Frost or Ivy?

[Raccoonstar]

DUSKWING

Stupid, stupid, stupid! Duskwing thought angrily. If she had hands, she would have slapped herself. Of course this kit wouldn't be able to eat fresth-kill! But then, how could anyone take care of this little kit? Duskwing had no milk, so she was out. But what if there was some sort of herb that helped cats give milk? Could that work? She decided that she would ask Smokeleaf. "Smokeleaf? Is there some sort of herb that could help me give this kit milk? I would do it." Duskwing asked. She didn't really know if such an herb existed, but she hoped so. She would do almost anything to save this small, freezing, bundle. It was put into another Clan-out of place-too. She would make sure it was safe, never ridiculed like Duskwing had been.

[fαllεη •]

The grey cat chuckled somewhat absently as realisation -and was that a trace of anger that she detected?- dawned on Duskwing's face. Ha, now that was amusing. 'A dawning of dusk.' It sounded like the sort of peculiar riddle that StarClan supposedly gave, but Smokeleaf had only ever heard their cryptic riddles in elders' tales. StarClan had always been more than forthcoming with her in the past, but perhaps even the real StarClan had their secrets... It was an unpleasant thought, but she brushed it away, as she often did with irrelevant things. The point was, Duskwing hadn't noticed all the obvious signs that the kit was still unprepared for life outside the nursery, and Smokeleaf was silently questioning whether Duskwing would be the right cat for the job. Mind you, nursing a kit from her birth clan... That might remind her why she'd come, why she'd stayed... or it might make her homesick, and inspire her to return the kit to the mother who had abandoned it. She offered a silent plea that Duskwing wasn't stupid, and another hoping that she would never try something like that.

"Smokeleaf? Is there some sort of herb that could help me give this kit milk? I would do it."
Wonders would never cease! Smokeleaf was a little surprised by the twist of sickness that wormed its way into her stomach, but that too was irrelevant. The idea of a cat who hadn't birthed these kits nursing them, especially a cat as young as Duskwing... It make her feel unpleasant to say the least. But mind you, wouldn't the kits' odious mother have been of a similar age? The clans were going to a strange place. Smokeleaf had a sudden urge to ask who this kit's father was: Fallinggaze didn't know who the father of her kits was, so maybe Reedtail was another such case. Either she-cats were getting more loose with their ways or they were becoming extremely forgetful. If Smokeleaf hadn't found the idea of not remembering the tom who got you pregnant hilariously funny, she might have despaired at this point. She glanced down at the tiny ball of fur under her tail. The fact was, they didn't really need a surrogate mother for the kit yet... No, that was inexperience talking. Somecat should be suckling her if and when needed. For now, warmth was sufficient. And yet (Smokeleaf hated to admit anything, but this took the cake) she didn't know anything about surrogacy. It was obvious that a she-cat wouldn't come into milk by just looking at a kit -she wished she'd asked Pebbleleaf about this!- but how long it took was beyond her. Hours? Days? Maybe if a cat was particularly enthusiastic about a kit, it might come sooner; maybe enthusiasm would have the opposite effect, and it was obsessive motherly love that brought milk in? Having obviously not had kits of her own, the medicine cat found herself, for the first time in a long, long time, lost for words.

Still, she had to give Duskwing some kind of answer. Hesitantly, she cleared her throat and gaze the she-cat an appraising glance. She'd never seen until now how young the black-furred she-cat was. Fifteen moos? Sixteen? Either way, she seemed fresh out of her apprenticeship. Asking her to suckle a kit would be like asking a bird to swim: you might get what you wanted, but it would never feel right to see such a thing. Smokeleaf didn't want to condemn the possibility of her nursing the kit, but the fact of the matter was that she'd much rather an older she-cat mother the little bundle. She'd give a whisker or two if Duskwing didn't have to mother the kits --however much the young warrior wanted to.
"Could you handle a kit?" the medicine cat asked, all traces of amusement gone from her expression. And then she realised what she was saying: all this assumed that Duskwing even came into milk. In answer to her question, though, Smokeleaf didn't know. Borage was synonymous with a queen's milk in her mental list, but whether it could induce milk was beyond her. "No herb that I know of is going to bring you into milk if... if--" Smokeleaf found herself choking on the words, but pulled herself together quickly. "Maybe. It all depends if the kit takes to you, and if your teats take to the kit."
Her apprehension duly covered by one of many words that she-cats generally preferred her to avoid, Smokeleaf held her gaze steady, no sign of her doubts visible. After all, she'd been out of her apprenticeship longer than she'd been an apprentice, unlike Duskwing. She shouldn't have batted an eyelid in the first place; simply told her 'no'.

[Raccoonstar]

DUSKWING

Duskwing nodded to Smokeleaf. Her (StarClan help her, she hated this word,) teats...were ready enough. She was young, but ready. She'd been through too much to be defeated now by her age. Watching Silentstar...kill again and again, being a prisoner here, being in wars when she was just a 6-moon-old young apprentice, and facing the hatred her Clanmates had felt for her. It was her time to grow up and have responsibilities. Besides, the faint smell of IvyClan still lingered in Duskwing's fur. This kit would be more comfortable with her than any FrostClanner. "I will care for it. After everything I have been through, I think I am ready." Duskwing spoke softly. Now all that was left to do was hope and see if Duskwing's....teats...were ready for the kit.

[Raccoonstar]

this thread died. XP

[fαllεη •]

((OOC: Don't say such things D: I will revive it when my last exam is over --1st of December.))

[Seafeather]

-.-' your exams take forever. lol! And besides, Seastar has something to tell Smokeleaf!!