cloudy skies ˚｡ °. dewfam intro

[Dewdrop]

The sun has already risen by the time she blinks awake, stretching into the sky and bathing the marsh in light. Despite the brilliance of the sun, how it could even change the atmosphere of such a dreary place, her lips would always curl into a frown once reminded of where she lay.

Huffing out a soft breath, she rises to her paws. The warmth was nice, if anything. There wasn't a reason to stay couped up and hidden behind this wall of thorns. She nudges awake any kits who hadn't risen just yet, though she was sure most were already anxious to leave. It was something she could relate to.

She guides them towards the nursery's entrance with a sweep of her tail, tones of dark fur mixing with gentle orange. She hums as the morning sun hits her face. "So..." she muses, glancing down at the bundles of fur. She struggled to produce a smile, but warmth was present in her tone. "What plans do we have for today, hm?"

There was once a time where her kits were content enough with waddling around the nursery. Waddling had quickly turned into play fighting, and soon enough her little scraps had grown into themselves, pleading to explore camp. She'd had her own reservations─ a select few she wouldn't like near her kits, the near-constant plague of mud that clung to their frames whenever she let them out of her sight. But in the end, she decided they weren't the only ones who wanted a change of scenery.

[ Please wait for at least two of the following to reply; @TOMATO @Rocky @FOXY @DIZZY. @ivy @nico (froggy), + @crowstalk if u like :) ]​

 

[Foxpaw—]

---

╰☆☆ She's awake, but her eyes remain closed. She's wondering if she'll doze back off, get a couple minutes of fitful rest before being nudged out into the daylight, but a cold, empty space at her back causes amber eyes to flutter open. Her vision adjusts to the sunlight streaming in through the thorns barricading their nest. Dewdrop's soft form is gilded by the dawn as she nudges her children awake and beckons for them to follow her.

Foxy stretches. Her forelegs are short, only emphasizing the fluffy roundness of her body. A thick ginger tail bristles out behind her as she eases awake.

"Are we gonna do something fun today?" She asks, though she doesn't know what that 'fun' thing would be. At five moons, Foxy has been out of the nursery numerous times, but each excursion leaves her feeling wary of the other cats in the marsh. So many of them seem angry, and their dour expressions are nightmarish to a kit.

She gives the camp a doubtful look as she sidles up beside her mother. 'Fun' isn't a word oft-used in Briar's group, but knowing her family will be with her is a small comfort.​

—PENNED BY MARQUETTE.​

 

[Patterpine]

Rocky had been stalking Dewdrop patiently, a motionless mound of blue-grey pelt from which a pair of wide sooty eyes peered. With paws just a little too big, the kit sprang up in a tangle of gangly limbs and excitement. They were up! Already slightly large for his age, the tabby tom reached his mother in a few well aimed pounces. The moment he closed the distance his tawny snout gently rapped against her chin in greeting.

As his big sister Foxy neared he split off, a playful shoulder bump her way sending him ricocheting towards the nursery exit. The din of the wider clearing tended to put him off, but today he decided the possibilities made it worthwhile. He loved hearing the hunting parties discuss their trips, bringing with them the scent of crushed foliage and wet earth. Rocky imagined their treks, what had happened to make that apprentice's flank so wet? Did they really notice badger tracks? He never approached them though, for fear that their words would sharpen and turn sour. Especially when that other group of cats were involved, his inquiries of adventure were always swatted away.

Ragged tail already haphazardly skimming the leaf-strewn edges of the thicket wall, he turned to face those behind him. A slow blink was the only indication he gave of his intent.

 

[HOUNDSTRIDE.]

❝  Perhaps fun'd be a more common word were their lives not a constant struggle. This group's love of the shadows would doom them. Though Hound wandered out, not all'f those around him followed. They would rather eat their carrion than press their comfort. Then again, is comfort not the only reason that Hound himself has remained? He would not leave without at least a few of them to drag him alongside. Such a thing would not come easily, if at all, and so he remained. Through the slow seasons, through his stumbling escape of grasping hands, through births and deaths, he remained. Made it sound like some grand adventure, didn't it? He wonders if that's how they'd felt, once upon a time. When those noses first peeked from the nursery's entrance, did they find a world worth living in?

Hooded and thoughtful, he watches them wander. The barest hints of a smile might begin to curl the corner of his maw as Rocky turns on those that'd come after him. With a well-timed flick of his paw, Hound knocks a mossball towards the kittens, hoping to get it at the back of Rocky's head.​

out of character   tags

• n/a​
•  
• ──── complete information can be found here.
  ──── hound. trans male, he/him pronouns only.
  ──── approximately 30 moons old, or 2.5 years.
  ──── bisexual with firm male preference; single.
  
  ──── a chocolate tabby with ( stylized ) low white and intense lime eyes.
  ──── lean and lanky,  with whiplike musculature and a long, quick stride.
  ──── hound's notable features include his impressive height (fifteen inches at the shoulder), the long scar across the left side of his face from nose to jaw, his very deep, dense fur, and the confident manner with which he conducts himself.​

 

[FROGGY]

( ✦ ) Soft snores are interrupted by a gentle nudge, a mottled tail tip twitching as he groans. Froggy would prefer to roll over and doze off once more, mumbling to his mother for a few more heartbeats of rest. He's never been a morning feline. But the warmth of his siblings fades as they scamper to their paws, leaving the nest cold and unwelcoming. And so it is with reluctance that Froggy follows them.

Stifling a yawn, the pointed tom kit trods after his family, limbs still laden with exhaustion. Froggy's ears flick as his mother inquires what they were going to do today, and as he rubs the sleep from his bleary eyes, he mutters out, "whatever it is, it'd better be worth waking up so early..." In spite of his early morning grumbling, there's a hint of a smile that lifts the corners of his mouth as Rocky aims a few playful swipes at their mom. But any amusement he might have felt ebbs away when his gaze sweeps over the clearing, unease quickly settling over him in it's place. This is his home, yet the tension that hangs in the air makes it feel like anything but. It seems like he's treading on eggshells each time he ventures from the nursery, the dour expressions of his clanmates causing the hairs on the back of his neck to stand on end. He'd been eager to explore before, pleading with his mother alongside his littermates to go outside. But now? He's hesitant to step into the oppressive atmosphere of camp, lingering in the shadows of the nursery's entrance.

He doesn't understand why everyone around him is so tense, his questions brushed aside by the adults who deem him too young to understand. It's frustrating to be treated like a kit. (Even if he is a kit!) Whatever is bothering his clanmates, he could handle it! He deserves to know, doesn't he? He's a member of the group just like everyone else.

A moss ball skitters towards them, bringing Froggy out of his thoughts. His whiskers perk, following the trail of the ball until his curious gaze lands on Hound. Hound is one of the cats that Froggy looks up to; his confidence and strength enviable. Hound is everything that Froggy wants to be when he grows up. Knowing that Hound is watching, Froggy stands a little taller. Act cool!

Of course, Froggy stumbles over his own paws as he tries to stride out from the nursery's entrance, his muzzle connecting with the needle-strewn earth. "Oof!" A sharp pain blossoms in his jaw, but Froggy barely registers it above the burning in his cheeks. Scrambling to his paws, the tortie point shakes out his fur, an embarrassed laugh rumbling in his tight chest. "Uh, I'm okay!" That was so stupid.

He ducks his head to groom down the fur on his chest, his skin ablaze.​

 

[moonpaw ☾]

Whenever the kits were allowed to leave the nursery, Ivy was thrilled. It was always so cramped in there; it felt like there was never a moment where she didn't have a tail in her face. Her siblings were getting to big to be stuck inside all the time.On top of that, Ivy wanted to see everything. There was so much happening. So many cats that she never got to interact with.

Sure, some of those cats were intimidating, but Ivy didn't care. She just wanted to impress them. At four moons old, she was so close to being a grown up. One day, she would be important, and the rest of the group needed to recognize that. She had to show them that. As tempting as it was, playing moss ball with everyone would just prove how immature she really was.

Unless... maybe it would be a chance to show off? What if she were able to show how agile and strong she was?

Her thoughts were interrupted by Froggy's fall, a quick snort escaping from Ivy before she could stop herself. It was probably for the best that she didn't join in. What if that happened to her? "You alright, Froggy?"​

[ I NEVER LEARNED RESTRAINT ]​