Palmdance watched her daughter nervously as she slept in the nursery. It was Cloudwish's first litter, and she might not know what to do.

The tan molly flicked her ears as a fly buzzed around them and curled up in her nest, no longer sitting up to watch her kit. She closed her eyes and fell into an uneasy sleep.

Dirt and sand was suffocating her, drowning out everything but the cats around her. The misty gray molly scrabbled at the dirt as the muted brown tom yowled for someone to help them. It was a horrible moment, but paws began to dig and the sky began to appear above them.

Palmdance woke up, and the earth cleared. Cloudwish was sleeping, rounded sides lifting up and down. "What was that about..?"

Maybe Palmdance had been worrying too much, and it would all be okay.

"Kits!" Driftreed paced around the nursery entrance. "I still can't believe it."

Palmdance tilted her head. "Even after you've been mates with her for seasons?" She asked.

The cinnamon-colored tom purred. "I'm going to be a father! Of precious, young souls that'll become brave warriors or steady-pawed medicine cats. They'll be the future of TideClan." He pawed the sand around the den.

The tan tabby turned her ears back. "It'll be a wonderful experience. Cloudwish and Seasplash were quite the handful, though! Lightdawn, Spiralwind, and Dewleap were much easier to take care of." Palmdance's ears tilted sadly, thinking about her lost kit. Dewshimmer had died of a huge wave that crashed on the beach, flooding the camp.

"DewlDewshimmereap lived a good life. They saved us, remember? The wave left for the sea after they fell into the water." Seasplash approached his mother and Driftreed.

Palmdance sighed. "I still miss them," she said softly. She shook her head as though shaking off raindrops. "We have to stay in the present. Driftreed, what would you name the kits?"

He tilted his head. "Plumkit, Applekit, Pearkit, Citruskit. I suppose Citruskit'll be as sharp as poison...Cherrykit would be a good name too. Plum, Pear. Cherry, Citrus. If we had four kits." He lifted his ears up.

Spiralwind then burst out of the den, panting. "Mom! Driftreed! Splashy! The kits are here!" She gasped for breath, hurrying to the medicine cat den for herbs.

Driftreed gasped and streaked past the seaweed into the den. "Cloudwish, are you okay?" He asked anxiously.

"Driftreed," the light gray molly said tiredly. She was curled around three small bundles. "Our kits." She purred.

He purred, too. "What will we name them?" He asked, sitting down at the head of his mates' nest. "I was thinking Pearkit for one."

Cloudwish looked at her three kits. "The tan one can be Pearkit. Look at her tiny brown spots! The orange tabby can be Mangokit. And this brown tabby, you should name him."

Driftreed watched the tiny, mewling kit. His pelt color was so hard to see, how could Cloudwish tell what their patterns were? "Plumkit?"

Cloudwish purred again. "Pearkit, Mangokit, and Plumkit. They're beautiful."

⊹˚︵‿₊˚ʚ🌴ɞ˚₊‿︵˚⊹

prologue! what do you think?

published: 05.15.21

edited: 08.02.21

word count: 530