The fallen dew (Open)

The sun glowed hot on the silver pelt of a she-cat as she picked apart and dragged old soggy moss from the elder's den. Her blue eyes glanced up towards the sky as she panted briefly, pausing to catch her breath as she sat and tried to avoid twisting her rounding belly. It was harder than she remembered to change the elder's bedding. She'd already managed Cloudstone's, but the sheer effort of the simple task made her muscles strain. It wouldn't be long before she gave birth to kits that would roam RiverClan freely.

Yet somehow the oppressiveness she felt just kept growing. Since Gingerstripe's introduction and the admittance of her relationship to him came to light, she'd found herself the target of unfriendly stares and whispers. It wasn't unexpected, but seeing her clan act like this stung more than a briar in her eye. She was untrustworthy, disloyal, a traitor. All because she had dared to forgive, to be willing to give the tom a second chance. She had broken the code, but never had she killed. She huffed a final breath before she picked up the moss again and continued the long task of dragging it out to the dirt place before returning back into the walls and fetching some clean moss. Her pelt prickled, but her head was held high.

She had to keep some dignity, if not for herself, then for her kits. The world might be against them from birth if the clan did not accept their father, and she couldn't stand to give any cat any more reason to dislike her for their sakes.

The silvery tabby she cat looked to Dewshine as she seen her moving about. The daughter of Jaystar blinked getting to her paws before she padded over to the queen. Thanks to the meeting she knew about the kits and Gingerstripe but she felt no resentment or anger like some of her clanmates who were glaring or whispering about Dewshine. She made her way over and gave a small smile"need any help?"She asked figuring it must be hard on her. Even if it was punishment no one said that Littlepaw couldn't help. She would help that was no problem.

Dewshine looked up at Littlepaw with a soft smile. Tempted though she was to accept the help... but making that nest would be much faster with it. Finally, she nodded and divided the moss to carry between them.
"Yes, please." She meowed softly with relief, picking up her moss again as she lead the way towards the elder's den to begin fixing up the nest. "This is harder than I remembered."

Littlepaw gave a slight smile watching as she halted the moss and pick up on half. The silvery apprentice with say picked up the other half and looked to Dewshine."it might be a little bit harder then before because of the expecting kits"Littlepaw suggested thinking for a moment as she padded after the queen to the Elders den.  Her tail flicked quietly."So how far along are you?"She asked curious a small smile coming to her maw as curiosity listened in her pale blue eyes.