Swanstrike was just coming back from a bit of exploring outside the camp (to answer Flickerkit's myriad of questions about the area), when she saw a commotion over by the Nursery. Oooooo! Was it finally time? Was Fernheart kitting? Excited and curious, the large white queen popped her head into the log to find-
Oh.All was not well. The scent of kitting was in the air, but it was old and stale, having started some time ago. Fernheart was on the ground and pale with... oh sweet stars. Was that...? Oh goodness no. It was. Swanstrike's heart plummeted and it took her a moment to notice the other cats. Rookshadow was beside her, grim but determined. The scent of sweat and fear clung to the air. Boltfang's eyes darted up to meet hers, but then went back to his mate with distaste. Clearly Swanstrike was not the cat he had been hoping for. Speaking of which...
"Where's Raven? Why did no one get her?" she asked, worried.
She was quickly informed Rookshadow had gotten Raven and that she was
supposed to be here. This stumped and alarmed the queen for a moment. It was unlike Ravenface to dawdle when it came to kitting. Certainly the silver shecat did not like it, but she lived for the moments she could help others with her nasty herbs. Back in the mountains, she had even had whole kit-bundle just for emergencies. She kept it with this funny hollow nut-like thing that she would use to- But Swanstrike was getting distracted. Why hadn't Raven come? Why was-
"Was she sleeping?" the words came out first as a whisper. Then snapped in horror as the absence made sense.
"You can't just yell at her to wake her up! That shecat sleeps harder than a sack of rocks! No wonder!"Without another word the huge white queen tore out of the log and raced over to Raven's special 'Medicine Den'. There she was. Asleep in her nest. Snoring like a bullfrog. UGH! Not wanting to waste time with conventional means, Swanstrike simply bent down and snapped her jaws around the napping Healer's innocent tail.
That woke her up.
The silver shecat was cataloging herbs. In a massive den. Full of rows upon rows of endless herbs, all stashed away, all patiently waiting for her to come and inspect them. Some were good. Some were old. Some had to be thrown out and new ones gathered. On and on and on the den went, until far past what Ravenface could see with her eyes. Oh, how marvelous! It was such a beautiful sight, the shecat almost felt a tear gather in her eye. She happily hummed to herself as she worked. This was paradise right here. No problems. No cats. No worries. Just her, and her herbs, all of her glorious herbs. It was perfect. Just per-
"YOWWWWW!!"The silver shecat yowled and snarled as she leaped up, claws at the ready to light into the thing that had snapped down on her tail. She met Swanstrike's wide, deep blue eyes.
Oh great.
This can't be good and it looks like you've got to deal with it. Good morning! Or, rather, evening as it were."Fernheart. Kits. Let's go!" That was all the queen said before grabbing the smaller cat by the scruff and running out of the den, carrying Ravenface like a kit.
"Good evening to you too," she hissed groggily as she was forcibly hauled across half of the camp. She doubted the cottonheaded queen even noticed.
Entering the Nursery was a jerky blur as the massive cat foisted her in. She thought she saw Fernheart. And Rookshadow. And the other queens. And some curious kits.
Well, hi fuzzballs. What are you doing here? Nice to see you too. Except the silver Medicine Cat (sort of) did not even have enough working brain power at the moment to speak the snarky greeting. She was too shaken (literally) by the incredibly uncomfortable ride over here. Gah. Her scruff was going to have teeth marks! Then Swanstrike dropped her to the Nursery floor with a disgruntled 'oof!'. Ravenface muttered to herself darkly as she picked herself up off the ground and dusted herself off. She could actually
feel the massive shecat shifting from paw to paw behind her.
"Alright. Alright," Ravenface yawned, still waking up.
"What's going-" The shecat froze as she met her brother's gaze. All hint of play vanished.
"What happened?" she demanded sharply, shoving Rookshadow out of her way so she could get a better look at things. Fernheart was kitting. Now that she was awake and paying attention she caught the tell-tale scent in the air. One kit lay on the ground. One non-moving kit.
Fermentation. This was bad.
"Swanstrike, you know what my kit pack looks like. I keep it just inside the den wall along the side. Get it," she snapped. The log shook as the big white mountain hurried out to get her things, but Ravenface had already moved on mentally. She got to work.
"Hey, Fernheart. Whadda ya say we make you about 5 pounds lighter, huh?" she joked as she started to run her paws along the shecat's stomach. The kits were already well along. There was little she could do now
-not. There was always something to do. The thing about medicine, is there was never enough time for all the things that could be done. Even if Ravenface had gotten here the moment she started, there still would not be enough time in the Healer's opinion. However, she would rather have more-not-enough than less, and this case was definitely less.
"Alright, gents. This is going to be quick and dirty. And not at all in the fun way," she told them, only half joking.
"If you've got a weak stomach, scram. Everyone else I want lined up against the den wall. No one goes near Miss Ferny here except me or Bolt. And before I hear any protesting," she shot a pointed look to that Rookshadow cat,
"know he is only not moving because I know if I tried he'd claw my fur off and, no offense, Ferny, but you ain't worth it. Now shoo. Go on, cats. Weak bellies out. Strong on the wall. Chop chop. Where is-"Swanstrike barreled in, dropped the folded leaf pouch and a wooden... something, and hastily made her exit. She had been around Raven for kittings-gone-wrong before and knew the drill. The silver cat wanted space, most of all. How could a cat push something out if they couldn't even breathe? Honestly! -At least that was the way she saw it. The silver Medicine Cat (sort of), fished around with the plants for a second, ignoring the rest of the word and idly stoked Fernheart's belly, easing the kits on their path. It did not do much medically, but it soothed queens and the kits inside them too. Made her job loads easier.
"Ah. Here we go. Just what I (the doctor)
ordered," she proclaimed with a grin, pawing the obscenely large wooden... something. Honestly, most cats would have no idea what this was. Ravenface herself, to be honest, was not entirely sure what it was. As far as she could figure, it was some sort of freakishly-large, abscenely-mutated ocean nut. She had found it as a kit on the beach one day and realized it was great for holding stuff. It used to be hollow with a creamy white milk inside. Now it was just hollow and perfect for a variety of uses. Never found another one like it. She tended to stash it in whatever home she made for herself most recently. It made carrying herbs much easier. Currently, it was filled to the brim with different grasses and flowers. She pawed the object over to her brother.
"Help me out here. I need the blue flower with red thorns out of that and I need it yesterday," she informed him sharply.
Now, she refocused on Fernheart. This time she smiled, and it was actually calm and soothing. No, really. It, strangely enough, really was.
"I know it's scary, and I know it hurts," she mewed,
"but I promise you and your kits are going to be just fine. You're strong. You've done this before. You know what to do and if anything goes wrong, hey, that's what we're all here for right?" She handed Fernheart a sturdy stick and three bright red berries in front of her.
"Eat these, and claw or bite this to your heart's content. Trust me. It will help."Most cats only knew Holly Berries as dangerous poison, assuming they knew them at all.
Most cats were idiots.
Ravenface, on the other paw, was not an idiot. That was how she had lived so long even though she was a cat that specialized in poisons. Holly berries themselves were not poisonous unless a cat went mental and decided to scarf down a whole bush for breakfast. They were, in fact, highly beneficial, increasing focus, adrenaline, and even muscle control -if taken in a small doses and never close together. Three berries would give the queen an edge. She would be more in tune with what was going on around her and have a better control of her body, not to mention the extra kick of energy that would let her ride the pain rather than be trampled under it.
The berries only took moments to work before...
Ravenface saw the shecat's eyes dilate and grinned.
"There we go. Now, let's get this kitting underway, shall we?" She went to work, coaxing or light-heartedly teasing Fernheart to keep her focused, and letting her brother continue searching for the flowers. He hit the bottom of the hollow thing pretty quick. The first kit -the first
real kit- was only half way out. Just as he was about to turn on her, furious (there had been no blue flowers with red thorns in the whole container. It had just been to get the tom out of her fur for a while so she and Fernheart could work), she plopped a healthy, wiggling black and white kit that looked just like him, at his paws.
"Yell later. Lick now," she instructed, winking at Fernheart.
"It's a beautiful shecat. Well, as beautiful as it can get. It looks like my brother after all," she teased lightly, a purr in her voice.
"We're almost done. Rook- ah- Rook-y," Ravenface decided on when she could not remember the shecat's name. She would call her "Rook-eye" or "Rook-face" but some cats had surprisingly thin skins when it came to teasing and Raven figured now was not the time to get her brother's mate's friend mad at her.
"Are you ready for the next one? It'll come any second now. You get the pleasure of cleaning it. Congrats."Ravenface's voice was light and teasing, but she eyed Fernheart closely. One other thing about Holly berries. Their effects did not last too long. One, two hours tops. It had already been a while. She couldn't say how long exactly -something that irked her surpremely- but they did not have too much time before the heightened effect wore off. And after than Fernheart was going to crash. Hard. It would be fine. She was just going to be incredibly tired and sleep for half a day, at the least, but they just needed to get the kit out first. Soon. And by soon, she meant...
now.
