camp FRIGID WATER ;; kit training game

// kit game!! Adults can watch but please don’t intervene <3
Tagging those who showed interest in the discord but this is open to all kits!! @Redkit @ALGAEKIT @Owlkit

Cragkit stands at the edge of the island, watching as the younger kits gather around him, their eyes wide with excitement. The sun filters through the willows, casting dappled shadows on the ground. Yeah, it’ll do nicely. It’s a beautiful day to train! He clears his throat, adopting a serious expression that would make Iciclefang proud.

"Alright, listen up, you minnows!" He begins, a playful glint in his mismatched eyes. "Today, we're not just playing games; we're preparing to be warriors. Who can tell me the first rule of being a RiverClan cat?" Before anyone can even properly answer he cuts them off with a "Wrong!" as a paw slaps against the ground. "It’s ‘Respect the River’! The river is our lifeblood. Without it, we can't fish, we can't drink, and we definitely can't win any battles.” He recites his mother’s words easily, the same values that had been pumped into him since the day he was born. “So today, we're going to train as if the river depends on it!"

He begins to pace back and forth, “We’ll start with some basic hunting techniques.” Spoken as if he actually had any idea what he was talking about, like he even knew how to hunt (he doesn’t). The tricolor tom stops, pivots, and turns to them. "Who can show me how to crouch?" He demonstrates, lowering himself into a low crouch, trying to embody the stealthy grace of a RiverClan warrior. Unfortunately for Cragkit, his attempt is incredibly sloppy and lopsided. "You've got to blend in with your surroundings. You never want your prey to see you coming!"
All echoes of things he’s heard warriors say, even if he himself doesn’t quite know what it fully means. ​
 
The son of Iciclefang had begun a gathering of those similar in age, and he wanted to reject the offer, but he didn't want his mother or siblings to get in trouble. As Cragkit takes his place, just like Lichenstar does at every moon's beginning, he listens silently and interrupts whoever attempts to answer his question while rambling about being a Riverclan cat. Redkit's curled ears flick as he glances at Algaekit and gently headbutts his sibling's shoulder affectionately. A forest green gaze focuses back on Cragkit as he yawns sleepily and reminisces on seeing his mother, and hopefully, he'll catch her outside once more.

The river is our lifeblood. What did that even mean? His little brain was too tired and undeveloped to understand all the words being spat out by the older tomcat. Basic hunting techniques? Cragkit then inquires if anyone can show him how to crouch and he then proceeds to crouch (or what he assumes to be a crouch, he hadn't properly learned what crouching was just yet). Redkit blinks tiredly as he raises his paw with a confused expression lacing his face, ”What crouching do? What is crouching? Why do we need to crouch?” His questions spewed out as he didn't understand why or what they needed to do crouching for.

 

Fulgent summer sun graced the earth with its presence, beholding the gathered kittens in its hands of golden warmth, like lucent love beaming right upon the shadow-cast grounds. Fronds of willows shielded the Riverclan cats from the brunt of greenleaf's ardor, dappling them in shades cut and torn from papery flowers. Today... Algaekit would be a pupil under Cragkit's discretion. The tomcat said that "respecting the river" was their number one tenet, that it provided the clan with everything they could ever need. Golden eyes bobbed towards the river, as if the dynamism of the water refuted the tellurian nature of what lie underneath her feet, flowing as liberal as the winds and the wiles of her kin. Where the river extended to was a thought that had cropped up within Algaekit's mind, like a sprout unfurling from the nothingness of her own naivete. Perhaps it continued on forever, feeding into the horizon and falling upwards to the heavens beyond the blue-tinged welkin. Does Starclan also drink from the river? His own distraction led him to not follow along with anything that Cragkit had been saying, though he did catch glimpses of his long-winded speech. "I have... idea." Algaekit mewled amongst the chatter of her peers, and immediately glanced downwards to the silt and the sands, liquid gloom aglow in her own bespeckled fervor. Snowdrift-white paws dug at the soft ground, quickly creating a small divot. Then, he nestled himself into the slight ditch as best as he could, making sure to place as much dirt on his back as he could. Of course, it hardly worked, and the bits of gravel and grit either stuck to a spiny coat or just rolled off. "Prey can't see me if I'm under the ground."
 

Cragkit sighs as he sees Redkit's puzzled look and Algaekit's odd attempt at hiding. His patience is starting to wear thin, though he tries to keep his tone from becoming too sharp. "Alright, listen up!" Cragkit barks, a hint of frustration creeping into his voice. "Crouching is super important for hunting. It's not just about hiding - it's about being sneaky so you don't scare off your prey! It's like...if you didn’t want to go to your nest, you wouldn't want to be out in the open where you can be seen by the queens, right?" He demonstrates again, this time with more emphasis. "You get low, make yourself small, and try to blend in with the ground. It's about being quiet - that’s what the warriors say. If you're too clumsy or loud, you'll never catch anything."

Cragkit then turns to Algaekit, looking at the dirt-covered kit with an exasperated expression. He resists the urge to slap a paw to his face. "That's…not quite right, Algaekit. The dirt isn't going to help much. Try crouching without covering yourself in soil, please. Pretend you’re a…a rock blending into the environment." He pauses and takes a deep breath, trying to regain his composure. He didn’t realize how hard it was going to be training his denmates to be warriors! Oh well, a mentor’s work is never done!

 

Not quite right...? Cragkit chastised her almost like a faintly exasperated parent would, of which Algaekit found a little unfair, as though the older kit had castigated her upon a scourge of his vaster knowledge. She tilted her head, kittish eyebrows furrowing and seeming to bury right into her skull. Well, she thought that idea had been clever, at the very least. "I blend to ehn-vie-ment. With dirt." He mewled with dejection clinging to his tongue, though he managed to shake off the excess of dirt that stuck to wiry, willowy strands, though brownish streaks had swinged themselves upon an effusively-white coat. Now, he stood with his sunlit gaze pooling along the ground, as though honeyed beamsdragging upon the dirt from its perch. Rocks... round... I know how to round. Immediately did Algaekit shift her position, though this time she laid down and tucked her paws beneath her plump belly, though her actions were not birthed of deceit nor vainglory. He was simply steadfast in his outlandish ideas, for he was but a child pawing through life for the first time. He only knew so much, but it was so much that he wanted to know. And this method was surely a good one to blend in with the environment, right?

  • OOC:
  • q4Dcjhi.jpeg
  • —— ALGAEKIT / He/She / 2 Moons
    —— Kitten of Riverclan / Sibling to Redkit and Rivuletkit / Mentored by N/A
    —— A wiry, wild-furred blue tortoiseshell with high white and freckle-like spotting. Brilliant yellow eyes, like twin molten suns.
    —— Chaotic, obsessive and strange, Algaekit is a weirdly refreshing character to encounter amongst the sea of her dutiful kin. Beset by nature and her patterns, he is quick to connect the dots even when no such connection truly exists. Somewhat easy to befriend, provided that one can handle his bluntness and honesty at times.
    —— Penned by Tempest. Contact on Discord (naruk4mi) for plots and threads.


 
”Why wouldn't you not want to go back to your nest?” Redkit loved returning to his nest so he could cuddle his siblings, and soon his mama would be there to cuddle with them. ”I always want to be seen by my mama.” He boldly states as she puffs out his chest in pride, the pride of a loyal son that loved his mama more than anything. He loved Robinheart, Algaekit, Rivuletkit, and Brookstorm (even if she was in the stars). His curled ears flick as he glances at Algaekit, who was now curled up on the dirt.

A false lightbulb lights in his head, and the vibrant tom is next to his sibling. ”Algae is very ent-telli-gint!” He meows proudly as he copies the posture of his littermate, folding his paws as close into his body and making his frame as round as possible. Redkit closes his sage green eyes as he basks in the sun, becoming one with the rock. He was a rock, rocks were round - just as he and Algaekit. They were rocks and they would catch unsuspecting victims (unless he fell asleep from how comfortable he was right now).