Impregnable

Chapter 1

"Mother, it's happened," a she-cat mumbled, stepping into the quiet den. Behind her, another she-cat followed, her pelt as dark as mud. Dandelion lifted her head, eyes landing on her two daughters. Sighing, the first cat sat down, leaning her muzzle closer to her mother while Serval looked to the side, uninterested.

     "I'm expecting kits," Maple whispered, worry lingering in her voice. "I don't know what to do anymore. I was ready to accept that, but now that it's happened, I don't want to do this anymore. I don't know what to do, please help me, somehow. I... I can't do this."

     "Well, isn't now a bit late?" Dandelion said, offering no support. Maple jerked her head up, rage rising. Before her daughter could say anything, she held up a paw, silencing the argument. The younger she-cat behind her didn't say a word, keeping her mouth shut to prevent any comments falling out of her jaws. She raised an eyebrow at her other daughter, inspecting her stomach. Noticing that, the brown she-cat dropped her tail around her stomach, guarding it with a small hiss filling the den.

     "I told you what I was going to do," she snapped. "I told you a moon ago that I wasn't going to be a mother to any kits. That's something I can't do and that's something I'll never do," Serval declared. "I only came because Maple wouldn't stop freaking out and crying over the fact it's happened."

     "You aren't much help! Mother, I can't do this! I can't give birth and then send them off to get killed or banished! What if I end up liking them and end up as another Fallen Hero? I just want to live a life here where everything's perfect already!" Maple insisted, looking at her stomach with horror. "I felt pain at first, and now I'm starving even after I eat and eat. I can't do this anymore!"

     "I can't help you right now," Dandelion replied sharply. "You know that we all agreed to keep quiet. We need to stay quiet and hope that your kits can last six moons. Once those six moons of training are over, then we need hope they can pass the Test."

     "And if they don't?" Maple protested. "What if they don't pass? I can't see them banished from this place, from their own mother."

     Serval coughed, grabbing their attention. "Mind me if I'm a horrible sister, but who's the fa---"

     "That isn't important!" Maple screeched like a little kit, slamming a paw against her sister's jaws. Serval tried not to laugh through the paw, the light in her eyes trying to stay positive while her older sister had a breakdown. Dandelion stifled the rising laugh in her throat, seeing how her eldest daughter acted more and more like her youngest. Little Cardinal came into her mind along with a stab to the heart.

     An entire moon has passed since you've left us, Cardinal, she thought gloomily. Dandelion found it hard to squeeze time in to think about both of her missing daughters when her remaining were with her, falling under circumstances that she thought were beyond ridiculous. This had been the first time Maple had raved about her kits and after raising the determined she-cat, she knew it wasn't long before her daughter would turn this into a daily thing.

     Not that she minded listening to her. With her old bones finally starting to ache and cry out each time she moved, Dandelion found it frustrating that she was only used for support, but at least Serval and Arrow came back to help her. There were very few days that Blaze would stop by, coming in to check on his mother with warmth flooding through his tired eyes. Seeing him work harder each day to reach this goal all of them shared gave her a spark in her body, but the moment she stepped out and finished her duties, it was gone like the wind.

     She felt the most remorse for Arrow, who had to dodge she-cats desperate to live. Each day when she'd rest in the sun, she'd see her son hide in the shadows or avoid talking to any other cats. With the exception of his family, the short-tempered tom hardly spoke to anyone other than them and Eagle.