A/N: hey! someone suggested doing a Flightkit POV so here we go. Icon lineart credits to BoogaMouse on deviantart - watermark is still there! enjoy!
A gray she-cat lay in the corner of a dark tangle of maple branches, her belly swollen. Moonlight trickled in, letting enough light in to see the other cats crouched around her. The gray cat let out a low moan as a powerful spasm rippled down her body.
"You're doing brilliantly, Mintleap," a dainty silver tabby mewed, her fluffy pelt shining in the pale light. "It won't be long before those beautiful kits of yours are here, and then the pain will be nothing but a fading memory." Mintleap hissed something inaudible in response, cut off by another contraction. "I said it wouldn't be long. Mintleap, with the next pain, I need you to push with all your might."
As if on cue, another spasm rippled down the she-cat's swollen flank, and her face twisted in agony with the strain of her pushing. The silver tabby bent down by her tail and lifted a tiny kit a few moments later, it's paws churning the air and it's mouth open in a silent cry.
"It's a tom," the silver cat purred, placing the kit at a dark ginger cat's paws. "Lick his fur the wrong way, he will dry out and warm up quickly then." Mintleap's eyes shone with love for a moment before being clouded with agony once again. "Alright, another push with this pain."
It wasn't long before the second kit joined them, weaker than the first, but it's mouth once again open in a tiny cry.
"A daughter," the dark ginger cat who had been watching purred. She licked Mintleap's head reassuringly as she gave birth to another kit and relaxed back into her nest of moss.
"Another daughter, Mintleap!" The silver tabby's eyes were shining with delight as she pushed all the kits to their mother. "Well done."
"Thank you, Pricklestream," Mintleap sighed, before giving each of her kits a few gentle licks. The kits' fur was beginning to dry and fluff up, showing a hint of their coloring. One was a replica of her mother, while the tom was a dark ginger. The youngest of them, already paddling strongly at her mother's belly, was a kit the color of honey.
A large light-brown tom pushed his way into the nursery, his eyes shining with delight. "Three of them?" He purred, pressing his muzzle to his mate's tenderly. "You did brilliantly! Look at them, they're beautiful, and so strong!"
"Yes, well done, Mintleap," the ginger cat purred, settling in to her nest. Her belly was slightly rounded, betraying the kits that were beginning to grow within her, but she had two more moons before her own ordeal would begin.
"Thank you, Gingertail," Mintleap mewed, her eyes closed as her mate fussed over her. Before long, she felt herself falling into sleep.
Mintleap sat up, taking care not to move her sleeping kits. She strained her ears to listen to Needlefall, the new deputy, ordering patrols, before moving to the entrance of the nursery to catch her mate's attention.
"Brackenfall!" She called, beckoning him to her with her tail. His eyes lit up and he padded to her, touching his nose to hers when he got close enough. "It's been two sunrises. I think it's time to name them."
He nodded excitedly and followed her into the nursery, the warm scent clouding around them. He nosed the kits gently. "Look at the tabby stripes on this one," he purred, gesturing to the ginger tom. "He looks like a red bumblebee. We should call him Beekit."
Mintleap nodded, then flicked her tail at the pale golden kit. "And she should be Honeykit. It matches her pelt perfectly, and with luck, she'll be sweet as honey to both of us and her mentor."
Brackenfall purred, then his eyes rested on the gray kit. "You know when the sun begins to rise," he murmured, not moving his gaze from his daughter, "how the mourning doves all take off in flight?" Mintleap nodded. "She looks like them. We should call her Flightkit."
His mate nodded, and he pressed his nose to the kits once more before facing Mintleap. "I'm going on the sunhigh patrol. I'll be back before sunset, and I'll make sure to bring you something warm to eat. Take care," he added, pressing his pelt to hers before dashing into the clearing.
Mintleap returned to her sleeping kits, curling her body around them gently. She began to give them each a gentle bath, getting to know each of their smells like they were the most important scents in the forest - and to her, they were.
She lapped at Flightkit's ears before noticing her daughter was shivering. She pulled the kit closer to her belly and returned to bathing her. A chill ran down her spine when she noticed that her daughter's ears were warm and her pelt smelled faintly of the sickness that had so recently claimed their clan leader.
"Gingertail," she whispered, her voice hoarse. "I need you to fetch Pricklestream." When the ginger she-cat took a moment to open her wide blue eyes, Mintleap let out an urgent hiss. "Now!"
The queen was up at once at the sound of her friend's worried mew, darting across the clearing like she was diving into battle. She returned several heartbeats later, with Pricklestream practically treading on her tail behind her.
"What's wrong?" The medicine cat panted, her normally calm gaze betraying a hint of alarm.
"Something's wrong with Flightkit," Mintleap said desperately, nosing at the tiny cat at her belly. She pressed her nose to Beekit and Honeykit's pelts. "And Honeykit feels warm… but Flightkit was shivering, and she smells like…" her voice trailed off, begging Pricklestream to pick up what she was saying.
The medicine cat was already sniffing the two she-kits, her pelt bristling. She gently pressed her nose into Flightkit's fur, where the scent of illness and the heat of fever had already set in. Honeykit did not carry the sour scent that her sister did, but her pelt was hot, and it wouldn't be long before they both began to show symptoms.
"I think they have the same sickness Milkstar had," Pricklestream whispered. She turned to Gingertail, clearing her throat. "I'm going to give you some borage, Gingertail. I want you to suckle Beekit until these two are healthier - in my den, as soon as your milk comes."
The queen nodded and glanced at Mintleap, her blue gaze anxious. "Mintleap won't catch it, will she?"
Pricklestream hesitated, but Mintleap twitched her tail in annoyance. "I haven't caught it in the moons that Milkstar was sick, have I?" Though she sounded confident, she felt a hint of fear run through her.
"I'll give you a few dried blueberries, just to be safe," Pricklestream said decidedly. "And the little ones can have the juices of some catmint and borage, to lower their fever and hopefully stop the cough before it hits. I'll be right back." She turned and whisked away, Gingertail following her once again.
Mintleap licked her kits gently, imagining her love was visibly flowing into them. You must be strong, she pleaded, willing her moons of strength to them. I cannot lose you so soon.
An anxious, hushed voice sounded outside the nursery before Pricklestream and Gingertail reappeared. Pricklestream was carrying a rhubarb leaf filled with sweet-smelling herbs and berries. She laid it gently on the floor, revealing the plants within.
"Alright," she mewed briskly, pushing two wide, fuzzy leaves toward Gingertail. "Chew this thoroughly. It's going to be slightly bitter. Mintleap, these are for you." She rolled three sweet-smelling blueberries toward the queen. "They will help boost your immune system, Starclan willing." She crushed a few under her paw on a leaf, then dabbed a soft ball of moss in the juice. She picked up Beekit and placed him on the soft ground closer to her, motioning for Gingertail to hold the kit on his side. She gently placed the moss around his mouth, and dripped a few drops of the juice into his jaws, opened in an angry cry at being pulled from his mother. "Here, Gingertail. You drink the rest of the juice in the moss. It can't hurt to protect you too."
At last, she turned back to Mintleap and her daughters, chewing something. Without speaking, she gently opened Flightkit's tiny mouth and trickled some of the juice into it, Honeykit quickly following. She spat the rest out onto the rhubarb leaf, then repeated the same process with the sweet-smelling catmint.
"Okay," she sighed at last. She placed Beekit back at Mintleap's belly. "You nurse him for now, but try to keep him somewhat separate from his sisters. I'm going to stay with you in here until this has passed." She looked over at Gingertail. "Will you go tell Fallenbr- I mean Fallenstar that if she needs me, she can find me here? You can go sleep in the elder's den for now."
Without a word, Gingertail nodded and padded softly out of the den. Mintleap once again buried her nose in Flightkit's fur, desperate for any sign she was getting better, even though it was far too soon for the herbs to be working. Anxiety pulsed through her like waves on the shore until at last, she fell into a disturbed sleep.