Born to be great:

Lilytail was currently in a nest in the nursery. The queen was laying on her side, staring off. Her blue eyes were looking out of the entrance of the den, mind clouded with swirling thoughts. Her mate, Duskfall, had died. Her heart was heavy and she never recovered from the trauma and the feeling of loneliness. Another cat that she loved was now up in Starclan. She let out a sigh. Why did the Starry cats above take away her family? Why did they take the love of her life? Was her existence a curse? The white-furred cat flinched at the thought. 'No Lilytail. Your clan certainly doesn't think of you that way.' she thought to herself. The queen sat up to make herself comfortable again when a pain in her stomach let itself known. Lilytail squealed and collapsed. It was the kits! They were being born now! "G-Goldeneye...T-The k-k-kits." she gasped loudly, loud enough that half of the clan now knew. Her body began to push on instinct. Her eyes widened in fear. She didn't know what to do! What is she did something by accident and killed her kits? Her blue eyes teared up as the pain became unbearable. She shook her head and prepared herself. She must be strong! Everything became blurry and heated.

Nose tucked comfortably beneath her paws, Splashwillow's bleary gaze often faded in and out of consciousness as she continued to doze. Countless tantalizing scents still clung to the fresh moss that Sunpaw had brought to the Nursery earlier in the day, filling her restless dreams with enticing prospects. Ever since she had initially retired to the Nursery alongside Tinytip, she often found herself plagued with countless nights where sleep eluded her grasp- but those sleepless nights had only worsened with the death of Duskfall. The loss of her first-born and last living son had stolen away another piece of her and filled her veins with an oddly frigid detachment and unwillingness to face the plethora of emotions that frothed within her gut. The only solace she found during these dark, listless days was in the fact that Duskfall would live on through his soon to be born kits.

Stirring at the sudden, frantic movements of Lilytail, Splashwillow's head slowly lifted from its previous resting place, her movements stiff and awkward. The white Queen's pained noises helped flush away the remaining traces of exhaustion, instead sparking a fiery mix of delight and anxiety that simmered deep within her bones. Quietly pulling herself up from the warm confines of her nest, the calico she-cat paused beside the teary young she-cat and gently placed a paw atop her rippling flank. "I know it hurts," Splashwillow murmured, gaze going soft at the agonized expression on her former apprentice's face, "But trust me whenever I say it'll be worth it."

It was a great start to green-leaf, the season just barely started and there was already a new litter on the way. It was lovely, to say the least. But the process... not so much, there was so much pain involved to bring new life into Riverclan. Goldeneye was glad that her den was situated near the nursery, it was a blessing in on itself so that her arrival times were cut that much shorter. Grasping some borage from her steadily growing storage, she rushed to Lilytails side, quick to drop the borage at her face and start massaging the queen's belly.

"Splashwillow, I want you to clean the kits as they come, I know you know what to do so I won't bother you. Lilytail, eat that borage right there, it helps your milk production. I don't want to risk anything if for whatever reason you can't produce enough." She meowed sternly, closing her eyes and feeling the kits squirm, ready to go. "It feels like four kittens, though I could be wrong. Feel free to push whenever you are ready sweetie." She meowed softly, knowing that it was all up to the new queen.

Lilytail gave a slight whimper of pain but began to put her focus on birthing her kits. She began to eat the borage like Goldeneye instructed. She grunted and whined as she pushed and pushed the kits in her belly out. She thought of the happiness she would experience when her kin were finally in the world. The joy of caring for family again. The relief of never being alone again. Those thoughts lessened the pain. Everything felt like it was moving too slowly. She let out a sigh of relief as she managed to bring a kit into the world. It was a she-kit that was a pretty brown and white coloring. The queen pushed harder to bring a lovely tom out. He was white with dark brown ears and tail. Next out was curly cream-colored tom-kit. He had darker markings on his head. Finally a small, pretty she-kit was now out. She was white with dark brown-grayish ears and tail tip. Lilytail, by then, was tired. She looked over at Splashwillow and Goldeneye with a relieved expression. Two toms and she-kits. Her kin. She waited for the two she-cats to do what they had to.

Despite the Nursery's gracious amount of space, it was still an awkward fit for all three fully-grown she-cats. Wriggling back slightly, Splashwillow only offered a brief nod in acknowledgement to Goldeneye's instructions. Veins surging with the familiar rush of nervous excitement that all mothers were familiar with, the little calico Queen settled back down beside her former apprentice, doing her best to soothe away the noticeable tension residing in the white-furred Queen. Ears pricked as she listened to Lilytail strain and heave, vigorously cleaning each of the small, squirming kits as they came. "Two she-kits, two toms." Splashwillow announced after several more heartbeats of robust grooming, her gaze lifting to Lilytail and Goldeneye as she spoke.

The queen nuzzled her kits and nudged them closer to her. She nosed the youngest she-kit. "She will be called Softkit. She looks as soft as a cloud." Lilytail then nuzzled the curly tom-kit. "His name will be Creamkit. It describes the color of his pelt." She then looked over to the other tom-kit. "This little one will be named Tuftkit. He has many tufts of soft fur sticking up." Then she turned to look at her last daughter. She looked like her father but with a brownish coloring. "This one will be named Goosekit. She has fur that feels like the feathers of a goose." Lilytail rested her head on her paws as her kit began to feed on the milk she was providing. Duskfall was living through all of these kits. She felt her family's presence within these bundles of love. She loved them to death. They were going to pass on her lineage. She gave Splashwillow and Goldeneye a tired smile. "Thank you both for helping me. I have kits to look after now. You're also a grandmother Splashwillow. Time flies fast doesn't it?" she said while making herself a bit more comfortable.

Softkit mewled quietly as she began to drink the milk from her mother. She pressed herself against her siblings in an attempt to feel slightly warmer.

Goosekit was a little larger than the rest of her siblings, wriggling her way towards her mother's belly to suckle the milk from her. She let out a mewl of hunger before latching on, settling down next to her siblings.

Creamkit didn't make any sounds as he was happily drinking the milk provided by his mother. His body shook from the cold but he didn't mind much.

Tuftkit let out a small whine. He wanted a lot of room to himself. The tiny tom began to drink milk while purring gently.