Out of the fire [Open after Ink posts]

A silver she-cat was curled in the depths of the nursery, the sleek form wrapped around a little kit with dark sable splotches. Little Sootkit, she called him, a son born after the horrors of the Dark Forest. He would grow up amongst StarClan believers, save and protected from the worst that the world had to offer. Licking him clean, Ivyfall purred adoringly, his little squirming form providing her with much needed love and settling the broken shards of her heart after losing her daughter, Frostfall. Sootkit could never replace all the children she'd lost, but he kept the worst of her demons at bay. When she snuggled up to him, she could almost pretend that everything was okay again.

"Welcome to RiverClan, little one. I'm happy to meet you." She whispered, not wanting to disturb him.

The tiny kit crawled closer to his mother in an instinctive search for warmth and milk. As soon as Ivyfall’s greeting reached his small ears, the newly named Sootkit let out a soft meow as a response, even if he still was too young to really understand what his own mother said.

Once he found a comfy spot on his mother’s belly, he started to eagerly feed, completely oblivious about the terrible darkness whose sharp claws had barely missed the young kit, allowing him to live in a world lightened by the gentle stars that now watched over the clans once more.

Tawnypaw padded into the nursery, sitting down. A look of surprise crossed her face as she saw her new sibling. "He's.....he's beautiful. What did you name him?"

"Sootkit." Ivyfall replied, gently grooming the suckling kit to help keep him warm and his body stimulated. He was so small. To her, he looked so vulnerable compared to dear Tawnypaw who was nearly warrior sized now. "I thought it suited him. Poetic too, born after the Dark Forest razed our clans to the ground and killed so many of us."

Sootkit drank until he was full, his mother’s tongue and warm fur making him feel safe and loved. Stretching a bit, he curled up, his own tail tickling his nose and making him sneeze right after, though his sneeze sounded more like a cute squeak than anything else. After rubbing his nose with his paw he pressed himself against Ivyfall, relaxing and starting to grow sleepy.