Post by Goldenstar on Dec 18, 2021 3:22:45 GMT -5
From all corners of the camp, cats came running to their aid. Split between the two places, the healers were working feverishly. The nursery held Bubblepaw, Cherrydapple, and Canarytrill- while the medicine cat den had Zinnialea, Milkflower, and Velvetthread.
Fairyspell- the senior most healer, had taken to the nursery and was guiding Dreamweaver and Venompaw with Cherrydapple. The older queen was laboring hard, a stick clamped between her jaws. She had nearly bitten it in two and was wailing around it.
"Venompaw, fetch wet moss for her. She's entirely too warm!" The apprentice took off and was replaced by Tinypaw, her green eyes glassy as she focused on her work.
Canarytrill spat at Nightspinner when the she-cat tried to help her, groaning in pain as she laid her head back into the moss- her eyes dull from pain. It was too early for her litter- she knew that. Fear twisted in her belly more than the searing ache in her womb. If I've done something wrong and I lose these kits, I'll never forgive myself... a contraction shook her and she yowled in agony. "Get me some damned water one of you!" She snapped and it sent Prayerpaw reeling to oblige.
Bubblepaw lifted her head weakly, blinking up into Stormleaf's calm eyes. The pain was low and throbbed in her hips. It was too soon- she knew that. But she trusted the healers of her clan. They'd pull her through it... somehow. A dull ache crawled up her spine and her pupils grew huge. With another cry of pain- she pushed and felt the world swim in front of her eyes. She'd been doing this for hours. When would she be rewarded for her anguish? When would they come?
"I've come to help!" Gasped a breathless voice as Hazelpaw- the Inkclan medicine cat apprentice- slipped into the den, her eyes wide. "Where do you need me?"
"Canarytrill needs you!" With a nod, the pretty brown molly headed over to the older Warrior, her eyes focused.
"You're doing wonderful, Miss Trill... when the next contraction comes, breathe through it then push... you're going to be okay."
---
What felt like a world away in the Medicine Cat Den, things weren't going nearly as smooth. Chaos and fear hung in the air as wails of agony rose. Umberpatch's mismatched eyes were so focused the whites of them had snaked red with strain. His paws were spattered with crimson as he cleared even more bloody bedding away from Milkflower's nest. Her flanks rose and fell in shallow, uneven swoops and her blue eyes were dull. At her stomach, two kits were nestled but they mewled in confusion. Umberpatch and Eagleoak were working feverishly, their focus on no-one and nothing but saving the mother of Sparrowtalon's kits- their kits. Milkflower wasn't finished- there was at least one more kit but the Queen was fading fast.
"M-mother?..." the cream colored molly whispered and the fur along Umberpatch's spine lifted. Milkflower let out a shuttered breath. "Oh, you're so beautiful..."
"Millie, don't do this," Umberpatch growled through gritted teeth when another contraction racked the queen's frail frame. "There's another kit... they need their mother, please... don't leave us. Don't go to Coconutsky yet."
In front of Milkflower, she was staring into the startling blue eyes of a stunning lilac point Siamese molly. Her face was warm with ferocious love as she touched her nose to Milkflower's own. "He's right, my sweet blossom. It isn't your fate to die as I did. Your kits will know their mother- and more will come to you. You have to keep fighting. My daughter is not weak. Now open your eyes and make me proud"! Milkflower's pupils focused and she let out a ferocious growl. The cream she-cat gathered all of her strength and pushed- the last kit sliding into the world. Umberpatch gasped and pushed it over to Eagleoak to inspect as he focused on the queen.
"Milkflower?..."
"Are the kits okay?!" She gasped, her head pounding.
"Yes- Eagleoak and I will take care of them. You should rest... will you make it?"
"I'm not going anywhere... I made a promise..." She murmured as sleep came and she closed her eyes.
Across the den, Rowanberry was with Lyra- easing a second kit toward Velvetthread's body. The scarred molly was exhausted, panting with every breath she took. "Lick the kit's fur backward," he instructed Lyra. "It's got fluid in its lungs and it's cold."
"W-will he make it?" Velvetthread asked softly and Rowanberry's eyes darkened.
"We're taking care of him... you just focus on the next one."
"I don't know if I can do this..."
"You can," Rowanberry said sternly. "I know you can. Gather your strength- you're nearly finished!"
Zinnialea let out a wail as Cypressprayer dabbed her forehead with a clump of wet moss. "I need an extra paw over here!" She cried and the other healers looked at her in dismay - they were all too busy to help. Blood pooled around Zinni's tail and Cypressprayer's pupils narrowed as she rubbed a still kit feverishly with her paw. "Breathe!"
"I've brought someone to help..." Fallenfire's voice was calm as he padded into the den, his eyes holding age so beyond his years. Behind him was Risingpaw, the tom's eyes serious. "Where do you need Risingpaw?"
"Risingpaw? He's a Warrior apprentice!" Rowanberry scoffed as he licked a sleek kit's fur.
Cypressprayer was staring at the young tom, her eyes wide. Something seemed to pass between them and she nodded. "Fallenfire, you may go. Risingpaw, I need you here. Zinnialea is losing too much blood but the kit isn't breathing. I can't manage the tear and keep the kitten alive. Help me."
---
Birth was nowhere near uncommon in the Valley. You stopped by to visit the Nursery, there would always be kittens stumbling over each other, expecting Queens gossiping, apprentices tending to them all. Birth was simply part of Cloudclan.
This... this was different. This was very different.
The mates of all the Queens going into sudden labor paced about in stress. With how dangerous most of them were, with how much the healers were required, no one was allowed within to possibly get in the way. They were left to watch, with no one to answer their questions, as healers raced to and fro. Some had blood on their paws. Some with five bundles of herbs per cat, running as fast as their paws could take them.
It hurt. The helplessness hurt. The terror hurt. Fear of losing not only kits, but the mothers as well. As if the most recent tragedies weren't stifling enough.
---
Sparrow and Dandi sat beside each other, trying hard not to tremble as much as they wanted to. Dandi had noticed Canarytrill going into labor first, and her heart hadn't stopped racing since. Sparrowtalon remained pressed against his sister's side, eyes flickering from her to the Medicine Cat Den, while Dandi's eyes remained locked on the Nursery.
"It's too early," Dandi murmured, her fur still bristled, eyes slightly rimmed with red as she struggled to hold herself together. "It's too early, isn't it? It's too soon."
"They'll be fine," Sparrow responded, interlacing his tail with hers. "They're both strong."
"Is this how it felt when I was sick with the Fever?"
"... A bit. But it was fine then."
"This isn't the Fever, Sparrow."
The tom swallowed hard. "They've made it this far. They'll be alright."
Dandi shuddered against him as another healer rushed into the Nursery.
---
"This isn't fair!" Cricketsong sobbed.
Her face was buried into Shatteredlake's chest, still shaking as she wept. She'd rushed to the Nursery once the commotion started, but she was firmly told to stay out. So she watched until she couldn't listen to the cries of pain anymore and turned away. Now she was there, clinging to her one mate while the other went through such agony.
"She needs to be okay, Lake, she needs to be," she whimpered.
-
The chaos of the Medicine Cat Den was a familiar rush. He just wished he wasn't coming in for such a urgent manner.
His eyes took in the space, focusing on one thing after another until he caught Cypressprayer's gaze. An odd flash occurred before his eyes. He saw her young, eyes gleaming at the prospect of being a Medicine Cat. He also saw Lionroar, some long time ago, dying of greencough in the nest beside him. What a time that was, after the Battle of The Forest had passed. Risingpaw blinked out of that small fade, back to the healer's mind, once Cypress plead to him.
"Take care of the little one," he told her, padding over to Zinnialea's side, collecting the yarrow leaves and spider webs off to the side as he spoke, carefully cleaning the area with clean moss. "Hello, Miss Lea. I need you to keep breathing for me. Deep breaths. Keep swabbing her with water, please, if you get the time. The stress is rising her body temperature. Miss Lea, don't push yet, alright? I need you to pant until I get this taken care of. Just pant. I know it's hard."
---
"C-Colt?..." soft blue eyes lifted and Bubblepaw looked up at the worried face of her mate as he helped Hazelpaw- numbly handing her herbs and chewing leaves. She was aware of the aching pain in her hips but felt little else- even as her contractions came and went. Her eyes felt glossy and for a moment, she thought the big tom in front of her was her father. Her vision blurred and the colors around her seemed to shift. Was this it? Was she dying? A searing pain and a cry echoed but she hardly noticed it. Bubblepaw's head lay back into her nest as she felt the world around her slip away.
Canarytrill blinked a bit, numbly and half unconscious to Tinypaw as the little molly came to help her. She was always so kind. So kind. Three kits lay pressed against her belly, all nursing and churning against her stomach. So, this was it. She was to die. To never get to see the color of her children's eyes. Would Dandi forgive her for leaving her all alone?... No, not alone. She had her brother. And her mother and her sister and all their kin. She's a tough girl. She'll be alright... the yellow molly's eyes fluttered close and her breathing grew more shallow.
Cherrydapple was faintly aware of the wriggling, yowling kitten that flailed under her tail fur. He smelled like her mate... like Shatteredlake. Sorrow pierced her like a thorn as she gazed off across the den. The nursery suddenly seemed so empty. She vaguely heard the sound of someone screaming. Maybe it was Cricket? Oh, poor sweet thing... She only wished she could tell her goodbye. Then she was still. Very still.
"What in Starclan's name is happening!" Tinypaw snarled as she placed her paws on Canarytrill's chest and began to pump feverishly. "What is going on?!"
"This can't be happening," Venompaw's voice was shaky as he began to do the same to Cherrydapple, Hazelpaw pushing Coltpaw out of the way to get to the apprentice queen. "There's no way! Queens don't just... die like this. This is an omen. This is..."
"Impossible. It's a nightmare. We can't give up. Don't stop! Keep going!" Came the hiss from Hazelpaw as she forced her paws on Bubblepaw's chest and began to push. "For all the stars in Silverpelt- we can't give up!"
---
"She's still bleeding!" Umberpatch snarled, clearing away more bloody moss as he again pressed wads of cobwebs to Milkflower's hind quarters. It instantly soaked through and he handed the duty off to Eagleoak. The she-cat was barely breathing and he placed his paws on her flank and began to push down and then up as quickly as he could in patterns of three. "Don't do this, Millie. Don't. Come on. Come on!"
"Risin-Risingpaw..." Zinnialea looked up into the apprentice's eyes as he tried to work with her. Cypressprayer gasped in relief when, finally, the little tom kit took a breath and squealed into life. She placed the kitten beside his litter-mate at the Inkclan queen's stomach and urged them to latch and nurse. She studied Risingpaw suddenly, noticing that his shadow didn't match his body. The silhouette was longer, taller, leaner. This cat had sleek fur and large ears. As the warrior apprentice spoke kindly to the queen, Cypressprayer realized that the voice didn't belong to him. Neither did those exotic, startling blue eyes.
"Risingpaw..." Zinni repeated, her tail twitching faintly. "My s-sister in Inkclan... p-please... tell her I... named the girl kit Marigold... after... m-mothe..." the light died from the warrior's eyes and she became very still.
"No!" the wail came from Rowanberry and he placed his paws on Velvetthread's chest and began to pump. "N-No, Vee... I won't... I won't let you. No. Oh, Starclan no... Come on, come on..."
"Risingpaw, copy Rowanberry," Cypressprayer instructed through gritted teeth as she rubbed Zinnialea's son in an attempt to force the water out of his lungs. "We need to keep their blood-flow!"
"What is happening!" Umberpatch cried as he pumped his paws. "This can't be Starclan's will! We can't lose them all!"
---
Bubblepaw blinked. She was staring up into Coltpaw's brilliant orange eyes. Wait. Colt didn't have orange eyes... Could it be.
"Kin of my kin," Ravencrypt purred, nuzzling his granddaughter's ear. "You'll be fine in a moment. I had to bring you here... we all did."
Bubblepaw, free of pain and exhaustion, looked around her in awe. She sat up and realized she had pulled herself out of her body- her soul standing away from where her physical form was still being worked on by Hazelpaw. The nursery was filled with half a dozen Starclan warriors- all of them woven sightlessly around the ones who were still living. Some of the ancestors she knew and some she didn't. She saw her grandfather, her grandmother- Peachbell- two yellow she-cats she didn't know, a blue she-cat, and a pretty brindled molly. She looked into Ravencrypt's eyes and saw devotion there. And something else- something deeper.
"Mother... Tansy!" Canarytrill sobbed as she threw herself into her twin's arms and her sister embraced her with a muffled wail. Beside them was the dark blue she-cat and she was staring down at Canarytrill's still body- her eyes brimming with love over the three bundles tucked against her belly.
"They're beautiful, my sweet bird! Well done."
"Well done?... What do you mean, Mother?" The Warrior's eyes clouded with sadness. "I died."
"You're not dead. None of you are. We had to wait for you here, in the in-between... we had to speak to you all. The Mothers."
"There is a time coming," the second yellow she-cat spoke. She was a small molly with brilliant sapphire eyes and she was standing beside Cherrydapple, the new mother with tears running down her face as she nuzzled the fluffy brindled molly. "A time unlike any the valley has ever known. It will take you- all of you- and the families you have created to withstand the storm. Your children, these kits..." she stared down fondly at Cherrydapple's only kit- a tom. "Will be the future of this clan and will carry a weight that is unfair for them to hold. They will be healers, leaders, true warriors, and peacekeepers. And they won't fail you."
"Goldenstar, how do we know?... What's coming?" Cherrydapple asked and the yellow she-cat shook her head.
"Of this, we do not know. We just know that you all must be ready." She rasped her tongue over the skittish molly's ears and nodded toward the silver she-cat beside her. "Enjoy the peace for now, my loves. War comes on the wind."
"Don't go," Canarytrill pleaded to her family as she looked longingly at her mother and sister. "Please... come for just a moment. If I'm to live- I want for you to meet my kits."
"Meet them? They will know us," Tansypurr told her twin with a fond shove to the shoulder. "We will guide them."
"I'm scared," Bubblefrost whispered to her grandfather. Ravencrypt smiled at her as Goldenstar, Peachbell, Topazdash, the silver molly- Brindledawn- and Tansypurr came back to his side. "What if I can't do this?"
"You can. And you will. This will not be the last time he makes you a mother..." Ravencrypt looked fondly at Coltpaw, who was standing numbly a few tail-lengths away as Hazelpaw pumped vigorously on Bubblepaw's chest. "Trust in yourself. Trust in him. Trust in us. I am never far away if you need me." The Starclan cats began to fade and, as they did, they breathed a single sentence in one voice.
"We will guide you- the Mothers. And your kin. We are with you. You shall not walk alone. We... will guide you."
---
"Islandfawn?" Zinnialea sat up out of her own body, not even realizing what she had done. She raced over to the pretty she-cat and shoved her face into the former healer's fur. "What are you doing here? A... A-are you..."
"I walk with Starclan now," the medicine cat told her fondly as she licked her ears. Beside her, there were a handful of other Starclan warriors. One was Coconutsky, who was covering Milkflower in feverish licks. Another was a pretty yellow and cream she-cat who was built a lot like Witheredleaf. She was talking urgently to Velvetthread.
"You're so beautiful," Milkflower told her mother as tears sprang from her eyes. "I didn't want for us to meet like this... but I am ready to go with you now. My kits will be taken care of. Their fathers love them."
Coconutsky's blue eyes showed pangs of sadness as she looked first at Islandfawn and then at the yellow molly. "You're not coming with me, my blossom. None of you are. You are not dead. We just had to bring you here first... so that we could talk."
"Talk? About what?" Zinnialea asked and the yellow molly spoke now. It was Daffodilfur- Sunnyarch's sister and Witheredleaf's daughter.
"A storm of darkness is coming to the valley. Something old and new. Something we have never seen before. You have all been chosen. There will be ten queens to give birth between now and the end of leafbare. These she-cats will become known as The Mothers. For their kits will bring forward hope for their clans... a new generation. Peacekeepers, leaders, healers, and true warriors." She smiled softly down at the three kits who rested against Velvetthread's belly. "Be strong now for them. A forest cannot thrive without its roots."
"I don't understand," Milkflower murmured and her mother kissed her face as the other mollies came back to her side. Slowly, the Starclan warriors began to fade.
"You will. Trust me... I am so, so proud of you." Then, as the starry cats faded into moon dust and light, a single message echoed around the den.
"We will guide you- the Mothers. And your kin. We are with you. You shall not walk alone. We... will guide you."
---
At the same time, all of the queens opened their eyes and sucked in deep, precious lungfuls of air.
"Coltpaw!" Bubblepaw gasped, her eyes focusing on the father of her kits. Hazelpaw stopped her compressions and recoiled, eyes wide. "Coltpaw- I'm here! I'm okay!"
"Dandi?... Where's..." Canarytrill took a hard breath and looked around the den as Tinypaw backed away from her, her ears flat to her head. The senior warrior looked down at her kits and purred, rasping her tongue over each of their heads. "Oh, you're so beautiful!" she cried as tears rolled down her face. "D-Dandi! I want Dandi."
"Can I see Cricket?" Cherrydapple's voice was shaky as she licked her son's ears and he mewled against her. "And Shatteredlake! Oh- I want for them to see him! He's perfect isn't he?"
Baffled, all the medicine cats exchanged bewildered glances. They'd all been dead- or damn near it- only a few seconds ago. And now?... Each queen glowed with radiant health and they seemed stronger, more fierce than before. There was no sign of blood from Bubblepaw and she was beaming up at her mate with a fire rarely seen from the little molly.
"What in Starclan's name happened in here?" Hazelpaw asked, her whiskers twitching. "I... I suppose... I'll fetch the others then..." she kept a wary eye on Cherrydapple as she poked her head out of the nursery. She found Sparrow and Dandelionbriar first and nodded toward them.
"Uhm..." she trailed. "First off- she's fine. She's had three kits- two toms and a she-cat. Come see, if you like..." as she lead Dandi back, she stopped by a hysteric Cricketsong and a stone-faced Shatteredlake. "A single son. Come come... much to see."