The calico queen lounged outside of the nursery, her paws stretched out in front of her and her hind-legs equally stretched. It wasn't often that she felt comfortable enough to lounge around since Ospreyshadow's visit to the Shadowclan camp, but today was a rare exception. As her four foster-kits played in the shade beneath one of the towering trees leaning over the camp, Mapledawn didn't take her eyes from them for a second. Those kits exhausted her, but what kit didn't exhaust their mother?
It didn't mean she loved them any less. She was sad her own kits had just left the nursery, but glad to have the extra space around. It always got stuffy when it came to having apprentice-sized kits in the nursery. With Hareflight's new kits in the nursery, the former medicine cat would need all the space she could get.
Her eyes wandered from the kits for a moment until she spotted Juncostar. Sitting upright, she took this as an opportunity to question him about expanding the nursery and reinforcing it to help protect it from any more unwanted visitors. Padding over to him, she dipped her head- still keeping her ears fixed in the direction of the four half-clan kits.
"Juncostar," She started, warmly. "I wanted to talk to you about the nursery. I think myself and the other queens would feel safer if we had more brambles and thorns woven into the walls of the den." It would make for good protection, as long as on the insides the thorns and pointy edges were padded with some other material.
"Lightkit, Owlkit, Squirrelkit and Acornkit should feel welcome and protected in the nursery, and not like we want any Thunderclan intruders interfering with them again." Her stern, serious expression met his. Whilst they may feel safe today, it could take a second for them to all be put in danger once more.
The queen's eyes misted up a little at the thought of how Nightsong had suffered. She couldn't even imagine if she had been unable to tell Dunelark that she had been expecting his kits. Her heart clenched with sorrow- her grief for her lost former mate had lessened with time, but it was still there in the back of her mind. As much as she hated to think about it, she was inclined to agree.
"I can't trust a tom who won't be there with the queen birthing his kits. He doesn't even have to be inside the nursery, but just being there would be enough..." Her tail twitched irritably, and she glanced over at Juncostar with a frown. "I know I can't replace her, as much as those kits think I'm their mother, but when they're old enough to understand, they'll know about Nightsong. I'll tell them all about her so that if and when they meet Starclan, she can greet them as if she'd always known them."
Her gaze tilts to the forest floor. "...Ospreyshadow does not deserve those kits."
Juncostar
shadowclan leader
(he/him)
Huffing irritably, Juncostar shook his head. "I don't get it, either," he admitted, "Like, if he really wanted 'em, then he'd'a been here when they were born. He wouldn't've waited to barge into our nursery while we all were distracted." A shudder rolled down his spine at the thought of ever trying something like that, himself. There were some things you just didn't do.
"Y'know..." he began, shifting his weight between his paws in discomfort. "There's probably a reason why Nightsong didn't tell him about those kits," he ventured, lowering his voice to avoid the kits hearing. His posture seemed to relax, however, his gaze softening as Mapledawn openly claimed them as her own. He turned his eyes back to her, a fond smile touching his lips. "And that's why we chose ya," he replied. "They deserve some-cat who'll love them just as much as Nightsong would've."
Hearing that the nursery would indeed be reinforced, Mapledawn's shoulders seemed to lose some of their tension. Her warm gaze turned from Juncostar to watch the kits as well, the smile on her face coming faster than she could even stop it. But Juncostar was right about how much Nightsong would have hated everything going on.
"I know... I can't even imagine having to watch your kits in such an awful situation while you can't directly help." Mapledawn's eyes brimmed with tears at the very thought, "I don't know why it is that some toms only want to claim their kits when they can get something out of it..." Her tail lashed irritably, claws digging into the ground. If she could only get her paws on Ospreyshadow she would claw his ears off.
"As far as I am concerned, they are my kits and they always will be. No Thunderclan cat will take them from me without a fight."
Juncostar
shadowclan leader
(he/him)
Juncostar was performing his daily rounds, goofing off with his Clanmates as he checked in to see if every-cat was okay, if anything needed done. All seemed peaceful enough within ShadowClan, save for the ongoing tension with ThunderClan. He was just preparing to go find Aspenpaw before he caught sight of Mapledawn, approaching him with purpose in her step. He paused, ears flicking as he waited for her to reach him. Her warm greeting brought a goofy smile to his lips, his eyes glowing as he nodded back to her.
His brows furrowed for a moment as he listened to her request, but quickly enough his expression relaxed and he gave an easy shrug. "Yeah, that makes sense," he agreed, "I'll get some warriors and apprentices on that for ya, of course." Juncostar, however, couldn't help the way his fur bristled at the mention of ThunderClan. How many times had he heard that word just today? You'd think he'd be used to it by now, but still every time he heard it the fur on the back of his neck stood up and his heart rate quickened.
Breathing a small sigh, the grey tom shook his head slowly. "Yeah, I feel ya," he seconded, gaze falling on the kits where they played. "Y'know, Nightsong would'a hated all this. She wouldn't've wanted her kits to be stuck in the middle of it. That Ospreyshade, or whatever his name is, is lucky he left with his tail still attached," he grumbled, perhaps a little out of character for him. He wasn't serious often, and made threats even less often, but he would happily burn the forest to ash when something happened to negatively affect those he loved.