[Ginger]

Frostjaw

nightclan warrior 38 moons

It had been an eventful night of patrolling the territory and making sure that TreeClan's scent did not venture too far into NightClan's territory. 

Frostjaw disagreed with what Darkstar had done by compromising with Lionstar. Compromising with the enemy, especially a weaker one, meant bringing oneself lower to sin. However, he had held his tongue when she had announced to the clan the compromise - he would not jeopardize the lives of his legacies inside of the leader by making her angry. He had stayed calm and collected as always, despite frustration brewing within him.

The chosen should not barter with those who had cast away the light of StarClan.

The large tom shook his head clear of his frustrations as he walked through the camp's entrance, his patrol behind him. He was not expecting to hear a loud yowling coming from the nursery. 

That could only mean one thing. Two powerful bloodlines were about to be united in the flesh of their children. This was a glorious day.

In a few bounds, Frostjaw made his way into the nursery, only to see Darkstar laying in a growing pool of blood, her breathing labored and choppy.

Where were the kits?

Blue eyes narrowing, Frostjaw rushed to Darkstar's side. "What do you think you're doing?" she snapped at him. "Get me Shadowchaser and get out of his way!" 

A flash of anger lit Frostjaw's face, but he put it away just as quickly as it had come. She was speaking out of pain. 

Frostjaw poked his head out of the nursery, Darkstar's blood on the tips of his neck fur. He couldn't help that his long hair got caught on everything. "Shadowchaser, your leader needs you," he bellowed, praying to StarClan that the medicine cat would be there in time to extract NightClan's future warriors out of their weak and dying vessel.

If Darkstar died, she would come back to life... But would the kits?

only in darkness can you see the stars

Fawn & 323 words

[Fawn]

curiosity is not a sin...

...but we should exercise caution with our curiosity

Shadowchaser

Shadowchaser nearly choked on the bundle of herbs clamped delicately between his teeth. Frostjaw's bellow reached him just as he took a pawstep out of his den, having already heard the rising yowl of Darkstar's labor starting. It sent his pulse racing, and he gave Frostjaw a brusque nod, hurrying past the enormous white-furred warrior. Shadowchaser's leaner, short-coated form seemed to meld around Frostjaw like his namesake, feet swift as he plunged into the nursery with all haste.

Blood. He had moved too quickly to see the dark red stains on the ends of Frostjaw's mane, but he saw it now - turning the thick moss around Darkstar's body into a muddy, foreboding hue. Oh StarClan, why is there so much blood? He dropped the bundle at his paws, calling over his shoulder without taking his eyes off of his littermate. "Someone find Smokefur! I want her here." Just in case.

Darkstar was breathing hard as if she had finished a brutal training session, as if she'd vented her anger on some poor sparring partner - but the only blood on the ground was hers. Shadowchaser watched in detached fascination as her stomach rippled with a contraction, just as he'd seen Sootfeather's do so many moons ago. This isn't like last time. This isn't like last time. This isn't like last time. He repeated that mantra as if to negotiate with StarClan themselves, speaking soothing platitudes to Darkstar, who only growled, seeming to buckle down on the strategy of ejecting the kits from her body by force if need be.

"You have to take a deep breath, Darkstar. I know, I know--" he did not wilt at the glare she gave him "--eat these herbs to keep your strength up. I need to see what's going on." Shadowchaser carefully made his way to Darkstar's tail, his nostrils stinging with the tang of blood hitting his palate with each inhale. A kit was stuck, and causing Darkstar no end of pain as she struggled to deliver the largest and the first of her litter.

Shadowchaser's stomach flipped inside out. Hollowcry, watch over us please. "Everything's going to be fine," he said loudly, forcing his legs not to tremble. His sister needed him. Her kits needed him. "Frostjaw, get her a stick to bite down on. This isn't going to be comfortable."

It was only after Frostjaw had gone and returned with the stick that Shadowchaser began the process of trying to extract the kit.

medicine cat of nightclan

Ginger | jk rowling | background image | table by phoenix

OOC: birth order is Big Kit, Soot, Wolf, Ice
And Ginger please add a trigger warning at the top of your post that this birthing thread might be a little graphic.

[Ginger]

Frostjaw

nightclan warrior 38 moons

Frostjaw grumbled at Shadowchaser, but listened to the medicine cat. He had a great deal of respect for the young tom and believed he could prevent Darkstar from losing a life to something like this. 

How could she be losing a battle that didn't even require claws to fight? Was this some sign?

He would ponder that later. Now, he needed a stick. Running out of camp, Frostjaw looked at the bases of all the trees around him until his wandering blue eyes settled on a reasonably sized stick. It was dead, withered, and had burn marks all over it. Maybe this tree had suffered from a drought or even had been struck by lightning. Who knows. No time.

The large warrior sprinted back into camp, shoving a few other clanmates to the side in the process. Darkstar had to survive this. If she didn't... 

No time to ponder. 

Frostjaw bent down to delicately give Darkstar the stick, and she ripped it away from him without even the slightest grace. He narrowed his eyes.

No time.

He looked to Shadowchaser. "Do what must be done. Make sure the strong offspring survive."

only in darkness can you see the stars

Fawn & 291 words

[Fawn]

curiosity is not a sin...

...but we should exercise caution with our curiosity

Shadowchaser

"Do what must be done. Make sure the strong offspring survive."

Frostjaw fully lived up to his name; Shadowchaser wanted to fold his ears back and insist that he would make sure all of his sister's offspring survived (whether or not they were 'strong'), but StarClan saw fit to make him eat those unspoken words. The first kit was large and unwieldy, and Shadowchaser's heart sank with dread as he realized the little one wasn't breathing. StarClan please, haven't we all seen enough death? Chestnut brown paws massaged the tiny being's body, and he licked its tiny, still face, trying desperately to stir life back into what was quickly beginning to cool outside of the warmth of Darkstar's body.

Darkstar moaned, and Shadowchaser's heart cracked.

"L-Let me t-try please."

Shadowchaser's pelt prickled in surprise. Echobreeze! He numbly gave the kit to his mother, hoping the elder she-cat could perform a miracle whereas he could not. Forcing his voice through dry lips, Shadowchaser laid his tail over Darkstar's back, repositioning himself near the base to await the arrival of the rest of her litter. "Everything's fine, everything's fine. Just concentrate on delivering the rest of your children."

StarClan I hope that's true.

The kitting was a harrowing process, and at one point, Shadowchaser felt Darkstar's life slip dangerously close to the edge of death. With the third kit's birth, Darkstar let out a heavy sigh, and went very, very still. Alarm rippled through him like an electric current, and he felt rather than saw a piece of her drift away from him, her newborn kits and the world of the living. I have to do better. He'd given her all the right herbs, he'd done all the things his beloved mentor had instructed him to do. Why wasn't it enough? Darkstar's flanks suddenly expanded as she returned to her body with a gasp. The bleeding had stopped, and three kits were now squirming at her dark belly, eager for her warmth and life-giving milk. Shadowchaser, his emotions like a branch that had been pulled back and suddenly released, pingponged between stress, fatigue, and a kind of sad joy, no matter how contradictory that last feeling was.

Suddenly a weak cry sounded behind him, and Shadowchaser spun around, spotting Echobreeze gently purring over a now softly squirming form. Both she and the kit were dwarfed by Frostjaw's immense force of presence and stature, but Shadowchaser's eyes were bright with relief.

"I think that's all of them. Congratulations Darkstar, Frostjaw," he spared a glimpse to the kits' father, aware that these kits had come about out of mutual agreement rather than love, and prayed they would get the nurturing all kits deserved. "You are now the proud parents of four kits. Could I... make a suggestion?"

Darkstar's ear flicked to indicate she'd heard him, and Shadowchaser, his heart already attached to the first arrival, looked at the wet scrap of pale fur. "How about Dawnkit? For the firstborn."

"I-I think that's l-lovely, Shadowch-chaser."

Their mother's praise warmed him from nose to tail tip, and Shadowchaser caught Darkstar's faint approving snort. "Dawnkit it is." He could tell the new queen was exceptionally tired, and though he itched to speak of the life she had just lost, Shadowchaser knew better than to push on matters that could wait until another time. Instead, he went over to his littermate and gently licked between her ears, purring despite the adrenaline crash making his limbs shake. Thank StarClan, they all survived. Thank you, Echobreeze.

medicine cat of nightclan

Ginger BlooRey DVD (Echobreeze cameo!) | jk rowling | background image | table by phoenix