camp right now - hunting attempt

[CROWSIGHT]

There's only so much a kit can do. They're stuck in camp, unable to leave for their own safety. Crowkit himself has no issues with this because his mother had left camp and came back injured. What he has gained is that outside is dangerous. The kits who want to sneak out of camp in his eyes were dumb because if the big cats returned battered, what about small things like them? Anyhow, he didn't want to be troublesome for his mother. She was recovering after all and the least he could do or so he figured was to try and be a big cat like she told him once. Drowsykit and Lupinekit would be somewhere and he decided not to cling to one of them. They were his siblings and would take care of him, but both of them were rattled by what had happened. In his eyes he couldn't force himself upon them with his worries. He loved them, but he didn't know how to comfort them.

For that reason he waddled over to the small stream that trickled through one side of camp. Initially he all he did was laydown and enjoy the sound of the stream, watching the water. However, his eyes spot something. The kit tilts his head, whiskers twitching in anticipation. Hazel eyes scan the stream and the area around it and he deems his eyes is playing tricks on him. However, that is once again questioned when his eyes catch movement. The kitten is growing frustrated because either he is losing it or there is actually something he's seeing. The poor kitten has to strain his eyes and eventually his eyes land on the thing that made him question his eyesight.

It's a small brown fuzzy thing with small black beady eyes. The kitten has seen some cats bring this creature to camp. He doesn't know what compels him to even attempt to hunt the thing, as if it's a good idea. The only thought in his mind is that he wants to actually see it close up and grab it. The notion of simply taking one from the fresh-kill pile doesn't enter his mind. The ink colored tom would take his first steps in the stream. He's never been in it, the cool water causes his fur to stand up. Curse his long fur because he feels heavier.

Hazel eyes note the creature pausing, which in turn makes him pause as well. He blinks ever so slowly before he decides to rush at the creature. Water is kicked up and he is awfully clumsy maneuvering in the water, unused to the weight it adds and the slight pull it has. Without a doubt, the creature flees with how noisy he is being. Crowkit is not upset by such a loss, instead opting to shake himself to rid himself of some of the water that clings to his pelt.​

 

[Tawnystripe]

Tawnystripe was watching Crowkit's antics from a distance, always enjoying the sight of kits being kits. It's especially cute when he spots a vole and tries to hunt it. It's not surprising that his movements are clumsy, as no one in their right mind would teach a cat so young to hunt properly. It takes everything in him not to interrupt so he could instruct the smoky tom, knowing he probably wouldn't appreciate the babying. He cheers internally on the sideline instead, but of course, the prey escapes. Crowkit also gets drenched, so he finally decides to step in.

When he steps forward, he quickly begins to lap up some of the water on the kit's long pelt. After cleaning him off a bit, Tawnystripe purrs to warm him up. "Nice try, kiddo. I was so sure you'd catch that vole!" He hopes to make Crowkit feel better about himself, even if he doesn't seem that upset. The creme tom then goes back to grooming his fur. ​

 

[Orangestar]

Orangeblossom is, much like Crowkit, at first taken aback by the sight of a vole so close to camp. By its size it's quite young, with perhaps none of the wisdom of staying away from the camp full of predators that older creatures might. The standoff is shattered when the smoky-furred tomkit barges forward, sending water droplets scattering and the vole vanishes even before Crowkit clears the shallow creek. Her whiskers twitch with amusement, and as Tawnystripe offers his condolences the deputy pads over. He doesn't seem upset by this development, at least, which Orangeblossom counts as a win; this way, Bobbie wouldn't have a wailing kitten to console and she herself would be able to offer a compliment.

"Well done spotting the vole. I didn't even know it was there until I saw you looking."

— info

•  
• 
  orangeblossom. tags.
  — she/her, skyclan deputy.
  — mentor to eveningpaw.
  — attack in #e08550. uses trees as an integral part of her fighting style.
  — mean enough to note that her thoughts don't reflect my opinions as a writer haha.
  — penned by mercibun; @ me in any official tabbytales discord for plots. :]
  — art by merc!<3
  

​

 

[CROWSIGHT]

The boy is rightfully startled, a mewl escaping his lips when he finds himself suddenly licked. He knows instantly that whoever this cat is, is not his mother. His eyes are closed and he shuffles to get comfortable, allowing whoever this is to dry him up. He opens his eyes when the licking ceases and notes the cat that had dried him up was a cream tom. It's a first. The only cats who have dried him up would be the other queens and of course his mother, but he wouldn't say another clanmate doing this was too bad. Maybe awkward if anything. Tawnystripe might be amused when Crowkit purrs back. The kitten is unaware he is doing such a thing, or that his tail is swishing side to side in content.

He's never been openly praised before or from someone who isn't his mother, so the kit is flustered. "Mmm thank you." He shuffles his paw to soothe himself, but his head snaps up when he recalls what Tawnystripe called the creature. "That's a vole?!" Today he was a bit more animated than usual. Contrary to what others thought, he could speak more than he usually did and express himself. The tom was just nervous and the only reason why he had let this part of himself slip was because Tawnystripe provided a comfortable space. It also may have been the fact that he was thrown off when he was given a compliment.

A yelp leaves his maw, and the boy slightly jumps from Orangeblossom's voice. Hazel eyes meet brown. Out of his element he is, his maw still open when he receives another compliment. The kitten is bashful, leaning forward and unintentionally letting out a whine from his already parted lips. Perhaps it looked amusing. "Owan-oar-oarh... Oarahngeb-blahsuhm. Cherry's strong pretty mommy, thank you." Yeah, he may need to work on saying her name. It wasn't as terrible as Buhlayzestahr or Fryerfrypaw, but Orangeblossom's name was a bit difficult to say. Not to mention long. As for including the pretty and strong, it was because he listened to Cherrkit go on about how her mommy was the most beautiful and one of the strongest cats in the clan. It seemed respectful to say that instead of his butchering of her name with a thank you.

Whiskers twitch and he blinks at both of them slowly. "What are voles like?" It can be argued that he just saw one, but he wanted to know more than what they looked like. Did they eat anything in particular? Was there a big boss vole that controlled all the tiny ones?​

 

[Eggbounce.]

I LOVE YOU SO, SO, SO, SO MUCH
eggkit | 02 months | male | he/him | physically easy | mentally easy | attack in bold #108297

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"That was really cool - you almost caught it even, that's waaaaay better than I could do, probably," eggkit cheerily pipes up, his round figure not far behind his mother, grey-blue gaze wide and honest. head bobs eagerly as praise is showered upon his mom - truly, orangeblossom is the best of the best moms. "A vole Hm... it looks like a really weird mouse, but not-" he says, testing out the word, mouth continuing to sound out the word silently long after he's done speaking in an attempt to commit the new vocabulary to memory. Perhaps he'll learn even more new knowledge too, for crowkit beats him to asking questions - instead he plonks himself right down to stare up at the adults, ready to soak up their answers with rapt attention.

​

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[Orangestar]

"O-range-blo-ss-um." The ginger-splashed deputy sounds her name out slowly for Crowkit's benefit, though, being honest, she's silently chuffed by being referred to as Cherry's strong pretty mommy. And these kits had only ever seen her in action as a mother, not as a warrior. Eggkit's chatter draws a sympathetic look from his mother when she thinks he isn't watching her, and as he sits down next to her she draws her tail close to her son.

"It is kind of a weird mouse, isn't it?" She agrees, but her face turns thoughtful at Crowkit's question. What are voles like? Hmm. She doesn't know much about them, being small and fast and harder to track than raccoons, but the query does make her think of a conversation she'd had with Heavy Stone moons ago. Her long whiskers twitch, amused by the mental image of: "Apparently they like to chew trees, but I've never seen it. They're fast, though. Common when it's warm like this, but still hard to hunt. Tawnystripe, do you know anything fun about voles?"

— info

•  
• 
  orangeblossom. tags.
  — she/her, skyclan deputy.
  — mentor to eveningpaw.
  — attack in #e08550. uses trees as an integral part of her fighting style.
  — mean enough to note that her thoughts don't reflect my opinions as a writer haha.
  — penned by mercibun; @ me in any official tabbytales discord for plots. :]
  — art by merc!<3
  

​

 

[Tawnystripe]

He can't help but chuckle about the young kit's enthusiasm about learning that the animal he tried to hunt was a vole. They're certainly one of the more interesting types of prey that are found in the forest, even if they’re kinda hard to tell apart from mice. Not that the distinction matters that much anyways, they were both tasty. As Eggkit joins in the conversation with his mother, he’s ready to go into full teacher mode, nuzzling the purring Crowkit before speaking up again.

“Fun vole stuff…lessee. I only see so many of em’ vermin, but I do know one other thing. They’re actually pretty dang good swimmers!” He didn’t make out where the vole Crowkit encountered went, but he wouldn’t be surprised if it just decided to swim away from him to escape. “If it floats out too far, dun be too discouraged. We ain’t RiverClan, after all.” He still can’t really imagine being so used to any kind of water. Swimming ain’t something he’s built for, that he knows for sure!​

 

[Fantastream]

A couple of moons ago, prior to her jaunt into the woods, if you had asked kittypet Fanta what a vole was she would've said 'a what?'. Her experience with the outside world was limited to what she could see in her garden and she only knew very simple things like mouse or bird and was unable to distinguish the differences between the woodland creatures like these cats did. Slowly but surely, however, she was learning. Just like Crowkit.

It was, admittedly, a little embarrassing to have practically the same amount of knowledge as a baby but she tries not to let it bother her. Afterall, she had grown up in a twoleg home with kibble, colorful crinkly balls, and toy mice. It was not the same as growing up wild, where every day is a struggle and your life revolved around finding your next meal. She is grateful she had that, at least, the ability to find her bowl at all times and twolegs who were never delinquent in filling it. She listens intently to all the information that is provided, absorbs it like a sponge. "What does it taste like?" she asks curiously, hoping no one judges her too harshly for such a question.

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[shrewflight.]

The ruddled brown tom would watch with curious olive eyes as the child seemed to scramble after the weird mouse critter. A vole, they would call it, but it did seem so much like a mouse.

And tasted like one without a lot of meat. But he wouldn't be able to describe it as well. He wanted to avoid to growing group, his ears folded back a little. He was a fresh apprentice, but hunting was not easy.

"Did better than I could," he finally said, his tail curled tight to his side as if comforting himself. He felt tinier than the other apprentices, and was definitely more clumsy than them. but he did what he could. Sweetbee could teach him, he knew it!