A Series of Unfortunate Events || kit out of camp...

[Nettlepaw-]

Two warriors seem to be arguing over a scrap of prey. The cold hasn't even arrived yet, and this would be Nettlekit's first taste of leaf-bare. Perhaps, then, this was a sign of things to come. A symbol of clan bonds that fray in the snow. Glassy eyes narrow as the kitten finds his peace disturbed. With the journey cats gone, and the plague spreading through those that remained, prey was a bit scarce. At least RiverClan seemed to have it better than the rest. After all, they had the river, and some of the fish were large enough to feed several adult cats. In other words, no-cat was starving just yet. Still, he has no interest in hanging around the disturbance. The warriors had it out for one another, it seemed. The spat was less about prey and more about their own dislike towards the other.

Irritating.

Nettlekit finds himself blindly wandering the clearing. He nearly tumbles over some apprentice, who hisses in response. Be careful! The other spits. But how was Nettlekit to know? He could see only a swift moving shadow, darting briskly past. Perhaps the apprentice should be more careful. Nettlekit frowns, flattens his ears and lashes his tail. Too much tension. It sparks in the air. The child snorts and ducks his head, carrying onward. In one ear, he can hear the river. In the other, the bustle of his clan-mates going about their lives.

The streams that surround the camp are also heard, whispers above the wind, and until Nettlekit splashes into one, he hasn't quite realized how far from the clearing he has wandered. Squinting blindly, he can see the array of sunlight, and the vast shadow of the surrounding earth. Little more than blurry, mottled darkness. The youth turns to follow the stream a bit, ultimately finding himself tangled amidst a barrier of thick reeds that quickly confuse him. Before he knows it, he's belly deep in water, and clambering along a few large, wet stones. Grumbling, he tries to retrace his steps, flicking water from his paws as he scrambles atop the rock. Onward he presses, clinging to stone, until finally, water fades to squishing mud, and the reeds give way to tall grasses.

And just like that, Nettlekit finds himself blindly wandering RiverClan's territory for the next half-hour or so, thinking the camp is just out of reach, only to discover that he must have traveled even farther away from home. How could this have happened? He thought he knew the layout of the camp better than this... yet somehow, he had managed to wander out of it's bounds, and now he was hopelessly lost. His paws hurt, and Nettlekit is entirely oblivious to the towering heron that stands nearby, staring the blind kitten down with eyes that can only be described as predatory.
​

OOC NOTES . ◭ . CHARACTER INFO

• ooc : —​
• 
  

  ---

  

  
  nettlekit . nettlepaw . nettle?
  

  ---

  — kit of riverclan
  — tom, he/him; unknown sexuality
  — two moons; ages realistically
  — born blind in both eyes
  — npc x npc, sibling to ???
  spacer
  

  ---

  spacer
  large in size, his paws are, perhaps, a bit too big for his sleek form. creamy fur coats his frame, marred by muddy hued stripes and milky eyes of leafy green. white splashes the tip of his tail, and each paw seems dipped in cotton.
  ↳ genetics here
  spacer
  

  ---

  spacer
  ( + ) intelligent, determined ( / ) ambitious ( - ) callous, manipulative
  — will start fights | will end fights | will flee | will not show mercy
  — peaceful powerplay permitted
  spacer
  

  ---

  ​

 

[willowroot]

( ☾ ) left in charge of the nursery for the day, willowroot has her paws full. her own children with the addition of her fellow npc queens' kits leaves her exhausted as her shift finally ends. an npc perma-queen returns from her respite and relieves willow of her duties, so the smoke feline rises and stretches, doing a last head-count before she retreats to the territory for a well earned break. her own children are present, two others are there... but no sign of nettlekit. suspicion prickles at willow's paws as she calls out for the child, furrowing her brow when there is no response. she ducks out of the den, passing two spatting warriors, to whom she casts a sour, judgmental stare, before she scents the air, trying to catch wind of the pale kitten's scent. the child is blind and has never ventured far, usually hanging close to the nursery or exploring with the other kits, so his absence is worrysome.

"has anyone seen nettlekit?" willowroot queries, receiving blank stares and mumbles of dissent back. an apprentice pipes up, saying he bumped into them by the stream bordering camp. the queen nods and trots off, stomach churning slightly. the boy's scent is clear beside the water, and she follows it until it exits camp. now the worry has grown exponentially, and the smoke femme hops the stream and casts her nose to the ground. "nettlekit is out in the territory," she'll call to whoever listens. "we need to find him, it's not safe for him to be out!"

she bounds off, using her nose to follow the scent as it twists and turns across the marshy territory. "nettlekit?" she calls every few pawsteps. a slight rustling in the undergrowth makes her turn her head, but it's only a heron, gazing with beady eyes down at what she presumes is its prey. she curls her lip at it, half-bucking towards it in an attempt to get it to fly off. it steps back but remains. it is then when willowroot discovers the pool of kitten-scent a few tail lengths away. "nettlekit!" she meows, frantically scanning for the pale furred boy. ​

 

[CHICORYPAW]

*:･ﾟ (^˵◕ω◕˵^) chicorypaw is half-way through eating a small perch when willowroot is announcing with alarm that nettlekit has gone missing from the nursery and somehow escaped the safety of camp entirely which has her up on her paws in almost an instant "i'll come with you!" she calls, abandoning her meal entirely to follow close after the smokey queen. once in the territory, the apprentice diverged just a bit from willowroot's side in order to cover more ground while keeping both eyes and ears open for any distressed mews or rustling reeds that could possibly reveal the location of the young point kitten and so far, atleast on her end, nothing was found. chicorypaw was poking her head somewhere when she heard the older she-cat call out to nettlekit in a way that indicates he was found.

relieved, the tortoiseshell apprentice quickly began making her way in the direction of willowroot when she comes across the sight of a heron who stands uncomfortably close to said queen and kit with its beady eyes watching closely as if waiting for the best moment to strike. "HEY YOU STINKY BIRD! GET OUTTA HERE! LEAVE 'EM ALONE" chicorypaw cries out, bristling cream and blue fur to appear much larger than she actually was before rushing right for the avian and with little thought for the consequences launches herself at the heron with outstretched claws in a messy attempt to collide into it, trying to rip atleast a few feathers out with her flailing swipes.

* ˚ CHANT THIS CHARM (♥) YOU'LL FEEL SO GOOD ˚ *

• 🟆
  
• perhaps larger reference added here?
  
• 
  ━━━ chicorypaw
  ━━━ 6 moons.
  ━━━ she/her ; apprentice of riverclan.
  ━━━ pansexual poly ; single & oblivious.
  ━━━ lh blue tortoiseshell w/ low white
  ━━━ "speech" • 'thoughts' • attack
  ━━━ penned by cobatic
  ━━━ art by me
  
  
  
  
  

​

 

[Nettlepaw-]

Nettlekit?

A voice upon the breeze. He stills, one paw hovering above the damp earth, still unaware of the danger that loomed nearby. He has no experience with such birds, and asides from a passing comment, did not even really know what a heron was. If it wasn't for the way light and shadow shifted against the sky when he peered upward, he might not have noticed anything at all. At first, he thinks it's just a rock, jutting from the dirt.

Nettlekit!

That voice again. So loud. He's grateful, though. It means he'll be back home soon. He'll be able to nap and forget about this entire, frustrating, and utterly embarrassing experience. When those cats on the journey returned, there'd be more eyes to watch the camp. To watch him. This shouldn't happen again, he hopes. And when I am an apprentice, I will learn every inch of RiverClan territory, the boy decides.

This time the call of his name is accompanied by paw-steps. The scent of Willowroot washes over his nose, and Nettlekit raises his tail in acknowledgement, padding clumsily through the grass toward the source of the sound. The heron steps back, away from Willowroot's intimidation, but Nettlekit is still unaware of it's presence, until Chicorypaw's bold exclamation.

Bird? The boy blinks in confusion.

There's danger nearby, he understands that now by the sound of the apprentice's voice. Some sort of bird. He tears through his mind in memory of all his most recent scents. One of these unfamiliar smells was likely this so-called threat. Nettlekit bristles, fluffing his small frame in a bid to appear larger than he really is. There's no need, though. The heron is finally frightened off, when Chicorypaw tears a few feather's from it's towering frame.

Luckily, the beast did not seem so keen to stay and fight, now that there were two larger cats accompanying it's former, potential prey. It takes flight to leave the RiverClanners behind. Nettlekit can hear the beat of it's wings, feel the wind that pushes past his whiskers. If that was a bird, it must have been huge. Chicorypaw would certainly have a story of bravery to tell her den-mates back at camp.

"Was that a... " He pauses, thoughtful. What sorts of birds has he heard of? Besides the prey kind. "Hawk?" Nettlekit finally recalls, stumbling his way toward Willowroot's paws. "I'm tired." The child finishes with a complaint.

He wants to go home. A yawn splits his maw as he kneads at the grass with tiny claws.
​

OOC NOTES . ◭ . CHARACTER INFO

• ooc : — ​
• 
  

  ---

  

  
  nettlekit . nettlepaw . nettle?
  

  ---

  — kit of riverclan
  — tom, he/him; unknown sexuality
  — two moons; ages realistically
  — born blind in both eyes
  — npc x npc, sibling to ???
  spacer
  

  ---

  spacer
  large in size, his paws are, perhaps, a bit too big for his sleek form. creamy fur coats his frame, marred by muddy hued stripes and milky eyes of leafy green. white splashes the tip of his tail, and each paw seems dipped in cotton.
  ↳ lynx mink with low white & green eyes
  spacer
  

  ---

  spacer
  ( + ) intelligent, determined ( / ) ambitious ( - ) callous, manipulative
  — will start fights | will end fights | will flee | will not show mercy
  — peaceful powerplay permitted
  spacer
  

  ---

  ​

 

[lichenstar]

⋆ ✧　 　 · 　 ✧ ⋆ ✧　 　 · 　 ✧ ⋆ ✧　 　 · 　 ✧ ⋆

---

Paws move urgently through the undergrowth, quick to follow on Willowroot's trail as the queen calls out for help locating a kit. It isn't often they have little escape artists but with fewer cats able to preform their duties, the gaps in their guard is a noticeable weakness. It seems, with any luck, that the sharp-eyed mother is quick to find the runaway boy and with some quick, wildly thrown paws, Chicorypaw manages to scare off the large avian that had been eyeing Nettlekit like a tasty snack.

Slowing her run to a walk as soon as it's evident the danger is passed, Lichentail lets out a small breath, a mixture of relief and frustration both. It is hard enough in RiverClan without the youth making more trouble... "Yes I do imagine running off is quite exhausting," the lead scolds, the fur on her shoulders on end as a hundred futures of Nettlekit's demise played out in her head. If he kept being so reckless, he wouldn't last to see his first spring.

"You're lucky Willowroot noticed you'd snuck out," her nose scrunches in distaste, struggling to ebb the flow of anxiety-fueled anger. Glancing towards the two who'd come to the child's aid, they let out another, heavy sigh. "We can't afford to lose any more..." It was only by sheer luck, surely, that the kittens hadn't encountered yellow-cough but to have to strap them down to keep them from becoming a bird's lunch too?

StarClan... have mercy.​

 

[Nettlepaw-]

Lichentail. Nettlekit hadn't realized they were present at first, until she speaks up with a bite of tension to her sharp words. The Lead Warrior seemed less than pleased at the child, it seemed. A mature, reasonable mind would realize that Lichentail had merely been worried. Nettlekit is neither of those things just yet, however. He narrows sightless eyes and scowls.

"I didn't sneak out! Or run off." The blind kitten snaps bitterly. This was a Lead Warrior, and had he been older, he might have realized that there were probably consequences for displaying such an attitude. The kit is tired, though. Embarrassed and irritated. His paws hurt and he's covered in mud, and he's only now beginning to realize that he had nearly become bird food to some unseen predator lurking close by. Had the patrol not arrived, Nettlekit would have been killed. He doesn't quite grasp the gravity of that just yet.

"It was an accident." He concludes, and even though Nettlekit can't see her, he has pin-pointed Lichentail's position through the sound of their voice. Those sightless green eyes stare the Lead down with frustration. Concern floods his frame next, simmering beneath the annoyance. What if his apprenticeship was pushed back because of this? The kit lashes his tail with discomfort.
​

OOC NOTES . ◭ . CHARACTER INFO

• ooc : — ​
• 
  

  ---

  

  
  nettlekit . nettlepaw . nettle?
  

  ---

  — kit of riverclan
  — tom, he/him; unknown sexuality
  — two moons; ages realistically
  — born blind in both eyes
  — npc x npc, sibling to ???
  spacer
  

  ---

  spacer
  large in size, his paws are, perhaps, a bit too big for his sleek form. creamy fur coats his frame, marred by muddy hued stripes and milky eyes of leafy green. white splashes the tip of his tail, and each paw seems dipped in cotton.
  ↳ lynx mink with low white & green eyes
  spacer
  

  ---

  spacer
  ( + ) intelligent, determined ( / ) ambitious ( - ) callous, manipulative
  — will start fights | will end fights | will flee | will not show mercy
  — peaceful powerplay permitted
  spacer
  

  ---

  ​

 

[willowroot]

( ☾ ) the thumping footsteps of chicorypaw startle the bird and the apprentice launches herself at the heron. it cries loudly and disappears into the sky, leaving a few feathers behind. "oh, chicorypaw, good work!" she breathes, heart just barely slowing down. willowroot's ears are flattened as she scans the reeds, finally recognizing nettlekit's clumsy form as he stumbles into the open. she scoops him towards her with her tail as his little paws kneed the ground anxiously. a yawn stretches his jaws, quiet mumbles exiting his mouth as he blinks sleepily.

"that was a heron, little one. dangerous for kits and apprentices." she tells him, swiping a lick across the muddy fur. lichentail approaches, sharp words on her tongue, and willow flicks her ears in sympathy for the boy. "he's certainly less of a troublemaker than hazepaw at his age," she points out, tipping her head trying to communicate how easy it could be for him to get lost. "let's go home, nettlekit. we'll figure everything out later, okay?" she bends down to scruff the child, trying to be gentle as he swings from her jaws. flicking her tail, the queen begins the trek back to camp. ​