Two eyes, both a shade of blue that seemed to be darkened by gray, slowly fluttered open as the song of a bluejay flowed through the air. À slight breeze had drifted into the Hollow, ruffling her fur. She could smell different confusing scents that caused her nose to twitch. Her eyes gazed around, blinking in confusion as they stared up at a pair of glimmering eyes that stared down at her; the color a few shades lighter.
Willow purred happily as soon as she saw her daughter's eyes open. She licked the kit's forehead, earning a small mew in response. "Hello there, little one," Willow spoke softly, gazing down at the kit. The kit's fur was golden, just like her mother's, but with dark brown spots instead of Willow's black back fur. The kit also had a white patch of fur on her nose. Willow cleaned her daughter as she waited for her mate to return. Claw had gone out earlier for food, so he missed the moment of seeing one of their kits open their eyes for the first time. Willow pressed her nose to the kit's head. She knew that her daughter needed a name, but…
"Your father isn't back from hunting and we haven't thought of names yet. Well, I guess that is his loss because I'm naming you." Willow chuckled, knowing that her mate could choose a name for one of the others. She thought hard while enjoying the song of the bluejay, humming her own tune in harmony. The kit reached up weakly to barely paw at Willow's nose. Willow smiled affectionately as she nudged the kit to her belly to suckle. A name came to mind as she stared out of the Hollow.
"Jay. My little Jay."
Jay had fed until she was full, curling up in content against her mother's belly before registering in her mind of the other two furry lumps on either side of her. She mewed, using her paw to explore the bright orange bundle that was one of her brothers. This one had white ear tips and paws. The other one, this one with blue-gray fur, was her other brother. He had a white chest patch and toes. She lost interest in them and went to close her eyes.
Unfortunately for her, that was when Claw arrived.
The bigger tom padded into the Hollow, his mouth full with a variety of caught prey. He took purposeful steps towards their fresh-kill pile, putting the dead prey down before turning towards Willow.
Jay had opened her eyes to look at the form of a towering cat who was supposedly her father. She thought her mother's size was something to be amazed with, but this cat was even bigger and seemed more stern. His eyes were an icy shade of blue, and his pelt wasn't as bright as her fire colored brother's. He had white ear tips and muzzle, but the stripe on his back and his paws were a gray color. She notice him pause as their gazes met. She watched him look her over, as if seeing her for the first time. He finally shifted his gaze to his mate. "When?"
"Not long," Willow answered with a soft smile. Jay looked between her parents as they conversed with each other. She quickly lost interest and laid her head down to rest.
"... is Jay."
Only to look up again when she heard her name.
She noticed that Claw was looking slightly disappointed, because his mate couldn't wait for him before giving a name to their only daughter, but he was quick to revert back to his stern expression as he looked back at Jay. "She's going to be strong when she grows up. I'll make the three of them become true warriors, just like my ancestors before me."
"Warriors? Why do you say that?"
Claw turned to look at Willow, his brows furrowed together as he looked at her with something similar to disbelief. "Warriors are strong, brave cats. The Clans are nothing if not the best way to live. Our kits have the blood of great Clan cats, and they need to live up to their ancestry." Jay sneezed, looking the opposite of a cat who lived in the Clans that her father spoke highly of.
Willow frowned as she curled her tail around her kits. "We aren't in the Clans, Claw. They can't grow up to be warriors like your ancestors before they left the Clans. They need to know how it is out here as rogues. Not past warriors, nor past kittypets, but as rogues. I don't want them to do something foolish and get themselves killed because of their curiosity about their lineage."
As her parents argued, Jay had been playing with Willow's tail, oblivious to stepping over or even on her two younger littermates. A small, high-pitched squeak got Jay's attention. Her parents were too focused on each other to notice, so Jay took it upon herself to investigate the source. She was surprised to find that once she took a step, a fiery tail yanked itself from under her paw and pressed against its owner, who was the one who made the squeak when Jay stepped on his tail earlier. The orange kit was staring at her with wonder, his eyes as blue as a summer sky.
Both kits took each other in. Jay saw that the kit had longer legs than her, and he seemed to be smaller weight wise. He wasn't that strong looking, but his legs seemed like the type a runner would have. He grinned widely, his eyes shining brightly. Immediately, Jay felt the strange feeling that while she might love her brother, he was going to be a pain.
After observing her younger brother, she turned to the youngest of the litter. He was smaller than his two littermates, but he seemed more stronger than his older brother. His blue-gray pelt was soft to touch. Jay glanced up to his face and saw identical eyes to her own staring back at her calmly.
"Oh, Claw, how wonderful. They all have opened their eyes." Willow purred as she stared at her three kits. She licked her two sons proudly. "They are just beautiful, aren't they? What are we going to name them?" She looked up to her mate, the three kits staring up at both of their parents. Claw was observing the two toms now, his gaze settling on one before going to the other.
"This brightly colored one shall be Flame, and this one is named-"
"Cloud!" Willow stated, grinning widely as Claw gave her a disbelieving glare.
"Cloud? What sort of name is that? You can't have a name like Cloud among a Flame and Jay."
Willow snorted, nuzzling Cloud's small head. "But he's so small and soft, like a little cloud floating lazily in the sky. I'm not changing it." Claw huffed as he clawed the ground in frustration before sighing. He guessed that it wouldn't hurt to let his mate have her way with the name, unless he wanted to spend the night outside of the Hollow.
Jay smiled contentedly as she curled up between Cloud and Flame, her two brothers instantly coming to snuggle up with her. Already she had loved her family, especially the two younger toms beside her.
And so what if there was a slight blurriness to her vision, a blurriness that wasn't noticeable at all unless she actually knew to look for it.