I Got A Funny Feeling

[Silky]

[atrb=border,0,true][cs=7][bg=A87DE8] Cat: Dustfeather Count: 302 Dustfeather lay in the gorse bush, the lone queen. It was unsurprising that she was the only queen in the clan, but her kits would be born, and then Newleaf would come, so WindClan would be in prosperous times. Her belly wasn't that big, and Leafsong had said there were about two or three kits growing inside of her. Every night Dustfeather had prayed to StarClan for at least one son. Yes, she may never see him again, but if she had all daughters, Drydusk would never see them. Dustfeather shivered as the fur on her spine stood on end. She had a very disturbing thought. What if Shadestar were to kill the kit as soon as it entered camp with Drydusk? He wouldn't kill his own nephew, would he? If he did, Dustfeather would leave her other kit, and go and kill Shadestar herself. Stupid tom. If he had been brave and asked for help from ThunderClan, WindClan or RiverClan, he could have driven away FireClan, and then Dustfeather could have lived with Drydusk for the rest of her life. Maybe, if after Redeyes and his troop were driven away, and Shadestar died, and his deputy made Drydusk deputy, and then the leader died, and Drydusk became Drystar, she knew he'd let her back in a heartbeat. Dustfeather licked her chest. She had seen the moon that gathering night, when she had told her mother to tell Drydusk to meet her there the next night. Dustfeather licked her chest, trying to block out any thoughts of what it meant. She'd heard whispers between Orangestar and Leafsong that it was the Dark Forest. what if they had... Oh, it didn't bear thinking about, no. At least she was going to have Drydusk's kits.

[Dewdrop]

Dainty slunk in the shadows of the camp. She knew that if she was spotted, she'd be sent out to hunt and then punished if she didn't bring anything back. And these cats had such a great sense of smell that they wouldn't need to see her; they could scent her trying to hide as soon as they walked in the camp. Most of the cats didn't like her and would jump at the opportunity to make her pull her own weight; an apprentice had even tried it the other day.

She snorted. Stupid stuck-up Clan cats. They were so idiotic; couldn't they see she was just special and shouldn't have to do it? A little voice in the back of her mind told her she should have to some work but she ignored it. She didn't want to do it, so she shouldn't have to. It didn't make much sense, even using Dainty's twisted logic but she tried not think about that. Anyway, not all the Clan cats were that bad. Dustfeather wasn't really that bad. Just then, she realised what she could do. She could go visit Dustfeather!

Dainty padded over to the nursery and sat down beside Dustfeather, who looked a bit worried. She wondered if she was thinking about the moon on the night of the Gathering. Dainty had been a bit confused about that and a bit worried, but she didn't really think about it that much. The other cats whispered about StarClan and the Dark Forest but Dainty didn't believe in that sort of stuff. She had a reason for Nightstar coming back too.

Obviously, she hadn't died. Someone had seen a cat that looked like Nightstar, which was lying dead. They took it back to camp and everyone mourned and Orangestar became leader. But then she reappeared and Orangestar still wanted to be leader so he told her she had to pretend to be from StarClan. She'd probably visited Twolegs, who cured her wounds and spilled glitter over her, explaining her pelt with 'stars' in it and her woundless body. It was all so simple; no reason to believe in StarClan at all.

She then realised she'd just sat beside Dustfeather and not said anything at all for a long time. "Hey," she meowed coolly. "I thought you might be bored so I came here to keep you company. It can't be any fun just lying here with no one to talk to, right?"

[Silky]

Dustfeather's eyes looked up as Dainty came in. They drooped back down as she lay next to her, and looked up again when she spoke.

"Yeah... It's just a pity my mother and mate won't be here to see the kits.." The tabby meowed sadly. She felt so heavy... Heavy enough to burst. She closed her eyes as her stomach rippled. Oh dear, what did that mean? She'd never had kits before... Was she giving birth? It felt like it, as she hurt a lot. She opened one eye, and watched her stomach muscles ripple. Yep, it looked like she was in labour.

Then the contractions started. She meowed in pain, and lay her head on the floor. "Dainty, please, go and get Leafsong..." The tabby meowed as she felt another contraction. It hurt so much. her mother had never told her as a kit just how hard it would be to have them. The tabby meowed in pain again, and felt the head of the first kit in her birth canal. She pushed, her eyes closed, concentrating. She felt a surge of relief as the first kit was born.

With the few ounces of strength, she lifted her head to look at the newborn. Good, one that looked like Drydusk. She picked the kit up, and licked it. It was a boy... A son... That was good, Drydusk could have him.

Another contraction rippled through her, and she felt the second kit in her birth canal. She pushed again, and this one was relatively easier. It came out, and she looked it at. Ah, good, it looked like her. She picked it up, and licked it. Dustfeather had a daughter. "Acornkit..." she mewed. The other kit would go to Drydusk, and he could name it, but just as a cover... "Greykit..." She purred, licked them. She nudged them to the curve of her belly, and they began to suckle. It was a wondrous feeling, having her kits suckle her. She closed her eyes, and looked up at Dainty.

"Dainty, I have a favour to ask of you. Next gathering, please tell that ShadowClan she-cat who goes by the name of Poppyclaw 'Meet her tommorow'. She'll know what it means. Tell her i have a son and a daughter too, if you could..." She meowed gently, licking her kits.

[Dewdrop]

Dainty stood still, shocked as Dustfeather gave birth. She looked at Dustfeather and her new kits and couldn't help feeling a little bit jealous. She had a mate who loved her and kits she would love. None of them would be killed because they were unwanted and they would grow up strong, loved and energetic with the blood of the forest running through their veins.

She couldn't help but wish she too was forestborn. She would fit in better and be better at hunting and all that rubbish. Plus she wouldn't hate providing for the Clan and such which the rest of the Clan seemed to love. But Dustfeather was saying something now, about talking to Poppyclaw, telling her to meet her and about her kits. Something like that.

Dainty nodded. "If I go to the next gathering, then I'll be sure to tell her that." She looked at Dustfeather's kits and sighed. "I wish I had kits. Those kits are gorgeous." She wasn't really pretending, but she hadn't really seen many other kits and just assumed they were horrible things that made strange noises. But now she saw these ones, she realised how nice they were. She didn't really, really want her own but she decided that having kits were nice.

"Uh, I guess I'll go get Leafsong now; you need your kits checked over, right? Just in case, you know. Not like there's anything wrong with them."