WRITTEN:64 posts
TAG:@kauria
Post by Kauria on Jan 2, 2024 17:06:41 GMT
Batkit • Deerkit • Ospreykit
Morning in the Galeclan nursery came slowly, the muted glow of dawn seeping in like water. A calico queen uncurled from around her kits and stretched, then padded silently to the entrance. Batkit felt the absence of half his world and looked up blearily over the backs of his stirring siblings. His mother's presence returned, a nose at his neck, a warm tongue scraping over his ears. She moved her attention to the next kit, and Batkit managed to roll the rest of his way to his paws. Distantly, Dreamtail's rumbling purr took shape. "Come with me," she was saying, gentle as the moon. "I want to show you something." Oh! He liked new things. Batkit blinked away the last of his drowsiness and did an experimental bounding frolic around his mother and siblings, ending with a triumphant pounce on Dreamtail's ear. She tilted her head and he fell over. By the time he scrambled upright, she was gone again. An expectant shadow waited at the mouth of the nursery. Batkit scurried over and pushed between her forelegs, eager to see what she wanted to show them. He burst out into the quiet gray dawn and— —Oop, nope, nope, cold. He knew cold already. Batkit backed directly into Dreamtail's side and turned to bury his nose in her fur. But there was a different quality to the light, a different feeling in the air. Curiosity won out and Batkit looked again. Something was moving out there. He looked up. For a dizzying moment, Batkit was reminded of the stars of Silverpelt, of falling leaves, of wheeling white birds, of floating fur, of rain. It was none of those. Flakes of something white and fluffy were drifting down from the sky. He leaned out further. The ground of camp was already speckled with it, leaving shaggy patterns of brown and white like Rabbitchirp's coat.
Batkit stood perfectly still, trying to fit this new experience into his understanding of the world. He glanced up at Dreamtail. She didn't seem afraid, and his confidence grew. He looked over at his littermates. What did they think? LAST EDIT: Jan 2, 2024 22:24:16 GMT by Kauria |
WRITTEN:43 posts
TAG:@hati
Post by hati on Jan 4, 2024 20:45:24 GMT
A subtle chill crept into the warm bundle of his siblings and mother and nest, and Ospreykit shifted uncomfortably; trying to burrow further into the pile of his family. He had little success. Part of that pile was missing, leaving him snuggling into cooling air instead of the soft kit-fur of his brother or thicker down of their mother. The little tom mewled at those lost pieces: a tiny sound that was half question and half distress, and almost unheard by his own small ears.
Even so, Dreamtail heard it.
Ospreykit knew it from the warm nose she pushed into his cheek; from the comforting lick she gave his ears; from the vibration of her throat against his fur. He quieted at those things, lifting his head to blink sleepy eyes at her as she turned her attention to his sister, telling him, with that simple gesture, that there was no need to be concerned. Ospreykit watched her for a long blinking moment before a flickering movement caught his attention, pulling him halfway to his paws. It was only when his forequarters were up that he realised it was Batkit, and he wrinkled his nose at the find; disappointed that it wasn’t some new toy. He wished it was a toy: then his brother’s early rising would make more sense.
Yawning widely, Ospreykit sank back onto his belly and wondered if Batkit might come back to sleep—only to stir again as Dreamtail stepped neatly out of their nest. For a second he thought she was going to herd his brother back to them, but instead she drifted to the nursery’s mouth, becoming a watchful shadow within the weak light that was sneaking inside. Ospreykit wrinkled his nose further at that, lowering an ear as Batkit went scurrying after her and charged right outside. Had Dreamtail said something? He wasn’t sure, but he got up anyway, not wanting to be left behind—
And fluffing up as Batkit backed swiftly into the den, burying himself in their mother’s fur.
For a second Ospreykit stayed right where he was, expecting Dreamtail to bundle them all back into the nest, but then, slowly, he realised that the queen was relaxed: that her tail had a playful curl. It was enough to coax him forwards, and slowly the little kit crept to his brother’s side; daring to peak out at whatever had scared the larger tom inside. His eyes stretched wide the moment he did, and he sat bolt upright within the pale light, ears pricking at this new, strange sight.
The stars were falling.
But no—that couldn’t be right. Dreamtail had told them the stars were important, and Dreamtail was sat calmly beside them: not at all worried by the falling white. But maybe it was normal? Was it some special day when Starclan came to play with them, leaving the skies behind? Or was there some big bird somewhere high above them, scattering its feathers for them to find? They almost looked like feathers, if he squinted his eyes…
Puzzled, Ospreykit stared up at Dreamtail; waiting for her to tell them all about the falling white.
LAST EDIT: Jan 4, 2024 20:45:46 GMT by hati |
GROUP:Deputy
WRITTEN:80 posts
TAG:@riley
Post by riley on Jan 4, 2024 23:57:30 GMT
Deerkit was the last among her litter to rouse at the cold, and she made her displeasure known with the angriest little squeaks she could muster when half asleep. First Dreamtail ABANDONED them to the cold. Then Batkit followed, and finally Ospreykit.
Poor lone little Deerkit was left alone in their nest, freezing her little tail off. She stubbornly burrowed into the moss and refused to get out. It was only when one of her brothers squeaked that she peered blearily over at them, gazing outside at something she couldn't see.
Deerkit was discovering that she hated being left out. With a petulant grumble she hauled herself out of the nest and toddled her way toward the nursery entrance, peering over Ospreykit's shoulder.
She gasped at what she saw. Small white THINGS were falling from the sky. Deerkit blinked at them and fixed her eyes on one particular thing. Without a thought or care she shoved her way between her littermates and leaped at it, attempting to tackle whatever it was.
Deerkit covered it with her paws with a triumphant mew before moving her paws, crying out in surprise that the spot was empty. She spun around to look up at her mother, tiny stubby tail lashing as best it could. "What is it?" she demanded. |
WRITTEN:64 posts
TAG:@kauria
Post by Kauria on Jan 7, 2024 16:26:35 GMT
Batkit • Deerkit • Ospreykit
"It's called snow," Dreamtail answered, stepping carefully over her sons to give Deerkit a soothing nuzzle. "It falls like rain during leaf-bare."
Batkit pressed a testing forepaw into a patch of white. Cold! And...wet? He lifted his foot, and there beneath it was a perfect, puddle-dark impression of his pawpad. Delighted, he stamped again with both front paws. The fallen snow was soft, like dust or moss, but there was a frosty crunch where it packed down onto itself. Batkit's tiny tail quivered as he inspected his work.
The flakes were falling thicker now. Dreamtail circled once and settled down in a sheltered vantage point. To Batkit, that was as good an approval as any to play.
He flung himself out into the open, leaping and whirling with abandon. The flakes were harder to catch than he'd anticipated. They'd fall quickly one moment and float the next, swirling on unseen eddies of wind. Not that that stopped him. He pounced with equal enthusiasm on snow long after it'd finished falling.
But finally, victoriously, Batkit clapped his paws shut on an airborne snowflake. Still mid-fall, he called, "Caught one!" and turned his head to search for the nearest of his siblings. At that moment, he came down abruptly on something—no, someone warm and small and furry.
"Oops!" he said, scrambling backwards off his unintended target, which was as close as he got to an apology before another flurry drew his attention. |
WRITTEN:43 posts
TAG:@hati
Post by hati on Jan 7, 2024 17:43:31 GMT
Dreamtail wasn't as quick to give the answers as he'd hoped. She seemed to miss the silent questions—maybe because they were silent—and be more focused on his siblings; a fact that had the tiny tom loosing a semi-grumpy huff. His annoyance was short-lived, however: he was quickly distracted by a nudge from his sister, and the contact tugged his eyes round to her, leaving him craning over his shoulder to peer back at her. Deerkit didn't seem to notice, and a moment later he was sent sprawling to the nursery floor as his sister shoved between him and his brother. It earnt a tiny startled squeak and another bigger huff, but Ospreykit didn't bother complaining further. He was too busy glaring at Deerkit, tail flicking across the nursery floor as he waited for her to apologise.
She didn't.
But that didn't matter.
Ospreykit was swiftly distracted by her question, and he whipped his head back to their mother as the queen stepped forwards. This time he got his answer, and he was too busy thinking 'snow?' to worry about stupid siblings. Belatedly the little tom picked himself up, shaking out his fur before edging ever closer to the white-speckled world outside. Batkit stamped beside him and then was gone, haring off as quickly as their sister had, and Ospreykit stared wide-eyed at the scattered prints he left behind. Perking his ears and fluffing his fur, Ospreykit dropped to his belly and gazed at the nearest of those prints - then reached out a paw, dabbing at the crisp edges that gave it its shape. The 'snow' sank beneath his paw, a little like mud but without the suck and yuck that mud would usually give. It was still wet, though, and cold, and Ospreykit yanked his paw back, shaking it and wrinkling his nose. Then he realised that Batkit's print was overlaid by the shadow of his own, and he reached out; experimentally pressing again.
This time, his print came out clear within and against his brother's, and Ospreykit perked still further, whole body quivering with delight. Again he reached out, first with one paw and then with both; pressing as hard as he could. Then, with a sudden mewl, Ospreykit was on his paws and barrelling out of the den, stomping his tiny feet as hard and fast as he could. He stopped foxlengths away from the den; stared over his shoulder at the trail he had left; bounced at the nearest patch of white he could see, a purr vibrating his chest.
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