Chapter 6

Briarheart purred as she shared tongues with her mate, Flameclaw. She had now moved in to the nursery, and was expecting their kits. Flameclaw had been promoted to deputy until the kits were born and made apprentices. Briarheart purred harder at the thought. Maybe one day one of their kits would become deputy, or even clan leader! Just then Lilypetal padded up, dipping her head to them. "Briarheart." She meowed. "Flameclaw." Both cats meowed a greeting.
"What is it Lilypetal?" Briarheart asked.
"I just came to see how you were feeling." She meowed.
"I've been better." Briarheart meowed cheerily. "Yellowheart's kits are getting big. What are they now, three moons old?" Flameclaw nodded.
"I wonder who their mentors will be." He meowed out loud. Briarheart shurgged.
"That's up to Quickstar." Her eyes suddenly lit up. "Maybe we could talk to him, and see if Lilypetal could mentor one of them!" She meowed excitedly. They both looked over for Lilypetal's reaction to this idea. She scuffled her paws in the dust but in her eyes Briarheart could see a glow of hope. Briarheart nodded. "We'll speak with him about it before they're apprenticed." She decided. Somewhere from inside the nursery she heard the meow of Stealthkit.
"My paw hurts!" He complained. "I think I've got a thorn stuck in it!" He wailed.
"Hold still!" Briarheart heard Yellowheart hiss. She purred in amusement.
"Ah, kits!" She said. "I can't wait until ours arrive!" She meowed to Flameclaw. He nodded in agreement. "They'll be the most beautiful kits in all of the clan…" She meowed drowsily. Flameclaw purred his agreement then lay down, pressing his body again Briarheart's and beginning to cover her ears in gentle licks, until she fell asleep, her head resting on Flameclaw's paws.

When Briarheart awoke, she stood and stretched, enjoying the warm Greenleaf sunlight. She padded toward the camp entrance, out into the forest, with the urge to stretch her legs. She paced into the forest, ears pricked, senses alert for the scuffling of prey. She spotted a squirrel nibbling on a seed underneath a tree. She dropped into a hunting crouch and paced forward, eyes fixed on her target. She drew closer and closer until she was no more that a tail length away and sprang, landing squarely on the squirrel and dispatching it with a quick bite to the neck. She picked the squirrel up in her strong jaws and carried it back to camp, laying it on the pile of fresh kill. She noted happily that the heap was quite large, even for Greenleaf. She pushed her way into the nursery to find Yellowheart and her kits inside. Yellowheart was laying down, and her three kits were bouncing around her, playing a silly game as kits do. Briarheart sat, curling her tail around her paws, and watched.

"Okay, I'll be the hunter,and you be the mouse!" Stealthkit meowed to Birdkit.

"What'll I be?" Whisperkit asked loudly.

"You be the tree!" Stealthkit meowed, flicking his tail at her. Whisperkit dove on him.

"No!" She yowled. "I want to be the hunter!" Stealthkit and Whisperkit scuffled on the ground a while, Birdkit jumping on top of them, until all the kits were worn out. Yellowheart gathered them into her nest.

"Go to sleep now, little ones." She meowed soothingly. "And later you can wake up and play more."

"But I'm not ti-" Birdkit's meow was cut off by a giant yawn, her tiny jaws gaping wide to show a mouth full of shiny white teeth and a little pink tongue. She curled up beside her mother's belly and was asleep with her littermates in an instant. Briarheart crawled into her nest, purring, and soon fell asleep like the kits.

Briarheart awoke with a start. It was very late, possibly midnight. She was in her nest in the nursery. She clenched her jaws in pain, failing to hold back a yowl.

"The kits!" She gasped. "The kits are coming! Get Lovepelt!" By now half the clan was awake. "Someone help me!" She yowled. Many cats were surrounding her now, all talking at once. She heard Yellowheart's soothing purr, trying to coach her through her kitting, Flameclaw's panicked meow, and Lilypetal trying to calm him. Then she heard something truly relieving. It was Lovepelt's voice.

"Get back!" She meowed at the crowd. "All of you!" Jingopaw was with her. "Jingopaw," she instructed. "please get me a long stick for Briarheart to bite down on, and some borage to make her milk come. I'll need some cobwebs as well."

"Alright, Lovepelt." Jingopaw meowed, dashing off.

"Okay Briarheart, you are having… Wow! Four kits!" Lovepelt meowed, gently feeling her stomach. Suddenly a spasm racked Briarheart's body. She yowled in pain. "The first one is almost here." Lovepelt meowed. Another spasm and the kit slid into the nest with Briarheart. Lovepelt quickly bit the sac from around the kit and licked its fur the wrong way, stimulating breathing. "Very good." Lovepelt meowed. Suddenly Jingopaw arrived, setting down the supplies next to Lovepelt.

"Here you are." He meowed breathlessly. He pushed the stick over to Briarheart. "When the next spasm comes," he meowed. "bite down as hard as you can on this." Briarheart nodded. Ten seconds later she was biting the stick as if her life depended on it. A second kit slid out and Lovepelt performed the same actions on it. Not long after, another kit slid out. And finally, the last kit.

"Alright, Briarheart. You're all done." Lilypetal paused. "And with three healthy kits." Briarheart looked at her sharply.

"I have four kits." She meowed. Lilypetal just nodded and passed her the borage.

"Eat this. It will make your milk come." She said. "We'll talk about you fourth kit when everyone is more rested… Tomorrow." She meowed. "Flameclaw!" She called. "You can come in and see your kits now!" She said. Then she and Jangopaw excused themselves, leaving the parents alone. Briarheart tried not to think about what Lovepelt could have meant. She looked down at her kits and up into her mate's eyes.

"They're beautiful." He meowed. "What shall we name them?" He asked.

"Well," she said thoughtfully, "I think the first-born, the little ginger she-cat, should be Flickerkit." Flameclaw nodded in approval.

"She looks just like me." He meowed in awe. "And the second one," he meowed, "the little black tom with gold speckling, could be Sparkkit." He purred. Briarheart purred in joy.

"That's perfect." She meowed happily. "And the third one," she said, "the little gold she-cat with black speckling, could be Flarekit." Flameclaw nodded vigorously.

"Now all of them have fire in their hearts." He meowed.

"Just like you." Briarheart said.

"What about the fourth kit?" Flameclaw asked. Briarheart thought for a minute.

"Can I get back to you on that one in the morning?" She asked. He purred.

"Of course you can." He nuzzled her head. "I'll let you sleep now, and I'll tell the others to go back to bed."

"Thank you." She meowed. "I love you. Good night."

"I love you too." He said, vanishing into the night. Briarheart sighed. What was wrong with her kit? She took a closer look at her. She was… All white. But, neither Briarheart nor Flameclaw were white. She curled herself closer around her kits. Starclan, please protect them. She prayed silently. Then she drifted into unconsciousness.