#I adore Pine and Pool sm it makes sense I write them as one of the first drabbles I do XD

[warriorsaroundtheendlesswater]

Safe Haven

(A/N- Eh been sharing about these characters so thought I'd write some blurbs about them! These will not be chronological or set at the same time frame in the story. Prepare for these fics to be bouncing around a LOT but enjoy them anyways!)

Pool could barely lift himself off the ground, given how hard his four paws had worked to carry him here. He was grateful for the warmth of the den they brought him into, even if he was unnerved by the red she-cat's unshaky gaze. The only thing that didn't seem frozen still was her tail, which was being tossed back and forth in irritation.

These cats seemed wary of him at best, and at least the blue-grey she-cat was openly hostile to him. However, the way they acted toward him didn't change the fact that they were Birds' only hope.

Tucked beside his belly, the kit mewls and wriggles unhappily. Unquestionably hungry and frightened by the change that happened over the night. One moment, he had a mother's warmth and siblings to share it within a clean den. Now, he was being moved, and cold after pouring rains almost drowned him. Pool knew it was all for his survival, but he wished the poor kit didn't have to be so upset. That was why he was here, though. They can do whatever to him, so long as they save Bird. That's all Droplet would have wanted.

Pushing the thought away with a quick few grooms of his muddy black and white chest fur, Pool turns back to watching the den entrance, a hole between the roots of a pine.

The same prickly blue she-cat stalks in, followed by a smaller light brown she-cat. Instantly, he smells the milk scent and sits up in hopefulness.

"Stay in that spot!" The orange she-cat, Frogstar, hisses. Her tone is gentler when she turns to the new arrival, but not warmer. "This tom claims he entered our territory to bring us his sister's surviving kit in the hopes he might be saved. As our only nursing queen, I leave this choice to you, Pinethistle."

The tabby is quick to respond. "Yes. I will take him. No kit should starve, not when there is as much milk as I have to give." She says. Frogstar nods.

Turning to him, her tone changes back to the one she seems to save for intruders. "You should thank her. It is her with enough pity to save this kit. Go on, hand him over."

Pinethistle doesn't seem to give her leader a pleasant gaze in response but steps forward anyway. Bringing the grey, hungry kitten to her, Pool locks eyes with this cat he assumes calls herself Pinethistle. They are kind and anything but filled with pity. Instead, understanding seems to fill them, and she reaches out to touch his paw with her own.

"Does he have a name?"

"My littermate, she called him Bird."

"Birdkit it is then. If you stay, know he will be in the nursery if you want to visit. Along with me and my own kit, Dandelionkit. I promise to care for him just as I do her."

His whole body eases as she speaks soothing, kind words, and it overtakes him enough that Pool could almost curl up here in this den among the roots listening to it. But he can't stop watching as she takes Birdkit into her jaws and carries him out of this den