Note: I had some confusion over this in the first chapter, and I'll clarify now; "kit" in the context of this story does not refer to a baby cat. Nor does it specifically refer to a baby. It is just simply another term for progeny. I use it because it is a simple term that can be applied to a wide range of ages, and it dictates living in the wild. Here's a way to remember this: "kit" sounds like "kid".
"It's time I go. I've been gone for almost five moons now, and Lady Palutena is probably wondering what has become of me."
"You'll come back though, won't you?"
"Of course I will. Now that Lady Palutena knows about the forest, I should be able to come here whenever I want. And if you ever need me, just come to the edge of the forest here, and look up at the sky. I can see the forest from Skyworld, so I'll know if you're there."
"I'm going to miss you, Pit. But I know you'll come visit sometime soon."
"I'm going to miss you too."
He nuzzled her cheek. She nuzzled him back, then let go of his hand as he stepped out into the clearing and spread his wings.
"Pit, wait! Aren't you going to tell the tribe who you are?"
Pit looked back as his sister approached him.
"No. It's better they didn't know. I have a life in Skyworld with Lady Palutena. I belong there, and telling the tribe I was born as one of them gives me the feeling that I'm obliged to stay here with the tribe, when my loyalties lie with Palutena. But I'll never forget that I came from the forest, and I'll be sure to come back."
Adderstripe nodded at him, and stepped back as he spread his wings again, and looked straight up at the sky.
"Lady Palutena...!"
Moments later, his wings flashed bright blue, and he began to ascend into the air. Pretty soon, all that could be seen was a bright, twinkling light in the sky, like a lone star. As the light vanished into the clouds, something white fluttered down out of the sky, and landed in the grass in front of them. Millie picked it up, surprised by what it was. A long, white feather.
Millie gazed at the feather for a moment, and smiled, then put the feather in her bag as she followed Adderstripe back to camp.
It had been almost a moon since that night when Pit and Millie had become mates, and for Millie, it had been one of the most happiest times she'd ever had. Quite often, the two had hung out at night, sneaking off to Fourtrees, or the crooked oak tree, and hanging out there. A couple of times, they'd spent the night away from the tribe. It hurt her slightly to see him go, and return to his own realm, but she knew that he was watching over the forest from his home in Skyworld, and that he would come back someday.
"I'm sure he'll be thinking of you while he's up there."
"I bet he will. I'll be thinking very much of him."
Things were surprisingly dull after Pit left. Nothing had really changed, it just seemed to Millie that it had been a lot more lively when he was with them. It was as though the angel had brought new life into the tribe with his temporary stay, much like a newborn kit did. But perhaps that was the reason life seemed so uninteresting now; there weren't very many kits in the tribe.
There had been five kits in the nursery when Pit came to the forest. But since then, two of them have died and one became an apprentice. The only two left were Mosstail's youngest kit, Brightkit, and the remaining one of Heatherfur's twin kits, Dustkit.
"Until you and Thistleheart were brought here, I was the only kit in the nursery."
Adderstripe came up behind Millie, who was watching the two kits play out in the camp. Millie looked back at the sound of her voice.
"Really? I don't remember that."
"Yep, I was. The only other kits besides me were Pikekit and Thornkit. Then Dovepool ran off with Pikekit, and Thornkit joined Watertribe. So I was the only one when you came."
"Oh..."
Millie returned to watching the kits for a minute.
"It seems like we've been having fewer kits every year."
"I know, and that's not a good thing. We need a good number of kits, to maintain the tribe's numbers. But a lot of warriors here have no wish to have kits, of those who can, and that's the problem."
Adderstripe was silent for a moment. She started to say something, when Thistleheart came up and pulled Millie aside. Adderstripe went to the warrior's den.
"Millie, I need to ask you of something."
"What is it?"
"Tigerpaw's been pestering me about being taught how to pounce the way you and Cedarstar do when you hunt. He said he wanted to try using it as a battle move. You'd have to teach him, because I can't hunt that way, but since you're not his mentor, I was wondering if you'd be willing to do a joint mentorship with me. You'd teach him how to pounce the way you do, for the first half of the session, and then I'd do the rest."
"Sure. I know he asked me if I could teach him that hunting technique when I was taking your place, and I said I would."
"Thanks, Millie. I need the help. And I bet Tigerpaw's going to be looking forward to his next training session."
Millie woke up feeling really nauseous and sick to her stomach, like she'd eaten something she shouldn't have. She started to go back to sleep, when someone started jostling her.
"Millie, come on, wake up. You said you were going to help me with training Tigerpaw."
At first, Millie just groaned, not feeling up to it, but when her nausea started to fade, she yawned and opened her eyes.
"...mhm...Alright...I'm coming..."
As she got up and stretched her stiff limbs, she suddenly got a rush of dizziness that made her feel sick again. She tried to get it to go away, but then her stomach convulsed, and moments later she vomited. Her belly hurt afterward, but at least her nausea went away.
Outside, Thistleheart and Tigerpaw were waiting by the camp entrance. As soon as Millie approached them, they headed out into the forest.
"Are you teaching me how to pounce like you do?"
Tigerpaw fell in next to Millie, who looked down at the apprentice.
"Yes, for the first half of the session. I told you I would."
"Yay!"
He jumped up, clapping excitedly.
As the three of them entered the training meadow, Thistleheart went off to the side, and sat down on a rock beneath a young cedar tree. Millie and Tigerpaw went into the middle of the meadow.
"Now, this may sound counterintuitive, but there really isn't a major difference between how I pounce when I hunt and how you would when you hunt. All you're doing really when you're pouncing like me is instead of using both your arms and legs to push off, you're using mostly just your legs, and to some extent, the muscles in your stomach."
"So basically, I'd be using just my legs to pounce, not my arms and my legs."
"Right, exactly. The difference is hard to notice, but by using just your legs, you don't create as much disturbance on the forest floor, and thus you have a higher chance of being able to catch your target off-guard. How about you give it a try?"
"Okay."
The apprentice looked around for a second, before noticing a cardinal perched on a burnt stump. He crouched down and crept up on the bird. A few feet away, he pounced, raising up a bit so he wasn't inclined to push his hands down to push off. However, he was surprised when he didn't go as far as he expected, and he hit his head on the base of the stump, causing the bird to fly away.
Tigerpaw lay there for a moment before getting to his feet, half-stunned from the collision. He shook his head to clear it, then headed back over to Millie.
"You okay?"
"Yeah. I didn't expect to only go a short distance, that's all."
"The move is more meant for traveling up, instead of across. That's why I pounce that way when I hunt. I can easily get to my prey's neck by coming down on it."
"Oh, okay. So you need to get close to your target, then?"
"Yep. Try it on me."
Millie went off into the brush, and turned around so her back was to him. The apprentice silently slunk through the shrubbery until he was directly behind her. Focusing his energy into his legs, he pounced, and easily latched onto her shoulders. She quickly rolled over, making him get off of her.
"Not bad. I heard you coming, and I knew you pounced from directly behind me, but you managed to get on me. Try again."
The two continued to train until sunhigh, at which point she switched places with Thistleheart. She watched them for a little while, before she decided to head back to camp.
The camp was almost empty, with the exception of the queens and elders, Cedarstar, and a few others. Not surprising, since it was almost leaf-bare, and this was a time when it was crucial for the tribe to stock up on supplies.
Millie silently slunk into the warrior's den and lay down in her nest, where she started grooming herself. As she turned over onto her side to get at her shoulders, she was surprised to find that she had to almost sit up in order to get on her side, as her underbelly kept her from just simply rolling over onto her side, like it had swollen a bit. Confused, she sat up and rather awkwardly continued grooming herself, unaware that Whitefeather was gazing at her, with a look of joy and anticipation.
A thin layer of fog hung in the air as Millie followed Liontail, Swiftwind, and Darkpool to go hunt. Fresh snow covered the ground, numbing the bottoms of her feet, but her head was so fuzzy with tiredness that she hardly noticed it. She was grateful Thistleheart hadn't asked her to help him with Tigerpaw; the last couple of times had been rough, and she didn't think she could manage to concentrate well enough to be of any help.
Millie yawned and shook her head to clear it as the group split up. The calling of a jay made her ears twitch, and she saw the bird perched on a leafless shrub. She crouched down and slowly stalked the bird, which just sat there, roosting. She was about to pounce when her underbelly rustled a bunch of leaves. The bird suddenly looked in her direction, called in alarm, and took off. Millie got to her feet and watched the bird fly away, before she set out to find another thing to hunt. But as she walked through the forest, drowsiness started to get the better of her, and it became harder and harder for her to focus. After a while, it got to the point she almost couldn't keep herself awake, and went to go find Darkpool.
The dark-skinned female was waiting by the Great Sycamore, with two cardinals. She looked up when Millie approached her.
"You okay?"
Millie propped herself up against the Great Sycamore. She felt weighed down by her lack of energy.
"Yeah...I'm just...really tired..."
"You have been for the last several days."
She paused for a moment.
"If you want to go back to camp, you can. I'm sure Cedarstar will understand."
Millie just nodded a bit and headed back to the camp. She ignored the few warriors still in camp that looked at her as she walked by, and went straight into the warrior's den. She curled up in her nest, and closed her eyes, as she started to doze off.
"I'm not surprised you came back so soon."
Daisyleaf's comment jolted her awake.
"Why?"
"Have you told Cedarstar yet?"
Millie sat up a bit and tilted her head in utter confusion.
"Told him what?"
Daisyleaf blinked at her. "That you're expecting kits."
Expecting kits?
I can't be! Millie just stared at her denmate in complete shock. Daisyleaf put her hand on Millie's shoulder.
"Don't worry about being nervous. It's natural the first time."
Adderstripe came over to them.
"Millie, you're having kits? Why didn't you tell me? Does Pit know about this?"
Millie opened her mouth to speak, but quickly shut it. It was almost too much for her brain to even give the slightest thought to her mate. After a moment, Adderstripe took her silence as an answer.
"It's okay if you don't know. I'm just so pleased to hear about this. I thought there was something going on between you and Pit. He'll make a brilliant father."
"Adderstripe...I-I didn't plan on this to happen...Pit and I are just mates...I had no intent on going as far as starting a family, okay? Please just...leave this to me."
"I see, you want to tell him yourself. But you're going to have to say something soon. You're getting awfully big. Even the toms will starting noticing it soon."
As the two settled into their nests, Millie glanced down at her belly, and realized it really had swollen, a lot more than she'd taken note of a few days ago. She was getting awfully big. Staring into the dark emptiness of the corner of the den, she suddenly knew what she needed to do.
She heaved herself up, suddenly aware of the extra weight she was carrying in her belly, and headed out into the forest. How did she not notice that before? She quickly pushed aside that thought, and went to the clearing where she'd last spoken with her mate. With a distant look in her eyes, she averted her gaze to the sky.
It didn't take long before she saw a glittering light headed towards her, eventually becoming close enough she could make out his figure against the bright glow of his wings. As he closed the distance, the glow on his wings went from blue to gold, then to a dull red as he came to an almost complete stop, and landed.
"Pit," She couldn't wait for an acknowledgement from him that he was listening. "I need to explain something to you. This might sound hard to believe, but...Pit, I'm expecting kits."
To her surprise, Pit didn't look too shocked by this bit of news, however, his eyes widened as he took notice of her swollen belly.
"I'm surprised you didn't inform me earlier."
"I didn't know I was pregnant until Daisyleaf pointed it out to me just moments ago. Pit...I never anticipated on having kits...and to be honest, I don't know what to do, or what to think...it's complicated..."
Millie looked down at the ground, overwhelmed and unsure of herself.
Pit put his arm around her, resting his hand on her shoulder.
"If you want me to, I'll stay in the tribe and help you. I'll do anything for you, and our kits."
For a heartbeat, she wanted to ask him of that, but she decided against it. He had a life in Skyworld, where he was raised. It would be like trying to live in two different places at once, and she didn't want to put that kind of stress on him.
"I'm grateful for your willingness to help me Pit, but...I don't need your help. I'm going to raise them as pure forest warriors."
"What about me? I'm sure the tribe knows I'm the father."
"And they do. It's just...I'm already stressed out by the amount of attention and pressure I've gotten. And I feel like with you there...I couldn't handle it. They'll understand."
"I see..." He turned and spread his wings, but then looked back. "I just hope you know what you're doing. And whatever happens, they'll always be my kits, too."
Mosstail pulled Brightkit out of the way as Millie went into the nursery and lay down. She winced as she flopped onto her side, the weight of her belly putting a lot of stress on her back.
"How come your belly is so big?" Dustkit came up and put her little hand on Millie's belly. "Mama's wasn't that big when she had Rainkit."
"Queens can have multiple kits at one time. Their bellies have expand more to make room for more than one kit."
"Oh."
Millie glanced at her belly as she felt movement inside her. Dustkit's eyes went wide, and she took her hand away, surprised.
"Wow, I can feel the kits moving around in there."
"Even before they're born, kits are full of life. I guess that's what makes having them so rewarding."
Heatherfur entered the nursery, and made Dustkit get in her nest, where she had a mouse to give to the kit. She averted her gaze to Millie, with a surprised look.
"I'm surprised your mate isn't here helping you. Does he know you're having kits?"
"Yes, it's just..."
Millie hesitated. She'd never told anyone she wanted to raise her kits alone, not wanting to put that kind of stress on Pit. It seemed silly thinking about it now, but she'd made up her mind for so long that she saw no value in changing her decision. She tried to think of a good excuse for it, but then Heatherfur took her silence as an answer.
"I understand if there's something going on that's preventing him from being here with you. But you might want to ask him if he can be around part of the time. It's silly for them not to really know their father when they can so easily see him."
Heatherfur returned her gaze to Dustkit, who'd already scarfed down part of the mouse. As Millie curled up in her nest, she noticed Thistleheart looking at her as he shared tongues with Swiftwind and Hawktail. He gave her a sharp glare that bore into her like a shard of ice, making her really uncomfortable.
As the tom resumed eating, Millie couldn't help but suddenly feel afraid of him. Which was odd, because she'd never been afraid of him, even when he acted like this. He wasn't too fond of unfamiliar people, and he tended to be rather cold around others he didn't recognize. Thus, she hadn't thought twice about it when Pit was around, because Pit was a stranger to him. But this was different. He'd known Millie longer than anyone in the tribe. Yet, he wasn't behaving like it, and was almost scaring her. She suddenly felt her kits start to fidget, as though they'd sensed her fear.
It's okay, she whispered, as she put her hands firmly on her belly. The kits stopped fidgeting, and calmed down.
But in the very back of her mind, she somehow just knew that wasn't true.
"Are they coming yet?" Heatherfur called from her nest. She firmly held Dustkit in her arms, who was squirming around, wanting to watch. Brightkit had dozed off in her nest, tired of waiting for her new denmates to arrive.
Sunlight faintly filtered through the briars that formed the top of the nursery, deadened mostly by the thick layer of snow weighing it down. Inside, it was warm from the breath of several warriors crowded in one place.
"It won't be long," Whitefeather murmured, concentrating hard as Millie shuddered with another contraction. Mosstail stood nearby, prepared to receive the kits when they came out. Having given birth to three separate kits, and then watching Heatherfur give birth to her two kits, she knew what to do.
Mosstail gently put her hand on Millie's belly, where she could feel the muscles working to push the kits out. She quickly pulled her hand back when Millie unexpectedly cried out, seized by another contraction. As it faded, she looked over at the queen, who seemed kind of startled.
"Sorry," she muttered. "I just didn't expect it to hurt this much."
"Having kits is not easy, I know. But you'll scare the tribe crying out like that."
Another pain rippled through her, and she bit her lip in an effort to refrain from crying out. Moments after the pain went away, she suddenly felt her ears twitch at the high-pitched cries of a newborn kit.
Mosstail was holding the kit, cleaning its face. Whitefeather took a small knife and cut the cord attached to its belly.
"It's a tom," Whitefeather noted, as she laid the kit on Millie's belly.
He felt warm and damp against her skin. She gently stroked his soft hair, which was almost the same rich brown color as Pit's, albeit a slight bit darker. It filled her with simple joy to hold the little newborn, and to think he was her own.
"He's beautiful," she whispered.
Another pain rippled through her.
"A she-kit," Mosstail announced, as she placed another kit by Millie's side. "One more."
Millie grunted as another pain came, then relaxed, breathless, as the kit's cries filled the air. Mosstail put the kit beside the other one.
"Another she-kit. All three are healthy and strong."
Millie turned over onto her side so she could examine each of her kits. The tom fidgeted a bit as she moved him in the process, but quickly resettled when she placed him up next to her belly.
All three kits had inherited their father's tan skin, although one of the she-kits was a bit darker. That one had the same red and ginger hair that Adderstripe had, except with extra streaks of brown that must've been inherited from Thistleheart.
Adderstripe and Darkfang came into the nursery.
"It's almost like looking into the past," Darkfang remarked. "The tom looks just like Pikekit."
If only you knew, Millie thought, as she stroked the kit. But she said nothing about it, knowing Pit had wanted to keep his past unknown to them.
"What are their names?"
Adderstripe softly nudged one of the kits.
Millie glanced at the little ones, in thought. She stroked their heads as she announced their names.
"The tom is Pikekit, and the darker she-kit is Mintkit." She wanted to give them names that reminded her of their heritage.
Mosstail gestured to the third kit.
"What about this one?"
Millie gazed at the kit for a moment. She realized then that the kit had the same black-and-russet dappled hair that her mother, Leaf, had.
"Leafkit," she decided.
"I bet Pit would be very proud as a father to have such beautiful kits."
As the others left to give Millie some time alone with her little ones, both the tom and the darker she-kit twitched and fidgeted as they opened their eyes. They both looked up at Millie, in a mix of curiosity and fascination.
The tom's eyes were a very light, almost icy, blue. Millie guessed that they'd eventually change to become the same blue as her eyes, if not lighter. The she-kit's eyes were light gray, but had a slight bluish tint to them, indicating that they would change to be either blue-gray or aqua.
The other she-kit opened her eyes a moment later, aroused by the tiny noises the other two had made. Her eyes were pale, light brown, and would most likely end up being amber-colored, like Adderstripe's.
Millie stroked each one again, then curled up a bit as she dozed off, greatly comforted by the feeling of their little bodies curled up beside her.
"Ready or not, here I come!"
The brown-haired kit kept as still as he could, crouched down beneath a clump of ferns that grew along the side of an old tree stump. He felt nervousness crawl up his spine when he heard footsteps, but let out a tiny sigh when he saw it was just Tigerpaw walking by.
Suddenly, he felt weight come down on him knocking the wind out of him. The tom yelped in surprise, then flipped over, to find it was his sister, Mintkit.
"Found you!"
"That's not how you play this game!"
And he pounced on her. The two tumbled over a couple of times before Mintkit pinned him down. Moments later, Leafkit jumped and latched onto Mintkit's shoulders, causing the kit to fall over backwards, at the same time Pikekit got up and batted at both of them.
Millie watched in amusement as the three kits started play-fighting. That seemed to be how they most liked to play, as well as pretend to be warriors from different tribes, and that they were in a battle.
Not once had the kits asked about their father, although Pikekit had once questioned her about his name. Millie simply told him what Darkfang had told her, even though it was a bit of a lie. But he just took her word for it, and never brought it up again.
A faint snarl made Millie look up, and she saw Thistleheart walking by. Again he gazed at her coldly as he passed. But instead of shaking it off, she stood up, and followed him. She had to find out what his deal was.
The tom headed out into the forest. He stopped when they were past the Snakerocks.
"I know you're there, and I know why you're here."
He turned around.
"Look, it's not that I don't trust you. You're my kin, Millie. But what I don't like is how quick you are to trust people you don't know."
"What, you got a problem with me and Pit? He's proven hundreds of times to me and to the tribe he can be trusted! For what reason should I not?"
"How do you know he's not hiding something from you?"
"Does Pit seem like that kind of person? I don't think so."
"Then explain how you got pregnant without knowing it."
That made Millie pause for a minute. The tom was right, Pit would've said something to her beforehand. Except...
"I never planned on having kits, and neither had Pit. He was surprised too when I told him I was expecting."
"I see...but Millie, I don't like the fact you were so quick to trust him, and form a relationship with him. I see it as being disloyal."
"Hey! I know what I'm doing, Thistleheart. I can make my own decisions! And believe it or not, Pit's a forest warrior too. He was born in Suntribe."
Millie internally winced at that last statement, but luckily, Thistleheart didn't take her seriously.
"Ha! Like I'm going to believe that! There's no way an angel could have ever been a forest warrior."
He turned to walk away, but then looked back at her.
"Those kits of yours are nothing but half-bloods that deserve to be scorned to me. I would kill them or get rid of them myself, but it is not a matter I can personally take into my own hands. I'd get in trouble for doing that. You just better watch out, or you may wake up one day to find your little ones turned to crowfood."
The tom walked off, leaving Millie to reflect on everything he'd told her.
A large part of her was unsure whether or not to take his threats seriously. His reason for wanting to get rid of her kits was completely irrational, but not to him, apparently. When she got back to camp, the sky had already turned red with the setting sun.
"Mama, where have you been?"
Millie looked down as Leafkit came up to her.
"I was...just out talking with Thistleheart."
"Oh, okay."
As Leafkit scampered back to the nursery, Millie stood there and thought for a moment. She hastily pushed aside her thoughts at the sound of her kits whining for food, and she quickly grabbed a vole for them to eat, as well as a robin for herself. The kits quickly quieted down when she set down the piece of fresh-kill.
All that evening, she reflected on what Thistleheart had told her, and it was starting to become quite clear to her what Thistleheart was planning to do.
He'll find a way to get someone, or something, to take care of them. He knows me well enough that he's capable of outsmarting me.
She glanced at the kits.
I can't let that happen. You three could end up seriously hurt, or even killed. I could too. I'm not to going to let my little ones meet that kind of fate...
"Millie, are you okay? You seem kind of frightened."
Millie looked up to see Mosstail.
"Y-Yeah...I'm fine..."
Mosstail gave her a weird look for a minute, then shrugged and returned to her nest.
As the kits finished eating, Millie sprawled out on her side so her kits could curl up next to her belly. They fidgeted and made little noises before settling as they fell asleep. Millie started to doze off as well, when it suddenly occurred to her.
This is how Dovepool must've felt when she was raising Pikekit...and this is why she ran away...
The days go by, and Millie found herself becoming more and more restless and uncomfortable. As much as she tried to convince herself that Thistleheart was just threatening her and didn't have the heart to do something like that, a small part of her instinctively knew that he did, and the passing of time only made her more and more fearful of when he would lash out.
"Mama? Why are you always trying to keep us inside?"
Pikekit's voice made her look down. The kit's bright blue eyes gleamed with curiosity.
For a long moment, Millie hesitated and thought. She tried to think of how to explain to the kit that she was trying to protect them.
"It's...I'm trying to keep you little ones safe. It's complicated, okay? I couldn't really explain to you."
"Oh, okay...also, why does Thistleheart not like us?"
Millie was caught off-guard with that question.
"How can you tell?"
"While you were gone yesterday, we were playing, and he came up and hit me for no reason."
Mintkit came up to them. She brushed aside her red and ginger hair to reveal that her right ear had been cleanly split in half. There was also a long scratch on her cheek.
"Is it because we have a loner for a father?"
Millie didn't hesitate to nod at the kit. There was no use trying to hide it when they'd already guessed correctly.
"Yes, it is. I don't understand his reason for it, because it is completely irrational, but yes, it is because your father, Pit, is a loner."
She paused for a moment.
"However, I will tell you that he is not actually a loner, at least not purely."
She glanced at Pikekit.
"Remember that story I told you when you asked about your name?"
"Yeah. That I was named after a kit that was born in Suntribe many years ago who died after his mom ran away with him."
"Yes. And I'm going to tell you that the last part of that story is not entirely true. He didn't die. This might be hard to believe, but you were named after your father."
The kit's eyes went wide.
"You mean Pit was Pikekit?"
Millie nodded once.
"He was found and raised by a goddess named Palutena, who he now serves as the captain of her army. About a year before you were born, he told me that had Palutena not have found him, he would've died."
"Wow...but then how come his name is Pit, if he was born here?"
"He told me it was because Palutena did not know that Pikekit was his given name, and she chose to call him Pit, because of his dark blue eyes that at night are like pits of water reflecting the light of the stars. But had he grown up here in the forest, he told me that his warrior name would've been Piketooth."
"Oh."
Millie stroked the little tom.
"I named you after your father because you look so much like him."
"When can we see him?"
For a long moment, she hesitated, trying to think of how to answer the kit, when a loud scream made her jump. Before she could do anything, she felt a huge weight come down on her from behind, sharp teeth meeting the back of her neck. She yelped at the sharp pain, then jabbed the lion's belly with her elbow before forcefully tearing free of its grasp. The huge feline went to attack again, but quickly backed down when she stood up and growled at it. Instead, it decided to go after her kits, who fearfully scattered as the cougar clawed and snapped its jaws at them.
Millie immediately jumped on the feline's back and started clawing madly at its shoulders, in an effort to drive its attention away from her kits. She only succeeded in being thrown halfway across the nursery, dazed and shattered. The cougar then returned its attention to her kits, quickly trapping them in a corner of the nursery, like mice.
"Mama, help us!" Mintkit cried out, as the lion tore open her arm with a huge swipe of its massive paws.
The huge cat screamed as Millie jumped on it again, biting its scruff, and gripping its neck. As the cougar wildly kicked and reared, trying to throw her off, she caught a glimpse of Thistleheart standing in the entrance of the nursery, just watching coldly as she tried to fend off the huge feline. She quickly took her focus away from him as she felt her lower half slip off the lion's back, so she was now under its chin, still clinging to its neck.
Millie grunted as she kept swinging around underneath the huge cat, her back and her head constantly hitting the ground. She glanced over at Thistleheart again, silently pleading for him to help her. But the tom did nothing but stand there and watch. He smiled a bit as Millie lost her grip, and the lion pinned her down, clawing furiously at her shoulders and her face, trying to get at her neck so it could deal its fatal bite.
Suddenly, the lion seemed distracted by something and got off of her. As the massive feline twisted around, Millie was shocked to see Pikekit clinging to the cat's face, his tiny nails burrowed into its forehead.
"You leave mama alone!" he growled, as he kicked the cougar's snout. The lion screamed again, then pried the kit off of its face with its huge paws, and threw him on the ground, pinning him down. Pikekit cried out in pain as the huge cat clawed up his belly and his arms before he was flung across the nursery, hitting the wall, and landing on his side not far from Thistleheart.
"Pikekit!"
Millie raced over to the kit, and got down beside him. He softly whimpered as he feebly raised his head, his eyes glazed over with pain.
She barely had the chance to examine him when she heard Leafkit cry out, and saw the lion viciously attacking them. But just when she was about the run over and help them, Cedarstar ran in and jumped on the huge feline, scratching its face and kicking its sides. The cougar screamed as it ran out of the nursery, with the tom still clinging to its back. He let go of the feline as it clambered up the camp wall and bolted away into the forest, yowling and screaming.
"Thanks Cedarstar," Millie said, as the russet-haired tom came back into the nursery to check on Leafkit and Mintkit.
"No need to thank me," he replied, looking back at her. "After losing my mate and my kits to a cougar, I'm not about to let that happen again to anyone in my tribe."
Whitefeather came in to see what had gone on, and was shocked when she saw Pikekit lying crumbled on the ground, scratched up and bleeding heavily from his belly. She carefully picked him up and took him to the medicine den. Cedarstar followed her, carrying Mintkit and Leafkit. The tom glanced back at Millie, and gestured for her to come too.
Heatherfur tended to the three kits while Whitefeather took care of Millie. She wasn't that badly hurt, but she winced and bit her lip as the old tribe healer tended to the scratches on the side of her face.
Once she finished, Millie went in search of Thistleheart. She caught him just outside the camp.
"You set up that attack, didn't you? Why?"
Thistleheart just glared at her.
"You know why, Millie."
"Thistleheart...okay, I get it, you don't like the fact I chose Pit as a mate. But killing my kits is not going to help anything! They're not the source of the problem!"
"Argue with me all you want Millie, but you're not going to change my mind. Nor can you make me. I can choose how I feel about those kits, and your mate. Deal with it, or leave, if you can't!"
He walked off before Millie could respond.
I'm not leaving my tribe, that's for sure. But I'm not going to let you hurt my kits, not that you haven't already.
She felt internally torn apart by the conflict Thistleheart was creating for her by his disliking of her kits, and her partnership with Pit. All she'd wanted was to just raise her kits in peace. But she couldn't with Thistleheart trying to kill them. It was either she raised her kits elsewhere, or risked losing them to an ambush like what had happened moments ago. After a long while she finally came to a conclusion on what to do.
At least, unlike Dovepool, my mate is still around...I really don't want to do this...but I don't have a choice...
Millie headed to the clearing, and looked up. Minutes later, Pit flew down out of the clouds, and fluttered his wings as he landed a few feet away.
"It sure has been a while since I last talked with you. I can see that our kits have been born. How are they?"
"They're fine." She wasn't about to worry him by telling hm what happened not too long ago. "A tom and two she-kits. I named them Pikekit, Mintkit, and Leafkit."
"You named the tom after me, right?"
"Yes, I did. He looks just like you."
"I wish I could see them."
"You can..."
She paused for a moment to gather her thoughts.
"I can't keep them."
The angel was utterly confused at that.
"What are you talking about?"
"As much as I wanted to raise our kits in the forest, I can't. I wish I could go with you, but I'm happier here, in my tribe. Besides, they need me more than they do my kits."
"Millie I have no idea what you're talking about. What are you trying to tell me?"
"I need you to do something for me, Pit. I need you to take my kits, and raise them in Skyworld."
Pit just stared at her for a long moment.
"Why? I can tell you care about them a lot, and that you've been a great mother to them. I don't get why all of a sudden you want me to take over that role when you've probably done a better job than I ever could."
Millie paused. For a second, she began to question whether or not she was making a good decision by doing this. But the thought of Thistleheart made her push away that doubt.
"I never intended for this to happen...but...you know Thistleheart, right?"
"Yeah. He was always acting cold around me."
"He's my half-brother. And he's not that fond of strangers."
"Okay, but what does this have to do with-"
"He's trying to kill my kits."
Pit's eyes went wide.
"What?!"
"I don't know what his deal is, but he doesn't like the fact I chose you as a mate, and so he's trying to get rid of my kits, as though they're the source of the problem. I don't know what makes him think killing them is going to help anything, but that's why I need you to take them, Pit. It's either I give them up to you, or risk losing them completely."
The angel thought for a moment, then gave her a look that almost seemed like a silent warning.
"You do realize just what might happen if you give them up to me. They may forget you're their mother, and forget they were born here, just like me. And what do you plan to tell your tribe? You might never get the chance to see them again."
Millie looked down, deep in thought. Would her kits really forget her that easily? It was true, she probably would never see them again, or at least, not for a long time. As for her tribe, she didn't know what to think as far as what to have them believe had happened to her kits, but it didn't matter at the moment. She didn't have a choice, if she wanted to keep her kits safe.
"I know what I'm doing, Pit. Please, I need you to do this. I'd rather they grew up without me than died early on. It's for their sake."
Pit hesitated for a moment, then nodded once at her.
"I understand. You're doing it for the same reason that my mother ran off with me. Bring them here whenever you're ready, and I'll take them. For you, and for them."