Thunder crackled above hollow momentarily lighting up the shadowed clearing. The tree branches above the camp rattled together in the strong breeze. Rain patterned on the floor of the camp turning the ground to mud. A small white cat darted from a sandy hollow into a bramble thicket.
The white tom squeezed through the entrance of the nursery den with a pile of herbs and a stick held in his mouth.
"Took your time, Mistfur" grumbled a calico queen through gritted teeth before letting out a growl of pain.
"Here" Mistfur calmly meowed tossing the stick to his littermate "Bite down on it."
She did as instructed while the tom padded up to her and placed a paw on her flank.
"You're doing good, Rosedapple, but I'm surprised your yowling hasn't caused me to go deaf in my good ear" he joked.
Rosedapple grunted as another shudder past through her.
"I think the first kit is coming." The tom said before a small bundle was deposited on the floor. Mistfur moved over to it and nipped the sac. He quickly examined the dark ginger furball then placed it at its mothers belly.
"It's a tom." He proudly informed his sister. "Dark ginger with a white underbelly and white tipped tail. He sort of looks like a fox."
Rosedapple twitched her whiskers in amusement and happiness as she groomed her son.
"Looks like it's only the one kit" He commented pushing a few leaves towards her and indicating to eat them. He moved his gaze back to the kit and suddenly a huge flash of blinding light caused him to snap his eyes shut.
When he open them he was no longer in the nursery, instead he was on a cliff with strong icy wind buffeting him. Two cats were hanging off the edge of the cliff face, their hindlegs churning in the open air. Their yowls for help filled his head making him dizzy. Do I have to choose one to save?
"Is it over, can I see my kits?" A ginger tabby tom with a white underbelly and muzzel meowed excitedly as he pushed his way through the entrance snapping Mistfur out of his dream-like state.
"Yes, you now have a son, Blazeheart." He told the muscular tom. Mistfur leaned over to Rosedapple's ear. "Your son will have extremely difficult decisions to make in his life, greater than most cats ever have to make, but if he can overcome them then he will rise to greatness." He wispered in her ear before turning to leave and let the mates proudly chatter about their kit.
"He'll become the strongest warrior in Shadowclan like you" Rosedapple purred.
"What shall we call him?"
"Foxkit." She said casting a smile at Mistfur as he left the den.