pafp about to fall, capture me .. naming

[hazecloud]

Her little brood had found footing in their paws for some days now. At first it had been crawling, finding their way to her fluffy tail or clumsily pressing noses with the older three kittens whenever they seemed entertaining enough to watch. 'Babies are boring.' Shellkit had said, and her brothers seemed to agree, but maybe now that they were moving more often their opinions would change. Hazecloud, however, found every moment fascinating. How they opened their eyes and over time learned to recognize their surroundings. Only a short time later understanding when she spoke, how her soft words were meant for them.

The tom had consistently been the loudest of the three, yowling and shouting as he tested the limits of his voice. Hazecloud wondered if her or Rosewater had done the same, if maybe her mother had been just as in love with them like this, once. Her two pointed daughters were making strides as well, getting up on their paws a bit quicker than the tom. Her Clanmates would have noticed she was even more particular about staying in the nursery while they learned to walk. Making sure they weren't getting into trouble and that they weren't being played with too roughly. She had paced from one end of the den to the other over the course of a day to encourage them to keep trying to walk.

Now, as they all clambered out of the nest on their own and toddled about, Hazecloud saw they were ready to make an appearance outside of the nursery. Just a small endeavor, no more than a fox-length from the sedge-crested entrance. Lichentail was still out on patrol and for a moment the queen thought to wait for her mate, but the older kits were begging to join them out of the den and the kittens were mewling-

"Be very careful where you put your paws, their teeth are still growing in." Her muzzle scrunched up at the reminder of their sharp little razors when feeding. Or how they nibbled on her when bored. "The babies can't go any further than..." Hazecloud drew her paw across the layer of frosted sand. "This line. So keep-" A loud babble burst from one of her kits, but Hazecloud took a pause.

That wasn't a babble, that was a word. Something real. The molly turned her head with a look of awe, all three of their gazes trained on her expectantly. "Which one of you said that? What did you say?" Hazecloud's voice sounded breathy from the anticipation of hearing it- their first words!

Stars... they can't be talking already! They still don't even know their names... I don't know their names!?

// pls wait for @lichentail !!​

 

[lichenstar]

⋆ ✧　 　 · 　 ✧ ⋆ ✧　 　 · 　 ✧ ⋆ ✧　 　 · 　 ✧ ⋆ ​

All that remained was the constant of time.

The travel of a skyward light moved in its usual rhythm, signaling for the repeated tasks that had been pressed into frost-bitten paws and demanded consistent attention. She rose with it each morning, careful to unwrap herself from the gently snoring forms of the clan's warriors- sometimes she was lucky enough to have trapped Snakeblink in striped arms to keep the both of them warm (he seemed to relish in it, if his half-asleep purrs were any indication) and that little amount of comfort to fill the void left behind by her daylily was of great relief. It kept her nose from turning blue to match her points, kept the loneliness at bay when paired with stolen, secret naps and squeal filled check-ins.

The monotony was familiar and familiarity meant safety... Since Petalnose had collapsed amongst the rime, it had urged her that complacency made her sloppy. She'd devoted more of her time, more peaceful sunsets, towards making up for the loss of paws. For the added burden that repaid her in fleeting joyful memories. The clan, she hoped, felt the same at least... to watch them grow from a closing distance and know their success was shared in every wobbly paw-steps... in every mischievous antic from Shellkit, Riverkit and Pebblekit.

The fates that brought them a modest winter had chosen another glimmer of calm in the form of a fish clutched tightly between her teeth. Priority, as always, was the little children she doted upon- on silvery morning-fog fur that returned tender kisses between her ears.

The gleeful mews of a sickly girl are easy to recognize as reeds part in creaking protest, revealing more than just three diluted coats playing in the thin powder that lined the camp's floor. Beryl eyes blow wide to see them tottering around in all their tiny bravery... with a wispy ash-swirled queen in tow. Stalk-thin limbs move with fervor- excitement, fear, all of it a simmering storm in her belly- practically bounding across the camp to join them.

The bluegill is deposited at her feet, rushing forward to press her head (perhaps a little too eagerly) into Hazecloud's chest, drawing up with a near hysterical breath to stare at her. "You brought them outside without me," she meows, hardly recognizing its what she chooses to say and having a mere second to withdraw the hurt that yearns to border an emotion-suppressed tone.

Whirling her head to look at the stumbling, tiny babes and then at her three little 'supervisors', a whisper sonority purr rumbles. "They grow up so fast I can hardly-"

Hazecloud seems so unreactive to her touch that she pauses, realizing that her mate has affixed a spring-bloom gaze onto their kittens in awe. "... Keep up. ... ... What happened?" She follows her stare to a dark furred tom (who has spent every waking hour training his lungs with rampant, gibberish shouting) and then towards their daughters, whose round baby-blue eyes are enough to make her heart melt all over again.

And they say something. Her other half prompts them to confess who'd done it, asks after what they'd said and she can't even will herself to ask too. Because... they were already talking?

"Well..." she struggles to make her own mouth move, as if they had stolen the skill from their mother upon sight. "We... they... but...."

".... We're out of time."

Can't very well let them start chatting away with their clan-mates without a way to be addressed...

She looks to Hazecloud one last time, a nervous smile plastered across her face. "Names?"


-- tag for my babies !!
@SHELLKIT @pebblekit @HOWLKIT @EVENINGKIT @RIVERKIT @UNNAMED KIT

---

WELL IF YOU WANT MY BLOOD I'LL MAKE SO MUCH BLOOD

THAT YOU'RE GONNA FUCKING DROWN​

​

​

 

[HORIZONPAW [transferred]]

The bigger kittens are fast. They speed away from him and his siblings on graceful limbs, chattering away with gracile tongues. The stone-furred kitten is stuck wobbling after them, shouting for them to slow down in tripping, slurred syllables. He wants the mossball, he wants the stinky fish, he wants to wrestle! But he is too slow, too clumsy, and then he is mad and wailing. The older kittens don't like it when he wails, it seems, but he can't figure out a way for them to remember he exists if he doesn't.

Thin green strands of sedge kiss his forehead as he toddles out of the nursery, once again on the tails of his sisters. Hazecloud is knelt in front of them, a paw coordinating itself into a lovely line across the sand. He looks at her and thinks of something. "Mmmmmmm," he mewls. His too-large head bobs on his neck as he glances between his mother and her older charges. "Mmmm...mmmehhh," he continues to insist, to no one's particular notice.

All of a sudden, his other mother, the one that doesn't smell like milk, is there. Wide eyes uncomprehendingly examine the way she presses herself into the curve of Hazecloud's neck, and he delights in the clash of cloud-pale against her smoky hues. Imploring blues blink from his mothers, to the abandoned bluegill, then back to them again. "Mmmmmmilk." He tilts his head, as though registering the meaning finally imbued in one of his attempts. "Mmmmilk. Mmmmmiiiiilk. Mmmiilk!" the kitten shouts, joyfully kneading his paws into the sand.​

 

[shellpaw]

she can barely contain herself. the babies were getting bigger and stronger, just like lichentail and hazecloud said they would. scooting first on their milk - swollen bellies, stubby limbs churning out to either side of them in effort to catch a scrap of moss to drag themselves forward and now wobbling, slow and funny on teeny, tiny little paws. the babies were growing up, could even look at her now. in fact, they looked up at her! the girl wasn’t used to being bigger than another cat, but she understood the way the warriors cooed at her now — even when the loudest boy kit wails and sputters half - formed sounds that leaves spittle all on her face whenever she leans in close to listen. shellkit was enamored. this being a big sister thing was going to be a walk in the sun.

when it was time hazecloud to usher she and her siblings into camp, she couldn’t bear the thought of parting with them — the way they bat at her paws, babbling in loud, gummy sounds that has her giggling so hard her eyes squeeze and squint. they’re slow, and clumsy, and don’t really know how to play clan or mossball or anything else, really, but they were happy, and that made shellkit happy. they grinned and sparkled with life unlike any older cat did with her, buzzing with energy they couldn’t yet harness, curiosity drawing them forward on wobbly paws when hazecloud finally, blessedly agreed to let them follow she and her brothers out into camp. shellkit pauses her romp to do a little dance of success — a paw - stomping thing, nose wrinkling and maw filling with wordless mews until the youngest litter echos her because, well.. aside from all the sudden shrieks of excitement, that was all they could say so far.

as much as the girl repeats her favorite things, her name ( though sure they heard it more often from irritated clanmates and hazecloud herself ), they had yet to say a word. the smoky queen tells her to keep speaking to them, that it would matter what they heard because one day, they would talk, but it took them a super long time just to walk.

the world is cold when she and her brothers tumble into the clearing, shellkit quickly untangling herself from their limbs to trot eagerly back towards the sedge where hazecloud is drawing a line into the snow. she blinks at it for a moment. hm.. her should suddenly begin to sway cutely, ” can they go a liiittle past th — “ but just then, the loud boy kitten is toddling slowly through the sedge curtain. he’s muttering, mumbling, looking as though he were struggling against his tongue ; shellkit leans forward and sniffs him curiously, careful not to tip over his delicate balance. what’s he doing? she mulls, only seconds before his muzzle bursts open. a loud, explosive word just as lichentail appears, flooding her nostrils with the smell of bluegill and algae.

shellkit falls back on her rump, wide - eyed and dumbfounded, jaw slack with shock. milk! that was a real word, an actual word. she scrabbles back to her paws with a clumsy thrill, nearly tripping over her paws because — lichentail is back, the babies are saying their words, they came out to play.. everything is good, in a kits mind. she is brimming at the seams with sunlight, ” he said it! he said the, um — he said a word! did you hear? “ the girl isn’t even sure which of the two she is addressing, or maybe even the warriors that slow their paw steps to blink slow and happy at the exploring kittens ; she squeaks aloud, the apples of her cheeks curving amber luminaries out of their characteristic stillness, ” he’s such a loudmouth! “

the blue she-cats sudden urgency is lost on her as she crouches in front of the “ milk “ kitten, lowering into the snow to let the still - toddling youth know she wanted to play, even if that consisted mostly of them clambering all over her. she is fixated, awestruck, but her perked ears catch it anyway : names. shellkit’s gaze flies back towards lichentail with a sudden, razor - sharp focus. deadly seriousness — a furrow - browed, hilarious look for a kit barely older than her little siblings themselves, ” yes.. yeah! “ she agrees, vaguely, because she hadn’t truly been listening to the odd, nerve - ridden glee bubbling from the mollies at her back. not when the babies had to be watched, super close, or hazecloud would never agree for them to be taken out again. probably. sugarplum eyes drift back towards the two shekits wriggling their way after their brother, a soft grin bearing tiny teeth when she babbles, ” they have to be something cute and, uh.. special. ‘cus they are super special! you know? “ shellkit had just learned the word special, but suddenly, she was very glad she did. it fit just right.

𝐈𝐍 𝐓𝐇𝐄 𝐀𝐑𝐌𝐒 𝐎𝐅 𝐓𝐇𝐄 𝐎𝐂𝐄𝐀𝐍 𓇼 𝙎𝙊 𝙎𝙒𝙀𝙀𝙏 𝘼𝙉𝘿 𝙎𝙊 𝘾𝙊𝙇𝘿

• i.
  
  
• 
  
  
• 
  
  SHELLKIT 𓆉 SHE / HER, KITTEN OF RIVERCLAN. KINDLING xx UNKNOWN, NIECE TO SMOKESTAR. TWO MOONS OLD, SMELLS LIKE SALT & RIVER BLOOMS. PENNED BY ANTLERS.
  delicate lilac - striped molly with sugarplum eyes.
  
  she is pallid ; platinum splotched with ribbons of shell - touched cream, wisped ends like memories of a distant shore. feather breath and elderdown fur conceals a body worn fragile by tumultuous youth, too thin in some places and round with baby fat in others. her face is short - muzzled, framed half mast by eyes coined warm, sugared amber ---------- ° ❀ ⋆
  

  currently exhibiting symptoms of whitecough. this includes a running nose, wheezing, sluggishness, and labored breathing. please keep contagion in mind.

  
  

​

 

[brookstorm]

Brookpaw follows her mentor first into camp, half lidded eyes quick to find the fresh-kill pile to leave her catch behind on. Lichentail dashes away before the pebble colored moggy can say much of anything - and at first, Brookpaw is annoyed. They're both she-cats of few words, stoic and quiet, but Lichentail can at least give her a task before running off. But then she notices - the trio of little ones are being lead about by slightly bigger ones, and Brookpaw forgives her mentor with an exhale.

She readjusts her grip and brings it towards the nursery instead. By the time she's arrived, the little tomkit has squealed his word several times over - along with, seemingly, every other syllable in the book. Shellkit is eagerly urging him on, and the duo of mothers are nervously speaking with one another. Brookpaw hears something about names and she huffs something akin to laughter. "Finally," she murmurs under her breath, seating herself until she's officially dismissed.

These kittens... are not her family, she knows that. They are far from her kin - the living being Lightningstone and Oxbowpaw - but they're of Lichentail's blood and that makes each little traipsing tot important to her, in some capacity.​

 

[owlpaw.]

He had no idea what was going on. Little bodies, moving ever carefully. A not-mama keeping them quarried together- another not-mama frantically hurrying. Well, she always hurried, everywhere.

There's gathered, and Owlkit could care less, his jaws gnawing at a stick someone he had bit earlier gave him. It wasn't the same. No, it was hard, but he worked at it till it's bark came off in his mouth, and he was left gagging.

His head shook, before going at it again, carving teeth markings into the thing. Then they spoke of names. Names? Name, Owlkit.

Easy.

"Bite." He said, gently placing a paw against one of the kittens as the chocolate and silver child helped himself to the scene.

He'd move a paw to another, pushing his face to the others face, before pulling away. "Fish."

were they random words? Probably.

"Star." Like, the starclan. Yes, that thing mama talked about all the time.

"Pretty names?" He'd asked towards the parents, tilting mismatched eyes to them, before looking at the other, bigger kits, with an innocent look, hoping they liked them too.

//If the kittens avoid of pull away, or if he's pulled away that's totally fine!!

​

 

[TWINKLEPAW]

So loud… they all were so loud, the silver kit thinks as she wobbles around the nursery like a newborn fawn. She had only just began to find her paws and was experimenting with balance.

As Owlkit places a paw onto her she sways to her right, even the lightest bit of extra weight on her skin challenged shaky limbs. Fish he says to her and the kitten gives them an unusual look, ”F….F….” She sounds with difficulty through her lips, Fffffff…! Fffff!” It sounds almost like an excited hiss, ”Fffffifsh. Fifsh.” At last she pronounces to the best of her ability, her eyes wide in astonishment at her own accomplishment. She looks back to her mothers in a search for praise.

𓆟 INFO BATTLE

• 
  » Unnamed Kit
  » RiverClan Kit
  » She/her . AFAB
  » A pretty blue lynx sepia with blue eyes
  » ”Speech”․ thoughts ․ attack
  
• 
  » A meager kitten, defeating her is no boastful feat.
  » Excels in hiding, running from danger.
  » Fights defensively to survive.
  » May powerplay minor harm. Can powerplay healing

​

 

[bubbleburst]

"GOT A LITTLE CASH NOW SO THAT SKIRT IS DIOR"​

Bubblepaw all but volunteers any time chores or tasks need to be done in the nursery. Her thrill precedes her. She scrambles to bring new moss to the nursery, and hopes that some enthusiastic kits might ask to play moss ball with her. To her thrill and surprise, she finds several already inside, gathered around Hazecloud and Lichentail's kits. "They're so cute!" Bubblepaw squeals, a bit louder than the apprentice intends as she's overcome by how round and fuzzy and adorable all of Hazecloud and Lichentail's kits are. She crouches a little in her sheepishness and mouths a little 'sorry,' but still stands to where she can really peer at and take a good look at all of them.

Names. Names are hard, and if Bubblepaw is ever to have kits herself someday, she fears she won't ever be able to pick the best names for her own children. Bubblepaw herself had been named for her mother's love of breaths underwater and for the swirls on her coat which resembled them. Her brother Swanpaw had been named for her mother's love of the regal birds. Would this group get the same sentimentality? Would Bubblepaw get to witness such sentimentality?

"Have you named them?" Bubblepaw beams at Lichentail and Hazecloud, and her eyes are round as she looks at the pair in excited anticipation. She hopes that this is the moment- the one where she's found herself at the right time- that they will all finally learn the names of this brood.​

✦ ★ ✦​

 

[hazecloud]

With near impeccable timing does her deputy appear to witness their young explore outside the nursery with wobbly steps. A fleeting feeling of guilt prodded at Lichentail's touch and she let out a short, breathy sigh with an apologetic glance. I didn't want to. She wanted to say. You're not always here to help me. But that is not what she wanted to focus on, and her mate seemed to agree. Lost in the excitement of hearing their very first words.

Mmmilk! Said the first. Her noisy tom-kit. Shellkit is quick to point out, too, drawing a laugh from the smoky molly.

"Names- right now?" Hazecloud almost tried to plea for just another day, a little more time but they had seen the growth kits make and they are not merciful to stopping time. They will learn more words in just a few days, start forming sentences before the next moon. She knew it had to be now. They had run out of time.

"Oh, of course. Special names for our special babies." She agreed kindly to Shellkit with an affirmative nod. It felt like she and Lichentail had talked enough about what names they didn't like, maybe that would be enough? In her hurried thinking Owlkit had wandered over and aptly applied his own ideas, and she practically held her breath as one of the she-kits mimicked him.

Fffffifsh, she said. Hazecloud can hardly believe it still. Where had the time gone?

Owlkit continued on to name the next 'Star' and Hazecloud began a loud hum of a surprise before gently nodding her head. "Very pretty, Owlkit. Maybe we'll use them for next time!" She would go on to answer Bubblepaw a bit more quietly.

"No, not yet. We've been having a hard time deciding but I suppose..." She looked to her youngest daughter, her smile gentle and gaze soft as she admired the fluffy, glossy shine of her coat. The stretch of tabby markings crawling down her forehead, darker fur cascading down her sides like a rolling tide. This one was usually quieter, calmer in comparison to her older littermates.

"Eveningkit." The name rolled from her maw like a stream. She looked to Lichentail for her approval. "What do you think?"​

 

[lichenstar]

⋆ ✧　 　 · 　 ✧ ⋆ ✧　 　 · 　 ✧ ⋆ ✧　 　 · 　 ✧ ⋆ ​

They start chirping like a nest full of fledglings demanding attention... Milk first (she shoots Hazecloud a cheesy grin for this one) and then... fish. She glances down at the bluegill at her feet, pondering if maybe that was the connection the tiny girl had made. The sweet tom kit addressing his queen for what she brought him and an equally attentive pale sister to notate what their other mother brought them. "Haha, yes my sweet dove! This is a fish," she purrs delightedly, placing a paw on the piscine creature as if to confirm it so.

She hears her apprentice just out of eyeline murmur an amused huff about how overdue this was and she has half a mind to turn around and cuff her over the head for her cheeky commentary. If naught for the rampant swell of joy in her bosom, she might've done it too... But instead she offers a playful glower towards the younger gray molly. "Oh hush." How was it that her clan-mates were somehow more impatient than she was about the developments of her litter?

Shellkit is clearly just as overjoyed about this change in her young playmates, ones she's eagerly been trying to get out the nursery since the day they were born. Owlkit too, relishes the moment by sharing some creative ideas for how to identify their silver and blue saplings. She cannot help but squint an eye in a slight wince to have star prompted to them as a namesake... especially with the whole change for Starlightpaw in mind. I'd rather not give Smokestar another excuse to be mad at me... Or StarClan, for that matter.

"We can't steal all of your good ideas Owlkit," she responds carefully, following Hazecloud's lead to gently deny the suggestions without being so blunt as to call them unflattering or uninteresting. She presses a deft paw to the top of his head, mussing up the fur there to encourage him that he is not a failure by any means, just lacking vocabulary, maybe, to have something deeper to implore them to consider.

"He's such a loudmouth," Shellkit cries in delight as she peers closely at the blue boy that Lichentail selfishly thinks takes after her in his looks. Unfortunate really, since their mother is so much prettier but... she wasn't really one to idolize appearance anyways. Hazecloud presses against her with a thoughtful, wistful look in her eyes and as she follows her gaze to their quietest, silvery offspring, her mate offers the first of three names.

And it is perfect for her.

"A serene and beautiful name, just like her mother's," she responds confidently, clicking her tongue against the back of her teeth in hopes of feeling a hot blush at her cheeks for the compliment. Her whiskers twitch in a small moment to think herself... casting a final glance at their only son before taking a note from Shellkit's earlier observation (and one that had been reaffirmed in almost every moment Lichentail shared with that kit), "Maybe... Howlkit? For our 'loud mouth'..."

And though she doesn't expect much a fuss or argument for it, she realizes that for all the time they stalled, she'd never thought further than one or two names. "Hmmm... do you have any ideas for her, Shellkit? Hazecloud and I haven't been able to come up with very many and you seem to be really close with the babies... maybe she told you her name already," she asks, knowing the alabaster fluff of fur would have had no way to actually share a bet of her own.

Bubblepaw was practically leaning into her with how closely she was listening and wanting to witness the moment, to which the deputy offered a small, amused huff before nudging her. "You're just as excited as Shellkit and her brothers are... Probably going to be a lot easier to play with them now that they'll have names... and can actually do more than babble and sleep."

---

WELL IF YOU WANT MY BLOOD I'LL MAKE SO MUCH BLOOD

THAT YOU'RE GONNA FUCKING DROWN​

​

​

 

[PEBBLEPAW]

( ☼ ) he follows shellkit with nervous pawstep, stumbling out into the bright world with a soft noise of complaint. as his sister babbles and dances about, he keeps close to hazecloud and the babies, ember eyes glowing with protectiveness as he scans the scene. camp seems safe for now, he decides, folding his bottlebrush tail across his paws and seating himself on beside lichentail.

the babies spill from the nursery with squeaks and purrs, things he’s heard before and grown tired of hearing, so he almost tears his vision from them. he is stopped by the tiny yowling of a word. it’s a simple word (and truly, the little tomkit could’ve chosen a better one as his first) but it is still the first word he has heard any of the babies say, and this means it is cause for celebration. shellkit pants and mumbles with excitement, while lichentail and hazecloud share murmurs too low to hear. pebblekit bends down to look the tomkit in the eye, nodding sagely. “good,” he tells him, tone proud but serious. “i am proud of you.”

one of the she-kits notes the word fish and pebblekit gasps, attention flicking to her. “they’re smart!” he exclaims, as if surprised. he nudges hazecloud, purr rumbling from his throat. ”d’ya think they know what they’re saying?” it’s of no matter to him, and as the subject turns to names, peb abandons this line of thought. owlkit budges in, breathing his name ideas, and pebblekit hides a scoff. as if any little sibling of his would be named bite… although star is a good one. he swings a paw around the other tom’s shoulders, ruffling his fur affectionately.

it seems the mamas have begun taking this seriously, and the storm hued boy focuses back on them, head tilted. eveningkit is dubbed first, a name peb figures is good enough as any. howlkit is the loud boy’s title, and then finally there’s one left. lichentail seems to falter, prompting shellkit for names. the boy squirms to tuck himself under the deputy’s front leg, staring closer at the remaining kitten.

”uhhh, mistkit. cause she’s gray? or uhm… minnowkit?”

I DO NOT HAVE WINGS, LOVE ☼ I NEVER WILL

• // " speak "
  
  
  
  
• 
  
  
  
• 
  PEBBLEKIT ☼ HE / HIM, KITTEN OF RIVERCLAN. KINDLING x UNKNOWN, NEPHEW TO SMOKESTAR. 2 MOONS OLD, PENNED BY LAVS
  
  
  a large blue tabby with low white. pale blue fur covers the length of pebblekit's stocky body, sliced through with darker tabby stripes and spots. baleful orange eyes peer out of heavy set sockets, and his muzzle, paws, and tail tip are dashed with white.
  
  
  
  

​

 

[shellpaw]

in the briefest of pauses, owlkit, according to shellkit, does the unthinkable. with his grimy kitten paws he runs, and runs, and runs, and shellkit is busy — she doesn’t have time to babysit him and the babies, obviously. she’s busier than a warrior at this rate, weaving between the youngest of them and nodding solemnly at their babbling until he happens. lichentail breathes her name, a gentle call of attention that has her looking up from where she’d settled a whisker away from the tom kit’s face. and in that split second, shellkit sees him, whipping her head away from the molly quick enough for her skull to grow a little woozy. owlkit is going to put a paw on each of the youngest litters heads, she is already furious, a bitter and selfish anger stomping her paw against the snowy ground. with fragile strength she swats him when he nears her and the boy, soft - pawed but quick.

” owlkit, get OUT of here! you’re sooo annoying, look at what you did! “ what he did, the lilac child fails to take into account, caused little more than a sway in the babies steps — nothing to earn such an ire outside of kittish jealousy.

the little striped she-cat tilts and shellkit scrabbles to her side where she wobbles, harrumphing pointedly in his direction in case hazecloud wanted to take care of it ( take care of him, and not in the good way. ). it didn’t seem like anyone would, though — the warriors chuckle and coo and trill down at him for his suggestions, as if they weren’t the worst ever. she didn’t want a sister named bitekit, or fishkit. to her horror, though, the girl kit begins to sputter and spit until finally.. ffff..fish. abject horror focuses her gaze, wide and brimming with half - contained kitten rage when they continue. they continue, and suddenly, she has another brother, and a sister. howlkit, and eveningkit. she’d have to get used to saying that. no more breathless me and riverkit and pebblekit — it was me and riverkit and pebblekit and howlkit and eveningkit. it was a mouthful for sure, but as she tasted it on her tongue, it felt about right. just about.

pebblekit offers mistkit, minnowkit.. but mist was boring, and minnow was just fish under a different word. that wouldn’t do. amber luminaries fall to the girl, pondering. still, she’d never known a kitten so small.. even smaller than her, wrapped in shades of ribboning blue. for once, shellkit was the big kid. the lilac girl hmms because — well, this was her little sister, she thinks again. pebblekit would tell her not really, but she knew what family was. she watched it now, despite the little kindlings of want and jealousy that tug at her heart when she thinks about it too hard. she’s never had a sister, and she wanted one ; that should be enough, right? she would groom her fur and take her to see the river shells, to see the stars and how they shine against the night sky when snow didn’t pelt them as heavy. she would show her, and eveningkit and howlkit, everything she knew — which was, admittedly, not a lot.

.. but she knew enough. she knew how light dances off the river water when she watches from the shore, the gleam in bright eyes she’d waited forever to open. she knew to be gentle, and kind, and talk to them because they can hear her. she knew why her sister was named eveningkit, for her dulcet swathes of tabby fur, long and soft and shadowy. she knew she would be saying her name, and howlkit’s name, and this one, this ones name.. and she would be saying it a lot. it hits her, suddenly, ” twinklekit. “ like the stretch of dawn over the sky, shaded light blue. or the stars, though not so on the nose as owlkit. like the scales of a fish, or the icicles that form sharply over the nursery arch. shining, like all the things she loved, and is still discovering day by day. sugarplum eyes shift back towards hazecloud, towards lichentail for appraisal, a sudden hesitance to her eyes, ” i think she should be called, um.. twinklekit. like the sky does, or the water when it’s sunny out. ‘cus she’s pretty, and sooo, so bright. “ bright. the best way she could describe it, aside from the twinkle in her kittish eyes.

her stony expression twitches, stretches into a dazzling smile as she lowers down onto stretches forelimbs to be more the kitten’s height. twinklekit, ” i’m gonna show her everything. “ all of them. it was a promise.

𝐈𝐍 𝐓𝐇𝐄 𝐀𝐑𝐌𝐒 𝐎𝐅 𝐓𝐇𝐄 𝐎𝐂𝐄𝐀𝐍 𓇼 𝙎𝙊 𝙎𝙒𝙀𝙀𝙏 𝘼𝙉𝘿 𝙎𝙊 𝘾𝙊𝙇𝘿

• i.
  
  
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  SHELLKIT 𓆉 SHE / HER, KITTEN OF RIVERCLAN. KINDLING xx UNKNOWN, NIECE TO SMOKESTAR. TWO MOONS OLD, SMELLS LIKE SALT & RIVER BLOOMS. PENNED BY ANTLERS.
  delicate lilac - striped molly with sugarplum eyes.
  
  she is pallid ; platinum splotched with ribbons of shell - touched cream, wisped ends like memories of a distant shore. feather breath and elderdown fur conceals a body worn fragile by tumultuous youth, too thin in some places and round with baby fat in others. her face is short - muzzled, framed half mast by eyes coined warm, sugared amber ---------- ° ❀ ⋆
  

  currently exhibiting symptoms of whitecough. this includes a running nose, wheezing, sluggishness, and labored breathing. please keep contagion in mind.

  
  

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[robinheart]

It is a scene much too magnetic to avoid for the gentle hearted tortie. Robinpaw may not admit it aloud but she rather enjoys kits - perhaps even enjoys the idea of having her own someday. She equates it to all her time spent in the nursery with Apricotflower, which was more than her own siblings due to an illness that held her back from apprenticeship for a moon or so. And then her reassignment to Willowroot gave her more opportunities to help in the nursery while her mentor was finishing her duties as a queen. Yes, Robinpaw found familiarity in the nursery and kinship with the queens. But she didn’t often linger or overstay her welcome with so much training to catch up on.

This however was a special occasion and the multicolored apprentice finds herself sitting down somewhat near Brookpaw to listen in on the names being given to Lichentail and Hazecloud’s kittens. A soft smile tugs at her maw upon hearing the names. Eveningkit, Howlkit, and Twinklekit. “Those are lovely names,” Robinpaw murmurs, almost too timid to speak out of turn but proud and enamored enough to comment anyway.

 

[hazecloud]

Pebblekit's attention to them gave some relief to the queen. Originally worried he would be hurt or jealous that they needed so much attention, she's proud to see the tom treat them no differently than his own kin. He even announces his own satisfaction they're able to speak and Hazecloud wondered if it was because he saw himself as their older brother, too.

"It's hard to tell. They do get milk and fish from the both of us, and they're looking at me and Lichentail... Maybe we'll find out once they start talking more." And it would only be a matter of time before they do.

Lichentail's quick affirmation granted her an elated ease from her cloud of doubt. Eveningkit, her poised little daughter. Lichentail had told her that the blue silver coloration on her body would only continue to grow and spread as it had been the same for her and Ripplesnap in their youth. A beautiful name to match her mothers and a pretty pelt to match the other.

They move onto their 'loud mouth' tom-kit next and Hazecloud's shoulders bounced as she laughed again. She supposed it was only fair- in the beginning of all this she had asked the older three for quiet time when the newborns would sleep. Now his voice could rival the volume of all three combined!

A name to match such powerful lungs. Hazecloud was not as quick to clutch her chest and agree but her head is already nodding before words can form. "Howlkit. You think we've condemned him a lifetime of talking the ears off- ooh. Maybe he is like his mother." Spring bloom sights looked back to the blue tabby with a sheepish giggle. Was sociability able to be passed down? Maybe he would make fast friends just like her.

There's a pause as both of them realize they've reached a stump in their path. With only two of them they've both only settled on one name. Hazecloud met Lichentail's gaze to Shellkit and hummed in her own curiosity. "Very possible, this one does look at you the most!" She offered in her encouragement and watched as Pebblekit made room for himself underneath Lichentail, offering his own suggestions to his littermate. Telling by the girl's lack of interest in the names she assumed Shellkit had something else in mind. "Those are some good contenders, Pebblekit." She reassured him anyway, tone sincere.

Shellkit made her decision in breathless excitement and the way Twinklekit rang from the rattle-lunged molly was like a final click. Her dear daughter, Twinklekit. With bright silvery fur and brilliant blue eyes- yes. It was a beautiful name, a perfect name.

"Wonderful taste, Shellkit! Wonder who you got it from." Hazecloud agreed coyly and pressed her nose between the ears of each newly named kit. Howlkit, Eveningkit, and Twinklekit. Welcome to RiverClan, little one's." An ear twitched, picking up Robinpaw's murmur and she glanced out the corner of her eye to smile at the compliment.

"Whew! A tough couple moons, huh? Hopefully next time will be easier." Lichentail was next to receive the molly's affection as she nuzzled her face against the deputy's cheek. ​

 

[owlpaw.]

A little sense of pride filled the boy. His names will be useful one day, and he'd nod excitedly at the idea of them liking the names. The not mama's and the not mama's child would encourage him, make him feel like he was helping.

and to him, he was! an excited giggle escaped him as one even copied his words, slowly but surely fifsh came from the tiny body, and he offered a grin.

A paw ruffled his head from the pointed colour cat, and an arm slung over his shoulders, acquiring a large grin from the chocolate and silver kitten. He'd puff his chest out and listen to what they were naming their little ones-

until one of the kittens he had looked up to for how well he did shot forward between him and the other kittens. her words spit anger, and his ears flattened against his head, lowering his small body before her as she swatted and yelled at him.

annoying? get out?

his lips trembled, before gritting his teeth and spitting out words that he had heard others say. ones his mama told him he shouldn't say.

with hurt feelings however, he didn't think twice. "Mousebrain!." he said between teeth, before turning his shoulder and walking off. He was just trying to have fun. trying to help. He didn't even know what the words meant, he just heard anger in them.

he wouldn't even get to hear her name suggestion. and that hurt just a bit too. it's not like he meant to knock the kitten over, he was trying to be gentle! but it didn't matter, he didn't want to be around her anymore.

//out

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