private hey kids - into dust together

[Dandelionwish]

Sometimes he missed being a kitten. Sometimes he wanted to just go back to having no obligations, clinging close to his mother’s side and never straying far. He wanted to get into harmless mischief, he wanted to chase moths and dance in the rain with abandon. You never truly appreciated being young and ignorant until you grew past it, Dandelionpaw sometimes wished he’d never aged; never began to mature and understand the world that held untold cruelty and constant pain. But he adapted to it, he had overcome it in his own way, for while life could be needlessly cruel he was capable of choosing against adding to it. He could be his own cat, make his own decisions, and the sepia point had chosen kindness above all else.

WindClan was a strange place, when he and pa came here so many moons before he had quietly watched as the structure came together and Sootstar took control of things. The organization was well, the clan itself had grown and developed into something comfortable, but he could still remember the starving apprentice at the border, the dying young cat who was neglected help.
He remembered the heartless demeanor some of his clanmates held.

Brown paws carried him swiftly out into the moorland, it was raining quite heavily and hunting had gone poorly that morning as a result. The patrols were already sent out and he had nothing else to do after clearing the bedding in the elder’s den. So Dandelionpaw stepped out, long strides took him to where the hilly land dipped into rough divots that had already begun to pool with rain water; puddles dotting the landscape like holes leading to the reflective sky.
With little hesitation he jumped into one, the filthy water springing up around him and dousing him in its bits of grit and gravel; pieces of grass flecking through his chocolate pelt.
Today he would be childish…

@OWLPAW
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[OWLPAW]

Owlpaw had never had the pleasure of being a kit. She hadn't allowed herself to. Her brother, Shrikepaw, on the other hand, lived in continual kithood - it seemed he would never grow up. But Owlpaw? Owlpaw had her shit together, or so she told herself. She was the daughter of Sootstar, a gift from the stars, the princess of WindClan. Sootstar had always held her to high expectations and she had always followed them dutifully. She did not get too rowdy, she always obeyed and did what she was told, she always made sure that the Clans perceived her as the perfect golden child. She'd grown up way too fast, before she needed to. And she hadn't even come face to face with life's tribulations yet. All she knew was her comfortable life, protected by her mother and her Clan.

Because of that, she had always disapproved of the playfulness of others, especially those close to her age. Kits she could understand, but apprentices? They should be focused on warriorhood. So to see Dandelionpaw leaping through the puddles a light rain had caused turned her stomach, especially when she saw the bits of dirt sticking to his pelt. She cringed, her maw wrinkling and exposing small, sharp teeth. She approached, but did not allow herself to get close enough to be splashed. Her mother would kill her if she found her blue and white pelt caked in mud and rain water. "What are you doing?" she asked Dandelionpaw. "Should you be on a patrol or something?"​

 

[Dandelionwish]

Owlpaw's accusatory tone halted his hopping about and he turned with his head up and tail high to greet her chipperly despite the disdain on her face. "Evenin' Owlpaw, ah'm givin' these puddles a good'ole splashin'! Wanna join me?" The sepia point tom blatantly ignored her second remark, it had only just stopped raining so patrols might be being organized back at camp now, but he was hardly interested in plodding all the way back in time to catch one; besides Hyacinthbreath herself once said that taking a break now and then was good for you! And if the lead warrior could lighten up then he figured his fellow apprentice here was just as capable. Dandelionpaw wondered what it was like to have a leader for a parent, he imagined it felt horribly overwhelming at times. Maybe you felt like you were a high standard, despite the fact he was somewhat older than Owlpaw he expected she considered herself his superior due to her mother and that must be stressful. He'd not take her somewhat bossy demeanor negatively, nodding his head in a cheerful manner as he bounced in place on his paws with mud splashing up over them.
"Ye scared of getting a little dirty?"


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[OWLPAW]

Owlpaw let out a disapproving hum when he stated his business and wrinkled her nose at his now dirtied pelt. "You might as well be a RiverClan cat as wet as you are," she huffed. When he asked her to join him, her eyes narrowed as if the answer to that question was obvious. She had never been one to play much as a kitten, and she wasn't about to backtrack now that she was a little older with more responsibilities and a reputation to uphold. "I don't want to join. And no, of course, I'm not scared. I just have some self-respect and I actually care about appearances," she responded haughtily. What she did not add is that she was fairly certain that Sootstar would have her hide if she came back to camp looking like a drowned rabbit, with sticks and mud clinging to her long fur. She lashed her tail, wondering what Dandelionpaw would have to say in response to that.​

 

[Dandelionwish]

"C'mon now-I think I smell a little nicer than a RiverClanner." Dandelionpaw replied, jest in his tone and not a hint of malice to his words, there was not much that got under his skin and he took Owlpaw's aloof and dismissive behavior in stride. Her refusal to play was not surprising, but her reasoning was to an extent. The sepia point tom gave a single little 'hm' in a singsong manner, tapping his paws in place and slapping about the mud around him as he considered how best to respond to her. He had the slightest feeling that Owlpaw's sense of self-respect and appearances came less from a place of haughy superiority and more that she must struggle with a leader as a mother and certainly one as strict as Sootstar was. If he had to wager a guess he would think she'd like splashing around and having fun if given the chance!
And he was happy to offer it, even if it might come across as somewhat meanspirited in how he went about it. The apprentice leaned back, raised his left paw and suddenly swung it forward to send a cascade of filthy water flying forward to her like a blanket of dirt and sodden bits of debris.
"Well, ah think ye can wash it off easy! Live a little!"

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[OWLPAW]

Owlpaw gave the tom a raised brow when he claimed he smelled better than a RiverClanner. Barely, she thought and snorted. He might've smelled like a cool breeze and the wildflowers that grew on the moors had he not been covered in filthy rainwater, and while she supposed it was better than fish, she thought he still had a stench - the stench of mischief. She could tell by the glint in his eyes that he had something planned for her, but before she was able to fit the pieces together, a spray of muddy water was flung in her direction.

The she-cat seethed as flecks of mud swathed her light fur in filth and grime. She grimaced, staring down for a moment at her pelt and then slowly raising her angered gaze onto the sepia apprentice who had been the cause of such a blight. "Now why would you go and do a thing like that?" she demanded, shivering as the water seeped into her fur and touched her skin. It wasn't that it was cold, she just hated the sensation. "We aren't kits, Dandelionpaw." She sat down with a huff and began furiously licking her fur to clean it.​

 

[Dandelionwish]

He was genuinely surprised she didnt start shouting at him, her tone was more irritated than actually angry he thought and the fact she responded by just attempting to roughly clean herself was even more confusing to him. He could splash her again, she had not moved an inch and only sat down to start grooming as if he wasn't going to try it a second time. He was mighty tempted, a smile on his maw and whimsical glint to his expression that foretold mischief and amusement. "Thought ye could use a little help learn'n to have some fun! Now, since yer already dirty why don't ye give us a good splash? What's the harm in it?"
It wasn't like she could get dirtier, though that was also an option as well, but puddles were surprisingly cleaner than just rolling in mud which he also thought would be a fun idea if it came down to it but right now he really only wanted to get Owlpaw on his level and if that was acting 'like a kit' then so be it.
"We're ye ever a kit, Owlpaw? Maybe ye missed out a bit and wanna get some more kit fun in 'fore we all get old and borin!"

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