[ti]Open[/ti]The Story Begins

[Mama]

A nervous swarm of butterflies ran through the heavily expecting queen as she felt the first warning ripple, which had snapped her awake in the middle of the night. After her last litter, which the news had spread like wildfire, the sight of pinkness and hairless bodies haunted her mind constantly. Would these kittens be alright though?

They were just fine. The kitting was smooth, and by daybreak, all four had been long asleep while Cowlily remained awake, loveingly grooming at one of the she-kit's fur. The two longhair kits were females, and a mess of curls that drowned out their tiny bodies. The other two were males, shorter haired but still carrying the wild curls. And two! Two had little bobbed tails, and Cowlily was a bit curious on how they ended up with those!

But no matter what, she'd be here for the kits. And she was too scared of going to sleep, finding out it was just a blurry dream, so the tired mother kept herself awake by grooming, then regrooming, each kitten.

[LupTacco]

Rosefury awoke early. His sleep had been restless at best, unused to the cat scents around him or the softer bedding of meadow grass and flowers, and nightmarish at worst; visions of fire kept flickering in the corners of his eyes, and that cold grin Pikesting had given him... even in sleep, it sent chills down his spine. It was good to be away from MothClan, really- but he wished he could leave it behind completely, memory and all. How different might he have been if he had gone with Redbird the first time they met? Would he still have his other eye?

Yawning, he pawed at his eye in a vain attempt to feel less tired, smoothing down his messy fur before stepping outside. "Oop! Er, sorry," Rosefury mumbled, rearing back slightly as he nearly bumped straight into Finchtuft's side. Wait, wasn't she the medicine cat? The scent of kitting herbs and milk trailed off of her pelt; things he remembered from his own childhood, by Leafeyes' side. Curiosity got the better of him. He redirected his paws away from the fresh-kill pile and towards the nursery. As he approached, he could hear the first few mewls of new life- who would their mother be, though? He didn't know hardly anyone here yet.

"Hello, miss?" Rosefury spoke softly, not wanting to startle the kittens, and ducked his head into the entryway. His muzzle tightened into a polite smile as he recognized Cowlily's distinctive curled pelt. "May I?" he nodded to a small space nearby, asking to sit down and meet them.

[Mama]

Cowlily gave a light yawn as she pulled away from grooming, hearing pawsteps. Was it her mate, Stoatstalk? She hadn't seen him in a while...she felt distant from him. Didn't he want to see the kits too? He wanted to be a parent just as much as her.

To her slight disappointment, it wasn't him, but Rosefury. She remembered him distinctively, and grew fond of the former Mothclanner. When she could, she went out of her way to try and make him feel welcome and at home in Ivyclan- she wasn't sure what Mothclan was like, but they seemed like... Awful cats.

"Oh, certainly." The black and white queen gave a nod, before sweeping her tail out of the way from where the kits laid. Only one was still half awake, a curly chocolate and white tom who moved back and forth to change his spot on the pile of curls every now and then.

[LupTacco]

Rosefury nodded, and slipped under the leaves to enter the den fully. He kept to the edge, not wanting to accidentally step on anyone, considering his sense of depth wasn't the best it could have been. Sitting near her side, but not close enough to touch, he curled his tail over his paws and peered down at the kittens with a wide, curious eye. Four kittens, each with curled fur like their mother- and two, curiously, with nubbed tails. Though most were asleep, one was wriggling around, a little brown and white kitten. Very suddenly, he felt subconscious about his appearance, worried what such small children would think if they saw him. Their eyes weren't even open yet, but he already feared their judgement- wasn't that kind of cowardly of him? What if he had to mentor one?

Clearing his throat to drown out his own thoughts, he murmured, "They're very lovely. Do you have names for them?" Part of him wanted to ask where Stoatstalk was- he even tried to sneak a glance behind her in case he'd somehow been hiding there. Weren't they together? Maybe he'd misread their relationship.

[Mama]

Cowlily gave a soft, gentle smile as he sat closer, before releasing a light sigh when he spoke. "I was planning on waiting for Stoatstalk… but he's been worrying me lately. I haven't seen him around for.. almost a moon." The words carried a tremble, and she glanced down at the kits. He should be her, shouldn't he? Did he- did he not care anymore? The kits needed a father to help raise them, and the thought of them being forced to never have one made her stomach twist into knots.


"But, I.. I do have names for them, yes." She broke her moment of silence, her chocolate gaze meeting his singular eye for a brief second, before drifting back to the kits. 


"The ginger and black she-kit, with the bob tail, is Swirlkit." She paused to give the said kit a lick on the head, before her attention turned to the little issue child, who was still moving around. "This guy right here, is Curlkit." 

The next kit was another tom, who had a bobbed tail also, and a tabby pelt. "He's Whirlkit, I'm surprised he's not as... energetic as his brother."

Finally, there was a chocolate tortie, who had long fur like her sister, and her mother. Of course, with wild curls. "And she's Twirlkit."