Hailpaw's kits

[Thistle]

Locustkit's eyes grew wide as she stared at the other cats, more cats than she had ever seen in her life! It was a bit intimidating, she had to admit. She was almost tempted to hide behind Hailpaw with Tinykit, but that would make others think that she was a scaredy-cat when she wasn't.

So, trying to act as bold as possible, she stepped up to the big white tom and mewed, "Who're ya? How d'ya know my mama?"

[Cloud]

Stonekit gazed in awe at the tabby tom. He really did! Come from a Clan thing. Though...was it Stonekit's imagination, or was he trying to hide it? Bleh. Complicated thoughts were boring. The point was that he needed to know more.

"I dun know much, but a Clan thing issa good thing, right?" His little face crinkled with confusion for a moment, trying to recall what his mom had said. Um...cats together...uh....that was all he remembered. "Uh...dat's all I knows."

His mother rolled her golden eyes. Didn't her son remember anything? She'd just tell him again. Oh well. He was hardly more than a newborn, anyway. "Clans is where you's get ta train and be strong and fight bad kitties, sonny. 'Member?"

The kit's face immediately brightened. "Yeah, right! I'z be da biggest baddest Clanna eva! 'N chew bad kitties da shreds!" He beamed. That line was great. "In't dat great?"

Hailpaw sighed. Why were kits so much work and noise? They were cute, sure, but this was turning out to be much more of a job than she anticipated. Which reminded her why she was talking to Dingypaw. The old cat must not have heard her, with one ear and all. She should say it again. "Is there some leader I gots to talk to?" She repeated.

[Gosh]

Bronzefoot looked at Stonekit. "Well, to be honest, it's not a real Clan thing. And, while you seem to grasp the basic principles, there's more to it. Personally," he meowed, lowering his voice, "I think you should get to know both sides of the story before you decide whether a Clan is a good thing or not, hmmm?"

[Cloud]

"Uhhhh, sure." Frankly, he didn't care. He barely knew what the tom was talking about. But hey, why not? He came from a Clan thing...even if he said it wasn't a real Clan thing. But it existed! It must be a real Clan thing. He was going to join it.

"But mom says issa good thing, why it might not be good?"

[duckyaisha]

Dingypaw had been daydreaming somewhat, staring into space, seeing as she couldn't hear Hailpaw's meow and thought no one had been talking to her. At the second iteration, however, she turned to face the young mother, moving slowly so as not to feel pain. Yes! She was interested in the idea of a Clan, as any mother would be. The promise of food, water, and someone else to make decisions and help take care of the kits probably sounded like a dream to her. "Ah, you just gotta go talk to Woodstripe or Spiderstripe, they'll tell you whether'r not you can join, but chances are y'can. No one's been turned down yet- I don't think." Her memory wasn't quite what it used to be either, so she might have forgotten a cat or two that was rejected, but a mother with four kits shouldn't have a hard time joining.
Feeling proud that she had helped Hailpaw, and at least contributed to the Clan somehow, she focused her gaze on Bronzefoot and her eyes narrowed in suspicion. He was whispering something into the ears of one of the kits- she'd forgotten their names already- and she couldn't hear what it was, but it was obviously something not meant for other cats' ears. Immediately distrustful of anything she wasn't involved in, Dingypaw stood up with no little effort, stretched a bit, and walked over to where Bronzefoot was conversing with the kit.
"Whatcha talkin' about so secret-like?" she hissed, for once grateful she had such a menacing appearance. It might scare the tom into revealing what he was doing.

[Gosh]

Bronzefoot growled, "I'm speaking to him 'bout Clanhood. I gather you'd been doing the same thing, so why do you have a problem with that?" He ran over possibilities in his head. He was pretty sure she wouldn't attempt to fight, but she might turn tail and blab to Spiderstripe, or Redstream, or Woodstripe, whichever one she found first. Why had he gotten himself into this mess, anyways?

The answer was staring him in the face: To make Clanners and the possibility of a Clan look horrible. Well, it already was horrible, but to reveal how bad it was to other cats. And these kits were the future of this whole place. If he and Dingypaw, members of the Experiment, started arguing nastily...? Perhaps the mother would change her mind about joining the stoned thing.

But, if Dingypaw somehow revealed him as a con? Then.. he didn't know what he would do. Perhaps he would just drop the act and desperately try to make the kits understand why a Clan would be bad.

[duckyaisha]

Rainstripe was startled by Drabheart's sudden appearance, but even more so by the question he asked. "I-I guess it would work out, but...."
She still had so many questions, so many uncertainties about this idea. For one, would Frozenheart even accept her? She was mentally unstable and a burden to all cats she interacted with. She had violent tendencies and there was no real guarantee she wouldn't turn around and kill him in his sleep. Because of the Other, of course, but murder was murder no matter the reason. He was gentle and soft-hearted, but this might be too much to ask him.
And what about the kits themselves? Well, they'd kill that rat when they got to it. Right now, she still had to find a mate and Frozenheart seemed to be the best option. And besides, she felt something for him, she knew, buried under the layers of fear, madness, and paranoia that had built up over her heart and mind since the Other had invaded her. It was there though, when she looked at him and talked and laughed with him, that warm feeling that seemed to thaw the Other's icy claws.
Besides, what did she have to lose?
"Fr-Frozenheart-" she meowed, reverting to her stuttering style of speech. "For kits-I need my own- and would- and would you- be my mate?" She squeezed her eyes shut and bent her head to the ground, bracing herself for rejection.

[Ten]

At Stonekit's little attack, Frozenheart flinched and stumbled back as if he'd been rammed, then dropped, falling on his side and flailing his paws. Having no verbal answer to Locustkit's question, he gave her a purr and a lick between the ears.

But he quit fooling around with the kits when he felt the tension in the air and looked over at Rainstripe. For a moment, he worried that she was fighting off the Other again, but then she asked the question that hit him like a rock.

So this is what she had meant when she said she needed kits. The tom pulled himself up into a stiff sitting position and curled his tail over his paws, staring at the wall, wishing he could walk off to think, alone, but that wasn't an option. Rainstripe would take that as a flat no, he was sure. She would think he didn't care about her at all. That was far from the truth.

The problem was, she wasn't healthy right now, and the additional responsibilities and stress of parenthood wouldn't make it any better. If you take a cat with problems and give them a family, it doesn't transform them into a better person -- take Grimykit for example. Frozenheart didn't know for sure, but he guessed that the tabby must have sired a litter of kittens by now, and he knew that didn't change who he was.

Then he looked Rainstripe in the eye. How could he refuse her? She needed him. She was small and weak and damaged and beautiful. But damaged. But beautiful. But what did it matter? Maybe she wasn't really asking because she wanted him, he realized. You pompous idiot, thinking she even means it that way. She just thought this would rid her of the Other. She'd just be using him. And he doubted it would work.

Frozenheart closed his eyes and sighed, slumped with the weight of the decision. Then he padded up close to Rainstripe, licked her ear like he had always done, and brought his face close to hers until their noses touched. She knew the place she occupied in his heart. Didn't she see this was the wrong time to ask?

He stepped back and shook his head no. Neither of them were ready for... that. For kits. His gazed dropped down to the ground the next instant. He didn't want to see her react to that. Instead, he nudged Locustkit up to Rainstripe. Why didn't she try and familiarize herself with these kits first?

[Thistle]

Locustkit gave a little start when he licked her, although she didn't mind very much. Why wasn't he talking, though? "Why're yous not talkin' to me?" And so she was rather put-out when he nudged her toward a she-cat. "Tha's nots my mama, y'know," she mewed, deciding that she wasn't sure if she liked him or not.

[duckyaisha]

It was difficult to tell where her mind ended and the Other's began, once Frozenheart's simple body language submerged her in a flood of swirling emotions. Anger was everywhere, but was it hers or its? The fury she usually felt emanating from the Other merged with her own and for a few terrifying moments, it seemed as though their minds had become one. However, this fear itself proved that she was hallucinating; though the Other had felt fear before, when she had attempted to defeat it, so confusion was added to the mix.

Pain, mental pain, battered the she-cat from every angle no matter where she turned. Of course a tom like Frozenheart deserved better than her, but from the moment the words left her mouth, a tiny hope had flared in her breast, that maybe, maybe he might accept, if only to aid in her healing. It would've been a better idea for that hope to never have existed, as it shattered into pieces and created yet another problem to deal with.

As her mind collapsed, so did her body, though she barely realized it. The feeling of sand on her fur didn't even register among her chaotic mess of emotions. She began to tremble, shaking as if chilled or stricken by illness, and her eyes clenched shut. It was impossible to sort out her tangled thoughts, and Frozenheart might as well have abandoned her for all the comfort he was giving.

At the very edge of her consciousness, the smell of a young kit attempted to get her attention. That seemed easier to handle, so she turned a fraction of her attention towards it. She opened her eyes and looked over the she-kit before something burst its way into her addled mind and took control of her body. The Other. She recognized the sensation, but how was she supposed to stop it when she couldn't even control her own emotions? Like a puppet, she was dragged to her feet, swaying slightly as the Other glanced around, using her eyes.

Her eyes. Her body. Her mind. /GET OUT!/ she screeched, to herself or out loud she had no idea. The Other seemed shocked, or at least a little surprised that she could muster the strength to scream after this. Rainstripe immediately took advantage of this by seizing control of her body and flinging herself as far away from the innocent kit as possible. If the Other took over again, she might have time to regain control before it could reach the kit. After all, if her claws or teeth sank into the throat, or even the flank, of the kit, she might just kill herself.