Chapter VIII
The queen yowled in pain as a kit slid out of her. Blazepaw and Goldenfern were next to her, trying to help in any way they could. Next to them stood a gray tom.
"Fawnberry, you're going to be all right. There are still about three kits inside. Take a deep breath!" Goldenfern spoke, breath rushed.
It was early, but no one was asleep due to the cries that came from the nursery. It was too early for a dawn patrol, but too late to fall asleep again. Rosestar rested in her den, with her paws crossed in front of her.
It had been roughly two moons since the leader had received the prophecy. Since then, Rosestar and Goldenfern had been privately awaiting the arrival of Fawnberry's kits. And since then, none of the two cats had received any word from StarClan.
#-#-#
"...and that's it." Goldenfern stood up on her four paws. "Congratulations, Dustblaze and Fawnberry! You have two daughters and two sons."
"A perfect mix." Dustblaze gazed lovingly at his mate. The kits curled up next to Fawnberry started mewling for milk, and Blazepaw volunteered, "I'll go get some borage!" before his mentor could even say a word.
Seeing Blazepaw venture out of the nursery tunnel, Rosestar stood in recognition. This probably meant that the kitting had gone horribly wrong, or that it was already over. The ginger she-cat padded over the rocks, all the way to the moss-covered tunnel that was the nursery.
She scrabbled at the dirt, then managed to get in. "Hello there, Fawnberry!" Rosestar meowed cheerfully to the queen. "Wow, two she-cats and two toms!" She continued, sneaking a look at Goldenfern.
"Yeah, I know, right?" Fawnberry laughed tiredly. "We're going to name them now. Would you like to name one?" She added graciously.
"I would be honored to." Rosestar raised an eyebrow at Goldenfern. "Well, this one will be named Brindlekit." She nudged the eldest she-cat. The leader felt a pang in her stomach as she remembered Brindlesky. Brindlesky… no one knows what happened to her.
Dustblaze gazed wondrously at his kits. "I'll name this one Shadowkit." he said, obviously meaning the dark grey kit huddled close to Fawnberry.
An uncomfortable silence followed. Rosestar held herself back; after all, there was already a Riverpaw in SorrelClan, she'd heard.
But would she really want this kit to carry the burden of memories which was all ShadowClan was? "Let's carry on. Goldenfern, why don't you name one?" Rosestar suggested uncertainly.
"Well, maybe this one could be Bramblekit." Goldenfern nuzzled the smaller tom.
Now all eyes were on Rosestar. She sucked in a breath. "So, what about the last one?" Fawnberry meowed happily. Of course; she didn't know of the prophecy. The remaining unnamed kit was gray like her father, with silver stripes, but she wasn't exactly a tabby.
The fate of the kit was in her paws and StarClan's paws. What would she name her? Even Rosestar herself wasn't sure.
If the kit she named was to be the special kit…
A/N: Oooh, cliffie! What will the kit's name be?
And we reached 14 reviews! What a bunch of just-under-achievers you are.
QOTD: If you were to name the kit, what would you name her?
The one who guesses correctly gets a plushie of **insert name here**!