four kits out of the nursery.

Ashfall sighed. "Will they be okay? I don't want them to pester the older cats."
"Do you want me to watch them?" Poolpelt asked.
"That would be great, thanks." Ashfall settled down in her nest.

Duskwing stood up, stretching each leg in turn. "I'll come, too, and get prey from the pile."
The hazel tabby queen was finally looking fit and strong again.
She padded from her nest and followed Poolpelt from the nursery.

The five kits were already hurtling across the snowy clearing.

"Not so fast!" Poolpelt called. "Don't forget, it's Splashkit's, Riverkit's, and Robinkit's first time out!"
"Kits always grow faster when they've got denmates to keep up with," Duskwing commented as the kits disappeared into the hole that led to the medicine cat's den.
"I'd better see what they're getting up to," Poolpelt meowed. She didn't want them getting into Flowertail's supplies.
Leaving Duskwing to take her pick from the fresh-kill pile, she hurried across the snowy clearing to the medicine den.

So much has changed in the last few moons, and all for the better.
It seemed as if the shadow that had rested over the Clan had been lifted.
Silverstar's passing had shocked all the Clans, but Icestar had been resolute at the next Gathering.
Icestar made it clear that Silverstar's passing signaled a new, stronger IceClan.
Now IceClan faced the coming leaf-fall well fed, with a nursery bustling with healthy kits and warriors confident in their new leader's power.
Poolpelt felt warm with satisfaction as she padded into the medicine cat den.

"Get away, you vermin!"
A vicious yowl echoing from the den set her fur on end.

When she came in, she bit back a gasp.

The kits were crouched, trembling, on the ground while Flowertail glared at them, hissing as though faced with a horde of SmokeClan warriors.

Poolpelt shot between her and the kits. "What are you doing?" She gasped.
Flowertail didn't seem to notice her.

Wild-eyed and bristling, she twitched her tail towards Shadowkit. "Get that creature out of my den!" she snarled.
Shadowkit glared at the medicine cat.
"Get him out!" Flowertail repeated.

Poolpelt swept the kits back toward the entrance of the medicine cat den, without taking her eyes off Flowertail. "Off you go, little ones," she called, trying to sound cheerful.

"What's the matter?" Owlpaw hurried into the clearing, dropping the bile-soaked moss she'd been carrying.
"It's Flowertail!" Poolpelt meowed, letting out her surprise. "She's scaring the kits."
Owlpaw took a step closer to her mentor, brushing her fur against Owlpaw's.
"Sorry," she apologized to Poolpelt. "She's been having nightmares. They must have woken her while she was in the middle of a bad one."

"Nightmares?" Flowertail growled. "Only when I open my eyes and see that!" She bared her teeth at Shadowkit.

The kits had made it to the edge of the medicine cat den, staring back in confusion.
Poolpelt turned and shooed them away.

"What did we do wrong?" Splashkit was bristling with terror.
"Nothing," Poolpelt promised. "Flowertail just having an outburst and imagining things."

"I'm not imagining that!" spat the medicine cat from behind them.
Poolpelt glanced back to see Flowertail pointing a hooked claw at Shadowkit.

Flowertail's ears flattened against her head.
"Keep that creature away from me!"