Pretty Please, with a Cherry On Top [closed]

It was well into morning over the forest; the sounds rolling in from ThunderClan's camp clearing were chatter and pawsteps as cats went about their business. In the nursery, though, light glimmered gently through the entrance, creating a peaceful scene. In her own nest, Dacedream slowly stirred, the sounds of her loved ones drifting through with a crispness and clarity that they hadn't held in moons. The tortoiseshell queen's green-hazel eyes slowly, blearily blinked open. They stared for a moment at the far thatch wall of the nursery before blinking again, and then they turned to the nest in which she had just slept.

It was empty.

Truthfully, it was not an uncommon occurrence. That had become the norm since the kits had become aware enough of their mother's dour disposition to choose to go elsewhere. Other queens often kindly took them out of the nursery first thing in the morning. A quarter moon ago, Dacedream would have preferred it. She had always felt a heavy, guilt-laden relief whenever they were gone and she could weep over their love that she felt she had lost or killed despite being surrounded with it. This morning, however, was very different. Dacedream didn't feel numb about their routine, nor did she feel alarmed at the absence of the four not-so-little-anymore bundles, but she did feel a longing to seek them out - a desire to see where they were, what they were doing. A desire to leave the den and be with the kits - her kits.

She didn't question it. Slowly, with Mossbloom and the others queens' and her nestmates' help, Dacedream had begun to recover. The haze she'd been in seemed to be lifting. The tortoiseshell queen stepped into the sunlight and immediately she was flooded with a sense of relief. She saw her Clanmates moving about, prey in the fresh-kill pile and dens patched for any new snow. It was... home. Dacedream took in a deep breath of the musky, brisk leaf-bare forest air and let it out in a sigh, a small smile twitching her lips.

Then she spotted a very, very familiar pale ginger tabby pelt and large white paws, and a real, true smile sparkled on Dacedream's features. Cherrykit, Dacedream thought with a purr, and though some lingering toxic growl in the back of her mind disdained the kit, the newly-awakened queen did not. The thick-furred tortoiseshell stepped forward, unaware of how her pelt was a bit unkempt and dusky from her extended time in the nursery. She approached Cherrykit and ventured in a husky, loving voice, "Good morning, dear. Did you sleep okay?"

Cherrykit had been basking in the sun, soaking up the little warmth that the weak leaf-bare sun offered. She licked her paw and swiped it over her ears. She looked back at her mother as she approached, and gave a little trill and a smile as Dacedream spoke. She then rose to her paws and rubbed her cheek against her mother's, purring gently.
"Good morning, mom! I slept well, thank you. Are you feeling better?"

Dacedream felt a delightful but unfamiliar warmth spread through her as Cherrykit's head swiveled around and their green gazes met. Only a few days ago she had felt shame and sadness whenever the little ones looked at her; now the she-cat only felt a sweeping sense of adoration at how Cherrykit's soft, pink little lips stood out in the pale fur of her muzzle when she smiled. The she-kit stood, and Dacedream's plume of a tail rose up in a cheerful curl over her back as her smallest, most beautiful tabby-striped daughter (Vixenkit was the most beautiful calico-and-tabby-striped daughter, of course) greeted her with an affectionate nuzzle. "Are you feeling better?" the little kit asked, and Dacedream pressed her muzzle deep into Cherrykit's plush kit-fur for a moment before pulling back with a soft smile.

"I think I am feeling better, Cherrykit. You're so sweet for asking," Dacedream answered warmly. She licked her kit's striped forehead and then said, "I'm going to have to visit the den later today to thank Mossbloom; I think she must have figured out what was wrong. She's a wonderful medicine cat." The tortoiseshell queen tilted her head slightly, looking over Cherrykit with a content expression.

Cherrykit was filled with happiness at the knowledge that Dacedream was feeling better, and gave a happy trill at the news. While she didn't know why her mother had been so unhappy, she knew that something had been wrong, and was very happy to know that she was recovering. At the mention of visiting the medicine den to thank Mossbloom, she looked over towards the fern tunnel, as if the medicine cat were standing there, before looking back at Dacedream.
"She really knows a lot about herbs, doesn't she?"

Though Cherrykit was the smallest, she was just as clever as the rest. Dacedream was pleased she knew where Mossbloom's den was and wondered vaguely who had showed her around the camp - perhaps Duskrain, or her father Houndheart. Dacedream gave Cherrykit a bright nod of affirmation. "She does! She knows a lot about a lot of things," Dacedream chirped, and for a moment a tiny little purr rumbled in her chest - a ghost of the purr she used to have, but still stronger than it had been for moons. She touched her nose to Cherrykit's muzzle briefly and asked with interest, "And what about you, Cherrykit, what sorts of things do you know? Do you like herbs? Hunting? It's good to try a little of everything; our paws can learn so much." She perked her tufted ears, green-hazel eyes sparkling.

Cherrykit purred as her mother touched noses with her, and she weighed her options about the paths she could take.
"I don't know a lot about herbs, but I do know about worms! Apparently my extra toes are good for digging. I want to be a warrior though, I want to hunt and fight to protect ThunderClan!"
With that, she took a step back and reared up on her hind legs, boxing at the air with her big paws for a few moments before falling back down onto all fours.
"I can't wait to be an apprentice and learn cool things!"

The queen watched her kit's thoughtful expression for a moment before she gave a heartfelt response. The mention of worms made Dacedream grin. I'd bet my whiskers that was Duskrain's doing, she thought, and she nodded in approval of the comment about her paws. "Big paws can help with hunting and fighting, too!" Dacedream assured her kit, and she leaned back with a coo of delight as her daughter reared up and batted at the sky. The queen nodded cheerily. "It will be your time before you even know it, love. On the bright side, you don't have to wait until you're an apprentice to learn."

The husky she-cat stood with her tail-tip flicking happily, and she offered, "I can teach you things, too. Things like how to walk a little more quietly, even with our big paws." Dacedream didn't have extra toes, but she did have the wide webbed feet present in RiverClan cats.

Cherrykit pricked her ears at the mention of learning how to use her extra toes to her advantage, and sat down, tilting her head to the side, prepared to listen. She wanted to know as much as she could, to be the best warrior she could be. It had never occurred to her that her big paws could be a hindrance, too.

As she placed her offer, Dacedream was relieved and pleased to see Cherrykit's attention immediately focus in entirely on her. The tortoiseshell queen smiled and nodded once with approval and satisfaction at her daughter's attentiveness. She'll be a wonderful apprentice; her mentor better appreciate her, she thought certainly. It wasn't every kit that would sit still for a lesson. Dacedream would have to make the most of it - after all, she herself had tried hard to be good, but she lost her focus as a kit quite often! Dacedream looked down at her pale-tipped toes on the end of her wide paws. "Sometimes when I'm excited, I don't pull my claws in all the way." She flexed her dark claws a little and looked at Cherrykit, adding, "Sometimes I snag leaves or moss or things other cats wouldn't 'cause I have big paws and my claws make them even bigger. Do your claws ever do that?"

Cherrykit held up one of her paws and flexed her claws in and out, thinking. She tried to think of any specific ways to mitigate the issue she had with her big paws.
"Yeah, sometimes. It's kind of annoying. I'll try to fix a bit of our nest and my claw gets stuck, and I end up ruining what I've just done."

Dacedream listened to her kit's response, watching Cherrypaw flexing her own claws as she thought. The tortoiseshell nodded with understanding, setting down her own paw. "I know exactly what you mean, dear. And it looks like your claws have very good little hooks - great for fighting, inconvenient for kneading!" Dacedream meowed. "The biggest thing to remember is that, because of these hooks, you and I can't lift our paws straight up - we have to move them a little forward when we step so that we slip right out of anything that hooked around our claws." She gently slid her paw forward as she raised it, letting her foot move in a gentle glide. She took another step, slowly to demonstrate, where her paw moved slightly forward as it lifted.