Chapter Twenty Three: Hollyleaf
I'm having my kits today! When Jayfeather came back from the moonpool with news of the attack the whole Clan was freaking out. At least until Firestar took control. He's back to his old self now, I don't know what it was, maybe the light of battle or the promise of revenge but either way he's our strong leader again and the whole Clan is much calmer now.
Jayfeather was like a super medicine cat today. He had everyone ready for the battle before dawn and then he came into the nursery and plopped down with his herbs and hasn't moved since.
The other patrols have left. Only Cherrypaw, Molepaw, Berrynose, Poppyfrost, and Blossomfall remain. It's a scarily small amount of cats but Firestar want the warriors to be spread out over our territory, so that a patrol can't slip by our warriors. And there's a group of cats close to camp so that if we get in trouble they can come and help.
I can't believe how fast my pregnancy's gone. Jayfeather thinks the Dark Forest is behind it, I'm hoping for something less sinister. But I have to admit it makes sense. What if someone is wounded during the battle while I'm kitting, you expect Jayfeather to choose? And it has also distracted some cats. Foxleap didn't even want to leave camp, but we need him out there fighting too much. He agreed but very sulkily, and I don't blame him. There's a huge part of me that wants him beside me.
But he's fighting for our Clan so he can give our kits a better future. There's nothing more I can ask for.
Ferncloud and Daisy had been gathered around me for most of the morning. But when the patrols left Ferncloud went to guard the entrance and Daisy faded into the shadows to wait until she was needed so she wouldn't hinder Jayfeather. I wish they were still with me as I'm starting to get very nervous. Jayfeather says he thinks that there are three kits. That's a healthy litter, but it's a lot.
I thought that it would be more awkward with Jayfeather and Ferncloud cooped up together in a small place but Ferncloud's been nothing but polite to Jayfeather and Jayfeather was never anything but nice to Ferncloud. I think I saw Ferncloud talking to Icecloud before they left and I hope they made up.
I can hear Cherrypaw and Molepaw playing in the hollow even though they're supposed to be guarding the elders.
"Come on! You can jump higher than that! Pretend it's a nice juicy squirrel!" Cherrypaw calls to Molepaw.
"I'd rather pretend it was your tail!" he retorts, and a few seconds later there's a thump as he rejoins the earth.
"See! That's how you do it!" Cherrypaw mews sounding satisfied.
"Cherrypaw! Molepaw! What are you doing?" Berrynose mews. "You're supposed to be guarding the elders.
"Mousefur said that she didn't need to be guarded," Molepaw mews, "And she told us to go do something productive, so –"
"We decided to practice battle training! I mean what's more productive than that?" Cherrypaw finishes brightly. I roll my eyes to myself, elders never change, and neither do apprentices.
"How about doing what you were told to do?" Berrynose snarls at his kits, "You don't take Mousefur literally; you just nod your head and back away so she doesn't think you're guarding her, now come on!" I can hear him scolding the paws all the way back up to Firestar's den where the elders are. I hear Jayfeather snicker and I turn my head to him,
"How much longer Jayfeather? This wait is maddening!"
"No, never say that!" Ferncloud mews, "As soon as the kittling starts you'll be wishing you're still waiting!"
"Does it really hurt that much?" I mew apprehensively.
Ferncloud and Daisy nod but Daisy mews, "It's completely worth it though." I can tell she's thinking of her own kits, Berrynose, Hazeltail, Mousewhisker, Toadstep and Rosepetal.
Ferncloud peers out of the nursery, "I can't hear anything –" But she doesn't get to finish, two things cut her off, my yowl because a horrendous pain has just shot through me and the distant sound of a battle.
It has started. (And I'm talking about two things here.)
"Jayfeather!" I yowl.
"Shhhhh, it's all right. They're just contractions. It's okay, bite down on the branch." My brother's calmness soothes me some and I take the branch he pushes to me and bite down hard. Too hard, I split it in half. He flicks his tail to Ferncloud.
She disappears to get another branch. The pain increases, it's agony!
"Ahhhhhhhh! Jayfeather, poppy seeds! PLEASE!" I yowl in pain.
"No! You need to be conscious to push out your kits, you have to be strong for them!" I'm howling but I nod my assent.
Daisy is stroking my forehead with wet moss and the coolness helps, but the hurt eclipses it. Ferncloud returns with a branch and Jayfeather pushes it to me,
"Bite down hard, your first kit's coming." I don't know how the pain can get any worse but it does, it increases ten-fold. I don't even know how to describe it! Just when it gets so bad I think I'm going insane, I hear a thump and it eases, quickly receding. I sense Jayfeather moving, catching something, nipping and licking, it's all insignificant as I struggle to stay conscious.
"Here," he pushes something to me and I feel pulling on my stomach, "You're first kit's a black she-kit." I push my head up to stare at her lovingly but the pain comes back, viscously and my head hits the ground as the fight starts again.
"The stick! Bite on the stick!" Jayfeather yowls. I obey him without thinking. He pushes something else to me not much later and the pain fades again.
"This one's a tom; he's a dark, dark gray. Just one more time come on sis hold on." The strength in my kits feeding revives me, I will give them their sibling I will! The sound of the battle is distant, but wait, it sounds louder… my brain is too scrambled to sort out what it means, the pain is back!
"Hold on! Hold on! Almost there!" Jayfeather's voice is growing louder and then softer, and the blackness creeping up on the edges of my mind is stronger, my vision is going blurry I can't hold on! The pain reaches a crescendo then starts to fade taking me with it.
"Look Hollyleaf, another tom! Look at how bright his pelt is." I only catch a glimpse of bright fur and feel a strong nibble before my head hits dirt and everything goes black.
A/n: It's Midnightstar, your faithful author, really applause is not necessary=) Just joking=) Okay sorry it's a little short but it was all I could do without going into detail about the kitting and that's just nasty. I hope you all enjoy the story and we love all our readers! I'm sad to say that the first book is almost over, but in a way I'm not because I want you to meet my character already! Lol=) So you've just saw one of our friends born in to the warriors world that she knows nothing about=) And obviously she is the she-kit, you'll get names in the next ummm I think it's two chapters but we have to have the big drama happen first. Now I know you're thinking how could you top what's happened already? (Okay maybe not, go with it.) Well trust me there are ways, my friends there are ways. Oh so I'm really excited for our next book and I'm going to try to finish this one this weekend which means I have to get back to writing! Enjoy, as always I am your faithful author. (REVIEW, REVIEW, REVIEW! REVIEW! PLEASE!)
Updated A/N: Wow fourteen year-old me was a trip huh? Go ahead and disregard all of that if you want…