camp BEGINNING OF TIME // puddles

[cottonsprig]

Cottonkit is hardly ignorant of the ongoings of the Clan. Whilst she doesn't necessarily perceive the tenseness that surrounds them all, she does see the urgency that many warriors wear on their chests. After all, RiverClan committed an unjust crime against them - a sin, dare she say it. Juniperfrost is living happily among the stars now, sure, but they still must avenge him, right? A part of her hopes that her mother and Badgermoon will wait until she and her siblings are apprentices to make battle patrols. By virtue of heritage alone, she should be allowed to go! She could absolutely take a RiverClanner by surprise!

Regardless of if today is that day, however, Cottonkit decides to focus elsewhere. It's still relatively early in the morning, and with greenleaf quickly approaching and the snow just as quickly melting, the grey kitten finds that much of their camp is filled with scattered puddles. She can surprise the still water and make ripples from it, or she can jump and thrash and splash every drop out of the meager things. It's a fun personal game to see how much water she can displace until a puddle is no longer a puddle - accidentally, however, her mindless splashing does end up catching a passerby off guard. One ill timed jump and muddy water rushes upwards towards the unfortunate feline.

[ anyone can reply and get splashed! <3 ]​

 

[SNAKEHISS]

❪ TAGS ❫ — Transitioning from kithood to maturity was still a work in process for Snakepaw. As much as he prided himself on his intelligence, as much as he was working his way toward the title of "best apprentice in WindClan", he still undoubtedly harbored kitten-like tendencies. He had engaged in a game of pretend at Outlook Rock a few days prior, even. Maturity was not a switch that flicked overnight, though Snakepaw found himself trying to abandon any kittenlike traits as quickly as he could. He would never be taken seriously by the warriors, by Sootstar, if he didn't.

Something that Snakepaw had never understood ( even as a kit ) was willingly getting one's pelt messy. Perhaps it was the hours his mother had spent holding him down and grooming grass strands and dust out of his pelt that deterred him from needlessly rolling in the dirt and splashing about in puddles.

So, when Snakepaw isn't looking, a sudden splash sprays onto him and drips down his midnight-black pelt. "What the—!" Although the stains aren't as visible as they would be if he had possessed a lighter pelt, he still hates the feeling of filth. That is precisely one of the reasons why he was glad he wasn't a tunneler! Now, mud was all over his flank and face.

He flinched and stumbled back, his eyes scrunching to avoid dirty water tainting his eyeballs. "Yuck!" Snakepaw exclaimed, quickly shaking droplets out of his fur. His ears pinned against his cranium as he bore his emerald gaze into the offender — one of Sootstar's brood. It was bad enough that his clean pelt was now messy, but it didn't help that one of the entitled royal spawns had been the one to splash him. "Hey, watch it! You've got muddy water all over my fur!" Snakepaw snaps on impulse, frustration stemming from both the state of his appearance and more deeply-rooted resentment.​

 

[SNAILSTRIDE]

The tabby moved quickly through the camp, their thick fur calmed with a misty spray from the grasses trampled upon in a dawn training regiment. They had long passed the despair event horizon and more added to the feline's plate wouldn't cause them to snap anymore or less, but they'd found themselves distant since Juniperfrost's death. Not because they missed him, but because they didn't miss him... because a growing part of him was glad he was gone. It was cruelty he admonished in others, he didn't like feeling it in himself. Lost in their thoughts, they quickly snapped their head around at a disgusted noise from a short distance away, Their ears angled oddly as they witnessed Snakepaw practically die over the sudden mud upon his fur. For the first time in a moon, they felt an honest smile creep up on their maw. There was a brief flinch, a wonder if it was ok to truly feel joy over another's misfortune - then they figured that the other apprentice probably deserved it. Snailpaw was done spilling their heart to those who could not be trusted, if Snakepaw wanted sympathy, he would have to do more than act like his world revolved around the very clan that took away Snailpaw's.

"Hey hey, you missed a spot!" They called to Cottonkit, gesturing to a clean patch of dark fur with their tail. If the leader's daughter moved to amend her error, the marbled tabby would lurch forwards, spin, and kick out with their hindlegs, hoping to catch the both of them in the splash of mud that followed. Snailpaw scrambled forwards then, their white paws stained a ruddy brown as they searched for an uneven piece of ground to free themselves from any counterattacks. With their attention briefly away from the pair, they found their breaths begin to labour as their pupils expanded in a newly found glee. Stars, revenge felt... good. They could never truly get it, but there was a subtlety to the pettiness that they were sure only they would understand - a joke to the world, a final act of defiance to them. Only half-invested in what would follow their intrusion, the apprentice's attention began to hover towards the front of camp, searching for a familiar striped figure to lead them away from the disturbing area they called a camp.

​

 

[MALLOWLARK]

Crashing, thrashing- like a storm under tiny paws; undoubtedly the sound of puddles. Remnants of the snow that blanketed the ground only weeks before, or the tears of overcast skies still swollen with rain. The clatter of water, harsh as it splashed and split, the clamour of voices- his orbicular gaze snapped open, perfectly round and unblinking. The source of this- play, of course. Games in the puddles, not thinking of the danger of the water... how something even that shallow could rob you of your life! But oh, how easy it qould be to forget... he was glad they did not worry about death, even when it lay docile in front of them.

"Snakepaw, just- HAH-" A cackle interrupted him, a common occurrence- it cut through his suggestion, though he managed to continue with smile-curved words. "Sh-shake! Get 'er back!" Maybe by offering suggestions from afar he'd inadvertently dragged himself into the midst of the game, but he was not opposed to anything as messy as mud-stirred puddles. It'd always come off... and besides, by keeping an eye on it all, he'd be able to fish out anyone who fell face-first.​

☺PENNED BY PIN​

 

[SPARROWBREEZE]

Though she's starting to adjust to this new home of hers, Sparrow hardly knows what's going on. She hardly knows what the sudden shift in the atmosphere is for, save for the beast that killed one of WindClan's warriors.

But, even so, she can catch on to the fact that something is wrong, to the anger in the older cats' demeanor. Maybe they were worried more Hyacinthbreaths would come to kill them, would destroy the safety kept over WindClan? She can't be sure, but she thinks that might be part of it.

Never mind that though. That was grown-up stuff, and Sparrow was merely a kit, and... and... and! And there was mud on the ground! Puddles upon puddles, play awaited her - fun that Cottonkit was already having!

Sparrowkit takes a running start, before springing forward. Landing in the midst of one of the puddles, she splashes mud everywhere, adding to the mess the group of cats already there has made. Brown ears twitch at the sound of protest, however, and she looks to the unhappy apprentice.

"C'mon...!" she squeaks, "It's fun!"
​

 

[Badgermoon]

Badgermoon knew that the responsibility to lead the raid on RiverClan was his: Sootstar had made that clear. She and Vulturemask would guard the camp while he and the lead warriors took the majority of the Clan off to the land of murdering fish-munchers. A fair enough trade, he felt: he made a bad stationary guard, as his paws felt like they were on fire if he could not be actively engaged. Besides, what was the point of him if not to be in the thick of it, whatever it was? Therefore in the hours prior to the attack he had been unable to do much but pace in circles around camp - between conversations and preparations, last-minute meals and stretches - until he spotted a small gaggle of WindClanners, apparently concentrated around Cottonkit and a puddle. Spotting Sparrowkit, Snailpaw, and Snakepaw - three young cats he was fond of, and who (in varying degrees) he felt responsible for - the deputy drifted over on speckled paws, his yellow eyes uncharacteristically sharp. When he determined what was going on, he relaxed slightly, and the first smile his bicolor face had seen in several days appeared in a swift, curving movement. Puffing his scarred chest out in an exaggerated, haughty fashion, he pranced past the puddle, humming, "La dee da, so nice to be so clean and perfect! Thank StarClan nothing could mar my beeee-youuuu-tifullll coat!"​

 

[cottonsprig]

Her lonesome game quickly became one for others to join freely - by their choice or not. Her last hop had gotten Snakepaw most of the way soaked, his usual snarky tone aimed at her for the moment. While Cottonkit isn't used to being at the sharper end of the tom's words (more often her siblings or other bystanders,) she doesn't take incredible offense to it. Especially... when Snailpaw encourages her to make the situation worse, and then do so themself with no worry.

Mud and water cascade over her as she moves to scatter more puddle water over Snakepaw with glee, and the fluffy kit feels the muck cake parts of her fur. Her paws were already slick with the stuff, however her pelt finds new stains in it just as easy. Mallowlark starts laughing, insisting that Snakepaw simply shake out his coat to return-to-sender most of the ilk that's clung to him. Cottonkit lets out a hearty squeal, moving quickly to hide behind Sparrowkit as the brown tabby she-kit arrives. The other whines, insisting that it's all fun, and the (mostly) grey (brown-tinged) apprentices nods greedily, her laughter barely muffled by a sewn-shut jaw.

Badgermoon approaches the crowd, just close enough to get splashed by one of the puddles. Cottonkit listens to his humming, and her eyes flick back to Snakepaw, a grin settled on her face. She's tempted to match that of Mallowlark, however given how ill the white-furred tom might be, she decides against it. She doesn't want to catch whatever he has. She continues regardless, "It's okay, Sparrowkit," she chirps, tail lashing, "Snakepaw is too scared to play with us. StarClan, he couldn't make a good splash if he wanted," she taunts. Cottonkit shakes out her pelt (gently, so that Sparrow isn't immediately doused by her,) and adds, "I would even bet that he couldn't splash his own mentor. Mmm-mmm, no, he just couldn't. Too kittenish to do that." Masterful at persuasion, Cottonkit believes her plan to involve the deputy in their mud puddle war perfect - she just needs Snakepaw to fall for her ill made bait.​