[♛ 𝔽𝕒𝕓𝕣𝕚𝕔𝕒𝕥𝕚𝕠𝕟]

S

unwind shrieked as another spasm of pain overtook her. The stick splintered between the calico queen's jaws, and her heaving sides rippled with the effort of delivering her first litter. Dawnkit attempted to wriggle through the entrance, the usually quiet kit was bristling with both excitement and alarm. "Are the new kits here yet?" She mewled, her small paws tripping over the moss that Sunwind had already disturbed. Her mother Brindleface, a rather tired and old queen, ushered her out of the nursery. "Can't you see that Sunwind needs space?" She snapped, her eyes sparking with annoyance. Dawnkit bristled. "I can't see anything!" She complained, her grey pelt glistening in the golden morning light. "Good." The queen snorted. "Why don't you go play with Yewpaw?" Though Dawnkit knew Yewpaw wouldn't entertain her for even a moment, she turned tail and darted away from the nursery, not wanting to annoy her mother further by insisting she stay.

When the ruffled queen re-entered the nursery, Sunwind gave one final yowl and collapsed, panting, in her nest. Brindleface glanced behind her at the entrance to the nursery. Deerstorm was nowhere to be seen. She snorted. Typical tom. "Two toms and a she-kit!" The announcement brushed away her thoughts of toms and their frequent absence and uselessness. She approached the exhausted queen, brushing her tail sympathetically along her flank. "Well done, Sunwind." She whispered gently, settling down beside her friend. She looked at the litter. They were unusual, you would hardly suspect the three wet bundles were littermates at all. One black tom, a little calico like her mother, and a brown kit that looked the spitting image of his wretched father. "They're perfect." Sunwind whispered, her eyes glazed and tired as she drew her tongue over the three tiny newborns. "Have you got names?" Brindleface asked. Sunwind looked over each little kit, her purrs as loud as thunder. "Ravenkit, for the little black tom. Duckkit, for his brown pelt. And..." Her eyes fell on the final kit, a small she-kit who was wriggling more vigorously than her brothers. Her heart dissolved at the sight of their small folded ears and delicate paws. "Robinkit." She purred. The other queen chuckled slightly. "Your little fledglings." She joked, bumping her friend's forehead with her nose.

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