A New Development (Closed)

Redwing sat quietly under a pine tree in the corner of camp, contemplating the news she had just received. Her burns from the traumatic explosion were still relatively fresh, and her throat was still racked with raspy, smoky coughs. But a new development that she hadn't been aware of had surfaced, and now she had to rethink everything.

She was pregnant.

Green eyes fixed on a pine bough above her, she went through the recesses of her mind to find any sort of memory to equate with this strange feeling. Poppyheart had barely been her mate for a week before he'd... disappeared, but it couldn't have been any other cat. She was bearing his kits. But, after all the injuries she'd sustained, they might not even survive her pregnancy. In her own kithood, her mother had never been there for her. Violetshine was almost constantly sick, and she'd seen her daughter very few times before finally passing away. Redwing had only ever really had her father, and some distant family she'd never really met in RiverClan, and now he might be in danger of dying from his injuries as well. She wanted kits, but... Could she really raise them, alone? And what if the pregnancy killed not only her kits, but her as well?

A shaky breath passed in and out of her aching lungs, filled with subtle emotions- sadness, confusion, loneliness, pain, fear. Where did she go from here?

”Hey, Redwing, are you alright?” Asterspark mewed to his friend, seeming to have appeared at her side from absolutely nowhere. It hadn’t been long since the Carrionplace went up in flames, killing Frog, taking out his right eye, and really burning Redwing and Firestone up. He was finding it very difficult to adapt to hunting, fighting, patrolling, and literally doing anything at all with only half his vision, but the idea of his brother’s mate going through something just as painful never crossed his mind until just now. She had breathed in a lot of smoke from the fire after all, and her paw was pretty badly burnt.

He sat down next to her and gently lay his tail over her back soothingly, and just then he felt how swollen her sides and belly were. His eyes widened, both his good and blinded ones, and he looked up at Redwing in alarm. ”Redwing, what... what happened to your belly? Are you feeling okay?...”

Redwing started in shock as a cat appeared next to her, then relaxed somewhat when she saw who it was. Asterspark, a tom she'd been friends with for a long time, despite his argument with her mate. She was glad they'd managed to still be on good terms, and gladder still that he hadn't died in the explosion at Carrionplace. His eye was looking better, thank StarClan, but sympathy still rose up in her at the sight of his pain. "I'm fine," she meowed hoarsely, "just... thinking."

She was thankful when he lay his tail on her back, not having had much physical contact lately due to her and her father's injuries, Poppyheart's absence, and her... condition. But when he noticed her slightly bulging belly, she winced, remembering why she was so conflicted. An expression of pain was on her face as she stared at Asterspark for a moment, caught in a moment of indecisive agony over what to do. After an eternity, she sighed, and looked away. "Asterspark, I.... I'm pregnant."

”Wait... You’re... what?” Asterspark’s eyes widened even further at the unexpected news. He has absolutely no idea! Redwing went through that entire ordeal with the Carrionplace while she was expecting kits? Well... that certain explained the sickness and nausea he’d seen her feel from time to time.

His heart started with another sudden realization: Redwing was going to be a mother, and that also meant Poppyheart was going to be a father. But wherever he was, he had no idea that he was going to have kits of his own. This thought really tugged at his heartstrings even more. Until his littermate came back — if he ever came back — he would never know he had kits with Redwing, and the queen would have no choice but to raise her very first litter alone.

...Well, maybe that wouldn’t have to be the case after all.

Asterspark leaned in to nuzzle Redwing’s cheek, not in a romantic sort of way, but rather to comfort her. ”Then I’ll help you raise them in Poppyheart’s place. I owe that to him... and to you.”

The way he reacted just cemented her fears. Redwing stared down at the ground, hunching into herself, wishing she could disappear... Until Asterspark leaned in to nuzzle her cheek, and reassure her that she didn't have to raise her kits alone.

Her friend's kindness took an enormous weight off of her hunched shoulders, letting her relax a little bit. Warm tears left her squeezed-shut green eyes, running stressed and relieved down her cheeks. Even though Poppyheart was gone, maybe permanently- though she didn't want to believe it- her kits wouldn't be alone. She wouldn't be alone. But then, another horrible thought occurred. She turned to face him. "But, Asterspark, I breathed in so much smoke. I was injured, before I even knew I was pregnant. What if... What if the kits don't survive?"

Asterspark stood up to walk around the molly, sitting down in front of her so he could look her in the eye. ”Have you forgotten already whose kits you’re carrying? You are a very strong she-cat in your own right, with Firestone’s strength and Violetshine’s perseverance. These kits have that in them from you, and they also have a part of Poppyheart, too, who is unquestionably one of the strongest and most determined cats I have ever known. There is no way these kits will give in that easily. You have to believe that. Do you, Redwing?”

Redwing sighed, thinking it through, and looking down at her rounded belly where she knew young lives were- or at least had been- beginning. They were related to Poppyheart, and hopefully they would have all of his charm and cheerfulness. And Firestone's strength, emotional and physical... And maybe they'd get something from her too. "You're right," she whispered finally. "I just... I just hope they'll be fine. And that Poppyheart will come back." She leaned forward, pressing her head into Asterspark's chest fur.

The tom smiled with a soft purr, nuzzling his friend back. ”Hey, this is Poppyheart we’re talking about here. He’s the coolest, strongest, most loyal cat I know. He’ll come back, you wait and see.” Feeling that the mood was starting to lift again, his whiskers twitched and he softly snickered. ”But in all seriousness, Redwing, I can’t believe you’re gonna have my bro’s kits! At first when you told me that I thought you were kittin’ me. Well, no, technically it’s kittin’ you, you’re the queen here.”