AND THE BIRDS SANG — keeping kits entertained

[. Heathershade .]

It was a bit embarrassing to admit, especially when she was met with so much suspicion in her early days of joining Shadowclan- but as the kits scampered across mud-speckled paws for the second time today, Heathershade had to accept the fact that she was her clan’s designated kit-sitter, how could she have said no to the queens anyhow?
She supposed she didn’t mind too much, she actually enjoyed the presence of the little ones, they brought so much light and joy, even with the Thunderpath only fox-lengths above their heads.
"Alright little ones, settle down now." Her words are a melody, only loud enough to capture the children’s attention.
She settles on her stomach, tapping a lilac paw just in front of her. "I’m going to tell you guys about the longest journey I’ve ever had to take, full of swooping hawks, wild fox chases, and mud." Heathershade emphasizes her last word, hoping to catch the attention of the most restless kits with a playful tone on her tongue.
"It all started with the storm…"

"Speech."​

[ COCOA BUTTER KISSES ]​

 

[Maggotfur.]

EYES COVERED IN INK AND BLEACH​

maggotpaw | 07 months | female | she/her | physically medium | mentally hard | attack in bold mediumpurple​

---

Maggotpaw doesn't understand the point of kit sorties, often made up and foolish as they are, but she cannot help but be interested as she overhears heathershades words - now this sounds like a story worth listening to. Hawks and foxes are dangerous, she knows - not as much so as the bears, but enough to keep things interesting. Perhaps there will even be blood and death in it, if she's lucky. The apprentice stays where she is, hunched like a hulking predator just waiting to pounce, eyes flickering in the darkness, but ears prick upright to listen in, all her focus on eavesdropping.

​

 

[Swansong]

————— ☾ —————
NOW I KNOW WHAT'S REAL, WHAT'S FAKE

Mother likes Heathershade, that much Swankit knows. So that must mean that he likes her too. That's how Applekit thinks it works, and Applekit is very knowledgeable. So Swankit feels comfortable settling in for a story, drowsy eyes blinking up at the dusty-furred molly. He likes stories... Hawks, fox chases, and mud. No bears, thankfully, so probably nothing scary. A yawn escapes the kit's jaws as he watches Heathershade, but his ears are pricked as he listens intently to her words.

RATHER SLEEP THAN STAY AWAKE
————— ☾ —————

☾⋆⁺₊⋆ info ; visual

• //
  ​
• SWANKIT named for his pale fur, after his maternal grandmother.
  — he/him. 2 moons.
  — shadowclan kit.
  — quiet and dreamy.
  
  penned by saturnid.​
• "SPEECH"
  ​
• 

​

 

[Emberpaw]

Where there’s a crowd, Emberkit often found herself drawn in like a crystal wave to the waiting shoreline. She can’t help it, she just has to know what’s happening, all the time. Otherwise how will she even sleep at night! Something important could be happening right under her nose. To miss something, anything, would be catastrophic. So when Heathershade beckons, she wanders closer, trailing after Swankit. She likes Swankit. Of course, she likes nearly everyone, but it was still true. He had joined her in speaking with an elder about bears, and his words had both frightened and intrigued her. The bears chased him into his dreams, he said. But he also said they go away, when he tells them to. Maybe that will work if they ever find us again.

An apprentice was nearby, glittering eyes focused intensely on Heathershade and the tale she was about to spin. Emberkit liked her enthusiasm, she decided. She turned to look at Heathershade too, staring extra hard to show she was really paying attention! Of course, as soon as the story began, Emberkit’s gaze grew wide, a multitude of questions bubbling in her maw.
“A storm? A scary one, like, with the clouds growling at you, and the whole sky cracking apart?”

 

[Garlicheart]

Garlickit was still rattled from the entire ordeal with the bear nearly killing her mother. It wasn't something she could just move past, that thing was the size of a mountain and roared like thunder. She hated it and hoped it died.

So when Heathershade gathers them round for a story, she hobbles closer to pay attention, tucking her paws under her. She is going to tell them about the longest journey she ever took... Garlickit is already interested. She doesn't mind the hawks and the foxes.... But when Heathershade puts emphasis on mud, she GASPS.

"MUD!!!!" She squeaks. "I bet there was a MUD MONSTER." She adds on.

Yes. A mud monster. A terrible muddy beast, surely.

She quiets herself as the story starts with a storm, furthering her suspicions of a mud monster.​

 

[APPLEJAW]

Heathershade's offer is not appealing to Applekit. As the molly taps a paw, Applekit would stay decidedly and pointedly away, taking on a dainty stance some tail-lengths away from the molly. " I don't want swooping hawks or fox chases. I'm tired of monsters. " Applekit says with a frown, and she looks on in distate as other kits gather. She hesitates, if only because Halfshade mentored Heathershade, and so the molly should have something worthwhile to say. That is the only reason Applekit swivels her ears toward story, still sporting an unsure look.

She wonders why a grown cat like Maggotpaw was interested in a tale for kits, especially when she could find something just as scary– if not scarier a few steps from here. Maybe she would've liked to switch places with Applekit, then.

" ...Storms aren't scary, " Right? Or were they even worse than she knew, out in the forest? She's tired of mud, too." You're a mud monster, " she tells Garlickit. Anything could be, if you really wanted it to be. ​

 

[. Heathershade .]

Maggotpaws intense eavesdropping attempts do not go unnoticed by the chimera, it’d actually be quite possible to ignore.
The warrior offers only a smile and a flick of her feathered tail, offering the apprentice a spot to sit nearby.
The kits all pipe up almost at once, and Heathershade turns to Applekit first, the she-kit held a doubtful look in her eye, to which Heathershade tilted her head, a empathetic look in her eye.
I’m tired of monsters.
"There is no such things as monsters, not in the sense you mean, anyhow." She hums, "In this world, there will always be something that is bigger than you, stronger. That’s okay, though. One day, you’ll be smarter and quicker than anything, just like your mother." She pauses, the soft smile returning to her features once more.
"Besides, if I could take them you could too." She finishes with a shrug.
The idea of a mud monster is both horrifying and strangely amusing, and Heathershade hopes she doesn’t disappoint with the lack thereof.
Golden eyes focus on Emberkit for a moment, their question bouncing in her mind.
"The sky had been bluer than I had ever seen that day, it came with the night. Awoken by crashing and cracking, I stepped out of our barn. The wind was howling, the rain was sharp, and the sky? Pitch black, until I saw the first strike of lightning, at least." Her eyes have drifted from Emberkit and had now settled onto the group as a whole. "It stretched across the sky like a glowing web, so close I almost could’ve sworn I felt the heat of it on my whiskers. I ran back inside, but my parents were already at the entrance, ushering me back out. The ground beneath my paws began to rumble, but we didn’t stick around long enough to see what it was, we ran. Faster than I ever had in my life, it was like I was flying." Heathershade continues, blinking back any sadness from her gaze, this was a story of thrills, which meant the warrior had to find a smooth way to cut out the memory of watching her home crumble.
"By the time we stopped, we had already broken the tree-line. I had never been that deep into the wilderness before, it was magical. Even under the moonlight, the creek just in front of our paws was so blue it practically glowed, the ivy that wrapped the tree trunks was thick, the flowers were a rainbow of vibrant blues, purples and pinks.
"It wasn’t until it’s shadow looked over me and I felt it’s hot breath on my heels did I realize we had just stumbled onto the home of a fox!" Heathershade leans forward then for dramatic effect, eyes flickering from each child’s face before she’d lean back with a flick of her tail, leaving a heavy pause in the air for only a moment.
This was a thriller story, afterall, and what is a thriller without suspense?

"Speech."​

[ COCOA BUTTER KISSES ]​

 

[Emberpaw]

Heathershade launched into her tale, and Emberkit was instantly enthralled. She saw the bright blue sky, bluer than the purest water, bluer than Chilledstar’s bright gaze. The scene darkened, almost comically fast in her mind, but still she listened with baited breath. She gasped at the mention of lightning, of a blinding flash that split the night like a bear’s claw split skin. Her heart beat in her chest, a stone tumbling down an endless mountain, bashing against the cliff of her ribs again and again. Just when she thought Heathershade couldn’t be in anymore peril, the molly revealed that she had backed right into the den of a fox! The child hunkered down, striped tail twitching, eyes glued on the warrior.