pafp MORE - SOMETIMES ☀︎ kit

[Sunfreckle]

Rabbitnose has been restless once again, visiting constantly and fretting over him and Sunshinekit especially given the others poor disposition as of late. Sunfreckle will admit he is also afraid, afraid of what might be and what might come next; rarely leaving the nursery for too long if he can help it but the stress was getting to him as well and though it took some convincing he finally agreed to join his mate on a walk. The kits were napping, Wrenflutter and Tansyshine made aware of him stepping out and one of them willing to warm the nest until his return and finally he took his first steps out of the camp since the minor meltdown that had lead to him stomping out onto the territory in wake of Spotflare's abandonment.
His thoughts linger on his kits, but a few nudges and comments on oddly shaped leaves and funny rocks has him paying more attention to Rabbitnose's genuine enjoyment in being out and about with him again. His mate is far from the most wisest of cats, but he brings a smile to his maw and a warmth in his belly that no other cat could ever replicate; he loves him, foolishness and all.
They do not go very far, he can imagine the gray hairs he might add to Howlingstar's muzzle if they went anywhere near as far as he had trekked prior in his recklessness but it is just far enough away from camp he can put it at the back of his mind and just enjoy the jovial company of the blue tom's endless prattling about.
Their peace ended swiftly with the sounds of a shrill yowl in the distance, a horrifying screech that flattened his ears against his head. Immediately Sunfreckle wants to leave but a voice rises in the distance and it becomes clear the sound was a cat calling for help. His green gaze widens and darts to Rabbitnose and he nods to his mate as he steps back to hide himself under a nearby shrub for cover; not wanting to risk leaving his kits without him. It took only a moment for Rabbitnose to return and he can scent the blood from his hiding spot but a tiny gray bundle is placed at his paws as he creeps out to greet the other. Sunfreckle stares, horrified at the miniscule kitten opening and closing its mouth in a near silent mewl and instinctively he goes to curl around them before catching himself; camp. They needed to go to camp.
Carefully he picks them up, a newborn he suspects given the tiny size, and briskly moves to head back to camp with Rabbitnose at his side.

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[Ooc]
PAFP - @Rabbitnose
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[Rabbitnose]

The screech that interrupted their walk horrified him. The wailing for help sent chills down his spine. He was glad he didn't need to tell Sunfreckle to hide. Steeling himself with claws unsheathed and fur bristling, he had stalked towards the cries expecting rogues, a predator. Something that he would have to fight off and possibly kill. What he found though.... Was a gut wrenching scene. It took the fight right out of him momentarily, replacing it with horror.

A queen lay in a puddle of her own blood, he had arrived too late. But judging by the wounds, there was nothing he could have done anyways. The wounds were gruesome, he doubted even twolegs could have save her. Her look of anguish and fear as she took her last breath was etched into his memory now. It didn't take long for his mind to replace it with Sunfreckle, and he felt his blood freeze. The little blue kit, stained with his mother's blood yet completely unaware of what had just happened to her, lay completely defenseless now against the world.

Trembling, he leaned down to pick up the kit. If he and Sunfreckle hadn't been out on this walk... This poor child would likely have died.

He brings him to Sunfreckle. He knows that together, they can give this kit the life they deserve.

As they enter camp, he summons the will to ask for Howlingstar. If there was a dog on the territory somewhere, then she needed to know.

"Could somebody fetch Howlingstar?" He called out. He hoped his voice didn't sound too weak. He'll be having nightmares for a bit.

"We've... Found a dead queen on the territory... She seems to have been killed by a dog. We need to make sure it's not still around, and.... We have her newborn kit." He explained to whoever looked to listen.​

 

[freckleflame]

its a shriek, or something like it, that first perks her ears. shrill and high towards the heavens above, skies bleeding shades of golden scarlet through the canopies, promise of misfortune just past the bushel of undergrowth surrounding her, and .. really, the woman liked not to think of these things. to remain blissfully ignorant, indulgent in each sense of the word ; hazy - eyed and smiling, basking forever in the golden glow of optimism. they were fine, despite the misfortune thats long since shared tongues with her family. dovekit, mossypaw, her.. her littlest littermates. she’d not come to them then. how could she have? hummingbird heart beats wild against her ribcage at the mere remembrance, the proximity, the black smog of dismay and pity lighting her veins up like lightning above. as bright her hero’s heart burns, cowardice tampers in the face of trouble. that bitter pitfall in her stomach, gnawing like a void at her insides. dread, she thinks. she would rather avoid it altogether, regardless the impact her absence has.

but she cannot run this time.

the molly is lounging just beside the entrance with another warrior when they split the undergrowth — her jaws part instinctively, gaze flitting and standing shell - shocked and tremulous, are her fathers. freckleflame pulls herself from the bushes, furrows her brow. someone fetch howlingstar, rabbitnose says, and his voice is brittle. she lifts quick, attempts to press comfortingly against his side cautiously, the frown set on her maw twitching nervously — but it’s as the ginger - kissed molly opens her maw to speak that it hits her. something phantom familiar, her stomach growing over with roses and thorns scrape at her throat, petals filling her belly with a heavy, uncomfortable nausea. a near riverclan smell, but worse, somehow. stagnant and coarse - furred, all too suddenly, the girl can feel her heartbeat in the thin membrane of her ears. her skull fills with moss and cotton, underwater. seaglass eyes drift sluggishly towards where her father stands, jutting and stunned off to the side, in sunfreckles jaws.. a kit.

a single, silver - white kitten.

we have her newborn kit. a kitten. another kitten, alongside rainbowkit, sunshinekit and emberkit. another kitten, to worry and slave for and lose. pale green eyes fixate on them, flicks her tail towards the warrior off to get @HOWLINGSTAR . after everything, they wouldn’t take another in, would they? was it any of her business if they did? she was in no position to speak, absentee in her fathers distress and anguish.. she wonders if she’d be here now, given the chance. her ears threaten to pin, but she manages a soft coo in the writhing balls direction. they really were so tiny, weren’t they? her heart quakes, something like frustration, fear, nausea mixing to form a fixed, tight - lipped smile, front - sitting fangs beared in imitation comfort.

” oh.. man, poor little thing.. “ and it is sheer will that her voice is tender, sing - song despite the growing pit in her stomach. the situation is tense and her fur threatens to bristle, nerves plucking at her from the soles of her paws. ” should i, ah.. get tansyshine, too? “

˗ˏˋ ⠀ SPEAKING ⋆ ⁺ ₊ ⋆ ☀︎ ⋆ ⁺ ₊ ⋆ AESTHETIC ⠀ ˎˊ˗

• i.
  
• FRECKLEFLAME ——————— of thunderclan ⠀ 𓍊𓋼 ⠀ . ׁ
  𖦹 . LESBIAN. SINGLE, CRUSHES EASILY. SMELLS LIKE SUN - WARMED OAK. ELEVEN MOONS. 8 / 3 / 2023 NAMED A WARRIOR. MENTORED BY WOLFWIND, PENNED BY ANTLERS.
  
  
  f. she / her, daughter of sunfreckle and rabbitnose. large, cream patched tortoiseshell she - cat with pale green eyes. fire - forged, smoldering ; shades of vibrant russet, dousing swathes of shadow and interwoven with ribbons pale cream come to drape like licks of flame over a well - toned form. in warriorhood she has grown to full, hulking height ; unspecified maine coon heritage born of sunfreckle's kittypet background shows itself in large, round paws and tufted, long - furred toes set upon thick, tabby - splotched limbs. freckleflame is broad shouldered and square - jawed, wild cheek fur like the blazing edges of a red sun — a hulking, thick - furred thunderclan warrior, forever blaze - kissed. a characteristic lack of personal space leads her to a slouching, touchy posture, often inclined to lean or bump against her peers, all while beating a lazy, heavy - eyed grin.
  
  
• 
  
  
  

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[Chicky]

Chickadeepaw's nose twitches at the kit's scent, so alien to the oak forest smell that ThunderClanners usually sported. She tries to remember if Acornpaw and Oakpaw smelled like that when they were first given to her mama; she tries to imagine her two smallest siblings doused in blood and the stench of death. She can't (or she really doesn't want to.) It's an awful thing to think about.

"Shouldn't we get Berryheart or Lichenpaw? What if the kit is hurt too?" Chickadeepaw's good ear flattens against her head. "Tansyshine wouldn't be able to do nothing 'bout that."​

 

[Sunfreckle]

He's still quietly stunned by the blood scent and what Rabbitnose had described when Freckleflame approaches, the sight of his daughter warms his heart briefly before he is subsequently doused in chilling ice water; 'get Tansyshine too?'
Why? Why Tansyshine? He has kits only a little older than this, he's in the nursery right now, he is holding the kit, he was there when it was fine-why is the assumption that he will hand them over to another queen? A dark, unerving thought drifts upward, bursts into an inky swill in his mind. It's because he is a failure. Why wouldn't they take this kit from him? He had lost two his first litter, two his second, who was to say he was not simply an omen of misfortune for kittens? What sensible cat would leave him with such responsibility when he has nothing to show for it. Chickadeepaw is blatantly ignored.
"...no."
He can't pull his gaze away from the smiling tortie before him and when he does it is to force green eyes in the direction of the nursery where he swiftly begins to walk off to. His mate could talk to Howlingstar, he could fetch Berryheart later to come to him, but he was going to his nest and he was settlingt his mewling kitten into it. He bristles, the fur around his neck rising at his unease like a lion's mane but the red tabby says nothing further, pace quickening.

Sunfreckle had nothing, he was not particularly skilled in combat, his hunting was average at best; he was hardly tactically minded, perhaps a little too goodhumored and lacking in several areas where another warrior would be much more suitable to cover. How he was even on Howlingstar's council was something he could never understand or justify - but he had brought ThunderClan new warriors, his beloved kits grown and the next litter would be apprenticed within several moons and he found himself debating his purpose once again as he set squirming blue fur down between Emberkit and Rainbowkit and curled back up around them all with his mind buzzing.
​

 

[MOUSENOSE]

Mousenose’s jaws part in surprise when her parents enter camp, a writhing gray kit squirming in Rabbitnose’s jaws. She stands beside Freckleflame and Chickadeepaw, her brow furrowed as she listens to the explanation. The poor scrap had lost its mother to dogs. She suppresses a shiver, her fur threatening to bristle at the memory of slavering jaws and teeth meant to maul and slaughter. “Poor thing,” she says, shaking her head. Freckleflame offers to get Howlingstar, but before she leaves she hesitates, looking Sunfreckle in the eye and asking if she should fetch Tansyshine too.

Truthfully, Mousenose wouldn’t have made the connection on her own, but the way Sunfreckle’s face crumples is enough to cause her hackles to rise. “You mousebrain!” She hisses to her sister, scowling. “Why would you say something like that!” Still, she can’t shake the unease that crawls through her fur at their father’s reaction. He’d clearly bonded with this kit since bringing it back to camp, but… Tansyshine is just as capable of a queen, isn’t she? And Tanyshine is staying a queen. Sunfreckle is meant to return to his lead warrior duties once Rainbowkit, Sunshinekit, and Emberkit are born.

Puzzled, Mousenose watches Sunfreckle storm to the nursery with the gray kit swinging from his jaws.

✧ INFO.

•  
• 
  — mousekit . mousepaw . mousenose
  — she/they, warrior of thunderclan
  — pansexual ; single
  — long-haired blue tortoiseshell with white and green eyes
  — “speech”, thoughts, attack
  — penned by Marquette
  — chibi by Rai

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[HOWLINGSTAR]

As soon as Howlingstar hears the news, her heart sinks to her stomach. Another one. Another orphaned kit. The sixth this season, if she's counting right. At this point, it almost seems like second nature to plod out of her den and approach the scene, expecting to name a new member of the clan or, if she's in a good mood, tell the queens to name it. But when she arrives, Sunfreckle is ignoring her, already going to the nursery. She frowns, unable to help the disappointment in her lead warrior's silence. He is the one on her council - queen or not, he should be explaining this to her, not his mate. And faintly, her thoughts do mirror Mousenose's. Does this mean he is staying in the nursery longer than he would be? It is not how she'd prefer things. Tansyshine is a permanent resident of the nursery who would be perfectly capable of taking in another kit, but Sunfreckle seems keen on pushing back his return to duties even further.

She quickly decides she will not pry tonight. She gives on look to Rabbitnose, murmurs, "Come with me," and makes her way to the nursery. He doesn't get to run away from her that easily. With tired eyes, she sets her attention on the newest addition to the nursery. Her gaze softens - kits always have that effect on her. "The poor thing....What happened?" She asks, forcing her lead warrior to be included in the conversation. He may be a queen, but this is still his job, too.

// I didn't expect her to be so tired in this </3​

 

[Sunfreckle]

He's already settled back in the nursery now, new kit tucked in close and looking jarringly out of place next to his red spotted offspring with its pale blue coat when Howlingstar pads in to see what all the fuss had been about with his mate at her side. The question catches him offguard, glancing to Rabbitnose and then back to her before tilting his head to the side in confusion, "I didn't see it myself." He starts, "I didn't want to go too far from the area around camp when we heard the yowling so Rabbitnose went and he came back with the kit." Sunfreckle is nodding towards the blue tom, urging him to explain the scene exactly given he had been the one to stumble upon the gruesome display. The blue kitten is wiggling about still, content and fed and once more warm so his mewling has finally ceased and the red tabby is already mulling over names in his head - struck by how strange it was none of their children ever looked like Rabbitnose yet this one they had simply found had a similar shaded coat.
His tail curls up around them all tighter, flicks at the tip in a thoughtful manner. Now that he had the new child next to his they couldn't be more than just a moon younger possibly - close enough in age that they might be apprenticed at the same time or maybe a small delay depending. It would mean another additional moon in the nursery if so which did not bother him the way it had last time he'd been stuck here. He wondered why, part of him knew...
"....Pigeonkit." The tabby says suddenly, inspired. It was a name he had considered before if they had a blue gray kit that looked like Rabbitnose but none of them had fit.
​

 

[Rabbitnose]

He smiles at his daughters, he knows Freckleflame means well. He's not surprised when Sunfreckle says no and heads to the nursery with the new kit in his jaws. He thinks...He'd be unwilling to give it to another queen too. He found the poor thing in a pool of his mothers blood, you'd best believe he's going to care for him like his own. He hopes this kit has no memory of what happened. He wonders if they will ever tell him... And if so, when? It's not something light to think about.

"It'll be okay." He tells Mousenose and Freckleflame.

He moves to follow Howlingstar after Sunfreckle. He didn't want to recount what he saw, but Howlingstar needed to know, so he'd just have to cope.

"While we were out, we heard a cry for help." He began. "I went to go check it out.... And I found this kits mother bleeding out to several wounds.... even if... Even if we had found her sooner, I don't think she'd have made it..." He explained. "And then I heard a small squeak, and I saw him.... I couldn't just leave him there. I took him back to Sunfreckle, and we came back here. The scent of dog was stale, she likely got chased onto our territory...."​