Dreaming

[.:Shane:.]

Shane found himself in a new land, after walking for a while. His paws ached as he climbed a small tree and sat primly on the second-lowest branch. He thought about what he wanted in life. He wanted friends, and a family, and a loving mate. He wanted to be loyal and faithful to his king in the west, perhaps do something for him, or become a duke - that was an impossible question to ask, but he could still dream. He looked down, hoping to see a new female below him, but there was nothing there but shadows. He shrugged, his bony shoulder-blades raising and poking up into his tabby-gray fur. He was pretty handsome, at least he thought so, but it wasn't his place to boast.

[Mei]

A small feline walked to Shane. She smiled at him and said, "Hello." Mei has felt cramps all day. She has a feeling that they will be coming today. Mei looked to Shane and meowed, "I am Mei the queen of the West lands." Mei layed down. She was very unconfortable at the moment. Mei soon felt very hard pushing in her stomach. Mei whimpered with pain. She knew her kits where coming now.

[.:Shane:.]

"Are you all right?" Shane asked, concerned. He didn't exactly know what to do, but he had seen his mother birth her kits twice successfully. "Should I help? Or would you like privacy?" Shane looked away, hoping he wasn't embarrassing the lovely she-cat. "If you need to to help, I can. Or I can call for help... but if you need privacy, I'll just go," he babbled, trying to keep the other cat with him, but trying not to do anything stupid. "Tell me what I can do."

He scrambled down the tree and leapt around until he got to the river bank. There he found a type of willow tree, and climbed up that. He clawed until he got a plant down. He scrambled down the other tree with the plant in his mouth, and offered it to the she-cat.

"Here, m'lady. This is basket willow. It is a natural painkiller, as you may know. I've used it to help my mother birth many times. Just chew on it. I don't know if it will help you, but it helped my mother," he quipped.

((.ooc. I'm sorry, but I'm going to church and I won't be able to reply to this post until about 3 site time!))

[Mei]

ooc: Ok

Bic: Mei smiled at Shane, "Thank you, and you can stay here." Mei lowered her head and soon a kit came. Mei looked to the little she-cat. Mei smiled and licked it to get it breathing. Mei soon started to push again and a male came. Mei licked him and purred slightly at the two live kits. Then a third kit came. It was a another female. Mei liked her and soon another kit came another female. Mei smiled. "Three female and one male." Mei sighed and chewed on the leaf to get the after pain to go away.

[.:Shane:.]

"Is your mate going to come help you name them?" Shane asked curiously. "I'm Shane, by the way. Sorry for forgetting to introduce myself. I'm a little absent-minded, if you didn't notice. I live in the western territory, as well. At least, I'm staying there for now... It is all right if I stay there, isn't it? I was just looking for something to do, so I just started to hang around. I saw that the duke position was open," he murmured shyly.

[Mei]

Mei smiled at Shane, "I don't know where my mate is. I hope he come soon." Mei added, "The tortoise shell kit's name is Kimi, the gray and white kit's name is Sakura." Mei pondered on what the other kit's name would be then Mei looked to the male and thought of the perfict name for him, "The male is Kin and the ginger kit is Augusta." Mei licked each kit as she named them.

[.:Shane:.]

((.ooc. Hey, my birthday is in August! L.O.L.))

"Those are lovely names," Shane smiled back. "Your mate is Pyro, right? I don't know much about this place, but I do know the king and queen of where I would like to live. If I may ask, is this your first litter?" Shane hoped he wasn't being too nosy. First he had witnessed something that should be completely private. Now he was asking how many kittens she'd had. And, he should be ashamed - he was talking to his Queen!

He hoped he wasn't disgracing himself. Cats with dignified heritages, like himself, are not often too fond of being disgraced. Especially if they bring it on themselves... he decided just to lay down in frong of Mei so he wasn't any "higher" than her.

[Mei]

"Yes this is my first litter. Pyro is my mate." Mei smiled at the male. She knew that he would be a great duke. But it wasn't her decision who would be a duke and dukess. Mei looked to Shane, "I have a question for you." Mei licked her paw before saying, "Where did you come from?" Mei looked back to Shane and watched him closly.

[.:Shane:.]

"Me?" Shane asked. He was starting to feel a bit shy, but kept his composure. "I came from an abandoned house about two day's walk away; to the southwest of here. I was trying to help my mother birth her third litter of kits, but she died of heart failure after they were born... there were nine of them, and she just couldn't handle the physical stress. No one blamed me, except... I blamed myself, and I figured I needed some time to be alone." He sighed, knowing that was a little detailed. He was glad Mei hadn't asked until AFTER she had birthed her own litter. It would've been bad to make her nervous.

"But where I came from, exactly, was a good family. I'm pretty much neutral on the whole north vs south thing. There's not much trouble where I come from; just peace and neighborliness. If a cat births, everyone comes in joy. If a cat dies, everyone comes in mourning. We stick together. I know that finding my own way was the right thing to do though," he added quickly, trying not to offend Mei.

[Mei]

"Yes, sometimes it is good to be alone." Mei sighed, "I lost my mother two days after I was born. My father took care of me. Then he disappreared one day. Only my sister and I was left. Bella and I took care of ourselves. Then Bella got hit by a car. I ran away. A few days later I met Pyro and I became his mate."

[.:Shane:.]

"I'm so sorry," Shane whispered. How awful it must be to have everything you love be taken away! But at least she had someone who loved her. He had no mate and no friends, except for the ones he had left behind and would never see again. And the cat who had meant the most to him was now in the great beyond, the happy mousing grounds. He wished he could find a she-cat to be his mate, but kept his wishes to himself. "At least you have Pyro, and kits now!"

[Mei]

Mei looked to Shane, "You are a good cat. I want one of my kits to be your mate. It would be a great honnor." What Mei said was true. She did like Shane a lot, but Pryo is her mate and Mei would not betray him. Mei sighed and layed her head down.

[.:Shane:.]

Shane was surprised she had said that. But, he was only 2... there wouldn't be too much of an age difference... he would have to wait to see if one of the she-kits liked him. He hadn't meant at all to ask Mei to be his mate, and hoped she didn't think that's what he had meant.

"Thank you for the compliment, m'lady. Are you all right? Or... just missing Pyro?"

[Mei]

Mei sighed, "I do Miss Pyro. It has been a while scince I have seen him." Mei's eyes looked very sad. Mei lifted her head and stood up. Mei was thirsty, she lickd her meowing kits and walked to the river. She lapped up the water and stared at her reflection in the river. Mei turned around and layed back down with her kits.

[.:Shane:.]

"I... I wish I could help," Shane murmured sincerely. He wondered if maybe he should leave, in case Pyro came and got suspicious. But then he deicided to stay and keep Mei company. Pah! Him, keeping the queen company. But he would anyways. He waited for the queen to return from the river. He sat with the kits and when she returned tried to strike up a conversation, but he found himself a little shy.