IT’S BETTER YOU’RE NOT MINE — eating rocks

[BASILPATCH]

it hasn’t been long now that Basil had been allowed to venture from the confines of the nursery, and even then he was not aloud to venture far. The patchwork kit was not much more for looks than he had been when he had first arrived on this planet. His fur still stuck up at odd angles, no matter how insistently it was groomed. His eyes, freshly opened, never seemed to be able to look in the same direction, specifically his left eye which would often look off to the side while his right remained straight. His tail, unusually long would drag in the dirt and he would often trip over it as his clumsy paws worked underneath him, trying their best to keep the child upright.

He pushes his way out of the nursery, blinking in the sunlight and promptly sits down, a cloud of dust billowing up as he plants his rear end in the dirt and look around for something to do that wouldn’t involve him taking any more steps than he would need to.

With one mismatched paw he would reach forward, his target a rock that blended in with the earth. He would roll it underneath his pads, marveling at the texture and the shape, bringing it closer to him so that he could lean down and sniff it. Having never seen a rock before, he wondered curiously what it was. Was it edible? Only one way to find out. Before any adult that’s around can stop him he quickly scoops it up and into his mouth. Immediately he regrets it. The dirt leaves a foul taste in his mouth but still he does not spit it out. He regards it curiously, sucking on it as if it were a bone. ​

 

[BLAZESTAR]

---

╰☆☆ Blaise has not been around kittens since he was one himself. It's an interesting aspect of the colony lifestyle; suddenly he's been privy to queens giving birth and nursing, herding their young from den to den and keeping them occupied while the rest of the group hunts or reinforces their structures. He watches the babies waddle after their mothers with keen interest. Soft, small, but full of spirit and not afraid to chomp a passing tail. He likes them.

One of the queens, Gardenia, has fairly young children. A curious-looking spotted fellow has escaped his mother's flank and is ambling around the nursery, peeking his head outside and plopping his tail-end in the dust. Blaise's bulk is settled some distance away, grooming bits of twig and leaf from his thick pelt, and he pauses to watch the tomkit with sparkling, amused blue eyes.

I wonder what it's like to have to care for so many little ones, he thinks. He supposes it isn't too unlike Rain's job. His tail tip flicks. He'd never really considered the idea of fathering children, because why would he? He'd lived his life in relative solitude in his housefolk's nest. The neighborhood cats he'd met were his friends, but he was not interested in reproducing with them--not by any means.

He thinks about the small black she-cat he'd met somewhere between this forest and a dark, shadowy expanse of land. He sighs slightly. The disappointment he'd experienced when he discovered Little Wolf did not reside here--it had not left him.

He's jostled from his thoughts at a shuffle of monochromatic movement. The kit has risen to clumsy paws and decided to suck a dirt-covered rock into his mouth. Blaise's eyes widen, amusement becoming alarm. "Oh!" He rises to his paws, but looks left and right before approaching the kit. Is it his place? "I don't think-- uhh, hey--" He starts to approach the baby, but he doesn't know the child's name. Or if he's even allowed to tell him to stop eating rocks. Is he? Can he do that?​

—PENNED BY MARQUETTE.​

 

[Asterpaw]

Aster ✧ they/them ✧ Pine Group. ░░░░░░░░░░░░░
The nursery was slowly becoming crowded with ever growing kittens inside of it, and those kits seemed to grow more curious as time went on. With newly opened eyes the world was their oyster! Or well that is what mom liked to say anyway. They had watched their brother push his way out of the nursery entrance and wondered what it was he was up to. Could there be something exciting to do today? They got up onto unstable paws, waddling their way carefully to the entrance of the den, golden-green eyes wide as the sunlight hit their face and the clearing of camp came into view.

Instantly spotting Basil outside the nursery, to which was quickly followed by this cream tomcat they didn't know. Why was he talking to Basil? What was the other kitten doing wrong? Turning to look at their brother, Aster gave a curious tilt of their head as they noticed he seemed to be chewing on something. Was it food? Mom didn't bring them solid food just yet, or did they miss that? "What're you doing, Basil? Whatcha eatin'?" They asked curiously, pawing at Basils' cheek with a paw. ​

 

[COSMOSBLOOM]

Cosmos had just about been the youngest member of the group, before Gardenia and Sage's kits were born. He'd never had dealt with other kits before, especially those younger than them. And with Finch still healing, being able to play with him was out of the question, for one wrong move could surely reopen his wounds - or at least, Cosmos assumed that was what would happen.

So, Cosmos spent a little more time hanging around the nursery, hanging around his younger plant-named counterparts. He often found himself wondering - were all kits as much of a handful as these ones were? He hoped not. The snowy kit didn't think he'd want his own kits, when he's older, if all kits were like this.

Take the silver and white one, for example, who Cosmos just witnessed engulf a rock into his own mouth. And just, sit there with it? In his mouth? Do... Was Cosmos supposed to be eating rocks? Finch fed him mice, not... rocks...

He finds himself hurrying over to the kit, uncertainty looming over him. "I--" he starts, with yet another name slipping from his mind, only for the kit's red-furred sibling to say it just in time. Basil. This one was Basil. Of course, it was. "Basil, you... You're not supposed to eat rocks, I... I don't think."

He spots a new face nearby - a flame point - and looks up at him for help, unsure how to handle the situation before him. Maybe his brother would know? He'd have to ask him later, whether kits are supposed to eat rocks.

​

 

[BASILPATCH]

Basil’s eyes widen in surprise at the amount of cats that come to swarm him after he puts the rock into his mouth. His one lazy eye spins in the vain attempt to look at them all. His head whips back and forth as he tries to look at them all, all the while still holding the rock in his mouth, he’s panicking, uncertain of what to do. Blaise is the first cat, he can’t understand what the rom is trying to say to him. He’s not certain if he’s speaking gibberish or some other language like that one weird cat sometimes did, but he did know that he did not understand.

It’s not until his sibling and his den mate approach, and they’re saying that he’s not supposed to eat rocks that he finally surrenders the object, opening his jaw to let it slide from his mouth along with a bunch of spit. It plops wetly on the ground and he looks around again wildly, ears pinned to the back of his head. “I-I didn’t-I didn’t do anything wrong did I?” he stammers, on the verge of tears. “I didn’t know-I didn’t know I wasn’t supposed to eat it” he says, eyes beginning to tear up as he turns his attention to the only adult that stood before them, the flame point tom who had first approached him. “I didn’t know” he says again, as if trying to convince him. ​

 

[BEESONG]

( ♬ ) Honeybee's lips quirk, whiskers twitching, as he watches the kit scoop up a rock and suck on it. Basil's wrinkled nose and pursed lips suggest anything other than enjoyment, yet he doesn't spit it out. Honeybee is completely content in allowing the tomkit to continue in this amusing endeavor, to encourage it even, but his groupmates are quick to the scene with warnings. The cinnamon tom trots over, his blue eyes gleaming with amusement as the rock slides from Basil's mouth, along with a considerable amount of saliva. "How's that rock tastin'? Did you save enough dirt on it for me?"

Basil, however, is now on the verge of tears. He whimpers about not knowing, feebly asking if he was in trouble. It tugs on Honeybee's heart strings, their smile growing softer. "Hey, don't cry! Not everyone around here is a cuisine connoisseur like you and I," Honeybee winks playfully at Basil, aiming to ruffle the top of the kit's head with one paw. Then, without warning, they lean down and scoop up another rock. With their voice muffled, they grin at Basil. "See?" They try their best not to grimace at the sour taste, maneuvering the rock around with their tongue.​

 

[COSMOSBLOOM]

Cosmos' eyes widen at the sight of the silver kit's tears. He... He hadn't meant to make him cry!

"I... I'm sorry..!" White paws stumble backwards at the sight, and he ducks under the nearest adult. Only for the cinnamon-furred feline to... also shove a rock into their mouth? Were all cats supposed to eat rocks? He doesn't think he's ever seen Finch eat one, knows he hasn't eaten any himself. He tries to remember back to his old home - past blaze-filled memories - and even still, the blurred faces within his mind aren't ones to eat rocks.

Maybe this was a pine forest thing?

"But... But won't it hurt your teeth...?" he asks, eying a nearby rock, contemplating following in the two's actions. ​

 

[BLAZESTAR]

---

╰☆☆ Blaise watches almost helplessly as Basil's tiny littermate and young Cosmos approach. Aster only paws their sibling curiously, asking what's in his mouth. Cosmos, though, backs him up and tells the little tomkit he isn't supposed to be eating rocks.

The flame point's heart freezes, though, when Basil parts his jaws and lets the stone fall out of his mouth. His eyes are filmy with tears, and his stammering almost makes Blaise turn heel and run. Guilt pours over him like a freshly burst raincloud. "Oh, y-" He stops, unsure what to say. Poor thing. He hadn't meant to hurt his feelings! Oh...

Honeybee--an adult who, in Blaise's opinion, could have helped him out, instead of little Cosmos--reassures Basil that he's done nothing wrong by chewing rocks. To Blaise's utter shock, Honeybee scoops the stone into his mouth and tongues it as though it's a cracked bone oozing with marrow. "See?"

Blaise sighs. "Jokester," he mumbles, though it's goodnatured.

He catches the ginger-eared youngster eyeing a nearby stone with a contemplative expression. Blaise clears his throat gently. "It will hurt your teeth. And if you swallow it, it'll hurt your belly," he says, flicking an exasperated gaze Honeybee's way. "Honeybee hasn't swallowed his, see?" Now he just has to pray that the cinnamon tom won't do that just to spite him.​

—PENNED BY MARQUETTE.​