Cobwebs and Moonshine

Ffffff. Sorry this took so long.

Princess had named her kits specifically so that were similar to clan names. She remembered that. It was one of the few things, besides pain, that she remembered about their birth. She named them so that they were similar to clan names.

It had felt important at the time, for some reason, perhaps because that had been shortly after her brother and son had disappeared. She missed them, it was natural; naming them like this helped her feel just a little bit closer. And she couldn't help but think, as she watched them scuffle in the garden, that they might even take after the kin they never knew.

Twilight so reminded her of Cloudtail, rushing into things and always getting into trouble, the first to pick a fight and the last to give up. And Thorn, her sweet, careful kit. Something about his thoughtful nature made her think of Firestar.

"There will be three…" The old tom's words echoed in her head, as they often did. She was almost used to the way it came up suddenly, unbidden in her mind. As she thought about it now, she realized- three. But of course, she had four kits. She wondered which ones were the three.(if the prophecy was even about to her kits) And how would she tell? The prophecy spoke of great power, so surely the kits it referred to would seem more special, somehow. She looked hard at each kit, trying to discern something unique about each one. Twilight, play fighting with Thorn. Sky, sneaking up on them from behind. Moon, watching, curious enough to do so but not enough to join in.

No, this was silly, she realized. She was biased; they were all special to her, their mother. How could she not think so?

She was so lost in her thoughts that when he sat down next to her, she nearly clawed him. As it was, her paw was raised, ready to strike, when she finally recognized Kasey. "Oh," she muttered, lowering her paw. "Sorry."

Her mate peered at her worriedly. "What's the matter?"

Princess looked away. "Just… thinking about that dream."

He drew away, disgusted. "Again? Princess, I told you, you need to stop thinking about that." She bristled and hissed quietly, angry and hurt at the tone in his voice. Instantly, he backed down, licking her ear gently. "…Sorry. I'm just worried. You're getting thinner- are you eating well?- and you've been so jumpy lately. You nearly clawed my ear off a minute ago. And it's all because of these ridiculous dreams of yours." Kasey pressed his pelt up against hers, and she responded, leaning into him tiredly. He was right, of course. She hadn't been eating her food, the taste not quite right on her tongue anymore. And really, who wouldn't be jumpy at a time like this?

"Sorry," she murmured again.

The pair watched their kits in silence a moment, the kits barely noticing the big grey tom, simply squeaking a greeting and returning to their game. After a while, Kasey spoke again. "Why do you care so much?"

"I… it just seems important." Princess really had no idea, but she struggled to make him understand. "In my dreams, the tom always sounds so urgent. And after the clans disappeared… I don't know. But I wake up feeling so restless, like I've forgotten to do something, and I just…." Her voice trailed off.

"And what happened to the days when you could just brush it all off? When you could call it nonsense and keep going?" He turned and looked into her eyes. "What happened to my sensible mate?"

Princess held his amber gaze, searching for words. Luckily, Sky chose that moment to come to her mother, wailing about something her brothers did. Princess bent down, soothing the little tabby's hurt feelings with a few kind words and a swift lick to her cheek. She barely noticed what she was doing, however- she was too focused on finding some way to express what she was thinking to her Kasey.

Finally- no, too soon- she turned back to him. "I don't know what to do anymore." He tried to say something, but she cut him off. "I don't know what to do, so I'm going to find my brother. He'll know what this means, I know he will. And if I'm wrong about them, I'll come back…" Princess trailed off when she caught his look.

"You said they left. Disappeared. It might take a long time to find them again. Who's going to watch your kits while you're gone?" Princess looked away, knowing full well that he wanted to say other things, harsher things, but stuck with what he did, trying to appeal to her logic, trying to keep her home.

Finally, she looked back up. "I was never planning on leaving them behind," she whispered. He looked at her, disgust written all over his face.

"Okay, Princess. Go ahead. Go tramping out into the wilderness with your young kits, with no clue where to go and no idea how to take care of yourself. You do whatever you like. Just don't expect me to help you with this suicide mission!" Kasey spat. Princess stepped back. He was always so patient, so kind, that his anger frightened her. He glared at her a moment longer, then whipped around, jumped over the fence, and disappeared.

Umm…yeah. Angst much?