#rabbitshade

Moon 14! Very kit focused, I love Aster's babies you have no idea.

I am getting the hang of drawing kits...ignore the ugli

Prev

Next

“Good catch!” Nightdrift spoke, muffled, around the young rabbit in his jaws as he rounded the hill with Kestralspot and Flydapple. 

Snowstripe’s eyes shone brightly, her chin raised high, or as high as she could raise it with the weight of her own large rabbit. 

“The Clan will eat well today,” Kestralspot observed, licking her lips. 

“Hawksplash will be happy,” Nightdrift put in. “She has been craving–” 

A yowl broke the air, cutting him off. Nightdrift recognized the voice instantly, and his fur stood on end as his heart leaped into his throat. Forgetting the prey entirely, he set off in the direction of the camp, Kestralspot, Flydapple, and Snowstripe hard on his paws. 

When he neared the entrance, he burst through without slowing, and didn’t bother to pick the thorns from his pelt. He ran straight for the nursery, blinded by fear, until at last Rabbitshade stepped into his path and he had to skid to a halt. 

“Is she okay?” He panted, trying to see past the deputy.

Rabbitshade chuckled. “She’s doing just fine. Stars, and I thought I was worried!”

Nightdrift looked around. “Where’s Mintripple? Where’s Coldpaw?”

“In there with her. Coldpaw’s just gathered freshly soaked moss and a stick.”

“A stick? What does she need a stick for?”

Another yowl split the air, making the toms flinch. 

“She needs it for that,” Bugsplash commented from where she sat near. 

“I-is that normal?” Nightdrift didn’t take his eyes off of the nursery, but it was dark inside, and he couldn’t see anything. 

Rabbitshade nudged him. “I’d be more worried if she wasn’t making noise. This is natural, almost every she-cat goes through it, and…most make it through.”

Nightdrift couldn’t hold back the whimper that escaped from his lips. 

“She’ll be fine,” Bugsplash cut in. “Don’t listen to Rabbitshade, he’s as skittish on the inside as you, just better at hiding it.”

“Mother!” Rabbitshade huffed. “Excuse me if I’m worried about my sister.”

….

“You’ll lose your paws if you keep pacing,” Bugsplash broke into Nightdrift’s thoughts. He blinked at her, then behind him, surprised to find a small dent in the earth where he had been walking. 

He sighed, sinking into the ground. But he realized quickly that he was too impatient and worked up to rest, and he stood up again and began to pace in a circle. “How long is this supposed to take?” He growled in frustration. The sun was beginning to sink behind the hills, its orange light casting long shadows across the camp. Mintripple hadn’t moved from inside the den. Coldpaw had emerged only to collect more moss, but didn’t say anything more than “I’m busy” and “she’s fine so long as you let me work on her.”

Nightdrift slid out his claws and tore up the grass. 

“It can take time,” Bugsplash replied. “In fact, I’m fairly sure your deputy here–” she gestured to Rabbitshade sleeping against her shoulder– “and mate took longer. I was exhausted by the end of it, so don’t overwhelm Hawksplash when you can finally go in there, got it? Just lay with her and take in the sight of your kits.”

Kits….Nightdrift had been so worried about his mate, he hadn’t given himself room to truly think about becoming a father. Of course, he had thought about it every second in the two moons leading up to this moment, but he was going to be a father now. Any second, little lives would enter the world…his blood..his little ones…

“Hey.”

Nightdrift nearly jumped out of his fur. He spun around, facing Mintripple. She smiled at him, and he felt an instant wave of relief. She nodded inside. “Come meet your kits.”

Kits…His kits…

Slowly and suddenly dazed, Nightdrift stepped into the den. He was so in awe he was almost numb, and began to worry that he was too out of it to properly take in the sight of his little ones, but the second his gaze met Hawksplash’s–exhausted and pained, but delighted--the numbness dissipated into the air as if it had never existed to begin with. 

“Two kits,” Hawksplash told him as he neared. “One handsome tom, one beautiful she-kit.”

He settled against her back and looked at her belly, where two little kits–two little, precious kits–suckled. They were black just like their mother. Little tiny fur over their little tiny bodies…that had their little tiny paws that wriggled directionless and little snouts that sniffed and little mouths that mewled. 

Nightdrift was so happy, he trembled, and buried his muzzle against Hawksplash’s cheek to steady himself. “They’re so precious!”

“They better be, I worked hard to get them here!” Hawksplash joked. “What should we name them?”

“I…” Nightdrift shook his head. “StarClan, I don’t know. I can hardly think…”

“Me neither,” Hawksplash agreed. 

They continued to watch their kits drink and then sleep for a while longer before Nightdrift decided, “Sheepkit.”

“I..” Hawksplash blinked, eyes shining with grief. 

“She was your sister, and my best friend. It’d be nice to honour her.”

Hawksplash smiled sadly. “I'd love that.” She reached out a paw and brushed it softly against the tom, who was nosing his way under her leg. “For this one, then. The tom.”

Nightdrift nodded, feeling a little light-headed. “What about the she-kit?”

Hawksplash thought for a moment, then shrugged. “StarClan, how do cats do this so quickly? I just want to sleep.”

“Then sleep,” Nightdrift responded, licking her cheek. “We can pick something tomorrow. Heh, it’s not like they’re gonna talk back for a while yet.”

Hawksplash chuckled, a half-hearted giggle that was weakened by her exhaustion. Her eyelids fluttered for a moment longer before she rested her chin on the edge of the nest.

Nightdrift licked the top of her head, gently so as not to wake her. Then, eyes wide with wonder, he leaned over his mate’s side to touch his nose to both little bodies. “Welcome to the world, my kits.”

=================

NEXT

--EDIT: forgot that because Nightfly is trans, he would be born as a gal. Fixed!

--FINALLY got to these stories after the poll!

--Nightdrift's best friend as an apprentice was Hawksplash's sister, Sheeppaw. She died before she could finish their training. Though they were already friends, their grief made them grow especially close, eventually leading to Night and Hawk's romance. He's also good friends with Rabbitshade.

--Bugsplash and Rabbitshade have similarities to how Hawk looks, so I decided that they're related! I also like the idea of brothers-in-law being buddies.

--Can you see where Nightfly gets his anxious behaviour from?

--Rabbitshade (deputy) also gets very anxious, but is much better at hiding it and keeping a calm composure, something that helps him with diplomatic stuff and Clan debates. BUT if you give him enough stress, he gets very tired, which is why he fell asleep.

His design was also made before! You can see him HERE.

--I'm very tired so please excuse any spelling stuff.

Leader line: Oakstar- Larchface (Birchface)- Goldenspots (Frecklewish)

Deputy line: Beetletail (Beetail)- Briarwing (Sweetbriar)- Thrushfang (Thrushtalon)- Ryepelt (Seedpelt)

Most of the details surrounding the end of Oakstar’s reign have been lost to history, but described below is what is still known to the Clans. Following the death of Oakstar’s son and heir Larchface fighting RiverClan over Sunningrocks, Oakstar named a kit, Larchkit, his heir, believing the kit and his siblings to be Larchface’s children. Their mother was a warrior by the name of Mapleshade, and while her younger half brother was ThunderClan’s sole seer, she did not claim descent from any bloodlines. It is unknown where the idea that she was the mother of Larchface’s kits came from, but it rapidly spread throughout ThunderClan, and even to the other Clans. When Ravenwing, the Clan’s seer, revealed the truth of Larchkit, Toadkit (Petalkit), and Patchkit’s heritage, however, Oakstar threw Mapleshade and her children out of the Clan. Unfortunately, we do not know how Ravenwing learned the truth. Perhaps Mapleshade confided in him, her little brother? We do not know. All three kits drowned that same day when Mapleshade attempted to seek shelter in RiverClan with their real father. Seeking revenge, Mapleshade murdered Ravenwing, Goldenspots, and her RiverClan mate, before dying herself. Much about Mapleshade is lost to us, including her motive for lying about her kits’s heritage. It is one thing to hide the fact they are half Clan, but another entirely to say they are the deceased heir’s children. We may never know the full story.

Following the death of his only other relative and child, Goldenspots, Oakstar named his deputy Beetletail his heir and began to train him for the responsibility. While deputies do prepare for the scenario when they assume the Clan’s leadership, Oakstar went above and beyond to make sure his Clan would survive. It was during this period that, Beetletail’s nephew, Thrushfang, had a litter of his own- two daughters named Doekit and Deerkit. Soon after their apprenticeship, Oakstar took Beetletail’s sister Briarwing as his mate, and, to the surprise and joy of the entire Clan, had another litter with her, Volekit (who would eventually become Volefoot (Mumblefoot), and was deputy under Doestar until his death) and Spiderkit (who would become Spiderwhisker (Squirrelwhisker), and would be the subject of a great scandal).

A terrible leafbare followed this happy news, however, and brought sorrow with its snow. Deerpaw died first, followed by Ryepelt and Briarwing in quick succession. Oakstar died next, and Beetletail the day after, but that awful leafbare did not stop, and Thrushfang passed soon after. Finally, the deaths abated, and left three competing heirs in its wake. Doepaw was an apprentice well on her way to warriorhood, the only surviving descendant of Beetletail. Volekit and Spiderkit were barely four moons old, though they were Oakstar’s own children. The succession was determined by a single fact, however: Oakstar had named Beetletail his heir, and had never gone back and made Volekit his chosen heir. So, at the time of Oakstar’s death, Thrushfang was his heir, and with Thrushfang’s passing, the leadership passed to Doepaw. Doepaw was made a warrior that very day, and Doecloud became Doestar, and the Clan moved on.

Leader line: Doestar- Harewhisker (Harepounce)- Poppyheart (Poppydawn)- Speckletail- Rabbitshade (Rabbitleap)- Falconsong (Fallowsong)

Deputy line: Volefoot- Spiderwhisker- Dovefoot (Windflight)- Juniperfoot (Daisytoe)- Littleshine (Littlestep)

Doestar was the mother of two daughters, Harewhisker and Falconsong, and each molly had or were expecting children. Harewhisker had three young warriors in Poppyheart, Speckletail, and Rabbitshade, and Falconsong was in the nursery expecting a litter of her own. Doestar, however, announced one afternoon that neither child would succeed her. Rather, a dashing young tom by the name of Foxheart (Pineheart) would be her heir. For many years, the reasoning behind this decision was unknown, questioned and debated over, until towards the end of his life during the reign of Bluestar, an old and frail Goosefeather told his apprentice about his vision. Goosefeather has been plagued by messages from StarClan his entire life, and when he received a vision showing a flame-coloured tom leading the Clan, he told Doestar, who acted quickly and interpreted it as a sign that StarClan desired Foxheart to succeed her. Volefoot died soon after this decision, killed fighting a fox that was threatening the Clan, and Doestar made Foxheart deputy. Shortly after, Falconsong had three healthy sons in Sparrowkit, Birchkit, and Flykit. Another terrible leafbare, complete with starvation and sickness, befell ThunderClan, and Doestar, too, passed. Foxheart became Foxstar, and the whispers of prophecy murmured in his ears. 

Moon 1! Nothing too interesting yet

Prev

Moon 6! Don't you love old woman yuri?

Finding a lot of loners and kittypets lately, but Alice..257 moons??? woaw also totally forgot to write that Flamestar returned to camp with a bow collar whoops

Text: Flamestar and Rabbitshade have become mates! Asterhiss recovers! Rigel waits at the border for a certain cat? Asterhiss, Rigel and Slipskitter rescue a kittypet, Alice joins! Alice, he/him, 257 moons, compassionate, learner of lore.

Prev

Moon 17! Let's hear it for Nightingalepatch!!! And Branchcall and Songspeck finally make another appearance wow,

But wow, Hawks man...

(minor spoilers in tags)

Prev

Nightfly's family in A Night's End!

Bugsplash is the mother to Rabbitshade and Hawksplash. She's an elder when they're born, hence the greying fur and spotted ears (I searched elderly black cat and I guess spotted ears is a thing for oldies).

Rabbitshade takes after his unseen father, which is why he looks nothing like her besides his pads, which are her colours paled.

He gets very anxious, but is much better at hiding it and keeping a calm composure, something that helps him with diplomatic stuff and Clan debates. BUT if you give him enough stress, he gets very tired. He needs a nap after stress.

(yes I copied that from the first story).

Rabbitstar enjoys comradery immensely. Even as a leader, he joins patrols often, enjoys food and laughs with Clanmates, and on cold nights sleeps with them in the Warriors' den.

He was a leader at the same time as Alderstar!

Hawksplash is the mother to Sheepsorrel and Nightfly, who are mostly twins colour-wise, only Sheep's colours are slightly hued more to his mother's colours, which is especially noticeable on his tongue.

After Nightfly dies, she becomes the adoptive mother to his kits/her grandkits, which included Pipitfeather.

She and her mother are one of the few cats in WindClan with long fur!

Nightdrift is Hawksplash's mate and Sheep and Night's father. He's easily anxious and can never sit still whether he's excited or nervous--something he passed on to the son that was named after him.

Nightfly is the one we know most about, since he's Myrtlewing's special...interest. He's super anxious but super talkative when he's comfortable, and will go on for hours and hours, and if he thinks he upsets someone he will apologize over and over.

Sheepsorrel is basically the 'cool' version of Nightfly. They're twins, but where Nightfly is clumsy and stutters, Sheep is well-spoken and elegant, and he doesn't care what others think or at least he pretends not to. Despite their differences, the two are very close!

----