Here she was, the belly of the beast. It wasn't like Larkwing had never seen the nursery before, or like she'd never been in here before, but that had been different... now... now she was moving in for the foreseeable future. It was like the culmination of a story, a climax she does not wish to see the conclusion of. There's fear there, in the unknowable future, but there's also an underlaying current of joy the warrior queen still doesn't quite know how to grasp just yet.

It has been the duration of her pregnancy since her mother has visited her dreams... perhaps she's biding her time, waiting for when Larkwing's defenses are at their lowest, when she might be... happy... to strike. She wouldn't put that past the vindictive feline. But that fear will not shackle her, and, squaring her shoulders, Larkwing enters her new den, a clump of moss she'd stolen from her nest with Fishfreckle clutched in her jaws so she could add it to her nest here.

[open]

https://i.postimg.cc/9XkhNYnG/wisteria-burnttoast.png
She/Her | Purrk(s): Just A Scratch

A small frown pulled the corners of her maw downward, concern flitting across her expression. Sure, maybe it was allowed for kits to sleep alone if their parents wanted to sleep elsewhere, but... if Wisteriawren ever had kits (skies... kits? of her own? just the thought made her giddy, a specific, dark-furred, handsome tom coming to mind. wait, she was getting distracted), she'd want to keep them stuck to her side until there was no option but to let them move on to the apprentice's den.

"How old are you?" She asks, peering down at the kitten, ducking her head in an attempt to groom her fluffy fur. Gah, Wisteriawren's baby fever was back.

https://i.postimg.cc/9XkhNYnG/wisteria-burnttoast.png
She/Her | Purrk(s): Just A Scratch

A purr rumbled in Wisteriawren’s throat as she continued to groom Wolfkit, happy and content with her new task. The kit wasn’t struggling… too much… at least, and had seemingly resigned themself to their fate, so she knew at the very least that she wasn’t making Wolfkit uncomfortable. Because… well, duh, Wisteriawren was essentially a stranger with too much fondness and maternal instinct towards any kit.

“Oh wow, you will be an apprentice soon. Only one more moon to go.” Wisteriawren beams. “And then you’ll be Wolfpaw. Unless we already have a Wolfpaw, I suppose. Then Dusk— Stormstar could name you something else.” The former kittypet muses, thoughts flitting briefly to her best friend. She hadn’t talked to the leader in a bit. “What name would you want if you could choose any—“

Wisteriawren cuts off at the kit’s question, face warming with embarrassment. “Well…” She hedges. “I don’t have kits. Not…” Her ears burn slightly, thoughts drifting unbidden once more towards the tom she’d come to admire in recent moons. After rejecting Antlerbranch and Stormstar for Fadingstar, only for the former leader to have left so suddenly, Wisteriawren hadn’t thought she could ever love again. “I don’t have any kits yet.” She finished quickly, ducking her head. “I don’t even have a mate.” Oh dear, why was she sharing her life details with an almost-apprentice who probably saw romance as disgusting.

Her savior came in the form of another kitten — Sunkit. “Oh, hi sweetie. Are you looking for someone?”

Marigoldpaw had soon realized she wasn't really doing much around the clan, like at all... With her mentors sudden disappearance, training was turning out to be pretty slow for her. So, she decided that she might as well stock up on apprentice duties even if she lacked in a good amount of training. She'd just have to jump that hurdle when she got to it... Which, hopefully was soon, unless she fancied drowning into any nearby rivers, brrrr...

The thin and malnourished she walked into the nursery, a stringy fish in-between her jaws. She'd wanted to eat the meal herself, but she wasn't hungry. With Jayfrost's passing and Speckles disappearance.... Things were getting tougher and tougher to swallow. She couldn't stomach her own feelings, let alone food that stared back at her. She never liked that about prey.

Apart of her figured they could just gauge their eyes out, but that was messy, and gross, and most certainly wouldn't help with her nausea.

Orange paws shuffled onto rocky ground, dark circled eyes darting to the thing she saw first. Larkwing. Marigoldpaw gave the warrior, er, queen, a look. Not a bad one! Marigoldpaw might've been grieving, but she wasn't mean. She just remembered her, faintly, remembered the dull and wispy face of the tortoiseshell as she stood atop the Floodstone, her eyes far from Marigoldpaw's hazel gaze. And then after that, hunger came to her memories, months alone to chase daisies.

"Hey uh... Larkwing! Urm. Congratulations?" No, no, she was doing it all wrong! She sounded super condescending, ACK! "I mean uh--- sorry. Not sorry that you uh have children, no that's not it! Sorry that I'm being stupid and weird." She cheesed a crooked smile before repositioning the fish between her teeth. "Uh... Are you.... Hungry by any chance? I've got something to spare. I know it's not much, heh-heh... Sorry." Noooo!! She was apologizing too much! Where's the off button when she needed it? This was heavily embarrassing...

https://i.postimg.cc/9XkhNYnG/wisteria-burnttoast.png
She/Her | Purrk(s): Just A Scratch

"Lilypaw, that's a wonderful name. Though now that I think about it, I don't think we have a Wolfpaw." Being a former kittypet, Wisteriawren was terrible with remembering everyone's names, but... hopefully she wasn't wrong. "ThunderClan's Medicine Cat is named Wolf--" Sunkit had burst into tears. Wait, what?? Sunkit had burst into tears?! Wisteriawren's head jerked around to look at the weeping kitten, gold-flecked blue eyes widening in alarm. "Sunkit, oh- come here, what's wrong?" The classic tabby attempted to wrap her tail around the kitten.

[ @moonspots! - Wolfkit / @Goldkit - Sunkit ]