Early Flames (open needs Dovesight)

FORESTFIRE
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Forestfire had slumped towards the Nursery right after her clan reached camp. She had no idea why she wanted to go to the Gathering so close to when she was due, but it had been done, and she was ready to sleep. She couldn't wait until her kits were born, which shouldn't of been until a couple of days later. She found her mate in the Nursery, waiting for her, and she flopped down in the nest next to him, resting her tired little head on the fluffy flame-pointed tom and pulling her paws closer to her stomach. "They're so close..." She heard his voice mutter, and she purred into his fur softly.

It was comforting. She thought it would be like this all night... then...

She felt weird. She felt sick. Her hazel eyes blinked open as her body started to tense. "E-Eagletuft." She mewed softly, but the tom was already leaving to get Dovesight. What was going on? She wasn't supposed to give birth yet! She held her tail to her belly, feeling her insides twist. She could only hope Eagletuft could get Dovesight in time. Was this normal? She didn't know, despite being a permaqueen for quite some time this was her very first time giving birth... Was she even giving birth? This felt so weird... It hurt so much...

FORESTFIRE
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Forestfire was unprepared for the pain she'd go through for these kits, but finally, five little bundles of kitten-joy were at her side, and she nosed them gently. As she reached the last two, however, she felt into a frozen shock. She tensed up, and nosed them again. Eagletuft moved to her side with a worried glance, and she nosed the last two kits once more.

They weren't moving.

Why weren't they moving?

One had started moving for her stomach and the others were breathing healthily... But the last two were... Still. Completely and utterly still. She flattened her ears, scooping up the two cold kits in her paws and cleaning them, trying to get them warm, as if it would warm their cool hearts into beating for her, as if it would bring them to the full energy she expected them to be.

Oh, how she sobbed. "What's wrong with them?" She cried. "Why won't they move? Why are they so cold?" She continued to groom the lifeless bodies of the kits. Unable to accept that... They were gone. They never had a life, and they never will. "Help them, Dovesight!" She hissed. "Help them!" She felt Eagletuft's fur as her curled around her. "Forestfire, dear... They're gone." She spun her head around to the tom tears streaming down her face. "No! They can't be gone!" She closed her eyes as he pressed her head to his and she continued to sob. "This was my first litter... it was supposed to be perfect..." "I'm sorry, Forestfire..." Mewed her mate, but she either couldn't hear him, or wasn't listening.

Blinking away tears, she turned her focus to the two kits lying limp in her paws. One looked just like her, while the other was a dark-pointed cat. "Well... We have to name them." She sniffed. "A-all of them. Including these two." Eagletuft's gaze was clear to her. He loved them too, he wished the kits had survived the birth, but the large tom was never a crier. "Hopekit." She muttered through her tears, nosing the limp tortoiseshell. "Wishkit." Mewed Eagletuft. His tone gentle as he nosed the darker-pointed limp kit. Now she had three left. They were alive, they were moving. "That one... Looks like you, Eagletuft. You name her." Eagletuft nodded. "Gingerkit. For obvious reasons." He nosed the tiny flame point and she pushed her slightly more towards her body. "Torrentkit... Because of how
fast he moved for my belly." She laughed softly, nosing the dark tabby tom. "And Flowerkit. Because of how soft her fur is..." She nosed the final, completely ginger kit.

Making sure all of her three surviving kits were feeding at her stomach and completely okay, she turned her dulled hazel eyes to her stillborns, Hopekit and Wishkit. "They'll be watching over their littermates." She heard Eagletuft's assuring mew. But she could only stare at their lifeless bodies in her paws.

It felt as if she was frozen in time, staring at her lost kits. "Wh... Why couldn't you help them?" Maybe it was the rush of emotions one felt after losing a kit, but Forestfire wouldn't of normally accused Dovesight of such a thing. Eagletuft shook his head at this. "Forestfire, dear, it isn't her fault, calm down. You're just upset. She couldn't of done anything to help them." The scared queen buried a sobbing head into the unmoving bodies of her lost kits, unable to think, and barely able to breathe through her tears.

Having kits can be one of the most beautiful moments in a cat's life, but it's also the first moment of many kit's lives. The largest kit in the bundle squiggled over her siblings to get to her only source of food, at least the only one she knew of. "Gingerkit." Beautiful.