private DUST IS SETTLING .☘︎ ݁˖ JOYKIT

[Bogkit]

"Joykit!" The little firework jumps over at her from where he had been intently staring at a passing butterfly, the creature had fluttered off before he could think to catch it. Growing bored he decides that now is the perfect time to spring the challenge he had been planning. Bogkit beams at her, usually tired looking eyes are alight with mischief and delight. Stomping little bi-coloured paws on the ground as he couldn't contain his well joy! While originally wary of Joykit he had grown to like the older kit, not as close as his siblings but he was gracious enough to consider her a good denmate. That's because she was, she always seemed to be supporting his brothers in the river which is great but it did make him feel a little left out. This however, this would fix things, tail twitching he felt confident that Joykit would definitely want to play with him.

"I challenge you to'a race!" Words jumble together at the end as he became too excited and exploded in glee. "From th' nursery to ummm th' camps entrance" he thought that was pretty far, maybe a little ambitious for a first race. "Wait no! Warriors den, yeah" maybe they could pass by Pebbletail or maybe even Beefang, they could see how fast he is and think he's really cool for being able to run so fast. Satisfied with his rules and with how receptive to the idea Joykit seems to be he turns on his heels and trots to the front of the nursery.

"Okaaaay on the count of three" with a dramatic pause he flicks his tail, digging his paws into the ground. "onetwothree go!" he babbles away quickly and kicks up the dirt under ground as he begins to run. Though there seems to be an issue immediately, the ground too slick from a rainfall the night prior. Running across the camp he only gets a quick few paces before tiny paws become stuckin the mud and latches him to the ground as he makes another bounding leap. Resulting in his chin meeting the ground after his paws scramble, it would be a comedic sight if it happened to anyone else but happening to him? Bogkit thought it was awful!

Sniffling to himself he feels a sting in his eyes as his chin radiates a light burning pain. Nothing severe, just a small scrape but to him this was the end of the world. Amber eyes peer up ahead of him, expecting to see Joykit reaching the warriors den by now. He doesn't blame her, while he's rather annoyed that she must have beaten him there it's not her fault that he got stuck. Thankfully it seems like his father wasn't out here so he wouldn't see Bogkit as he flops on the muddy ground like a fish out of water.

@Joykit​

 

[Joykit]

Joykit's ears perked the moment she heard her name, paws already shifting beneath her before Bogkit had even finished bounding toward her. He was bright today—more than usual. Eyes all lit up, voice bubbling over like a stream after heavy rain. For a second, she blinked at him, a little surprised by the sudden burst of energy. But then he said the word "race," and her whiskers twitched with interest. "A race?" she echoed, already rising to her paws with a flick of her tail. "You're on."

She lined up beside him at the edge of the nursery, crouching low like she'd seen the older apprentices do when they prepared to pounce—though this was much less about pouncing and more about fun. Her tail flicked behind her in time with Bogkit's countdown, and the moment his paws kicked off the ground, she launched forward too, laughter bubbling in her chest.

At first, she ran like wind over grass—legs pumping fast, eyes bright, paws finding just enough grip to fly over the damp earth without slipping. The sun hit her back, the camp blurred around her, and for a moment she felt light, weightless, like nothing could touch her. Like she was flying.

But then—
A sound.
A slip.
A thud.

Joykit skidded to a stop mid-stride, paws digging into the mud as she whipped her head around. Bogkit wasn't behind her anymore. He was flat in the dirt, a little muddy puddle of black and gray fur and flailing limbs, his chin pressed to the ground and his eyes shining—not with excitement, but with that telltale shimmer of tears.

Her ears lowered slightly, guilt prickling in her chest. Without another thought, she trotted back to him, brushing aside the flicker of pride she'd felt a moment ago. Winning the race didn't matter. Not if he was hurt. "Hey," she said softly, crouching beside him. "That was a pretty dramatic fall." She didn't say it in a mean way—just with a gentle, amused sort of tone, as if to say, it happens. Her gaze flicked to his chin, eyes narrowing just slightly. "You okay? That looked like it stung."

She hesitated, then smiled a little. "You were really fast at the start, y'know." A compliment, genuine and unpolished. "Mud's tricky. Gets under your paws when you least expect it."

There was a beat of silence as she looked at the mess he'd landed in—then, without another word, she flopped down beside him with a soft squish of wet earth beneath her. Mud splattered her side, sticking to her cinnamon-tabby pelt and smearing across her white paws. She gave a little huff and grinned sideways at him. "There. Now we both look funny!" She flicked her tail once, a teasing glint in her eyes. "Bet we scared the fur off the whole nursery, charging out like that." And there, in the middle of their failed race and muddy chaos, Joykit stretched her legs and rested her chin on the ground like it was the most comfortable place in the world.

( °❀.ೃ࿔* ) just miss what it was

• 
• 
  JOYKIT KIT; SHE / HER ; RUE X UNKNOWN ; SIBLING TO LIGHT & HOPE
  
  

  Joykit is a fierce and proud cinnamon marbled tabby kit with a sharp mind and a fire in her heart. Independent to a fault and stubbornly self-reliant, she carries herself with boldness far beyond her size, refusing to be seen as weak or helpless. Competitive, energetic, and cunning, she meets the world with a challenging glare and a guarded heart, shaped by the hardship and loss of her early life as a loner. Beneath her bristled edges lies a deep resilience and a drive to prove she belongs—on her terms and no one else's.

  ✦ Unskilled kit

 

[Bogkit]

This is it, everyones going to laugh at him. He wallows in a dramatic party of self pity as he rests his chin on the mud. Eyes wide and ready to burst into tears, lungs sucking in air to get ready to wail in retaliation if he saw Pebbletail come back home right at this moment. Instead he catches the sight of Joykit, for whatever reason she stoppes running, for whatever reason she had turned to come find him. Ah, to gloat of course! He would do the same if the roles were reversed, so those lungs hold onto the air he had been sucking in. Rather than being ready to wail it was so he could still cling to some hope of dignity. "Hi" he mumbles, voice muffled by the foreleg that he's dragged to his maw in hopes to bury his head against it. Maybe he could still look cool then, though he doubts it. "Did it look cool?" He lifts his head up once again to stare up at her, face furrowing as he did so.

Instead he's told it looks like it stung, okay that definitely made him look like a baby. His maw trembled, while wanted to say that it hurt his blossoming pride and bruised ego held him back. "M'okay, m' tough" he insists with a muffled sniffle, paw flexing in the mud as he speaks. A forlorn look on his face as he stares out at the den where they were supposed to run to. "The race is ruined" the grumble is hiccupped from a cry that he refuses to share, the last thing he needed was to look like a baby right now, not in front of Joykit.

Then she smiles, it hurts a little less after seeing it. It seems the she-kit knows him well, well enough to know what were the right things to say to bring him out of his wallowing. The compliment is met with wide eyes, blinking away the lost of ghostly tears. "Was I? D'ya think I coulda won?" He likes to think he would have, or they would have at least got close to tying. He was working hard to make sure he was really good at running after all, Bogkit is pretty confident he could outrun all of his brothers. "You were fast too, super fast." The compliments returned, just as clunky but no less genuine, a rarity from Bogkit since he found himself hard pressed to say anything nice about anyone not family.

Once again he flexes his paw, smacking it against the mud. With a 'plap' a small explosion is made from the sludge to sprinkle against the dark fur of his legs and a droplet smacking his cheek. Muds tricky "I like it" he decides with that awkward smile, maw pulled back far too much and exposing fangs and gums. "I bet we could be mud racers" is that a thing? He's unsure but it's a thing now! A dramatic gasp escapes him as she flops into the mud herself, his stare continues before he bursts into a fit of giggling laughter at how she looked right now.

The chimera kit rolls on his side, resting his own chin on the mud as contentment seems to find them. "I bet we even scared the warriors! We were soooo fast" with an exclaimation he shoots his paws up to the sky with a dramatic stretch. Tail flicking in amusement as even in the contentment they found there is an inkling of boredom that finds him. "We could look funnier" the suggestion is full of mischief. It seems like Bogkit has forgotten about the fall that happened moments prior already. His stare never leaves her own as he scoops mud under paw. experimentally throwing it at her paws beaming and laughing as it ricochets from wherever it lands and ends up covering his coat in even more mud.​

 

[Joykit]

Joykit couldn't help it—she giggled at the way Bogkit's face lit up again. That dramatic, toothy grin, the one that crinkled his nose and flashed a little too much fang? It was ridiculous… and kind of great. She liked seeing him like this better than how he'd looked a moment ago—sniffling, chin-down, eyes all watery.

"You totally could've won," she agreed, flicking a paw through the mud between them. "Maybe next time we should race somewhere less… sloshy." She said it like a secret strategy, like they were both seasoned athletes now who'd learned something vital.

When he smacked the mud again, sending little flecks flying up into his own fur, she blinked in surprise, then burst out laughing. "Mud racers, huh?" Her whiskers twitched with amusement as she raised one brow, playfully skeptical. "Only if we get cool names. I call Mudstrike."

Bogkit's next move was fast—just a scoop of mud flung her way—but it still caught her off guard, smacking against her paw and splattering her side again. She let out a small, exaggerated gasp "Hey!" she laughed, "That was a sneak attack!" Her voice rose with mock outrage, but her eyes were sparkling, and before she could talk herself out of it, she scooped a pawful of sludge and lobbed it right back at him. It didn't go far—She had never claimed to be strong—but it did smack harmlessly near his shoulder, sending up a new splatter.

She ducked low in the mud again, crouched with her belly squished to the cool ground like she was hiding in an ambush. "Okay, Bogkit, if we're gonna be mud racers, we also have to be mud warriors! It's the rules." Her tail flicked behind her, playful and full of energy. Maybe it hadn't been the race he wanted—but this? This still felt like a win.

( °❀.ೃ࿔* ) just miss what it was

• 
• 
  
  JOYKIT KIT; SHE / HER ; RUE X UNKNOWN ; SIBLING TO LIGHT & HOPE
  

  Joykit is a fierce and proud cinnamon marbled tabby kit with a sharp mind and a fire in her heart. Independent to a fault and stubbornly self-reliant, she carries herself with boldness far beyond her size, refusing to be seen as weak or helpless. Competitive, energetic, and cunning, she meets the world with a challenging glare and a guarded heart, shaped by the hardship and loss of her early life as a loner. Beneath her bristled edges lies a deep resilience and a drive to prove she belongs—on her terms and no one else's.

  ✦ Unskilled kit

 

[Bogkit]

"YOU coulda won too" he insists as he raises a paw to try and catch the mud, failing miserably and deciding to splat his paw against the ground. Mashing it against the ground and trying to make little shapes as Joykit shares a conspiracy with him, a secret to success next time they race. He likes talking to her like this, it was a lot more fun than having her try to console him before, how embarrassing! "What if we... raced from the camp entrance to the warriors den next time?" he decides thoughtfully, slowly nodding his head with a flick of his paw against the muddy ground once more. "We could race back and forth! It can be a.. endu... endur..." he huffs shaking his head and giving up trying to use that word. "We can see how long we can run! To see how strong we are like the warriors!" The exclamation is loud, overjoyed that he was able to figure out a new way to phrase what he had been trying to say before.

"Mud racers is cooler though" he wouldn't be letting go of that idea so easily. That sounded way cooler than boring old regular racers didn't it? It gave them a level of prestige, maybe it would make the other kits want to join in too if he could be so lucky. Though selfishly he did want to play with Joykit by themselves sometimes, she was always helping make the best games! How could he not? "WHATTT" He whines with a pout, then giggling "you can have Mudstrike! Mudpounce is way cooler anyways and that's all mine" he actually did think Mudstrike was pretty cool, which was probably obvious with his whining.

If they were to be proper mud racers with names and everything then they just had to look the part! His tail flicks in delight, absolutely giddy at the idea as he flings mud her way. "Mudpounce is always sneaky! Even with his friends" he declares puffing his chest out, that's what made Mudpounce a cool warrior after all! And exceptional mud racer! Though he hadn't expected her to retaliate, his legs kick into the ground as he tries to roll out of the way. Though far too late and he ends up floundering on the ground as it smacks his shoulder "Joykit!" He gasps back in the same mock outrage, though already following her lead and jumping up to crouch onto the ground. "Right!" He nods in agreement enthusiastically "and mud warriors have to have mud clan fights!" That just made sense clearly.

He spins in a dramatic flair, kicking mud towards Joykit in hopes that she would try and dodge it wherever it lands or not he doesn't mind. He just thought it would be a really cool mud warrior move. The failed race became the furthest thing from his mind, too focused on becoming the best mud warrior there was. He was sure Splashdance will be less than thrilled to see the mess that stems from this but once again he doesn't really think beyond the scope of how fun this is in the moment.​

 

[Joykit]

Joykit was already laughing by the time Bogkit declared himself Mudpounce—like it was the grandest warrior name ever whispered into a kit's ears. "Mudpounce?" she echoed with a squint, her smile sly. "Okay, fine. But only if you're ready to get pounced on back!" She wriggled in the mud, tail flicking behind her like a snake preparing to strike. It was hard not to grin at the way he puffed out his chest, all proud and smug and pretending like flinging sludge counted as some great warrior move. (It kind of did, actually.)

Bogkit's declaration about racing back and forth—an endurance race, she realized—made her whiskers twitch. She didn't correct his stumble, just nodded along like that was exactly the right word. "Yeah! Like we're on a patrol or something. Mud patrol!" Her tone was full of mock-importance, eyes wide and exaggerated. "Keeping RiverClan's borders clear of… uh, boring cats." That earned another round of giggles from her, especially when he started spinning and flinging mud again. She tried to dodge it this time—really, she did—but her paws skidded on the slick earth and instead she slipped right into a fresh puddle with a loud splat!

The moment of surprise passed fast, and she popped back up, soaked and delighted. "Mudstrike will remember this betrayal, Mudpounce!" she called out, lifting a paw and flinging another harmless scoop of goop toward him. It flopped onto the ground between them, more of a declaration than an actual hit.

Their made-up names, their made-up rules, their messy battlefield—none of it was serious, but all of it felt important. It was the kind of fun that only came in short bursts, made of sudden laughter and dirt-caked paws, of forgetting everything else for a little while. She forgot that the race had gone wrong, that Bogkit had been close to crying. She forgot her own fears about saying the wrong thing or doing too much.

All she knew was that he'd smiled again, really smiled—and that she had helped. It had made her feel good too. The river would always be there, cool and waiting. The warriors would always train. But this? This moment of splashing, skidding, laughter and mess? This was something she wanted to hold onto, just a little longer.

So she lunged forward with a wild paw-swipe—not to hit, just to challenge—and beamed at him with all the daring of a kit with nothing to lose. "Come on, Mudpounce! Show me your best move!"

( °❀.ೃ࿔* ) just miss what it was

• 
• 
  
  JOYKIT KIT; SHE / HER ; RUE X UNKNOWN ; SIBLING TO LIGHT & HOPE
  

  Joykit is a fierce and proud cinnamon marbled tabby kit with a sharp mind and a fire in her heart. Independent to a fault and stubbornly self-reliant, she carries herself with boldness far beyond her size, refusing to be seen as weak or helpless. Competitive, energetic, and cunning, she meets the world with a challenging glare and a guarded heart, shaped by the hardship and loss of her early life as a loner. Beneath her bristled edges lies a deep resilience and a drive to prove she belongs—on her terms and no one else's.

  ✦ Unskilled kit