The Cats of Thunder Mountain

Share your stories and written works here. Keep all writing user friendly.

The Cats of Thunder Mountain

Postby weaselaferret » Mon Dec 23, 2013 8:50 pm

The Cats of Thunder Mountain
Ocean opened her eyes and yawned, displaying teeth as sharp as the rocks that hung from the walls of the Cavern of Stars. She swept a glance around the stony cave; Splash, her mate, was snoring softly in the cushy nest that they shared, and a ruffled heap of moss showed that her son, Rain, had already exited the cave. It was just like him to. Splash shifted, then rolled over and yawned, his tongue curling delicately. “Rain already gone?” he asked after giving his fur a few rough licks to straighten it.
“You’d think that kit has no sense of respect,” Ocean mewed.
“He’s young, but strong. He’ll make a good cliff-guard…when he learns some respect,” he added quickly after his mate gave him a piercing ice-blue stare.
They padded together over to the food-heap. It was positioned in a shallow dip carved into the rock by sources unknown. Today, a rabbit dominated the pile of prey, hiding underneath it a peregrine falcon and another rabbit, smaller than the first. It was custom for mates to share a piece of kill, therefore the prey-heap was better stocked with smaller pieces of dead animals than large ones, due to the amount of cats paired together. Splash helped Ocean haul the large rabbit over to the side of the clearing, leaving a trail of cherry-red blood. Rain sat on the opposite side, chewing a dark-feathered sparrow. “Shall I go get some berries or grasses?” Ocean offered.
“That would be very nice,” Splash agreed, licking her fluffy blue tail in appreciation.
The blue and white she-cat loped off to a smaller, bowl-shaped crevice on the cliff face. It was filled with a wide assortment of colorful fruits and vegetables. Ocean picked out two cherries and a pawful of tasty yellow seeds streaked with black. When she got back, Rain had finished his sparrow and was pawing the feathers out of his blood-stained muzzle.
“That kit,” Splash mumbled, and then turned around to greet his mate, who was laden down with berries and seeds.
“Here are your berries,” she replied, spitting the bright red fruit onto the limp brown body. She applied her seeds to the rabbit, then sat down and began to tear at the creature’s dark fur. Rain padded over.
“Hi, mom. Hi, dad,” he acknowledged. Then, with a swish of his long calico-and-white fur, he was gone into the morning.

***
Ocean was resting in one of the nursery caves when Splash padded in. “Want to go hunting?” he meowed questionably.
“But the kits…” she protested.
“Hush, my beauty. You are only one moon pregnant. It is safe,” he mewed, his green eyes gentle.
“Well, FINE. Have it your way,” Ocean grumbled as she lifted her swollen belly out of her nest. They padded side by side to the mountain trail that led to the lush forest below.

A branch cracked. “Hush,” Ocean crouched down and pricked her ears. A squirrel’s fluffy tail bounced as it sniffed along the ground for a place to bury its nut. She silently stalked toward it, belly low and tail high. As the fluffy gray creature bent downward to dig a hole in the soft earth, Ocean pounced. It barely had time to drop its acorn before it collapsed against the ground, crushed under Ocean’s round belly.
“Are you okay!?” Splash yowled. He hurled himself at the white and blue heap of fur.
“I’m, (pant), okay… Urnnnhh,” she groaned. Ocean yowled in pain. “The… (Pant)…kits.
She staggered, thrown off by the weight and pain of the kits.
“Let’s get you back to camp,” Splash mewed worriedly.
They padded along slowly, Splash supporting Ocean whenever she stumbled. At last they caught sight of the path to the clearing.
“Help! Get Trickle!” he yowled, terror hinting in his mew. “Hurry!”
“I’m coming! What’s wrong!?” Trickle, the cats’ kit-bringer, asked.
“The kits! "The kits!” Splash meowed.
Ocean flopped down on the squelchy ground. Why did I go hunting so close to giving birth…?!
Chapter 2
“Rahhrrghhh!!!” she screeched, as a giant contraction ripped through her body.
“Help me!” Trickle growled, shoving Ocean to her paws. “We need to get her to a nursery cave.”
Splash padded to her other side and pushed, wincing as her belly rippled with another contraction. Together they lead her to her nursery cave, entering just as Ocean reached her limit. She sank down just as a kit slid out of her belly. Trickle reached forward to free the little kit, but Ocean was quicker. She licked it roughly, peeling away the birth sac. The puny kit quivered, and then mewled pitifully. She nudged it toward her belly, still round with kits. Its tiny paws paddled against her stomach, filling her teat with milk.
As he suckled, another contraction gripped Ocean’s enlarged body. She gasped as another kit slid out, head first, onto the damp bracken. The pregnant she-cat let Trickle free it this time, to tired to do anything.
“Am I (ungh) done yet?” she panted.
“I’m afraid there are still many more to come,” replied Trickle. “Many, many more than I have ever delivered at a time.” His brow furrowed. “Go ask Thunder for some parsley leaves. Ocean is going to need as much milk as she can get,” he directed at Splash. With a swish of his ginger and black spotted coat, Splash was gone, leaving in a manner much like Rain’s. Trickle turned back to her.
“Are you feeling okay?”
“Other than giving birth to Star knows how many kits and a cold, pretty good,” her reply was cut short by another kit emerging. Her sides contracted as she struggled to get it out.
“Breath, now, breath,” Trickle directed, feeling her sides with expert paws and nudging the kit in all the right places. Finally, it shot out. Ocean let out a gasp as the kit tumbled out. Its fur was dappled golden, and its nose was flecked with golden-brown spots. Nipping the birth sac, Ocean freed the kit and started licking it. At last, it took a breath. It weakly raised its paws in search of milk. Trickle picked it up by the scruff and hauled it over to its mother. The blue-grey she-cat lay down, welcoming it towards her belly.





I am still working on it, so check back constantly. :D
User avatar
weaselaferret
 
Posts: 147
Joined: Sun Nov 03, 2013 8:04 am

Return to Creative Writing

Who is online

Users browsing this forum: No registered users and 3 guests