Cursed Division - Kindred Whispers book 2)

Chapter 11

CrookedTail watched as a gray tabby kitten stumbled on his short stumpy paws, eyes adjusting to the new light of the outside world. Crow and PearlWhisper watched on proudly as their son took his first steps outside. Some of the other cats watched on excitedly, cheering the new kitten on enthusiastically.
"You can do it, Ebony!" RedFeather, a PeaceLeaf fighter exclaimed. The birth of the young tom had clearly excited the camp. Ebony was the only surviving kit of his litter. CrookedTail remembered the horror inside the den where PearlWhisper gave birth. He recalled watching it all play out before him:

PearlWhisper panted, heaving and gasping for breath as her body convulsed. Althea was monitoring the birth intently, gently gliding her paws down the pregnant Queen's belly to make sure the birth was going smoothly. It wasn't.
"Just breathe for me, PearlWhisper," Althea soothed. "It'll all be over soon."
MoonPebble who crouched near PearlWhisper's tail gave Althea an alarmed look. "The birth is too early Althea and the bleeding is really bad. What do we do?"
Althea shook her head. "All we can do is assist. Hopefully she'll be blessed of this pain soon and her kittens will be born healthy."
Without warning, PearlWhisper threw her head back in a screech of pain as her body spasmed. She dug her claws in the floor and began to hyperventilate. MoonPebble rested her tail on the Queen's shoulder.
Meanwhile outside the den, CrookedTail watched, stunned.
I'm glad I'm not a she-cat! He thought with a shudder. I could never bear such agony.
Crow was pacing beside him, shooting a fearful glance every so often at the den. His pelt was bristling and his ears were flattened against his head, obviously trying to drown out the sounds of his mate's cries. CrookedTail couldn't hide his annoyance.
"Settle down, Crow. She'll be fine."
Crow whipped around and hissed, "fine? She could be dying! It's too early for her to be giving birth!"
CrookedTail shrugged and began to wash his chest fur, ears twitching at the wails coming from the den.

"The first one's coming!" PearlWhisper cried. The queen was panicking, clearly in shock over her first litter and the experience along with it. MoonPebble darted to the edge of the den to grab a long stick and held it up to the queen's jaws. "Bite down on this."
PearlWhisper didn't hesitate. She snatched it away and held it between her teeth. She clamped down hard and trembled as her body convulsed once more. Then she let out a muffled yowl before the stick broke in her jaws. A slimy sack wriggled around on the den floor. Her mother instincts, kicking in, PearlWhisper grabbed the kitten before MoonPebble could announce its arrival and began to remove the sack from the kit. She lapped its fur the wrong way to warm it. As she began to move it over to suckle at her belly, her expressions changed to a horrified one. But she didn't have time to speak her thoughts before she let out another yowl and another sack fell from her tail. MoonPebble did the job this time, removing the kit from the sack before gazing at it warmly. "A tomcat!"
PearlWhisper reached for the small tomkit. He had the same color fur as his father's, but tabby markings streaked down his body. The kit let out high pitched mewls that were silenced by it beginning to suckle.
"One more!" Althea announced. PearlWhisper shuddered again, groaning with effort as she gave birth to another kitten. MoonPebble did the job once more but she stopped abruptly. "Oh stars.." she whispered.
"What?" PearlWhisper asked.
The queen then noticed Althea looking at one of the bundles at her belly, her first kitten. It was what PearlWhisper feared. It wasn't moving. It was a small silver she-cat with gray tipped ears. The one at MoonPebble's paws was a gray and white she-cat. It lay limp at the healer's paws. All were lifeless but one.
Worse than the physical pain of the birth itself came the feeling of a shattered heart.
Silently, MoobPebble lifted the gray and white kitten and laid it beside the lifeless silver one and gazed at the queen with mournful eyes. Even though MoobPebble was blind, it was easy to forget. But she stepped back respectfully and followed Althea out of the den. She guessed they were going to break the news.
The only surviving kit suckled at her belly, unaware of his dead littermates.