camp FIXER UPPER ( KITTEN CLAN ) ༊

[APPLEJAW]

Applekit's face scrunches from within the nursery. Since she's no longer trapped within its walls, she feels as if her life should suddenly be a whole lot grander. And yet, it really isn't. A glance around the nursery tells her that no one is doing anything interesting right now, so she will have to be the first one.

" I'm playing ShadowClan. Everyone should come, " she suddenly announces, blinking back expectantly at those within the den. She doesn't explain what 'ShadowClan' is yet because she hasn't thought about it yet, but making things up is okay sometimes. She makes her way outside on pale paws, the nature of her gait inconsistent. Blue and orange pearls dot around the clearing, watching how the rest of the clan gets around. She settles into a half - slouch, but upon reassessing the nature of her game, she would straighten into one that is more... leader - like. Once a few kits gather, should would lift her tail all regal - like. " I will be the leader– " She pauses, considering what her name would be. She knows about Chilledstar, but she didn't like that name. " ...Appleshade. "

She thinks about It for a moment before continuing on. Her littermates do not give her a lot to work with, she realizes. Valeriankit is scrutinized thoroughly. She is Starlingheart - like, or something. " Valerian...shine will be the medicine cat. "

A visible frown comes to her face as she looks over her remaining siblings. Swankit was too sleepy to do anything. Garlickit was too strange. So was... the other one. All that was left was Comfreykit. She doesn't know her that well, but she is probably better than Garlickit. " Comfreyjaw will be deputy. " Applekit turns to Garlickit. She thinks she needs to calm down. " Garlicear will be an elder. " She squints at the remaining few, before announcing with a sniff. " The rest of you are kits. " All sorted.

" Now we're playing. Clan meeting! " Chilledstar always sounded boring and sad when they announced meetings, so Applekit could not sound boring or sad. A pout overtakes her face realizing that she could not get on Clanrock, but she didn't need that to be heard, anyways. " First order of ShadowClan business: ShadowClan is too dark and sad. We need a new name. " Things like LightClan and ShineClan drift through her mind. Even ShadeClan would be okay, like a prettier version of ShadowClan. Her ideas are good.

...Against her better judgment she asks anyways, clearing her throat " What should it be? "

( ooc: tagging @valeriankit @swankit @Garlickit @COMFREYKIT & @lambkit but open to anyone :D!! )​

 

[coyotethroat]

Coyotethroat is far from a...kit-lover as one might say. They're strange things, awkward and small. Fragile, even if they do not think of themselves as such. He worries that he might break them with so much as a stray word. A single misplaced hello may shatter their little spines. Why they think otherwise, he cannot comprehend. From his distance, a quite intentional one, Coyotethroat watches with sharpened eyes. The typical spaciness of his demeanor has abandoned him entirely– an intentional mask he can no longer keep so perfectly in place. He's not...well, it is easier to describe what he is than what he is not, and that is...concerned. Wary. Nervous, but oh how he hates to say such things. Uncomfortable is far better.

With a low, drawn-out hum of discontent, the warrior's tail flicks and snaps against the soft ground. The rest of his body may be lax, aside from the tension on his face, but he cannot fully soothe himself. "KittenClan, of course," he offers, or perhaps demands of them, without thinking a thing at all. He should know better than to draw a child's attention. "What else might you be?" He nearly offers TinyClan, but that seems a far greater insult.

˗ˏˋ《  OOC 05.08.2023 》´ˎ˗

• ooc: he's not contributing well but i beg of you to bother him
• coyotethroat ╱╱ he - him. warrior of shadowclan.
  ──── a proficient and charismatic liar; naturally curious and clever, to the point of nosiness.
  ──── acrobatic and stealthy with a love for sneaking about & eavesdropping where he can.
  ──── high dexterity and high charisma, with a love for intrigue of any kind. holds no loyalty.
  
  a lithe, trim seal point with low white and bright blue eyes. though his fur is very fluffy, it is frequently smoothed down to a sleeker look that shoots up in curls at select places. he tends to be very neat and careful about his appearance, though does not hesitate to get dirty in the moment– just don't expect him to hang around too long after. he has to go groom himself, after all.
• "speech"

​

 

[Garlicheart]

When Applekit said she was going to play Shadowclan, Garlickit woke from her nap immediately and bounced after her.

"YAYAYAYAYA-"

She sat before her glorious new leader, who named herself Appleshade. Games aside, she thought that was a pretty name. The other kits are given names and rolls, and she wiggles in place with excitement to hear hers.

Garlicear. An elder. Hm. What did elders do? She tries to think of the few times she's encountered the oldest cats in the clan.....

Yes. She has a game plan now.

She hunches over and tries to shake a little. Her eyes squint and she pretends to strain her ears.

In her best old person voice, she speaks. "Eehh?" She looks up at Appleshade. "What was that?? My ears aren't what they used to be!!" She asked.

She thought she was performing her roll perfectly.
​

 

[Swansong]

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

Swankit is an unusually sleepy child, not much for kitten-play. He would always rather nap than chase tails. And yet, he joins Applekit nonetheless. Her games are always more fun than Garlickit's at least, a nice midpoint between the middle sister's unrelenting energy and Swankit's own lethargic disinterest. And he knows his parents want him to get out of the nursery more, to make friends with the other kits. He looks over the gathered group; aside from his siblings (who apparently don't count as friends), he likes Lambkit the best. She's got a funny stare, like that weird apprentice. They're interesting, as Applekit would put it.

He likes the idea of playing ShadowClan, accepting it readily even though it's not a game he knows. The best way to lure the reluctant Swankit into playing is with a game of pretend. Valerianshine is the medicine cat, he likes that. He kinda wishes he could be the medicine cat though — it's important, he thinks, but not too involved. Starlingheart spends a lot of time in her den, he could do that.

When his role is declared, Swankit blinks slowly, seeming to process. "Still kits...? Not much of a game..." he pouts. He's disappointed in his sister. What's the point of a game if they don't get to be anything fun? In a burst of rebellious inspiration, Swankit slowly turns to the other "kit" in this game, a plan forming in his mind. "Lambkit," he says airily, voice soft, fixing them with a half-lidded gaze. "We should be... um. You should, we should lead our own ShadowClan... 'Cause Applekit's not playing it right," He nods as if to affirm his own words. Maybe Lambkit could be leader... It seems like too much work for Swankit, even with the motivation of correcting Applekit's clear misunderstanding of how games work.

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"
  ​
• 

​

 

[Yarrowpaw]

"Leaders have got stars in their name, Applekit." the striped son of Betonyfrost reminded, though not unkindly, trotting over to the newly-formed ShadowClan and surveying its members. Garlicear the elder, who seemed to be taking to her role quite well; Valerianshine, the medicine cat, felt fair enough. His own sister was deputy, which felt rather impressive to Yarrowkit - but he, Swankit, and everyone else were still doomed to be kittens. Swankit had a point: Applekit didn't seem to know how to play at all. Just because she's not very good at games doesn't mean I have to be. Besides, they're all still little. They're learning. he, at the whopping age of four whole moons, was far better-equipped for play. "Applestar, may I please be a warrior? Perhaps...a warrior of LeafClan?" he stood up as tall as he could, which was admittedly relatively tall considering his size, and gave his most charismatic smile.

Whether or not his 'promotion' went through or not, the chocolate tabby would add, "And Swankit should be...hmm...a lead warrior. Yeah."​

 

[lambkit]

❝ BAD THOUGHTS GIVE ME BAD DREAMS ⃤°.✦ ————————————
A brown-and-gray face emerges from the nursery's shadows, huge bicolor eyes seeming close to bulging from their sockets in a tiny-pupiled stare. A patched white body follows, kitten-small and scrawny even for ShadowClan; bone white fur stretched over tented joints. The yellow eye-markings on the overlarge wings tucked comfortably behind Lambkit's ears seem mirror her own uncanny gaze to observers. Her eel-like tail dragging behind her, collecting debris, the kit pads quietly over to where Applekit and her other denmates have congregated. Addercoil was always telling Lambkit to 'go out and make friends', after all, which they suspected was just Addercoil's way of getting Lambkit to go away.

Applekit is so bossy, Lambkit observes to themselves. Ever since Lambkit's known her, she's always telling her siblings what do and how to do it; she hasn't done it to Lambkit though, actually she doesn't talk to Lambkit much. She has a pretty pelt, though, Lambkit thinks; the streak of cloud-color across her side reminds Lambkit of the 'snakes' Addercoil told them stories of. Plus, her fur color reminds Lambkit of the little bits of sky they can see right before the moon comes up; all glowy and pinky. The color wiggles across the front of Lambkit's mind like a strawberry-hued serpent and is filed away to look at later.

Their attention is jerked away from Applekit's lecturing by the sound of a new voice, something that will always catch Lambkit's attention without fail: some new sensation to tuck away on the shelves of her mind. A bulbous brown-and-blue gaze stares unrelentingly at Coyotethroat for several beats. And then her kitten attention is tugged again, but Lambkit squints and tries to remember the new cat's face and voice as they turn to Swankit. Attempting to ignore Garlickit's piercing mews, those having long lost their allure, Lambkit's protruding eyes are turned onto her denmate, his creamy-colored pelt and droopy fur so different from her own. It reminds Lambkit of the teeth she sees on prey-bones; they nod assent to Swankit's words, adding in a strangely adult mew learned from their foster queen, "Yes. I have some ... stuff in my nest. It can be our Clan treasure," Lambkit pauses, considering, "What do we name it?"

[penned by dejavu - ]

———————————— ✦.°⃤ AND MY BAD DREAMS MAKE ME SLEEPWALK❞​

​

 

[COMFREYPAW]

Applekit, the bossiest of Halfshade's kits, declares to her denmates that they are playing ShadowClan. Comfreykit is bored enough to heed the tortie she-kit's call, her eyes wide. She shares a glance with Yarrowkit; they'd never played ShadowClan before, nope. Not once.

Applekit declares herself leader. She doles out names and ranks with a stingy paw. Her sister Valeriankit gets to be Valerianshine, the medicine cat. Comfreykit flicks her tail tip, waiting for instructions. It's clear who is running this game, even though she and Yarrowkit are older.

"Comfreyjaw will be deputy." The charcoal tabby puts a paw up in surprise. "Me?" She smiles, glowing despite herself. She can't help but throw a half-sly, half-exuberant look her brother's way. It's clear he's not thrilled about being left out. He doesn't even get to be a warrior -- Applekit makes them all kits, except Garlicear, who has to be an elder.

Appleshade suggests their name change, because ShadowClan is too dark and sad. Comfreyjaw opens her mouth to answer, but it's one of the nearby warriors who intervenes. KittenClan, he supplies, and Comfrey...jaw looks at him with narrow amber eyes. "But only some of us are kits," she reminds Coyotethroat. Stars, is Appleshade rubbing off on her? All of a sudden, she's feeling her fake deputy rank!

Garlicear does exactly as she's supposed to do, except... Comfreyjaw pads over and gently pokes her in the side. "Hey, you're supposed to tell stories, like Heavybranch," she says, giggling. "And all of you kits" -- she looks at them all, including Yarrowkit, and nods -- "have to come listen to the story!"

She thinks Appleshade is brilliant. She's come up with the perfect game! But Swankit, like her own brother, is not pleased with his rank. "Lambkit, we should be... um. Lead our own ShadowClan." Comfreyjaw makes a little hmph noise. Was their Clan really not good enough for them, just because they had to be kits?

Yarrowkit, the know it all, tries to tell Appleshade she has to be Applestar. Comfreyjaw rolls her eyes. "This version of ShadowClan doesn't have that rule, tadpole-brain," she insists. "Maybe you should go be in LeafClan with those kits over there." She smiles evilly at her brown tabby littermate.

Lambkit is weird. Lambkit doesn't have any siblings and just likes to stare at everyone. They seem like a good friend for all of the other kits.

"Um... yeah, well... our Clan doesn't need treasure... right, Applekit?" She looks at the younger she-kit for approval. Without even realizing it, she has begun to do it with almost everything she's said.​

[ PENNED BY MARQUETTE ]​

 

[APPLEJAW]

The suggestions are off to a bad start, but surprisingly, its by the maw of a real ShadowClan warrior (a rank that she was realizing might not be as great as she'd first thought). Appleshade sticks up her nose, pouting her lip at the warrior. She's about to shut him down when Comfreyjaw beats her, to the approval of Appleshade. The tortoiseshell nods sharply in agreement, adding, " That's even more boring than ShadowClan. "

It turns out, few of the other participants would concern themselves with anything that actually matters. ( In Garlickit's case, she thinks thats okay. Appleshade thinks she's a little too good at being an elder, its fine. As leader she didn't have to repeat herself. ) It seems her deputy isn't entirely impressed with Garlicear's performance, though. Appleshade looks on in interest, perking up as she suggests, " Stories! Make it a good story. " One about the great battle, she almost said. But that was dark and gloomy like ShadowClan was.

A story for the kittens sounded very good to her, but Swankit quickly betrays her. " What are you saying! " Applekit gasps. He's being ridiculous. How was he gonna make another clan if he just slept and talked to weird cats all day. She's playing it wrong? It's her game. She can't play it wrong. ...Did other cats think she was playing it wrong? Applekit goes quiet for a moment.

No, she was playing it right, and everyone would know that shes right. Appleshade puffs out her chest. " What? You're gonna be DreamyClan? Where you dream of catching prey and never get any? "

One of the older kits– Comfreyjaw's brother– thinks that her name is wrong. But her name is perfectly fine. Comfreykit... jaw is the perfect deputy, Appleshade realizes. The Clan leader nods approvingly. " You can't be a warrior because that's not my name. I'm Appleshade, " she insists. Frankly, she considers exiling him on the spot, but maybe the older kits were better at games... Appleshade sniffs. " ...If you get it right, maybe you can be a warrior, " she says thoughtfully. How much does she really mean it? She isn't sure yet. Either that or he goes to DreamyLeafClan where he can die of boredom.

As if "Lambkit" has any treasure. Who even is Lambkit? She meets Comfreykit's amber gaze. Clearing her throat. " Appleshade, remember? " She blinks at the older kit, but at least she wasn't being totally annoying like everyone else was. She loudly replies, " I have lots of secret treasure, but it looks like only Comfreyjaw will get to have any, " She shrugs at the other kits (and warrior). Applekit doesn't actually have lots of treasure, but she has some. Maybe she will show Comfreykit in exchange for not being a boring playmate.​

 

[smogstar]

For a thousand moons, and many more nights, KittenClan has stood staunch in defiance of the world's wickedness and depravity. They are the paragons of all that is right, the epitome of absolute virtue, and their nefarious foes tremble in their skin at the mere mention of the clan's name. Howbeit, with Appleshade's ascension to leadership, a schism tears at the very fabrics of this once-noble group. Some of KittenClan's finest advocate for an alteration of the existing naming conventions, whereas others espouse hogwash about forming breakaway groups. Simultaneously, Appleshade rules with an iron paw, and subdues her subordinates by means of ruthless tyranny. An ominous sun sets over this clan, and the night to come will be truly agonising.

Ethereal pawsteps carry the tom to the brink of the kits' play area. With a bent-out-of-shape grin, he watches as the young ones mimic the intricacies of clan life, how they squabble over the pettiest of substances—one of the more accurate depictions he's seen of ShadowClan's day-to-day. His gaze emphasises the small forms of his own four. They may not take after him in a physical sense, but their knack for political intrigue is unmistakable. A gleam of pride and amusement lies in his eyes as the miniature reenactment of power struggles carries on; a brow does crook, however, as he notes how bossy Applekit demonstrates herself to be.

He walks in a way he'd imagine a ghost would. Slowly, gracefully, broodingly. The deputy weaves between wriggling kits as he roves towards KittenClan's overbearing leader, before coming to a stop and craning his neck down at his daughter's pallid form. "Appleshade," he says softly, smiling at the fact that she'd adopted her mother's suffix, "I am a spirit from StarClan. One of your many ancestors. And I come here with a message in these times of trouble." Suddenly, he gives the length of her forehead a quick swipe of the tongue. "Remember to always groom your fur, or else I'll do it for you," Smogmaw then meows, padding off to the sidelines shortly thereafter. ​

 

[jitterbug]

A short whistle as Jitterkit watches the other kits from a short distance away. Playing at being warriors and deputies has never really been much fun to em; why bother? One day they'll all be warriors, and there's no point to faking it when they'll all get there eventually anyways, hopefully sooner rather than later. Er teeth click once, twice, as ey continues to eye the group without moving to participate. Maybe ey can find something more interesting if ey lingers around. Er gaze sweeps back and forth, face twitching in a grimace and another whistle, and finally er gaze stops on Smogmaw's tail. Er eyes narrow into slits and ey crouches down, wiggling er body slightly as ey creeps forward. Closer... closer... ey're only a short hop away when another whistle spills out. Drat. Ey has to pounce before ey's ready, it seems. Ey lunges forward, and immediately er little needle-like teeth try to chomp on Smogmaw's tail.