"Stonefeather! Stonefeather come quickly! Minnowflight is kitting!" Stonefeather whipped his head around quickly at Maplefern's anxious cry. "Hold on, I'm coming! I need to get raspberry and borage leaves. Run back and comfort her, and make sure the kits are out of the nursery. Have word sent to King Kestrelfall." Stonefeather said as Maplefern began to run back to the soon-to-be mother. "Beechpaw, come here. Today you will learn about kitting. I'll get the herbs, but you should go get a stick from outside of camp, one that's large enough to bite down on with your maw." Beechpaw simply nodded and went off.

In the nursery, Maplefern breathlessly told the nursing she-cat, "Fernshade, take your kits and exit the nursery please, your brother won't want them in the way. Also, tell the King for me please." Fernshade nodded, "Come on little ones, you heard her, time to exit the nursery. Rainfeather, you should stay to see what happens, for when it is your turn." The light gray and white pawed cat nodded. Frondkit, Thornkit, and Branchkit padded after their mother. "Mama, we aren't going to leave the nursery forever, right," a some-what worried Branchkit asked. "No, of course not! Only until Queen Minnowflight is done kitting," the she-cat explained, "Now, I'll leave you with Eaglefeather while I tell the king. Stay here until he arrives young ones."

The mother of the three kits left, and went to tell King Kestrelfall of the news. "When's dad gonna get here," an annoyed Thornkit asked. "He's gonna be here soon feather-brain! Well, do you think he will, Branchkit?" Before the young tom could respond, a cheerful laugh sounded behind them. "Father you're here!" Branchkit chirped excitedly at the sight of the dark gray tabby. "Well, I didn't want to keep you waiting too long my sons! While the nursery is occupied, I can tell you a story of one of my warrior adventures," Eaglefeather proposed to his two moon old sons. "Sure, but can it be about a battle? I love hearing those ones," Thornkit stated. "Yeah, tell us the story about how you fought off three rogues all by yourself!", Frondkit exclaimed. "Well, I wasn't all alone," he rolled his eyes playfully, "of course I did have help. Can you guess who helped me?" The three thought until Branchkit broke the silence, "Mother helped you, didn't she?" By the look on their father's face, they could tell Branchkit was correct. "Why of course! Now, I'll tell you the story..."

At the outside of the nursery, a long-furred brown cat with a fluffy cream mane and underbelly paced nervously. King Kestrelfall looked the part of any expectant father. His bright green eyes widened in concern, "What if something goes wrong, Fernshade! I can't loose her, you know-" the tom never got to finish as Fernshade cut him off. "Kestrelfall, nothing will go wrong! In there we have a skilled medicine cat, and his apprentice. We even have two nursery cats to comfort her! Everything will be fine." She gave him a confident look, and he smiled weakly at that. "If- if you're confident. You went through this before, so, of course you would know." To that, the she-cat stiffened a bit, but still responded, "Yes, yes I would know, and I know she will be okay."

"Bite down on the stick, and push," Stonefeather advised. "It's okay, it will be over soon," Maplefern comforted the queen. The kitting she-cat gave a shriek, and then a wet lump of fur came out. "Beechpaw, watch what I do." The medicine cat carefully grabbed the kit by the scruff and started to lick it's fur the wrong way. "You continue for me, I'll check if there are more." After prodding the panting gray and white queen's stomach, he found no more. "Is-is there only one?" The nursery cat asked, slightly muffled due to the stick in her maw. "You have a beautiful she-kit, Minnowflight. Here, I'll put her by your belly, and here's some borage. Eat it so you will have better milk," Beechpaw told her. "Alright, Maplefern, make sure not too many cats enter please. I'll tell the king he can come in. When he leaves, Fernshade can bring her kits back in. Make sure there are no loud noises, she is still tired from the pushing," She nodded, and he left the nursery to tell Kestrelfall that he can come in.

"Minnowflight, my darling, are you alright? You gave us her; a beautiful little princess." She chuckled softly and whispered in response, "I'm just a bit tired. What should her name be?" After a minute of thinking, Kestrelfall's ginger ears perked up with a suggestion. "I think we should name her Poppykit, after your favorite flowers. But, it's just a suggestion, we don't have to-" Minnowflight put a paw up to his mouth to silence him, "Poppykit is a wonderful name." They smiled while snuggling together. "I sadly should be going, there is a whole clan to run." The she-cat nodded in response, and signaled with her tail to the entrance. He left, but smiled back before leaving.

Fernshade returned to Eaglefeather in time to hear the rest of the story that the tom was telling their kits. "Wow, father, that was a great story! I want to be just like you one day, and- and-" before Branchkit could finish, Kestrelfall told the parents they can bring the kits back to the nursery. "I best be going now kits. We must have fresh kill on the pile everyday," Eaglefeather explained to his sons, then exited camp. "Mama, is it true the new princess was born," Frondkit asked excitedly. "Yes dear, she was, and-" she was interrupted by Branchkit's excited mews. "Is she pretty?" Fernshade answered him with, "Well, I didn't see her yet, but I'm sure she is, and I bet-", again, she was cut off by her third kit, Thornkit. "Who is going to be the future king with her?" "Hmm...well, we don't know. Only time will tell." the mother cat answered with amusement. "Come now, let's go to the nursery." I wonder how being a king would feel like, Thornkit thought.

They reached the nursery, and Fernshade told her kits to wait at the other side, away from Minnowflight. "You don't have to keep them away, the kits can see my dear Poppykit. And before you ask, I'm perfectly fine and I'm not too tired." With that Fernshade simply nodded and she went to her kits. "Listen, Minnowflight is letting you see her kit. Now, be respectful, don't ask too many questions, and whisper." The three kits nodded and padded off to see the princess. All three were lost for words when they saw her, until curious Frondkit broke the silence. "What's her name," he asked the mother, to which she replied, "Her name is Poppykit, young one." The three kits were silent once more, until Branchkit broke it again by accident. "Wow...she sure is beautiful!" When he saw his brothers looking at him and giggling, he realized he accidentally said it out loud. Heat rushed through his pelt and he glanced away, but he wasn't done speaking yet. "Do you- do you think she'll like me," Branchkit asked seriously to the queen. "Well, I'm sure she will, you are a smart young tom indeed." He raised his head triumphantly at that, and then Thornkit said something. "Queen Minnowflight....when will she become queen, like you?" The she-cat thought how to word the answer. "One day, as for now, she's our princess. It's getting late, and I think you three should go back to your mother and sleep." The three nodded, and went off to their mother.

"Well...what do you think? Is she as pretty as you would think she is Branchkit?" He let out a huge smile and yawned, "Oh, way more beautifuller than I could imagine." Their mother smiled tiredly and said "We should go to sleep. It's your bedtime." The three yawned in agreement. "Goodnight, my sweet kits," the older cat cooed. "Goodnight mama," the three kits sighed. They all went to sleep, dreaming wonderful thoughts expected of young kits and their mother. One kit, or two, dreamt of Princess Poppykit; ominous fates which their young minds would forget upon wakening.

So, that was the first chapter! I hope you all enjoyed it! Please leave feedback, and let me know who is your favorite character thus far. Thank you for reading this first chapter, and I hope you will enjoy reading many more!