pafp NEAR THE RIVER FREE [cattails]

[CRABPAW]

𓆝 𓆟 𓆞 Crabkit has been told about the winter, a time he only barely missed out on experiencing. The cold season sounds particularly awful, with a world swathed in snow and ice—though the little tom isn’t so sure that ice is bad, given how good his mom is. But apparently the seasons have changed, and the world is getting warmer and bringing new life along with it. Birds chirp every morning now, and fireflies dance in circles around everyone when night falls. Crabkit has never known any season, but he has already decided that spring is his favorite.

With the warming weather, flowers and plants of all kinds are growing up at the water’s edge. Reeds have gotten taller, but they don’t interest him much—they’re familiar. But there’s also… something new, growing along the shoreline. A plant with a tall stem, and a weird brown thing at the top.

He knows he isn’t supposed to go too close to the water without a warrior watching him, but he’s soooo curious about what that thing is… He quickly glances around before trotting over to the plant, hooking tiny needle-sharp claws into its stem to pull the strange brown thing down to his eye level. He lets go of the stem, and the thing flies back up to where it stands tall above the reeds. Huh. Weird. Wrinkling his nose, the tricolored kit bites down on the stem, severing it cleanly in two. The funny brown thing falls to the ground in front of him, and he picks it up by the stem to carry it back away from the water. When he settles down nearby the nursery, his gaze catches on his gray-spotted brother, and he breathes out, "Whoa… what’s this thing?"

❀ Cattails have begun to pop up again, do you dare take a bite?

@CRAGKIT​

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[CRAGPAW]

Cragkit has spent the morning playing and chasing and pouncing, and now he’s exhausted. The tom flops down on his belly and places his chin on an outstretched foreleg, mismatched eyes beginning to droop shut. The pattering of scampering paws, however, wakes him right up. He blinks up as his brother who sits next to him with- oh! He knows what that is! One of the older kits taught him…a cattail, he thinks they’re called? They showed him a funny trick, too, and a sly grin spreads across his face as an idea pops into his head.

“That’s a cattail,” He chirps, sitting up to lean in close. He forcefully stifles a fit of giggles as he continues, “That brown thing tastes just like a vole. You should try it! Just take a big bite.” His eyes glitter with mischief as she stares at his red-furred littermate, tail flicking back and forth excitedly. This is about the be the best prank he’s ever pulled! ​

 

[claythorn]

Claythorn's eyes had been upon Crabkit ever since he left camp 'limits' for the edge of the water, which honestly was just a few feet from camp at times. Regardless, she had been on edge watching the little body toddle to the water's edge simply for a cattail, having picked herself up to jump into retrieve the kit if needed. Despite the way she could feel the water put pin-pricks in her skin, the way it made her feel like her lungs were full of water... she shook it off, despite the gentle trickling of water in her ears.

Crabkit brings the cattail back to camp, and Claythorn moves to slip to the edge of camp once more before Cragkit speaks. She turns her head, blinking gently. "If that's the truth, then you should take a bite first, Cragkit." Her words were neutral, but she would hate for Crabkit to be hood-winked by their own sibling. Ears twitched as the new warrior drew closer in interest. "After-all, it doesn't smell like vole, does it? Why would it taste like it?" Claythorn's encouraging blink meant nothing much.

Honestly, the statement could be taken a number of ways- above all else, why did Claythorn say that? To lull Cragkit into biting it, or to Crabkit to defying Cragkit? Or did Claythorn not know herself? A mystery, surely, one she hid behind a neutral expression and perked ears.

‎‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ┌── WHO ENCRYPTED YOUR DARK ⋅❁⋅ GOSPEL IN BODY LANGUAGE? ──┐‎

• "speech"
  

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• CLAYTHORN she/her, warrior of riverclan, eleven moons.
  ⭃ LH chocolate torbie with mismatched golden eyes, scars across her right cheek and over her left ear. cold exterior and threatening glares, built for stamina/battle and not swimming (tall/muscled)
  ⭃ mentored by darkbranch (npc) / / mentoring no one
  ⭃ no current love interest / / only child
  ⭃ peaceful and healing powerplay permitted / / underline and tag when attacking
  ⭃ penned by dallas ↛ dallasofnines on discord, feel free to dm for plots.
  

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[MOSQUITOBELLY]

genuine is the smile that twitches dark mottled lips, the outward swivel of a double - membraned ear the only indication that she'd heard where she rests just outside the elder's den. there is a moss weaving between her paws gone mostly abandoned in favor of listening in on cragkit and crabkit's game before an older, unbothered voice sounds from her left. she makes a dramatic hushing sound and then, " aht. now, claythorn.. " comes her crackling chastise, good - natured as her grumble was ; mismatched luminaries glint with a well meaning amusement, squinted gently with the arc of her round - cheeked smile as she aims a soft - pawed, playful swat.

she thinks no deeper than a warrior intending to protect a kit from a harmless prank, stretching her paws out in a comfortable lounge to instead watch iciclefang's young kits make trouble. it was so common, it may as well be a rite of passage amongst the meadowlands ; she remembers well her own brood, spitting puff and pollen into the sand before chasing high - tailed after their siblings, " let them play. they'll learn one way or another.. and i'll tell you, they only make the mistake once. " she purrs, taking a moment to dip her cramping toes into the gently lapping shore herself. blasted paws..

𝙏𝙃𝙀𝙍𝙀𝙎 𝘼 𝙎𝙐𝙉𝙁𝙇𝙊𝙒𝙀𝙍 𝙄𝙉 𝙈𝙔 𝙎𝙐𝙋𝙋𝙀𝙍 ° ❀ ⋆ 𝗜𝗡𝗙𝗢𝗥𝗠𝗔𝗧𝗜𝗢𝗡

• i.
  
  
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  MOSQUITOBELLY ꕀ SHE / HER, ELDER OF RIVERCLAN. JUNIPER xx WHISKEY, WIDOWED BY SPLASHSTRIPE. 110 MOONS OLD, SMELLS LIKE DAISIES & WORN MOSS. PENNED BY ANTLERS.
  a round, tabby - splotched grey molly with bicolored eyes and an unusual amount of ears. small, trembling thing ; all tender eyes and warm, inviting smiles. as a relatively new addition to the elder's den, retiring from the nursery after life-threatening difficulty during her last litter, her mantle has shifted from raising her own to mother henning the poor apprentices that saunter in for chores. aptly named for her wing - like set of duplicated pinnae and her warm, encouraging spirit, mosquitobelly has settled well into her old age, finding solace in sharing her experience and wisdom with the young, inexperienced queens and ever - rambunctious kits of riverclan after the recent passing of her long - time mate, splashstripe.
  

  declawed and heavily arthritic in both front paws. skittish and often frightened of the world outside the meadowlands due to this grievous disadvantage, mosqitobelly will always be accompanied by a warrior escort if not in camp.

  
  

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[CRABPAW]

𓆝 𓆟 𓆞 Crabkit doesn’t have to wonder for long what the plant he’s found is. Cragkit says that the brown part of the plant tastes like a vole, and bright green eyes fly wide as saucers. It’s a vole plant? A grin slips its way onto his pale muzzle, a plan already forming in his mind. He’ll be a great hunter, if vole plants are the easiest prey around the clan. He hasn’t even needed to sneak up or pounce on the one that he grabbed! Before he can take a bite to try it out, though, Claythorn interrupts them. She says that Cragkit should try it first instead, and the ginger-splashed tom put his paw down and shakes his head firmly. Mosquitobelly’s comments are entirely lost on him, the kit brushing them off without a second thought. "No, I’m gonna try it first," he insists, already holding the brown part of the funny plant down with both his forepaws. Some little tufts of fluff float off of it, but he disregards it. Maybe it’s vole fur?

It is not vole fur.

"Ack-! Aghhh…" His horrified complaints are muffled in a mouthful of puffy plant, and are cut off when the kit begins to cough. To his horror, though, the fluff doesn’t go away when he coughs. More and more of it fills his mouth, spewing over his pale chin and onto the dirt below. Some floats away on the breeze. But his coughing doesn’t just expel the puffy parts from his mouth—when he takes a deep breath after his biggest cough ever, the little tom accidentally sucks a few of the puffs right down his throat! His coughing fur starts right back up again, but this time his giggles can be heard clearly as well.

He’s coughing and he’s laughing, rolling all over the ground on his back, and tears are filling his eyes but he can’t regain control of his limbs well enough to swipe them away. When he finally gets the last of the terrible, multiplying fluff out of his mouth, though, the kit turns to face his monochrome littermate. "You… LIED TO ME!" In between dwindling bursts of laughter he lets out a ferocious kit-roar and charges after Cragkit, hoping to bowl his brother over at the very least. He can’t believe he got tricked!​

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[Pinepaw ⭒]

-ˋˏ ༻ ❆༺ ˎˊ- Pinekit had her own torrid history with the mysterious puffy plants that had begun to spring up, and as she draws over she knows that she technically has the power to put an end to Crabkit’s hungry gaze.
That big brown thing tastes just like a vole. You should try it!
With a mischievous twitch of her ear, Pinekit says nothing as she takes a comfortable seat beside Cragkit, wide yellow optics glued expectantly on Crabkit.
Claythorns input puts a scrunch on the kittens features, thankfully Crabkit was quite headstrong.
“Yeah! He’s got it.” His sister insists, eagerly turning back towards Crabkit as he prepared to take a bite.
There’s an explosion of cotton, practically swallowing up the entirety of her brothers face.
Finally- finally Pinekit is able to unleash her laughter, practically falling to the ground in her fit of giggles.
“He got you so good!” Pinekit would snicker, unhelpfully.
Ginger flies past her, clashing into slate, and Pinekit rolls to her paws, round optics sparking with excitement.
“Get him Crag!”

‎‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎┌── IF YOUR LOVE’S THE TRUTH ⋅ ࿏ ⋅ OR THE SPIRIT OF DECEIT ──┐‎

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  PINEKIT ✩ she/her, kit of riverclan, 2 moons.
  ⭃ plush-furred tortoiseshell she-kit with white dipped forepaws, tail tip, and muzzle and round, honey hued optics.
  ⭃ daughter of Iciclefang && Stormywing ࿏ sister to Cragkit && Crabkit
  ⭃ peaceful and healing powerplay permitted / / underline and tag when attacking
  ⭃ penned by Noor ↛ @toyangel on discord, feel free to dm for plots.
  

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[Gladefrost]

It seemed as an inevitable experience for kits to bite into the tempting disaster of a cattail. Troutsnout had also done it when she was their age and it was an horrible experience, the starch inside was thick and made your mouth dry as a desert. It had no remorse for anyone whom dared to bite into it and would let you face the consequences of your actions that follow you for a lifetime. The spotted warrior found Cragkit tempting his brother to munch into the cattail which attracted Mosquitobelly, Claythorn, and Cragkit's sister━ Pinekit. Claythorn attempted to rebuttal Cragkit's taunt to his brother by having the blue tom-kit munch into it rather than Crabkit, if his words were true. "Mmn... Mosquitobelly is right. It's a once in a lifetime event."

Crabkit is filled with determination to hunt the 'vole plant' and the desire to become a great hunter. He sternly insists on hunting the vole despite the stray fluffs exposing its undermining dangers yet bites into it, the starch inside exploding and filling his mouth. "Ugh... just the site of it reminds me when I bite into one as a kit." Troutsnout would remorse with a cringe, yet a faint smile purses on her typically stone written face. It takes Crabkit a moment to disperse the ever multiplying seeds out his mouth as he turns onto his brother and charges at him in an attempt to bowl him over, shaking her head as she laughs softly. "Don't be too rough, you two." The young warrior would request gently so they kept their play fighting in moderation and didn't cause more problems for Moonpaw.

WHENEVER ITS COLD ♡ LET THE SHADOWS TAKE HOLD

• OOC |
  
• REFERENCE
• 
  LH cinnamon and white spotted tabby w/ blue eyes
  ━ 13 moons old; ages the 23st every month
  ━ cisgender female; uses she/her pronouns
  ━ currently mentoring none
  ━ somewhat easy to befriend; cautious to outsiders
  ━ "speech", thoughts, attacking
  ━ peaceful powerplay allowed
  ━ all opinions are ic
  

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[CRAGPAW]

Claythorn seems to see right through his little prank. She wants to ruin his fun! Cragkit gives her a pointed glare, petulant and childish. "Because I want Crabkit to try it. I already have!" He lies, wondering why she was trying to mess up the joke. Pinekit, fortunately, comes to his aid, insisting that Crabkit can try it, and for once he's grateful for his sister's annoying insistence. "Yeah!" He agrees, bumping his shoulder against the tortoiseshell's as if in camaraderie. Now, when they go down, they'll go down together!

Crabkit, daring as he is, seems intent on being the one to try it to the blue and black tom's delight. He watches with eager eyes, unable to keep the twitching smile off his face. And as soon as his brother bites into the velvety flesh of the plant, his surprised gags send Cragkit into hysterics. He rocks back on his haunches as laughter belts from his maw, eventually falling back to roll. That was the best thing he's ever seen! "You should've seen your face!" He guffaws, pointing a paw back at the red-furred tom.

But Crabkit won't back down easily. He charges at him with a yowl, a half-amused screech leaving Cragkit as he tries to scramble to his paws but he isn't fast enough. Pinekit's cheers echo in his ears as he is bowled over by his littermate, and he returns the blow with playful swats and kicks to try and get him off. His laughter hasn't stopped, though.​