private in the evening clear .. eveningkit

[hazecloud]

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Hazecloud was careful to count the days that had passed while she continued to scheme her escape. One of the kittypets she spoke to had been nice, Nutmeg, who reminded her much of Bobbie from her days on the journey. There had been loosely made plans and promises that Hazecloud would be able to feel the sunlight and run through the grasses again, and the queen clung to that tiny sliver of hope.

Nutmeg had listened to her lament of her worries for her kittens back home. Guilty for how they must feel without her there, fearful of the uncertainty if she would ever see them again. She worried for Lichenstar, too. Had her mate been able to handle any of it? Was she ready to manage the strong feelings in such little bodies as she had? Were they properly comforted in all of this?

So many questions whirled around her skull for days, enough to make her dizzied and overwhelmed. Hazecloud still hid from the twolegs that ventured in and out of this prison as they pleased, but she had begun to pick up on their patterns quickly. Their clumsy stomping announced their arrival long before they entered, giving her ample time to run back to her hiding place before they stepped foot inside. But after the sun officially set they would all return to their nests just as her Clan would.

And like clockwork they arrived with the moons rise. They brought with them the achingly familiar scents of the river, and she wrapped her tail around herself to sooth the pain of homesickness. Yet it lingered, even as they disappeared into their nests, and from the narrow divide from the floor to her hiding spot, a head has poked through to greet her! Hazecloud blinked, and while she could recognize her daughters eyes from anywhere, through anything, something has twisted within her still.

"Eveningkit?" Disbelief clear in her voice. "What are you doing here- how- does your mother even know about this?'

// this thread is for the burbot bingo slot! @EVENINGKIT

✿ ———— I'll be your regular mama ✿ ————— And I'll put that gun away

•  
• 
  
  
  Hazecloud
  —⊰⋅ Queen of RiverClan
  —⊰⋅ She/Her
  "SPEECH", 'THOUGHTS', ATTACK
  —⊰⋅ LH blue smoke with green eyes.
  

​

 

[EVENINGPAW]

Eveningkit does not expect much. She's not sure her brain has enough capacity to even come up with anything- hope, despair, nothing. Her body had gone rigid the moment she unknowingly set paw inside a well-concealed trap, and everything was aching at this point, but it's not like she can simply will herself to drop. Terror turns her eyes into wide slits and her fur stands on end, but it does not offer any sort of calm... she doesn't feel big and intimidating. She just feels foolish and too tiny to face the world.

All her five moons of life so far had consisted of wanting to get out. Of trying to hide her jealousy whenever Pebblepaw, Shellpaw and Riverpaw (oh, please, come home) ventured outside with their mentors, no doubt learning new techniques and perfecting them. Various games with the other inhabitants of the nursery often involved pretending to be someone else; someone with the freedom to go wherever she wants, when she wants. All her distaste towards what it means to be a kit just feels... sour now, in her mouth. The walls of the camp had been referred to as a cage once by her- little did she know what it felt like to really be in a proper cage with no way out.

She should've just listened.

The Twolegs have deposited her into another cage after some point — it's not like Eveningkit has a way of telling the time —, the second one looking much friendlier than the first. It's still a cage, of course, cutting her vision into thin little squares, but this new one has soft material under her, and two circular looking things holding food and water. Cold bars cut into her fur but she doesn't relent; she's picked one of the far corners of the cage to push herself into, curling into a ball with two very wide and very scared eyes.

Her nose picks up something... familiar. Tears sit at her lash line as recognition seeps in: the scent is just like her mama's, and as badly as Eveningkit wishes for it to be real, there's no way the Twolegs were kind enough to put the two of them into the same space. StarClan miracles surely don't reach this far.

And yet, saddened eyes stare into the bottom of some Twoleg-made decor, heart yearning-

Eveningkit?

Something calls out from underneath. Eveningkit's heart jumps straight into her throat, forming a nice little lump within its fleshy confines, ears recognizing that voice from a thousand shrill cries.

"Muh- mama?" her voice trembles like her body did while still in the belly of a Twoleg's monster. The shadow shifts and Hazecloud emerges- she's alive, breathing, and here.

The tears fall then with nothing to try and hold them back, though Eveningkit smiles wide enough to force her cheeks skyward. And here she thought she'd never be happy ever again. Tiny paws move for the first time in who knows how long, vigor seeping back into her limbs, paws and face pushing against the cage.

"Mama, I- I was so lonely without you. I missed you!" Breaths quicken in an effort to get everything out into the open, words tumbling over another as she speaks. "I wanted to... I thought I could find you. I snuck out of camp and tried to find you, but I..." A pause. Hazecloud speaks of Lichenstar and guilt grips Eveningkit's heart, cold and cruel- but self-made all the same. "She probably knows by now."
​

 

[hazecloud]

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There is no deceit in what she sees. It's true, her kitten, her foolish daughter, had joined her at the whims of the upwalking beasts. Conflict tore Hazecloud in every direction; frustration that Eveningkit, a child of all ranks was able to be taken like this. (What did that mean for their camp? Was anyone else abducted?)

But she had missed them so much. All of them, carefully raised and propagated to be wonderful RiverClanners. Seeing Eveningkit made this place not seem so daunting, and now instead of aimlessly planning an escape, she could ensure her daughter was safe. But now they would have to find a way to get her out of this trap. It didn't hold the same metallic scent as hers, but it did overwhelmingly smell like kibble dust and still water.

The anger in Eveningkit's motivation is quelled as she recalled even smaller bodies accompanying her Clanmates out to the river. If Blazestar's insecurities of his kin had waited even a moon more, they would have been apprentices. Eveningkit could have been in Turtlepaw's place on Lichenstar's patrol.

Was this sense of freedom so natural, then? It still felt absurd, to make them wait so long when they hardly had any more growing to do before. Yet for all her internal objections over it, she had to remain an example to follow the code. If she tried to give this one exceptions, it would only undermine the importance for all the others.

Hazecloud bit the inside of her cheek as they stretched her paw over and around the cage in search of a way to find an opening. She paused once she felt something at the top, and jumped up to inspect it. "There's rules and laws to keep this from happening to you." The molly's voice was quiet as she tested some ideas to get the contraption to give in. "Being an apprentice- the danger is... inescapable sometimes. Even for warriors, like me, you can't always predict what could happen. But a kit... You're to remain in camp so that I can prepare that for you. So that when you leave the nursery and travel with your mentor, it isn't so scary or easily lost."

A sudden snap! gave in and the roof of the cage folded in. Hazecloud reached down to encourage Eveningkit to climb out. "I have a friend that's trying to help get me out of here. You have to listen to my instructions so we can do that together, okay?" They had no choice, either of them. There was little left to hold hope for.

✿ ———— I'll be your regular mama ✿ ————— And I'll put that gun away

•  
• 
  
  
  Hazecloud
  —⊰⋅ Queen of RiverClan
  —⊰⋅ She/Her
  "SPEECH", 'THOUGHTS', ATTACK
  —⊰⋅ LH blue smoke with green eyes.
  

​