Go where love is on our side [open]

She wasn't so naive as to have somehow missed the changes that had happened the last few moons... or so she had thought. There would have been no way in all of StarClan that her mother would have allowed her to be raised without recognizing the signs, whether that had been for herself or for helping her clanmates. It was a fate that the warrior of shadow had never thought herself to have ever ended up having, and yet, here she was. She had missed it entirely. There had only been a mild bit of weight she had gained, and that was easily chalked up to the fact that they were in the midst of Greenleaf with bountiful prey. Her disdain for land-prey easily dismissed as her palate further adapting to living amongst RiverClan, and she was simply growing to prefer fish instead. Now, her sudden penchant for toad had been new, but it still didn't raise the fur on the back of her neck. She always had plenty of energy. Always was able to move--even hunting better than before, if anything.

Stars, oh stars above, how she'd been wrong.

Murkyriver was a warrior who was hardly ever wrong. She had strong instincts, a keen mind, and senses that told her simple fact. Yet, as she had been stirred in the early hours of that morning with a restlessness in her belly that wasn't going to be very easily settled. She had even slipped away from Dovetail's side without so much as another word in an attempt to calm the pain that had coursed through her, and it wasn't until she was treading the water halfway out the entrance of camp that she had finally realized what it was. It made her feel so unbelievably stupid to have missed, and even more stupid that she had to force herself to turn around mid-way and drag herself into Pigeonpounce's den mid-kitting.

All had gone well in the end, thankfully, and there had been only one tom who could have sired the four who were just now old enough to navigate on their own. Dovetail. After all, all but one of their pelts resembled his own, with much more white fur than she ever could have had. He was the only tom that she spent enough time around anyways, and again---her mother didn't raise a complete fool.

Milkkit, Wisteriakit, Herringkit, and Loonkit. Four lives that she vowed she would do anything in the forest to protect. Every ounce of her being was dedicated to ensuring they were safe and comfortable to the point of having hissed and snapped at several of the queens for even looking at her kits. Protective to a fault. Part of it, admittedly, was a distraction. They had come as a surprise, ultimately, to both parents... and as far as the warrior-now-queen understood, they were still nothing more than nest-mates.

It wasn't a topic she wanted to particularly confront at the moment, not when she could keep herself enthralled with her young. Loonkit was rather keen on exploring outside of the nursery since she'd gotten steadier on her paws, and Murkyriver wasn't exactly going to stop them. Exploring would be good... it would make them stronger. Even if it gave her a jolt of heart-stopping fear every single time they even stumbled. She was on full alert as they left the nursery, her ears constantly twitching towards whichever kit was nearest, and her one good eye watching whichever was farthest like a hawk. They'd be safe. They had to be, after all. This was home.

"Don't go too far," She ushered them. If it was up to her, they'd all stay close to her belly, and she'd shield them behind the feathered tufts of her tail until they were old enough to be apprenticed. Then, she'd mentor them herself. Ensure they were safe every single step of the way. Though her eye still looked well enough... it panicked her that the vision seemed to fade more with each passing day. It meant one less part of her that could ensure her kits were safe. ... A way she could fail them.

That anxiety didn't seem to even get close to little Loonkit, though, who happily wriggled about into the expanse of camp. There was so much she could see--she wanted to see it all! Nodding towards her mother, the single-striped kit happily trotted about. She definitely listened, and didn't go far, but made a show of stretching on the tips of her paws to sniff towards areas she wouldn't dare go towards without her motherly escort. It gave her plenty to think about and enjoy.

Dovetail's life had never gone exactly as he planned--but even knowing that, he had been completely blindsided by the heavy weight of suddenly becoming a father. He and Murkyriver were close, he knew, but he had never quite sorted out the exact meaning of his feelings towards her. It had come out of nowhere, even to her, that one day she'd simply been moving a little bit slower than usual and the next, they had four kits. Kits that looked an awful lot like him. His head whirled every time he looked at them, and every time he looked at their mother. Kits... his kits. He was their father. He, with his cursed lineage, with his overprotectiveness, with his emotional illiteracy. He had managed to sire these innocent kits. Milkkit, for his beloved mentor. Herringkit, for her RiverClan birth despite the lack of blood ties. Loonkit, for the water birds that occasionally swam in the river. Wisteriakit, named by Murkyriver for the beautiful and delicate flowers that she resembled. They weren't just kits. They were his kits. His and Murkyriver's. All his other fears and worries seemed irrelevant, fading away in wake of this new responsibility. His life turned upside down. Now, the brunt of his protective focus shifted from his siblings to these new beloved burdens. His kits... and their mother.

He'd always enjoyed patrolling the territory, but now he hated it. Every moment away from camp was one in which he did not know exactly what his kits were up to. Especially when they opened their eyes and began to totter unsteadily around, began to speak and to ask questions and to become true members of the Clan. He wanted to always be there for them--but as a warrior, he still had other duties to fulfill, as much as he wanted to drop them and take on the heavy duty of fatherhood as his main responsibility. Ever since the kits' birth, he had taken to completing patrols as quickly as possible. If this annoyed Cindersky and Poppystar, they had yet to tell him; besides, he was likely far too flustered to notice. Because as fully and completely as he'd subsumed himself in the role of a father, he felt far out of his depth. It did not come naturally to him, this new position, and especially when he had yet to exactly know what it was he felt towards Murkyriver. However, that did not stop him from working as hard as he could to spend every free moment of his days with them.

After a patrol that was much longer than he would have liked, Dovetail stumbled wearily through the entrance of camp. Greenleaf's heat wore down on him with his thick pelt. It was often that he wished for a sleeker fur like those born of pure RiverClan blood. He almost always left his fox pelt in his nest these days, and he swam as much as he could to keep cool, but he always seemed to dry off before it could do him much good on afternoons like this. And besides, he couldn't show up to the nursery soaking wet. It wouldn't do to get puddles all over the ground. Clovermottle would yell at him. So he shook off the lingering dampness and gave his chest fur a few quick licks before heading in the direction of the nursery, and--wait. They were outside the nursery? Pale blue eyes widened at the sight of his kits padding eagerly around the open expanse of camp, so far away from their normal safety in the nest. At least they were under the watchful eye of their mother. Still, it was good that he'd arrived now; he wouldn't have wanted to miss this, and it would be good to assist Murkyriver so that she did not have to watch over four little ones single-pawed. He made his way over to the group with a warm smile. "Hello, everyone. I hope I didn't miss anything." Despite the anxiety that prickled at his paws every moment they could even potentially trip and fall, he saw no reason to bother Murkyriver yet again with his worries. He glanced over at her with a nod, and then his gaze dropped down to Milkkit hanging onto her tail a little too tightly. "Did you need something from me, Milkkit? I'm here now." The stocky tom sat down on the grass. Kits... his kits. It still felt surreal.

The news that she was an aunt had come as a shock to Swandive, and when her own patrol padded into camp shortly after the other, she glanced around, half-hoping that she might catch her brother and his kits outside the nursery. She hadn't visited much, not wanting to overwhelm while the kits were young enough to still be kept from exploring camp, but today it seemed that they were outside. Murkyriver accompanied them, and while Swandive was a little wary of the Thunderclan-born queen who had joined them when Swandive had been a young apprentice, Dovetail loved her. For her brother, she would accept it. And her brother was there too, speaking with one of the little ones.

"Hey, Dovetail, Murkyriver." Swandive padded toward the little group with a small smile, "Finally got the kits out of the den, I see. Excited?" Bright blue eyes glanced toward the kits as she settled near her brother.