it's about drive it's about power || making friends with ants

[Harry Styles]

A S H K I T

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Tucked into the reeds at the very edge of camp sits a rather medium-sized (so, to Ashkit, very large) tree branch. And marching along this tree branch is a steady parade of ants. They have been marching for a very long time, and Ashkit has sat here for almost as long. She has spent her entire morning staring at the procession of what she has determined must be AntClan.

Her focus entirely captured, her itty-bitty body uncharacteristically still, she is utterly eerily silent.

When she finally does speak, after many long minutes, it's with the utmost importance and sincerity.

"I," she announces, "am going to name you--" her gaze zeroes in on one ant in particular-- "Rock. Hello Rock. You are my new best friend."

Rock doesn't answer, which is kind of rude. StarClan's sake, she just gave him a promotion!
​

—— i found gold in the wreckage

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ooc quick tags

• yeah uh i don't know. the muse struck and i followed it. bon appetit ​
• - 3 month old orange tabby with green eyes
  - will bite you
  - and then apologize bc she's trying to be good, really, she is
  - latches onto anyone who shows her affection ​

 

[CLAYFUR]

It’s a busy day for Clayfur, one spent hunting and attempting to fish some more. He’s mostly unsuccessful at the latter, but he tries to convince himself that it’s okay. Failure is okay. It just… really doesn’t feel like it is, sometimes.

Just spotting the small form of Ashkit is enough to lift his spirits, though; the tabby immediately feels more energetic, less inclined to to flip into his nest and spend the rest of the day sighing. He adores this kid, even if she is a troublemaker and a half. She reminds him of himself when he was young (and is that a self-absorbed thing to say, because he isn’t sure) and he’s sure she’s going to grow up to be every bit the awesome warrior she claims she’ll be.

Trotting over to join the kit, Clayfur peers down at the ants. Where are they going? Where are they coming from? Ashkit declares one of them Rock, her new best friend, and Clay’s expression turns to shock. He does his best to look scandalized, brows pinching together, but he’s smiling too much to be convincing. "Replacing me so quick?" He questions with the typical tilt of his head, though the fake-hurt in his voice is dulled by a laugh.

Rock. It’s not that funny, naming an ant—but he has the humor of a child, so it is. "Wait—wait. Which one’s Rock? I lost track of him." Wide eyes dart from ant to ant, trying to find the difference between them that marks that one specific one as Rock, but he can’t. They all look the same. Maybe he’s just too big to play with ants.
​

[ WHAT'S MY AGE AGAIN? ]​

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[flint]

info — Flint isn't an expert on child development, and his own childhood can hardly be used as an example for him to reference, but if kits are to be friends with anything or anyone, it should be their peers. Not pet rocks, or moss balls, or butterflies, or ants. It's only attachment to things that will never reciprocate, that are incapable of reciprocating, so he doesn't find the sight as endearing as Clayfur seems to. It's either a flight of kitten whimsy or , possibly, a sign she hasn't managed to befriend another kit.

"Unless you mean to name each and every ant your best friend Rock, you'll never see it again. Don't you have other friends?" His flat gaze shifts from the branch to the kit. "Friends you can actually communicate with?" ​

 

[SMOGBREATH]

"Rock?" His voice is curious and innocently sincere as he pops his head up from where he has been nodding off. Blinking sleepy amber eyes the tom pushes himself up to come over and see what is going on. A yawn stretches his muzzle wide and then they snap close, most of his teeth hidden while the others are shown to the world. He drags his tongue across that patch of teeth and gums without much thought as he is used to the action when he awakes up. Though even now he is trying to keep himself awake as he glances with a sleepy look to the pair of cats and then down to the ants. "Oh...are the ants rocks?" He's missed much of the conversation and he isn't sure what is going on but he sits down and lifts a paw to try and gently prod at the ants that are skittering all around. They move so fast and he shifts a little in order to keep them from crawling on his pelt.

"There are so many of them. I hope they don't bite me." He has no desire to be itchy and he shifts from one paw to the other, backing up a bit to settle near the other two toms that are here.

---

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[Peachpaw.]

Peachkit trotted over, green eyes alight with excitement at the parade of ants marching along in front of her. She crouched down for a better look. Did ants live in clans too? Which one was the leader? The deputy? Were there medicine ants?

She was so engrossed in thought, she didn't even hear the chatter of the adults around her. She noticed that a few ants were carrying small bits of stuff on their backs, and she deduced that it must be food. "Where do you think they're going?" she asked Ashkit. "Do you think they were on a hunting patrol?"