As Life Begins [ashpaw // open]

['| Daeyna]

Fawnstripe

She had had another bad dream. It was like the others, about her kits. As if they knew she was thinking about them, Fawnstripe felt the unborn kits in her stomach move. She couldn't help but smile to herself. The medicine cat had told her they were due any day now. Her own kits. Spidertail's kits.

That last thought brought up the memory of her dream. Her kits wouldn't abandon her, like they did in the dream. She would let them know from the start exactly who they were. That way, betrayal wasn't an issue. She'd heard of it before, where mothers didn't tell their kits they were half-clan, and the children turned on them. That wasn't going to happen to her. Never. With a loud sigh, Fawnstripe laid her head back down on her paws.

******

The dream had come back. It was vivid enough to make the queen thrash her legs in her sleep. Fawnstripe opened her eyes and looked around. All was quiet. She could see the moon filtering through a small hole in the top of the nursery. It was barely a sliver, but it was there. A sharp pain in her stomach made Fawnstripe cringe. What was that? She reached over and gave the area where the pain had come from a couple of licks before laying back down. Stomach pains were normal for her now. It was probably just a kit moving.

Another sharp pain shot through the queen's abdomen. "What in the na-" another pain. Fawnstripe's eyes widened in fear. Were they coming? Thoughts raced through her head as she decided what to do. Call out for the medicine cat? Stay quiet? it was midnight after all. But what if th- Another sharp pain caused Fawnstripe to cry out. She waited a few seconds. Sure enough, another one came. "Help?" she muttered before another pain caused her to cry out louder. They were getting closer together. "Brindlefoot?" She called, a little louder. Taking a deep breath, Fawnstripe mustered up the energy to call to the medicine cat. "Brindlefoot! Come here! Ashpa- Ouch!" she yowled.

Her thoughts wandered to Spidertail. Would they look like him? How would their kits like him? Would they know who he was? Her thoughts were cut short as two more pains shot through her abdomen, one after the other. Where is the medicine cat?! I need help!" she thought, frantically trying to think of how she would birth kits without help.

[' Swifty ?!]

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[atrb=background,http://i295.photobucket.com/albums/mm141/Spottedbelly/Aspawmain.png] Ashpaw hadn't been asleep. For some reason, he just couldn't. So instead, he sat at the base of the medicine cat's den, peering up at the moon. Ever since his parents died, he'd had a difficult time believing in StarClan, no matter how many signs they gave to him. But something was keeping him awake that night, and medicine cat instinct obligated him to look towards StarClan for the answer. He peered back to see his mentor, Brindlefoot, sleeping rather soundly in the corner of the den. Sure, she gets to sleep... he complained in his mind. Suddenly his ear twitched as a close yet far off noise, causing his head to whip back towards the entrance of the den. Quite unsure of himself, and rather worried that the camp might be getting invaded, Ashpaw slowly crept outside. But there was nothing; the camp was as silent as a mouse. His tail twitched as he looked around at each and every den, he himself not making a sound. As he turned to enter the den once again, that same noise stopped him in his tracks, but louder this time. This time he was able to locate the source of the yowl to be coming from the nursery. Then it sunk in; the kits must be coming! Without hesitating, Ashpaw slithered his way into the medicine den, but not to rest. He nudged on Brindlefoot's shoulder and growled. "Brindlefoot," but she didn't budge. Ashpaw shook his pelt in annoyance. There was no time to get her to wake up. He crawled over to the herbs to grab the necessary supplies that he would need to help Fawnstripe during her kitting. He'd never done this before on his own, but he had watched Brindlefoot do it a time or two and she'd mentioned the herbs required. So with the herbs gently placed in his mouth, Ashpaw bolted over to the nursery and slithered into it. "Fawnstripe, I'm here," he meowed, placing the herbs down. Carefully, Ashpaw inspected every inch of her to make sure everything was alright so far. "Calm down. It'll be okay," he reassured the she-cat, placing a firm paw on her abdomen. Surprisingly, Ashpaw was able to locate the first kit rather quickly, and to his relief it was in a good position. "Alright, I'm going to need you to push," he instructed. This was the nicest Ashpaw had been to anyone, but then, he was about to perform his very first solo kitting. WORD COUNT: 413 COMMENTS: --- MUSE: Ehh

['| Daeyna]

Fawnstripe

Fawnstripe cringed yet again, biting back another loud yowl as another pain rippled through her body. The brown she-cat sighed in relief when Ashpaw slithered his way into the nursery. "Thank Starclan," she gasped, realizing for the first time that she was out of breath. "I think they're coming." She watched Ashpaw as the medicine cat apprentice inspected her.

Fawnstripe suddenly became nervous. What if Starclan were mad at her and made her kits come out still born? Or what if she died giving birth to them? They'd never know their father. Nobody in Brookclan would unless Spidertail came out with the truth. But she knew that, n the event of her death, Spidertail probably wouldn't say anything. Fawnstripe knew him too well. Without her there, the kits would grow up not knowing who they were. It made her think whether them knowing would be a good thing after all. Would they grow up to hate her for what she did?

The queen's thoughts were cut short as she heard Ashpaw speak. "Alright, I'm going to need you to push." She pushed. Even though she'd been told many times by other queens that the actual birthing of kits was the most painful thing, she hadn't believed them. 'Wouldn't dieing in battle be the most painful?' she'd always thought. Nope. The other queens were right. Fawnstripe yowled loud enough to send all of the prey in Brookclan AND Goldenclan running.

Between pushes, Fawnstripe panted. She couldn't say anything. Actually, she couldn't think anything, either. The only thing she could do was feel; and what she was feeling wasn't nice. It hurt. A lot. With one last push, Fawnstripe felt the pain ease slightly. She looked up over her body at Ashpaw. There was a small, wet blob at his feet. "Is...Is that one of them?" she asked timidly.

Something in her mind told her to break the sticky sac that surrounded the blob. She reached over and nipped it open, letting the little dark grey kit that was encased inside breathe. The little one was shivering, so she began licking his fur backwards to warm him up before guiding him to her stomach to drink.

'There's still at least two more.' she thought. Two more intensely painful moments to go through. But, looking at the little kit at her belly filled her with too much pride to think about the ripples of pain that were starting through her abdomen again.

[' Swifty ?!]

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[atrb=background,http://i295.photobucket.com/albums/mm141/Spottedbelly/Aspawmain.png] Despite everything else about him, Ashpaw actually cared a great deal about every single one of his Clan-mates. At least, that's what he liked to think, and especially the queens. They were baring the future of BrookClan, after all. The night was late, and Ashpaw just knew that he would be tired the next day, but this was an experience that not many cats got to have; the chance to witness a Clan's future being born. He didn't even know who these kits' father was, and Fawnstripe had every right to keep it a secret, but the ashen tabby tom didn't, in all truth, care. He just knew that he would be able to watch these kits grow up, flourish into powerful warriors, and more than likely they would visit his den often. And he would be able to say, 'hey, I kitted you!' and that was a privilege all on it's own. It was hard to hear Fawnstripe yowling in such agony, but Ashpaw tried his hardest to block it out of his mind. Soon, these kits would be born, named and suckling happily. Then a small dab of fear crept into his heart. What if one of them died? Or Fawnstripe herself died? Either way, it would be because he couldn't save them, or he didn't have the skill to do so. The future medicine cat kept a firm paw on the queen's abdomen, and felt the first kit shift more and more until he couldn't feel it at all. A small, wet blob lay on the ground before him. "Yes, this is your first kit," he assured her calmly, bending down to help the she-cat clean it off, brushing his rough tongue over it's forehead before she moved it towards her stomach. "Two more to go, but don't worry. After the first one is out, the rest usually go pretty smoothly," Ashpaw meowed, taking his place once more. He placed another firm paw on her abdomen, feeling around for the second kit that would be born. But his emerald orbs shifted; the second kit was seemingly nowhere to be found. 'Odd...' was the only word that came to mind. An ear flickered. Was he messing up somehow? He knew there were more kits in there; two to be exact. Then, a thud against the abdomen lining alerted him. There it was! Ashpaw kneaded the stomach a bit, making sure it was in a good birthing position before growling, "Push." WORD COUNT: 411 COMMENTS: Sorry it's so short! Dx I'm just getting over a cold, so my brain is just like "blech." MUSE: Bad

['| Daeyna]

Fawnstripe

Fawnstripe looked at the little dark Gray kit in front of her. She couldn't tell if it was a boy or a girl yet; not that she'd actually looked at it. Though she wouldn't tell anyone she'd thought this, she hoped it was a girl. She wanted a daughter so badly. She'd still be proud if they were all boys, but Fawnstripe got along with girls better. She couldn't help but stare at hers and Spidertail's creation. The little kit was so beautiful. It's gray fur, still a bit wet from birthing, was gorgeous. It would grow up strong, like storms are.

She stopped thinking about her kit when she heard Ashpaw's growl. "push." She looked at him and nodded curtly, taking a breath to ready herself for the next kit. The pushing wasn't as bad this time. It still hurt a lot, but her cries weren't nearly as loud as they were when the first kit came. Though not as painful, this kit took longer. She pushed and pushed, and it didn't seem like it was moving. She tried to look up over her body at Ashpaw. "Is everything okay?" she gasped between heaves.

Her thoughts strayed yet again to the possibility of death. She cried out softly with another push, then got lost in her thoughts. What if she died with this kit? What would happen to the kit still in her? Would it die, too? Oh, no. That couldn't happen. It deserved a chance at life, whatever gender it may be. Her throat seemed constricted. She started gasping and coughing. She had to push! This kit needed to come out!

Fawnstripe laid her head down on the soft floor of the nursery. This was so much work! Her breathing had slowed a little, but she was still letting out small coughs here and there. She pushed one last time as hard as she could and felt something wet touch her back leg. It made her jump. Was she bleeding to death. The Brookclan queen whipped her head and chest up to look over at her flank area. She sighed in relief when she saw another wet blob near Ashpaw's paws. Kit number two. She nipped the sac open to let the little brown kit out to breathe. The small kit mewled loudly, as if in protest as she began to lick his fur to warm him up.

She smiled and guided it to her stomach. The brown kit snuggled right up to her belly fur and the other, darker gray kit and began suckling. She sighed and looked up at Ashpaw. "One more to go. Almost done." she breathed, laying her head back down on the fluffy bedding to wait for her last kit to come.

[' Swifty ?!]

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[atrb=background,http://i295.photobucket.com/albums/mm141/Spottedbelly/Aspawmain.png] Ashpaw's eyes narrowed at the difficult the second kit was bringing to Fawnstripe. He usually wasn't the pessimistic type, but he couldn't help thinking that this kit might be dead, or might die soon after birth. His ears flattened against his skull; he would not allow that to happen. Not when it's his very first solo kitting ever. And for a moment, he wished that Brindlefoot was there to help him, and he was contemplating going to wake her up. Then the queen began to cough and Ashpaw's ears perked back up. "Just take it easy," he rasped, moving away from his position. "I'll be right back, I promise," Ashpaw hissed, bolting out of the nursery and across the camp. He was amazed that Fawnstripe's yowls hadn't woken the entire Clan by now. Well, if it had, nobody was moving. He slithered into the medicine den, and passed the sleeping Brindlefoot. He didn't care to be silent, because he didn't care if she woke up. He needed her help; he thought he might be too inexperienced for this sort of thing. But he made no real attempt to wake his mentor. He simply grabbed a slab of honeycomb and bolted back towards the nursery. Slithering back into the nursery, Ashpaw laid the honeycomb down near Fawnstripe's head. "Lick the honey off this. It'll ease your cough," he advised. How much time had passed since he'd gone to retrieve the honey? Not too much, because the second kit was still inside, but the tom rushed back to his position just as it was born. Again, he helped the queen clean some of the liquid off of him. It was another tom, a brown one by the looks of things. And to his relief, he was alive; for now. He lashed his tail as the tom-kit snuggled up to his mother's belly, before resuming his spot at Fawnstripe's mid-section, with a firm paw on her abdomen. The final kit was surprisingly close to being born already, he could tell. "I want you to take your time with this last one. It will come when it's ready," he meowed. He knew it would come on it's own, judging by how close it was to her pelvis already. Plus Ashpaw didn't want to make her cough worse by her forcing a push. WORD COUNT: 386 COMMENTS: Sorry for the delay. MUSE: Bad

['| Daeyna]

Fawnstripe

"Just take it easy."

The comment made Fawnstripe a bit irritated. What did he think she was doing? Making it as difficult as she possibly could for fun? She didn't have time to really stay mad for long, because the medicine cat apprentice was soon bolting out the entrance to the nursery. "Ashpaw?" she managed to mutter quietly between her loud, body-shaking coughs. In seconds, the gray cat was back and putting a slab of honeycomb down by her head.

At his command, she nodded and began licking the sticky honey off of the slab. It was sweet and stock to the roof of her mouth,but, as Ashpaw had said, the honey eased her coughs. She smiled. He knew what he was doing, and, though he might not know it, she was proud of him. It might be weird, but she knew that she'd always thank him for being patient and efficient with helping her birth her three kits. The only three kits, she decided then, that she'd ever have.

"I want you to take your time with this last one. It will come when it's ready,"

Fawnstripe nodded again and laid her head down. The contractions weren't as painful now. They were more like a dull pain in her abdomen, but she could still tell they were there. She gave the last kit a slight push every now and then, and finally, after what seemed like forever, the contractions stopped. Fawnstripe's ears perked up, and she lifted her head. The last little kit lay in it's sac on the ground. She reached over, and, like the last two kits, nipped it's sac open. She cleaned the light gray kit off and moved it to her stomach next to the other two.

She hadn't gotten a good look at their genders, so she bent over and inspected them. She looked up and smiled at Ashpaw. "Two boys and a girl." she said. She looked at them again. What should she name them? The first two- the boys, were dry now, and she could see their fur colors pretty well.

The dark gray kit reminded her so much of their father, Spidertail. He had the same fur color, and Fawnstripe was tempted to name him Spiderkit. It would be too obvious, then. She wasn't sure what to name him yet, so she moved on to the brown kit.

Compared to his siblings, the brown kit looked fluffier and warmer. He was snuggled closely to Fawnstripe's belly, and she knew exactly what to name him. "Warmkit." she muttered, looking up at Ashpaw. She pointed to Warmkit with her tail. "Does that sound like a good name?"

[' Swifty ?!]

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[atrb=background,http://i295.photobucket.com/albums/mm141/Spottedbelly/Aspawmain.png] Ashpaw watched her three kits suckling from their mother. His eyes were soft, and amazingly he felt proud of himself for kitting them without Brindlefoot's help. Then the thought popped into his head again: who was these kits' father? He was a very observant cat, and as he examined them, he realized that the two gray ones looked nothing like any tom in BrookClan. The only one that could have contributed any gray factors to the kits was himself, and he knew he hadn't mated with Fawnstripe. Swiftly, he brushed a gentle paw over the first kit's head. And suddenly he was a little suspicious; why was the queen so content with keeping the father a secret, anyway? He shook his pelt. It was her right to keep quiet about it, and Ashpaw wouldn't start trouble where it didn't need to be. "Oh," Ashpaw mewed suddenly, reaching over towards the herbs he'd come in with at the start of all this. "Eat these," he said, pushing them over towards Fawnstripe with a paw. "They're borage leaves. They'll help your milk remain plentiful." His tail tip twitched as he waited for her to eat them. He lifted his maw to the scent that came from outside the nursery; it smelled like the night was old now. He'd probably be tired all day the next day, but he figured it would've been worth it for the safe delivery of Fawnstripe's three kits. "Warmkit. Does that sound like a good name?" Ashpaw's ears perked up. He hadn't really expected her to ask him for his opinion on the names. Then his left ear flickered as he followed her tail to the light brown tom-kit, the one who seemed to cuddle whenever he possibly had the chance. "Warmkit is a very nice name," he meowed, a smile creeping across his maw. Ashpaw wasn't the sort to show happiness on a regular basis, but he just couldn't help himself this time. The moment reminded him of happier times, when his parents were both alive and Crowfoot was a respectable warrior... A warrior of BoulderClan, but respectable none-the-less. "I wonder what sort of warriors they'll be," he blurted out, lost in thought. As if the thought of Crowfoot made him think of these kits' futures already. He hoped, and silently prayed, that they would become loyal and respected warriors of BrookClan, never to be swayed by the temptations of darker ambitions. WORD COUNT: 401 COMMENTS: Oh, muse. Why must you fail me when it comes to describing Ashpaw's feelings. MUSE: Bad