Pike sat hidden, hugging his knees to his chest. It had been about three hours since they finished transferring energy to Kroova, but she'd gone straight to sleep. Of course, the five conjurers were exhausted, so they all went off to get some rest as well. But Pike's mind wouldn't let him sleep. He heard someone approaching him, and he knew it was Vail, coming to see if he was alright. She didn't say anything; just put an arm around his shoulders and wearily leaned against him.

"Is that what you knew?" Pike asked. Vail nodded, rubbing her eyes. Pike stared at her. "How are you not losing your mind right now?"

"I—I'm better at suppressing things than you are, I guess."

"And those dang mental blocks don't work on us," Pike growled. "Believe me, I've tried."

"Well, I guess you should try to accept it," Vail offered.

"Accept it?!" Pike shot up, hitting his head on a low-hanging beam. He rubbed the spot, but continued to glare at his sister. "Our mom used to be human! How am I supposed to accept that?!" Vail stared at her paws, slightly shake by Pike's outburst; she'd never seen him upset before. He hit the beam, growling. "Do you know what that makes us? Freaks!" He hit the beam again, this time letting sparks fly from his paws.

"I warned you not to look at those," Vail said quietly. She stood, grateful that she was slightly taller than Pike. "I told you when we entered her mind that you wouldn't like what you saw. But you didn't listen, did you? You never listen to me!" Her voice almost matched his in volume, and wild sparks were flying off their paws.

"Why should I?" Pike snarled, drawing his claws out. "You've lived with Macavity most of your life."

"Don't you DARE go there!" Now it was Vail's turn to growl. She tugged at her glove, but left it on. "It's because of me he hasn't picked you up, yet!"

Pike paused, staring at her. "He knows?"

Vail nodded. "And he wants you. I persuaded him to leave you alone for the time being, but I don't know how long that will last." She rubbed her eyes. "Why are we even fighting?"

Pike sat down, blinking several times. "I don't know… I think it's just because we're tired."

Vail laughed weakly. "Should we get some sleep, then?" She began to lay back, only to be stopped by Pike as he tried to lean back.

"I don't see why not," Pike yawned, not bothering to move from his position. Vail nodded, and the twins were soon fast asleep, sitting back-to-back.

=^..^=

I smiled as I sensed movement. Soon, everyone will know, love. I took a deep breath, and then pushed myself up on the bed, looking around for Talon. He was sleeping with his back against the wall, his head in his paws. I grinned as I silently got out of the bed and slid down next to him, resting my head on his shoulder. He flinched at the sudden contact, but stayed fast asleep. I wrapped my tail around his, snuggling deeper into his side. I wasn't tired at all, but I was content to wait until he woke up.

Well, almost, I thought as my stomach clenched and gurgled in hunger. I rolled my eyes and tried to ignore it, hoping Jenny or Jelly would come in soon.

Talon stirred next to me; he'd heard my stomach. He blinked his eyes a few times before he realized I was not on the bed, and began to panic when he saw that I was next to him. "Kroova!" He caught me up in a tight hug, making me feel guilty for being immobile for so long. Finally he pulled away. "I'm so glad to see that you're alright," He said, smiling.

"I'm a little hungry, but I'm fine," I said with a laugh. "How have you been?"

Talon laughed loudly, and I wondered how long it had been since he had last. "Let's go find some food, then." He stood up and offered a paw to help me up.

As I did, I felt a cramp in my stomach, reminding me of my previous mission. "Talon," I said, stopping him from leaving the den. He gazed at me questioningly, and I smiled back. "I have something to tell you." I bit my lip to contain my excitement. "I'm going to have a kitten!"

[Premature Author's Note: This is what was under the blanket. I'm surprised nobody asked about that in their reviews. Anyway, on with the story]

Talon's eyes grew wide and his gaze shot down to my stomach where a tiny—but no less visible—bump was protruding from between my hips. I watched the emotions on his face go from shock, to wonder, to uncontained happiness. He picked me up and spun me in a circle, then planted a kiss on my lips. [I know it's very cliché but I wanted to use it] He pressed his forehead against mine.

"How long have you known?"

"Since I could think clearly," I rested my head against his shoulder, rubbing his chest. "It was all I could think about for a long time. I was scared that I wouldn't ever be able to move again, and that would be bad."

"Well, you're standing now," Talon pointed out. I giggled. "So there's really no worries, now is there?"

I shook my head. "Weren't we going to find some food to put in my stomach? I'm eating for two, you know."

Talon laughed again and led me out, keeping an arm on my waist.

…

Soon, the entire tribe had heard the happy news, and congratulations could be heard everywhere I went. My face reddened whenever someone mentioned it, and I couldn't help the beaming smile from spreading across my face. Much better than the first time, I thought, then shook my head. Pike and Vail were just as important to me as any other kit would be… I looked around. Where were they? I hadn't seen them all afternoon. I began asking around and learned from Liebe that Pike had gone to his 'special place' for a nap.

"Do you know where it is?"

"Are you kidding?" Liebe rolled her eyes. "If I knew it wouldn't be special, would it?" She strolled off, headed for the center clearing.

I decided to resort to tracking, and began sniffing out trails I could follow. After going almost all over the junkyard—with Talon walking by my side—I came across a small opening barely large enough for fully grown cats to squeeze through. I poked my head inside to see Vail and Pike curled up together and snoring peacefully. I smiled as I climbed in, gently tapping Vail's paw to wake her.

"Huh?" Vail opened her eyes, rubbing them with her uncovered paw. "What's going on?" She smiled at me. "Good to see you up," she said.

I smiled back. "Wake up your brother," I nodded to his sleeping form. Vail glanced behind her and elbowed him in the back.

"Get up, Silverthought."

Pike sat bolt upright, looking around. "What's happening?" He demanded. After realizing there was no emergency, he turned around, smiling at me.

"I've got something to talk to both of you about."

Vail ducked her eyes. "We know," she said quietly.

I lifted an eyebrow at her. "You do?"

"Everything," Pike assured. "You don't have to tell us anything."

I tilted my head. "Not even that you're getting a little sibling soon?"

Pike's eyes widened, but Vail just giggled. "That was the one thing I kept from everyone else while we were giving you energy. I figured you wanted to tell them yourself. And," she glanced at Pike—who nodded, but still looked slightly shocked. Vail smiled. "We both want to go back with you and the barn cats."

I smiled. "Well, then. I guess we should go join Rascal and Taru. The wrestling tournament is about to start."

=^..^=

Vail grinned slyly at Kroova as she stood opposite from Wallen in the circle. The glove was secured on her paw, just to ensure the safety of any she fought. Taru was sitting on the tire, calling out the rules.

"No claws or teeth, any open wounds at the end of the fight will result in immediate disqualification of the offender. Everyone clear on the rules?" Nobody answered, and Taru grinned. "Begin!"

Wallen and Vail prowled in a slow circle, neither of them wanting to make the first move. "I'm glad you're coming back with us, Vail. You've always been such a cutie." The crowd laughed at the jest, waiting to see how Vail would respond. She merely smiled.

"You should stop looking in the mirror, Wallen. You'll make it crack."

Wallen's face turned bright red, and the crowd was in hysterics. Vail grinned and feigned a lunge to the right, rolled and kicked his legs out from under him. Wallen neatly rolled back into a crouch, glaring at Vail. She smiled sweetly.

"You shouldn't let what others say get to your head," she lunged again, and the two were batting at each other and wrestling in the dirt. Few noises could be heard from them as they fought to stay on top and pin the other to the ground. Eventually it simply became a contest to see who would tire first. Members of the tribe began making bets about who would win, and the mock-fight became so intense that they could not look away. It wasn't long before it was clear that Wallen was gaining the upper hand. He grinned as Vail became visibly tired, and he began trying to force her flat on her back. Wallen's name could be heard being chanted from the crowd, and the tom could sense a victory was near.

A random sneeze from Pike and the whole thing changed. Vail sprang up; revealing that she'd only faked her fatigue, and tackled Wallen in the stomach, driving the air out of his lungs. In his moment of surprise Vail was able to pin him flat on his back. He stared at her, wide-eyed, gasping for breath. Vail winked at him. "I win."

Taru laughed as she strode into the center. "Alright! Vail is the winner for this fight. Now, you can go sit over there, and Wallen, you can—"

"JENNY!" Liebe came running into the clearing, searching for the Gumbie cat. She pulled at Jenny's paws, her eyes frantic.

"What is it, dear?"

"Griffyn's in labor!"

Suddenly everyone was scrambling to get out of Jenny's way as she ran back to her medical den. Everyone sat idly in the clearing, not really anxious to get back to the tournament. Rascal glanced at his mate then stood and addressed the cats.

"Now then, who's next?" He grinned. "You all know there's naught we can do but wait, and it'll seem like less time if we're doin' something."

With nods of agreement, contesters were signed in and paired up, and the tournament was well under way.

=^..^=

"So what's her name?"

I bit back laughter at Liebe's question and noticed the rest of the barn cats were doing the same. Griffyn smiled at the black and white queen.

"We'll know when she's eleven months old," she explained. "It's our tradition not to name our kits; we let them choose their own name when they come of age."

"Oh," Liebe considered the idea. "What do you call them until then?"

Taru laughed. "Mostly we just say, 'Oi! You!'" Everyone present who was in the tribe chuckled, but I knew the large black queen was being completely serious. I'd had a hard time convincing them to call Pike and Vail by name, at first.

Jenny walked in, carrying a tray of food. "Enough visitors," she said. "Everyone out! You can come back in the morning as long as you aren't coming in great droves!"

I lingered in the doorway, looking at the little queen in Griffyn's arms. She was light brown with a solid black stripe down the center of her back, running from her nose to the tip of her tail. I waited for a name to come to mind, but nothing happened. I frowned, but left the den to catch up with Talon.

[A/N] Ok! So there's something I feel I should mention: Liebe is training to take over for Jenny, that's why she was the first one to know.

Also, there are pictures of Pike, Vail, and Kroova up on my Deviant page, with more characters soon to come! Want to know how to get there? Go to my profile and click on my homepage ^,^!