HEY

GUESS WHAT

I know someone who is awesome!

Who, you ask…?

Me! I was bored, so I am DUBLE UPDATING… I know I'm probably killing you guys with the suspense, because Emberwing is in labor!

*eats Thank cake from Woot* *much*

(All kit names are my creation, as I felt rebellious and didn't want to 'borrow' any names, (nice way of saying it: I didn't want to show any bias))

N'JOY!

The dawn was just peeking into the nursery when the pain came. Before then, it had just been a numb sensation that tickled and made her and Troutclaw smile, thinking that she was just immune to the pains of labor, and the kits would come into the world without the big fuss of, well, every other she-cat in existence.

Starclan, were they wrong.

It started with a tugging sensation, which would've been uncomfortable without four kits, a worried mate, an amused queen, and a frazzled medicine cat. After the tugging, it felt like she had splinters in her lower belly, and she had moaned in pain, setting Troutclaw into a frenzy and asking Stormwater if she was okay, and if she needed anything, and if the kits were okay.

"yes, you stupid tom, they are fine! Emberwing's fine! Everything is fine," the medicine cat snapped, finally at his edge. He was probing Emberwing's belly, nodding and murmuring about how large the kits felt, to be born so early.

"Now," he said after a moment's more of feeling, "Since these kits are being born so early, they may be… defected."

"Defected? What do you mean?!" Troutclaw burst out from his sulking position at Emberwing's head, craning his neck so his head didn't brush the low roof of the den.

"By defected I mean one may be born blind, or you may have a runt in the litter. There's also a small chance that one could be born still, or a kit that is very weak and most likely won't survive the first few nights."

That was something Emberwing had never really thought about. What if Starclan cursed her kits for training in the Darkforest?! What if she got the same dreams as Silverdust, telling her to kill her kits because of what they could become…?

"We will love them no matter what condition they are in," She said firmly, purring as Troutclaw nodded with a serious face, her breath hutching as the purr broke off into another moan.

"Mistkit, would you please grab some wet moss from my den?" Stormwater looked at the little grey kit, which scampered out with her siblings on her tail.

"Now, Robinflight, would you please inform the clan that Emberwing is in labor? And maybe ask Whitepaw to come in here soon? I always think it's good for the apprentices to help with kitting."

The queen's eyes glinted with amusement as she left, leaving just the three of them in the underground nursery. Finally, the medicine cat directed his gaze to Troutclaw.

"Troutclaw, could you go gather some feathers? Your mate and kits alike will need a soft nest when this is over and done with."

Her beloved Troutclaw nodded, licked her ears, and then darted out of the den.

Now they were alone, just Stormwater and Emberwing. She looked at the ragged grey tom, and took a deep breath.

"Now, explain what 'defects' they could have, Stormwater," the tom winced.

"There's a big chance they will be weak or born still. There is a slightly smaller chance that…" he drifted off. Even through the pains that pulsed through her belly and made her grit her teeth, she wanted to know what would happen to her precious kits. Now she truly understood what Silverdust had meant when she said the bond between a queen and her kits began before they were even born.

"…There is a chance that they will be… different; Tainted with Darkness, or with Light."

"Tainted? What do you mean, Stormwater?!"

He sighed, again, as if unwilling to say anything, but she made her glare as hard as she could, under the circumstances.

"There is a secret shared between Medicine cats, telling that a kit can be born with a Taint, which allows a dead cat to… take over their bodies at birth. The first incident happened so long ago, no one really remembers exactly what happened. There was a medicine cat who had kits, and all were born still but one. This one was Tainted Dark, and a Darkforest cat was able to live in his body, with no memories, of course, but the intent was still the same. It is said that he killed countless kits, queens, warriors, and elders alike. There is even rumor that he killed his own father…"

Emberwing tried to imagine her son/daughter killing Troutclaw, and killing kits. How easily she was able to picture this scared her.

"…And how big is this chance?"

"Smaller than the chance that they could be born still or blind, but not by much." This did little to comfort her, but simultaneously, Whitepaw, Troutclaw's younger brother, entered the den, and another wave of pain, stronger than all of the others, washed over her. She felt like she would be sick, and that is exactly what she did; at least she made the mess in an empty nest that can be easily replaced.

"Just in time, Whitepaw, she is beginning to go into her final labor waves. Now, when they come…" She blocked out the two toms as the pains began to make it harder to think. Unlike her usual, unexplainable pains that would occur in her head at random times, these were all… natural-felling. The other ones would feel just… wrong, but with these she knew what was going on, but at the same time, it didn't really help the situation in the slightest.

All of a sudden, her belly tightened and she let out a low whine between her teeth as stars appeared before her eyes.

"Here comes the first one," Stormwater announced, and Emberwing would've said something about how that was more than enough pain for the day, and could she do the rest tomorrow, but little whines were slowly leaking from her locked jaws as her belly contracted once more, and she felt a strange object placed against her stomach a moment later.

"It's a tom," Stated Whitepaw after a moment more of licking, and a little mew broke through this kit's mouth. Emberwing was enraptured. He was so… small! He was as big as her paw curled in a ball, and he had the cutest pelt; a calico pelt with only sparse white hair on his tiny underbelly, the most of it being black and orange. His eyes were closed, which they would be for at least another day, but he was… perfect.

Another batch of Starclan's brightest stars swam into her vision and stayed this time as she squeezed her eyes shut and tried to block out the pain, with no success.

"Hold on, Emberwing, two kits are wanting to come out at once…"

No wonder the stars were staying…

A familiar scent wafted into the den, and she was greeted with slow, loving licks to her head and shoulders.

"He's beautiful, Emberwing." He was purring, and even though it hurt, she couldn't help but join in at their situation. She was having Troutclaw's kits. This was amazing! She was surely blessed.

But Starclan, did it hurt.

"How many are there left, Stormwater?"

"Two; they are coming out—now" and with that last word, Emberwing's belly deflated, and the waves of nausea and the stars slowly faded into the corners of her vision, leaving her panting heavily and very, very tired.

Suckling at her milk were three little kits, the little tom, and two she-cats. One was pure white with a brown underbelly, which was a rather strange combination, but it looked so adorable on her… and the other was a brown she-cat, looking exactly like Troutclaw but with a white paw.

"They're perfect!" Troutclaw was glowing, and she could almost see the happiness and content radiating off of his pelt.

"What should we name them," he prompted, gazing at them and then back at Emberwing. She had the perfect names for the two she-cats, but she would let Troutclaw name the tom, like she knew he wanted to."

"I'm just stumped on a name for the tom…" she weighed her words heavily, and Troutclaw caught her hint and cuffed her ears with a playful purr.

"The tom… Spiderkit." He looked to her eyes for her opinion. The tom did have longer legs than his sisters… Emberwing thought it was just right.

"It's perfect. The two she cats… the white skit shall be Whisperkit, and the brown one with the white paw will be… Hiddenkit."

"Those are perfect names," commented Stormwater, sniffing each of them and giving a nod to the mates. "Welcome to Riverclan, Hiddenkit, Spiderkit, and Whisperkit."

As happy as she was, there was that little thing in the back of her head that kept her from basking completely in the warmth of the new life suckling from her tummy and the tom who loved her curled up next to her stuffing mouthfuls of feathers in her nest.

This was not over, yet.

Your welcome! I knew you guys would want to know straight away, so as a 'Thank You',

ALL READERS COMMENT, even if its just a "luv dis stoy" or something short I just want to know how much you guys love this story! :)

I love you all so much,

EmberFall