Redshade was asleep, but she was still twitching. She knew she wasn't in StarClan with Spiderice, in fact she was aware that she wasn't dreaming at all. She felt bulky paws press down on her side, pressing into her as they —
"Redshade! Wake up!"
Redshade blinked sleep away from her eyes, letting out a fearsome hiss from the cramps that hit her stomach.
"Are you still having a bad dream?"
As she felt more stings of pain and shards of piercing agony rip through her underbelly, she threw out her paws, unsheathing her claws into the mud below her. She twisted her back, painfully aware of the recognisable pain she was enduring. She opened her jaws to ask the medicine cat where his more experienced mentor was, but by the time the words came to her mind she was roaring hisses through her lips again. By the narrowed eyes of Oceanpaw, who's fur was prickling on edge, Redshade had a hope that he knew what he was doing.
She felt her heart race as the apprentice whipped around and raced around the corner of the den, only to return with three borage leaves. Redshade slammed her eyes shut as she felt piercing thorns and claws rip through her underbelly, and she yelled when she realised. Watching Oceanpaw as he raced to her rear, she flipped sideways trying to get herself at a better angle to help her push, but only brought herself even more pain by getting leaves caught inside of one of her many wounds on her flank.
"Stay still!" Oceanpaw demanded, his little grey tail flicking. "You don't need an infection."
Redshade wanted to bite back at the apprentice, to tell him not to be so bossy to a kitting queen, but she knew better than to bother. Feeling a sharp twist below, she sent her claws digging down her sides, trying to mask the pain she was feeling for something else. She let out a defiant roar before feeling a rush of relief when she felt fur at her ankle. But she knew that the moment of tranquility would not last for long. She unsheathed her claws again, letting out a yowl as she felt the same pain hit her rear, only for a second until she felt the second bundle of fur exit beneath her, before she realised, the agony had left her.
She said nothing, instead she sheathed in her claws and turned fast to her side, gasping for breath as she saw Oceanpaw advance to her side holding a dark coloured bundle of fur. Redshade felt her eyes glimmer with joy as he placed the kitten down to her side to feed. "Thank you Oceanpaw," she gasped at last. "Pricklenose has taught you well."
Oceanpaw dipped his head with a beam. "Are you feeling alright?"
"This time was much less painful than my last kitting," Redshade meowed. "Have I given birth to a tom or a she-cat?"
Oceanpaw turned his back and bent down besides the kitten. Whilst Redshade licked the small, wet pelt with her tongue, Oceanpaw lifted the kitten gently with his nose for a second before letting the bundle sit down on all fours again. "This is a tom."
Redshade closed her eyes in joy as she pressed her nose into the kitten's flank. She saw Oceanpaw leave her sight from the corner of her eye, only to return this time with a second piece of fur, this time even darker in colour than the last. "Your second kit was a she-cat," he continued, placing down the bundle besides Redshade, licking her flank and nudging her in the direction she needed to be in to suckle from Redshade's flank.
"Congratulations," Oceanpaw purred. "Have you any names in mind?"
Redshade felt her heart sink for a second, remembering how she had loved the name Heatherkit, and was ready to name her daughter that the minute she saw her. She closed her eyes in attempt to shake away the thought, reminding herself that now was the present, and StarClan had given her a second chance to raise a family with Rocktail. She longed for his presence beside her, congratulating her for enduring the pain to give birth to her kittens, and giving her countless name suggestions only to let her choose the official ones. She heard a rustle coming from the lichen at the front, and for a second she thought that her mate had returned. She lowered her nose a tad disappointed when Pricklenose walked in, his eyes huge. He immediately stuck his nose into the air, obviously shocked by the scent of blood that filled the nest due to Redshade's kitting. Redshade lowered her head as he jerked around the corner, freezing mid-step as his gaze lowered onto Redshade and her two kittens. Redshade simply returned his gaze with a beam, and Pricklenose's eyes simply widened. Redshade watched as he turned back to his apprentice, a glimmer in his eye and his jaw dropped. "Don't tell me you managed a kitting queen all by yourself, Oceanpaw."
The grey apprentice wafted his tail around his rear embarrassed, looking away at Redshade with a glint. Amazed, Pricklenose's gaze turned to Redshade, who simply bent down to lick the black kitten, her eyes set on her fuzzy pelt. "Oceanpaw was very prepared, he knew everything right down to the borage leaves."
Pricklenose sat down, chuffing speechlessly. "As if I've had two surprises in the space of a morning, I'm exhausted!"
"Two?" Oceanpaw purred, his eyes glimmering as he blinked adoringly at his mentor. 'They must share such a great bond,' Redshade thought to herself.
"Come with me Oceanpaw, Muskstar's dealing with him at the moment."
"I'll be back in a minute Redshade!" Oceanpaw purred, flicking his tail excitedly. Redshade watched as Pricklenose stood aside, parting the lichen with his tail so his apprentice could duck down and slide under and outside of the den before following him through the exit and disappearing past the lichen as the leafy vines swung past and left Redshade and her two newborns alone in the quiet.
Redshade breathed in the air, enjoying the aroma of borage leaves and tansy as they tingled up her nostrils, as if welcoming her to her new life as a warrior of CederClan. She looked down at her kits admiringly, a feeling of new euphoria rushing over her. The grey kit's eyes were closed and his tail was short and stubbly, and Redshade realised that he had a lot more chubbiness on him than the other kitten did. The black she-kit on the other hand was slimmer with a shimmery pelt, and a longer tail which wrapped around the grey kitten like a vine. Redshade used her hind paw to shift them up closer towards her, her not close enough to prevent them from suckling. She knew she would need to take some borage leaves soon to help her milk flow, but she knew she couldn't care less at the moment. She still felt bloated even with the kittens sucking beside her, so she knew that they would be well fed for the time being.
The vines at the exit split again and a ray of green light hit her eyes she saw from the corner of her eyes a bulky grey figure step inside. He froze as his eyes made contact with Redshade and the two bundles of fur which sat snuggled beside her stomach, his jaw dropping from his mouth. When Redshade looked up to see who the newcomer was, she felt overpowered by ebullient energy. "Rocktail!"
"I've missed you so much," the grey warrior exclaimed as he approached his mate. Gently acknowledging the new life beside her stomach, he advanced towards her shoulders, gently stepping over the kittens before lowering himself besides Redshade, licking her cheek lovingly as he settled.
"Did they hurt you?"
"Let's not worry about me," Rocktail meowed, brushing his head gently against his mate. "Have you just given birth?"
"Yes," Redshade breathed joyfully.
"And Redshade, what on earth happened to your pelt?"
"I'll explain later," the crimson cat responded with a acknowledging grunt in her voice. "What matters is that we now have a family."
"Of course," Rocktail meowed, pressing his nose to Redshade's. "And I'll do everything to make sure you can stay here with them."
"Oh Rocktail," Redshade purred, looking away and trying to dull out her eyes to fool her mate. "You don't have to."
"What do you mean?" Rocktail pressed urgently, yet softly. "You need to be here with us."
"I know," Redshade meowed. "But there's no point trying to persuade Muskstar when she's already held my warrior ceremony."
"She hasn't!" Rocktail's head thrust back in astonishment. She could tell by the look in her mate's face that he truly was speechless to come home from the rogues with such surprise.
"She has," Redshade meowed, dipping her head into Rocktail's pelt. She was disappointed that his scent had turned into the scent of the rogue group, but she knew that his aroma would come back soon, once he had spent more time with Redshade and the kits in the camp. "Come on," she meowed. "Help me name our kits."
"Are they she-kits or toms?" Rocktail purred, laying his head down on Redshade's shoulder lovingly, his gaze staying on the grey tom's pelt.
"The black kit is a she-cat, and the grey kit is a tom."
"The grey tom looks like an ash cloud," Rocktail murmured. "What do you think of Ashkit?"
"I think Ashkit is beautiful," Redshade meowed. She knew that Ashkit wasn't the kind of name she had in mind, but she didn't complain, as the way her mate said the name made him sound so beautiful.
"What about the black kit?" Rocktail continued.
"She looks like a bat," Redshade murmured. "But I don't think Batkit suits her."
"What about Timberkit?"
Redshade narrowed her eyes at the kit, trying to imagine her having the name in which Rocktail had suggested. "Timberkit seems too complicated," she complained, light enough that she wouldn't annoy Rocktail.
"What should we call her then, Blackkit?" Rocktail smirked. His head rose as Redshade's eyes widened and her tail flapped. "I love that name."
"You're serious?"
"Yes. Think of her warrior name, Rocktail! She would just sound so suspicious!"
"Very well," Rocktail meowed without a single complaint. "Then we shall name them Ashkit and Blackkit."
Redshade beamed, looking up to Rocktail admiringly. She let her tail wrap harder around her kittens, and licked Rocktail's nose
"Do you mind telling me what did happen to your pelt?" Rocktail meowed, his eyes narrowing slightly in concern.
Redshade felt a lump form in her neck as she heard the question. She shuffled her paws uncomfortably, pulling back the tips of her claws so they would not unsheathe in stress. "I caught Sparrowstorm just fox-lengths from the camp," she breathed. "I attacked him. I couldn't trust him after what he did to Emberfall. I didn't mean to go as far as I did, but I had to kill him."
Rocktail sat shocked for a moment. Redshade could feel from the fur pressing on her shoulder that Rocktail had tensed up, each hair standing on edge. "I see where you're coming from," he meowed weakly. "I'd just never expect you to..."
"I know," Redshade mumbled. She looked down to her paws, not daring to meet Rocktail's eyes. "I never thought I'd do something like that, but what else could I have done?"
"Chase him out?"
Redshade felt her heart sink and her stomach churn. "I can't take back what I did, Rocktail. Please just know I did what I did for our safety." She took a pause, her sight turning to the exit where the lichen was. "All of our safety."
"I trust you," Rocktail meowed. Redshade felt as if the fear inside of her had melted as her mate pressed his nose into her pelt again, warming her. "You'll heal soon enough."
"He did put up quite a fight. Worries me to think how he would react to an entire Clan."
"He won't have to now," Rocktail reminded her gently. "Our Clan won't ever forget the bravery you presented."
Redshade felt her eyes water and her jaws part in a yawn, followed by her ears flopping gently. "I'm exhausted after kitting," she meowed weakly.
"I can't blame you," Rocktail purred. "I'll let you rest. Although I wish I could show the furballs off to the rest of the Clan."
"Pricklenose and Oceanpaw probably are," Redshade reminded him lightly.
"You're right. I can wait."
"Very well," Redshade purred, licking Rocktail's cheek fur.
"I'll let you rest. Come and find me later."
Redshade let her mate remove his nose from deep in her pelt, and nodded to him with a beam. "I shall."
She watched as Rocktail bent down to lick her cheek before licking the head of both of the kittens before turning his back and advancing towards the lichen exit, turning back to beam at his kin before stepping outside.