< someday we'll rule the w o r l d >

[phobia]

Fear is what keeps us alive.

The grass rustled as Phobia led his mate frantically to a clearing.
She was kitting.
Phobia glanced back for Siren but all he saw was the thick, tall grass. He was going to be a father, even though he didn't really feel like he was ready. Why had he met her? Why had fate brought them together? Did some one want him to be a father, getting pounced on twenty-four/seven?

"Come on, Siren," he meowed, panicking. "We're almost there." He finally reached a rock; he remembered this rock. The clearing was only a tail-length ahead. He flicked his tail through the grass, signalling to his pregnant queen that he was coming to a halt.
This...was going to be perfect and horrible all at once.
Someday these kits would be strong, clever warriors of BoneClan. Shard would be one...the others would get named...later.

It makes us fear death, so we strive to live.

[Siren]

The black and brown queen jogged after her mate, since running was impossible for her at the time. She was in pain, oh yes, but she refused to give in to it. With glistening white fangs gritted, Siren followed Phobia.

She arrived in the clearing shortly after he did, sides heaving from the effort. Oh, she had decided she hated being like this. It toned down how perfect she could be. Her mind was set on no more kits after this, though she could possibly change her mind later. She collapsed on the ground, wincing slightly, then turned to her mate, anger and pain burning in her eyes.

"... Go. Go away! ... Leave now .... Or I'll render you... Useless..!"

Every word was an effort, but she managed hissed out the threat. No, she wasn't mad at him, she just really didn't want him around her at the moment. After she had kitted and she was no longer in pain, her anger will have cooled down and she would be safe to approach.

But at the current moment... It would be best to high-tail it out of there.

[phobia]

Fear is what keeps us alive.

Phobia's eyes filled with fear as Siren hissed at him. He was a bit saddened that his perfect mate was so angry, but he felt that it wasn't at him. "Of course," he breathed. "Yes, leaving, now!" He ran out of the clearing and didn't stop until he was a few fox-lengths away from the rock that signalled the clearing.

Soon he would come back to find his kits and his mate, all fine. They'd all be perfect. She'd be even more perfect.
He sat, but the fear from her death-glare re-entered his mind and he ran awkwardly even further from the clearing that Siren was kitting in. "Gotta...get away from...her..." he huffed until he was a good way away from the clearing, but within hearing distance.

It makes us fear death, so we strive to live.

[Siren]

She watched him leave, sides heaving in the gasping breathes she took, and suddenly the pain peaked, causing Siren to yowl in pain as new life passed into this world.

-x-x-

The new mother licked the top of a small fae's head. This one was Shard, and she had the pelt of her mother. Her mothering instinct was still kicked in, and she allowed all her kits to suckle.. But that would not last for too long.

Siren like her amber gaze drift over her newborn kits, a gentle smile on her maw. There was Shard, the one who held the same fur colors as her, a female... The others had no names, but there was a second female, a little black one. Also among the litter of four there was a little black and white male, and a marble tabby. She purred as she looked at them, rather content for the moment.

[shardsoul]

s h a r d

A rasping tongue came over her head and she stretched her neck; she enjoyed being groomed.
And when Shard was happy, everyone was.

Shard pawed her way closer to Siren's lean head and curled up between her forlegs. She was almost invisible; her brown and black fur blended in with her mother's. She was a perfect copy of the perfect she-cat.

--xx--

Unlike Shard, the black kitten was further away from her mother's perfectly shaped face.
She did not want to be groomed.
She did not want to be taken care of.
She was the more solitary of the litter.

Her small and lean body, blanketed with ebony fur, did not squirm to be closer. She was already suckling beside her brother; the marble tabby. She was nameless; Siren and Phobia would name her, however; she had faith in them.

n a m e l e s s

[phobia]

Phobia stepped into the clearing to see his beautiful mate with four kits. One was curled up between Siren's forelegs - he barely even noticed Shard, since she was so much like her mother. There were two toms, and then another little black fae further away from her mother's head.

"Oh, Siren...They're..."

He couldn't find a word to describe them. Perfect? Wonderful? Beautiful? Nothing was right. Only Siren was truly perfect, and Phobia nuzzled her head fondly. He then bent down even more to nuzzle little Shard.

[Onyxdart]

The little black and white tom nuzzled against his mother. Unlike one sister, he wanted attention. He wanted love. He was not happy simply being left alone, and he let everyone know.

Well, everyone who could hear him, admittedly not many, as he mewed, just once, and nuzzled even closer to his mother and his siblings, the ones he knew but didn't know were there.

And then he was quiet, and still, apparently happy enough as he'd squirmed over next to his mother's elbow, and could feel her rattling purr.

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[Siren]

As her mate came, it seemed that the mothering instinct disappeared from the queen. She glared at the other, unnamed kits. They were worthless. Siren cradled Shard in her forepaws, and looked coldly at Phobia.

"They're imperfect, Phobia. All but Shard. Shard is the only one of worth from these... Useless bundles of fur!"

She spat her words with a vemonous voice. She stood up and backed away from the unnamed kits, the imperfect kits. They held no value in her eyes. Hellfire burned in her eyes and she turned and stared at her mate.

"I am not caring for those... Things! We are leaving."

Siren narrowed her eyes and drew up her lips in a snarl.

"Now."

If he disobeyed her wishes, then he would feel the sharpness of her claws, that was for sure. But for now she knelt and picked up little Shard gently in her mouth, holding her by the scruff, and being careful not to hurt the little bundle of life, the perfect little kit. And with this, she turned and started to walk away, then shot Phobia and warning, then disappeared through the grass.

[phobia]

Phobia's eyes, wide in horror, flitted from the place where Siren had disappeared through the grass to the kits she left behind. How could she be so heartle - oh wait. It was Siren, of course. Her perfectly cold ways sometimes frightened Phobia, but if he didn't follow her...he'd get hurt. Physically.

He licked each kit quickly on the top of their little heads, then disappeared through the grass.

[Onyxdart]

Startled mews rent the air as the little tom realized her was alone. Alone? He moved- bumped into another small body- and kept moving- bumping into another. He stopped. He wasn't alone?

But where was his mother? And his father, he'd just been here too, the little kit thought. He mewed again, but it was halfhearted. They were gone. Huddled against the last thing he'd bumped into- his brother, though he didn't exactly know that- he curled himself as tiny as he'd go. Why had they left?

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[Kestrel]

The wind howled desolately over an empty world.
Kanji knew the sound; she could hear each subtle twist in pitch that told her how the land lay. The long grass stalks that brushed her shoulders were dry, and the sandy earth underpaw was hot.
All these things told Kanji that, though the sun was now masked in cloud (she could not feel the sun's rays directly), it had not been an hour or so before.

Kanji enjoyed her walks. She knew how RisingClan's land felt beneath her paws; as long as she kept inside the boundries, it did not matter that she was blind.

But now...a new sound. Mewling...kits, three of them. Scared kits.
Kanji stood wavering at the edge of RisingClan territory. The kits were not far beyond, but who knew what else was out there? What pitfalls were sunk in her path?

But those pitiful kit-cries keened on and on. Soon, some predator would find them.
Kanji's mothering instincts were strong, though she had never had kits of her own before.

She padded slowly forward, placing each paw delicately on the earth before pressing down. Slowly, agonizingly slowly, the cries drew nearer and nearer.

The wind shifted.

The kit-scent was suddenly strong in Kanji's nose. Yes, three kits--newborns.
With growing confidence, Kanji navigated her way through prickly briar and across bumpy, uneven ground to stand beside the kits.

She nosed them comfortingly. "Nagoya ka, ara n kagiri jou i rinban auto sate."

[Batty]

The little tom felt his mother leave, but never really wondered why. He felt his father lick his head, he quite liked the affection, too bad it didn't last. He mewed, though didn't hear it.

N he felt his bother bump against him and emited a startled cry, but became silent quickly. Now his bother was huddled beside him, and the little kit enjoyed the warmth. He attempted at getting closer to his sibling and started to purr.

He even continued purring as something nuzzled him. Didn't really know what it was, oh well. It brought breif comfort. He lifted his head weakly and looked towards where the nuzzling came from, though he could not see. He mewed once, then put his head back down, and returned to being warm next to his brother.

[shardsoul]

She too felt their mother leave, but not much changed as she had been laying where only her back had touched Siren. Her brother bumped against her but she didn't let out any noise; only her little brow furrowed and her little tail twitched. But his warmth soothed her.

And then something nudged her. She brought her head around, but her eyes were still closed; she couldn't see. Everyone in this scenario was vulnerable.

[Onyxdart]

His brother's purring was redoubled by the little black and white tom, though the sound was to him still silent. He felt something nuzzle him... was it his mother? He didn't think so. Another quiet mew, and he turned his head. Of course, he couldn't see either. But he liked being warm, and he was kind of warm just now curled up with his brother.

The ghost of a thought that they should be by his sister floated through his mind. But to get her, he'd have to leave his brother. It was quite a conundrum for such a very young kitten.

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[Kestrel]

Kanji sniffed each kit bemusedly. What kind of queen would leave her newborn kits here, alone?
Likely, she was dead. That was the explenation Kanji chose to believe; it was easier to cope with than the idea of a queen who outright abandoned her kits.

But how to carry three kits to camp...?

"Ano...?" Kanji muttered, frowning. She could manage maybe two, but three?

Resigning herself to a long and laborous trek, she lifted one kit and carried it across the RisingClan border; then she returned for the second, and finally, the third.

As the silver-sheened she-cat stood anxiously over the three kits, a faraway shree reached her keen ears.
Kanji threw her head back. "Brightgate!" she cried joyously.

With a flutter of wings, the kestrel landed beside the she-cat.
"Brightgate, you carry one kit home?" Kanji mewed tentitively. Such a journey would be dangerous for so young a kit...but Kanji could not carry them all at once, and they could not walk; better to risk a journey than leave a kit alone.

Brightgate agreed, and moved to tenderly, carefully lift a kit with sharp talons.

"Be full of care," Kanji cautioned.

Brightgate snapped his beak in frustration.

Kanji herself moved to pick up two kits. "Fly low," she murmured.