Here Come The Kits! {Open}

[Foxpaw]

Sway was sound asleep, eyes tightly shut, fluffy tail curled over her nose. She was having pleasant dreams when she suddenly awoke with a sharp cry of pain, eyes flying wide open. She quickly rolled over, groaning, confused and a bit scared before she realized what was happening. Her kits, they were finally, finally coming after all these time. Fear and joy constricted her heart as another sharp stab of pain ran down her body. She panted, already worn out, as a small white shape slid from her. She instinctively nipped the sack, bringing the white tom close to her with wide eyes. He looked so much like Wolf that it both hurt her and made her love him all the more. but she was far from done and didn't have long to rest until the next wave of pain wracked her body.

[Deleted]

Whitefire had thought she had heard a cry come from the nursery as she was sitting outside of her den and quickly she padded over and inquisitively poked her flattened face in to check. Then, realizing that Sway was having her kits, the medicine cat rushed back over to her den on her small legs and hurriedly grabbed the herbs and materials she needed. Thankfully this wasn’t the first time she had helped a kitting queen before, and so she had already gathered the herbs she had thought she would need in her den. “Borage seeds, Narcissus petals, water…?” She had gathered the seeds and petals in a leaf wrap and used her free paw to soak some water with moss. She picked up the wrap in her jaws and then tried to carry the moss as well as she quickly made her way back to the nursery and entered, which was a bit of a struggle.
“Alright-, here, you need to eat these right away.” Whitefire instructed, her meow very muffled through all of the herbs and the moss she was carrying at once. She set them down and sorted through the wrap until she gathered up the soft petals and pushed it towards the kitting queen with her front paw. “They will help with the contractions so that you won’t feel the pain.” The medicine cat briefly explained and then moved the water-filled moss closer as well, in case the queen needed a drink to keep herself hydrated.

[sunraerae]

Peachkit was playing in the clearing with her friends when she saw Whitefire go into the nursery and then rush back to her den. Mewing a goodbye to her friends, Peachkit bounded to the nursery, afraid something was wrong with Sway or one of her other friends.

When she arrived in the dark nursery, Peachkit had to blink a few times to allow her eyes to adjust to the dark surroundings. When she could see the scene before her, she cried, "Sway!" and ran to her adoptive mother, who already had a white kit beside her. She looked like she was in pain, and Peahkit was glad to have Whitefire nearby feeding her the proper herbs to ease the pain that Sway was feeling. Excitement and fear mixed in Peachkit's heart; she couldn't wait to meet the kits, but wanted Sway to be comfortable and happy. And Peachkit knew Sway would be thinking of Wolf at this moment. Her mate was not here to see their first litter together, and Peachkit knew Sway would be taking that hard.

She padded behind Sway, opposite Whitefire, and licked the queen's head, murmuring, "I'm right here, Sway." Then, turning to Whitefire, she asked softly, "Is there anything I can do? Warm the kits up or something?"

[Foxpaw]

Sway let out another groan, green eyes flitting to the Medicine Cat in clear relief. She was one of the main reasons she had decided to join FrostClan. The clans, by far, had the best system for kitting, with their herbs and wise Medicine Cats and nurseries. She knew Wolf would of taken care of her while she was kitting, got her water, nuzzled her, done whatever she needed, but he would also have freaked out a bit, more than likely. Still, she wished he was here now to see his son with his snowy white fur. Whimpering, she began to lick up the herbs as fast as possible.

She opened her mouth to murmur something to Peachkit, sure the kit was worried about her, but her words were cut off by a sharp gasp, and she merely laid her head back down, panting. She prayed that the herbs would kick in fast, but they weren't fast enough to help her with her second kit. After a few more moments of groaning and crying out in pain, a silver kit slipped out, bigger than her brother, with a slightly mistier version of her Mother's silver and black tabby pelt.

[Midnight]

Featherpaw slid quietly into the nursery. Here goes. The she-cat thought, green eyes slightly widened. This was the first time she'd ever seen a kitting, and as a medicine cat apprentice, it was likely that Featherpaw would be expected to help. Anxiety pulsed through her, and the white-furred apprentice kneaded the ground without realizing it. Featherpaw let out a little mew directed at her mentor, "should I do anything to help?"

[Deleted]

Whitefire had narrowed her eyes in focus as she quickly tried to list off everything she knew in her head and what she was supposed to be watching for. She had to think back to what she had been taught when she assisted a queen that was giving birth to kits. She had the herbs that were supposed to help with kitting, but there wasn’t much of anything else that could help with the pain of the contractions. She had been warned that queens were difficult to give herbs to; there weren’t many herbs that they could take that wouldn’t put them at risk for complications or of losing their kits entirely. Even if poppy seeds would work, there was not much of a point to them. It would only make the queen sleepy, and therefore make it harder to tell if she was all right and not having some sort of complications.

Whitefire’s thoughts were interrupted by the loud, high-pitched voice of what could only be a kit. She flattened her ears as Peachkit ran by them and into the scene. Leave it to kits to get under my paws! she thought with a lash of her fluffy tail. “If you want to help, then just stay out of the way and keep quiet!” The medicine cat said flatly, before turning her attention back to helping Sway. The Narcissus petals didn’t seem to be doing much, at least not yet, though she assumed that they would have if she had known the queen was kitting sooner.

“Just remember to keep taking deep breaths. The herbs should begin to work soon. I would try to drink some of the water if you can,” Whitefire meowed to Sway. She leaned her head down to nip the newborn kit's encasing so that the kit could breathe while the queen was recovering, and flicked an ear as Featherpaw padded into the den.

"You can watch for a while. When the next kit comes, do what I just did and free it from its encasing so that it can breath." Whitefire instructed to her apprentice. She didn't really think much about the fact that it was the apprentice's first time seeing a kitting.

[sunraerae]

Peachkit hissed under her breath. She would be of apprentice age within a few days, and yet she was pushed away like a troublesome kit. Sway was the closest thing she had to a mother, and since Sway was without Wolf, Peachkit was the only family Sway would have during her kitting. And yet Featherpaw was treated like an experienced assistant while Peachkit was shoved aside.

Peachkit's tail fell, from the high, excited banner it had been before Whitefire had chastised her. but she remained where she was, beside Sway. The she-cat was groaning in pain, and even if Peachkit couldn't do anything to make her feel better, she could sit beside her and comfort her while waiting this kitting out. She sat close to her adoptive mother, looking at the two kits that had already been born and wondering how many there would be.

[Midnight]

Featherpaw nodded quickly and seriously. Her muscles tensed as she prepared to lunge forward to get the next kit safely out of its casing and by Sway's belly for milk. The white-furred she-cat flashed an apologetic look at Peachkit, who she did indeed feel bad for, having been scratched by Whitefire's harsh words. I guess that's why she's Whitefire. Featherpaw thought.

The medicine cat apprentice kept herself attentive after the few moments she allowed herself for thought, ears perked, claws sinking into moss anxiously. When could she prove herself useful for the first time? When could this young feline help bring a newborn kit to life for the first time in her life? Featherpaw suddenly felt a weight on her shoulders: what if she messed up and Sway's kit died as a result? The horrifying thought made Featherpaw shudder, but she refused to allow it to go any further. There was no way she could mess something as simply as nipping an encasing up. No way in StarClan could the new apprentice manage that.

[Foxpaw]

Sway shot the she-cat a slightly irritated look for the way she treated her kit, but her mind was a bit too fuzzy to concentrate on it for long. The pains were coming again, although, thankfully, they weren't quite as gut-wrenching as they were moments ago. She lapped up a couple drops of water before placing her silver head back down, panting. It wasn't long before the next kit came, much faster and easier than the others. It was another white kit, as big as the silver one, but this one was a she-cat. Her heart swelled with pride, and she took a moment to rest. She could feel the other kits stirring, but they weren't quite ready yet. She was already exhausted, and she hoped she was almost done.

[Midnight]

When the latest kit had arrived, Featherpaw bolted forward, crouched, nipped the encasing, and put the she-kit by Sway's belly in one swift motion that made the apprentice slightly dizzy after. Had she really just done that without realizing she did it? As she sat back down, Featherpaw blinked as she looked at Sway's kits. They were all so cute, helpless, defenseless.. A sudden pang hit Featherpaw: through her father urging her to be a medicine cat apprentice, and the interest she'd grown in it in the past moons, she'd never considered the cons of being a medicine cat apprentice. Featherpaw would never be able to take a mate and have kits of her own without breaking the warrior code and possibly giving up her position. Sadness filled the apprentice, though she flicked her tail tip to dismiss it. Now wasn't the time to feel sorry for herself... To think about Sway's kits and how she couldn't have kits of her own, and- no! No more! Featherpaw shook her head and concentrated once again on the job she was given.

[Deleted]

"Good," Whitefire nodded to Featherpaw as the third kit was born and Featherpaw had done what she was instructed; successfully freeing the kit from its encasing. She was also glad that it seemed like the herbs were starting to work, or at least that the queen hadn’t appeared to be in as much pain as when she had had her last two kits. There were more coming though it looked like, and so the medicine cat would just have to make sure that nothing went wrong in the meantime. "You are doing great, and you are almost done," She told Sway. She of course didn't know how many kits were left to be born, but since queens normally didn't have that large of litters she could guess that there weren't that many.

[Foxpaw]

The next two kits that came came in a blur to the queen. She hardly got a chance to look at them, although she thought they seemed to be silver tabbies. She felt too exhausted to move, to breathe, to even lick her kits, but she felt another contraction. She let out a soft whimper, ears drawing back to her head. She just wanted it to be over. "Am I almost done...?" She whispered, voice shaky. She didn't know how she'd muster the energy to get out the next kit, only that she had to.

[Deleted]

“Yes, just hold on a bit longer and remember to breathe,” Whitefire meowed quietly to the queen as she bent down to free the newly born kits. This litter was already larger than any litter she had ever heard of, and she willed that no more kits would be born after this next one or else she wouldn't quite know what to do. She was convinced that the herbs she had given the queen would help, but even with them the queen sounded weak after having so many kits at one time.