[beautiful] x.life

[KURI. (happy birfday to me :D)]

[ooc] Okay, I know I should wait a while longer, but let's just pretend she was really pregnant at the time of the battle. =P
Oh, and I'm going to have Cliffkip (Blackeh's kit...) born dead, unless someone wants him. =(

A pale brown tabby queen, her belly more swollen than ever with unborn kits, stood just outside the nursery. The sun was just beginning to dip below the horizon, setting the camp ablaze with red light. The first stars of Silverpelt began to shine, and Pastelsky was sure her mate was watching over her now.

Suddenly, ripples began to course through her body with a pain she had never even imagined. The kits, she thought frantically. "Help!" she wailed, pulling herself into the nursery and into her nest. She grimaced against the pain, but she knew everything was going to be alright.

It was, wasn't it?

[(aurora) of the problematique]

<sub>((Mkay <3. Poor Cliffy.))

It had been a good fight. Runningcloud paused and blinked, turning her head to the cries in the nursery. "Pastelsky!" she growled, instincts kicking in like an air raid siren. The broad-shouldered she-cat scowled and turned to Hyenapaw. "I'll be back after this is done," she told the tom. Like a lion, the female's loping steps pounded on the ground, sending her skidding into the nursery with a heavy, powerful gait. Husky breaths exuded from her nose and mouth as she ran to Pastelsky's side, hovering over her flank. Her brillant eyes,glittering anxiously, turned to the other she-cat. "Relax, Pastelsky," she said softly, reaching out with a broad but tender paw towards the queen's large stomach. "Push..."</sub>

[KURI. (happy birfday to me :D)]

Pastelsky gasped, exhausted, as the pain ebbed away slowly. Her eyelids drooped shut, but she managed to open them to see four tiny forms in the curve of her belly. She also saw Runningcloud, and she knew she had been right - everything was okay. She let out a long purr as she watched the little kittens. Her kits - no, Mouseclaw's kits. She drew in a long breath, and could have sworn she could catch Mouseclaw's scent in the air.

She forced herself to stay awake as the helpless creatures began to suckle. But then she realized that something was horribly, horribly wrong - one of the kittens, like a tiny copy of the queen herself, wasn't moving. She licked the kit fiercely, but he didn't even make a sound - he had been born still. Tears welled in her olive eyes as she gazed down at her four kittens, one already departed for StarClan. A lump formed in her throat as she remembered the name Mouseclaw had been so set on for one of his kits - "Cliffkit," the StarClan-bound tom's name came out as a whisper. She pressed her nose into his wet, cold fur, tears streaming dowwn the side of her face.

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[(aurora) of the problematique]

<sub>Runningcloud inhaled sharply at the sight of a stillborn kit. She was a veteran to death, having caused it probably a hundred or thousand times herself to prey or foes. However, nothing could describe the sight of a kit, the ones most dear to a Clan. The ginger she-cat's eyes crinkled at the ochre-rimmed edges and she slowly prodded the tiny one called Cliffkit. Her heart sank; the familiar odor of blood and death wafted upwards. She opened her mouth to say that this was what she was warning Pastelsky about, but closed it. It would be rather tactless of her.

A mottled brown tomkit, the color of freshly-fallen wood, squeaked hungrily, the male ball of fluff pressing against his mother's fur. Runningcloud's eyes softened as she turned her eyes upon him, forcing a gentle smile upon her face. "Should I take him for you...?" she asked hoarsely, gesturing with her nose towards the motionless Cliffkit. She didn't know if Pastelsky still wanted him by her side or not.</sub>

[KURI. (happy birfday to me :D)]

Pastelsky took one last sniff of her kitten's pelt, then nodded to Runningcloud. Her eyes were wide and sad, the heartbreak shone through them like a window. The tabby queen groomed Cliffkit, as if to say goodbye, then nosed him towards Runningcloud. She had to focus on her... on the three kits who were still with her. Tears still rolled down her cheeks as she began grooming the other three - two she-cats and a tom. Two of them were long-haired, like Mouseclaw, the last wasn't. She would name them later, right now she just wanted to rest.

[/color][/blockquote]

[Spice..xx]

_{Clearpool padded into camp, Pansypaw following her. She was in a good mood, Panyspaw had done well in her assesment and it was such a gorgeous day. A scent entered her nostrils all of a sudden and she froze. It was the scent of death. "StarClan no" she whispered and flew to where the scent was coming from. She burst into the nursery, her blue eyes bright with fear and her white pelt standing on end. She gasped happily as she saw the kits by Pastelskys side. "Conratu.." she stopped suddenly. The ting form on Cliffkit, lying so still broke her heart. "I'm so sorry Pastelsky" she said softly, looking at the other three kits who were all suckling happily.}[/color]

[KURI. (happy birfday to me :D)]

Pastelsky smiled a weak smile at Clearpool. "It's okay, Clearpool," she suprised herself with how hoarse her voice sounded. "He's with his father now, I'm sure." She rested her head on her paws, Cliffkit's scent still fresh in her nostrils. Her face was matted with tears, but she had to stay strong, for her kits. Cliffkit was hunting with StarClan now, and she still had three kits to look after. But it still broke her heart to see the one so tiny, so innocent - hadn't even had a chance to look around for the first time - die. She wasn't so tired anymore, maybe it was just the shock of losing Cliffkit. "I-I'd like to name them now," she whispered.

The brown queen looked over her kits, squirming over eachother, fighting for her milk. Two she-cats and one tom. She licked the tom on the head, long-furred like Mouseclaw but with her pelt. "Timberkit," she decided, noticing how his pelt was the same color as the trees.
She looked to the first she-cat, who looked nothing like her or Mouseclaw - instead, she had the pale orange-brown coat of Pastelsky's brother, Garnetfur. "Lavenderkit," somehow, the kitten looked peaceful, like the scent of lavender. The last kitten filled her heart with joy - she was like a little copy of Mouseclaw. She smiled as she thought up a name. "Freekit."

[/color][/blockquote]

[(aurora) of the problematique]

<sub>Pansypaw bounded merrily after Clearpool and froze when Runningcloud came out, flinty eyes faced forward as her fangs tightened around a fluffy limp ball in her mouth. The medicine cat's paws were heavy, thumping like the sound of thunder in the distance. Pansypaw swallowed, feeling bad for all the times that she couldn't fight by Pastelsky's side in the battle against Chaosfire. It was probably that that had cost her that kit's life. She blinked and decided to the give the queen room so to not seem overbearing. Still an apprentice, she leapt over to the fresh-kill pile, entering the nursery with one of kill she had caught with Clearpool.

Timberkit let out another loud mew as he pressed himself against Pastelsky's flank, as if he was promising her that he would never leave like his brother had. Unseeing and unhearing her, but he knew she was there, by her comforting purr and touch.</sub>

[SHADE. :D]

One cat did not enter the nursery to congratulate Pastelsky. Hyenapaw sat outside the warriors' den, rasping his tongue over his broad shoulders. His long forelegs were stretched out before him, his creamy ginger tail wrapped around his hind legs. Hyenapaw lifted his green eyes. They were filled with guilt and anguish. He felt guilty and selfish for feeling so betrayed. He knew Pastelsky had not meant to get pregnant. But being trained by Runningcloud made Hyenapaw smart. So she shouldn't be crossed, but she wasn't a warrior. The tom moodily scratched behind his ear with a paw, a habit he had never quite lost from his kithood. Hyenapaw began to think about his own warrior ceremony. It couldn't be too long now.