SLEEPLESS NIGHT // first night

[SHALLOW]

So he was here, what now?. Shallow had been keeping to himself after Sunnyday had got called in for work leaving the kit all by himself in a strangers world for a while. Shallow wasn't entirely sure what he was suppose to be doing even after Sunnyday had explained some of the stuff on how it worked around here. Still without a mentor he wasn't allowed to leave camp, right?. That left him stuck in camp with little to nothing to do. All he really had been doing was staring at the life that was on full motion around him while patiently waiting for Sunnyday to come back. Time went by and before knowing it nightfall was already here. It was getting late and everyone was preparing themselves to head of to thier nests.

Shallow believed himself to spot that sunny pelt that belonged to the old man as the figure disappeared into one of the dens. Shallow rose to his paws and approached over towards the same den and was about to enter it but he got stopt by two other warriors. " Wow kid, this den is only for warriors." One of them explained making the kit look up at them with mild confusion. " Where am i suppose to sleep?." he would ask the two, and after the two warriors had shared a glance with one another they looked back with a small frown. " I don't know. You're not an apprentice yet so i suppose over there, in the nursery den." they would point with thier tail over at the direction they where referring to. Shallow turned his gaze over there before looking back at the two and gave a short nod. " Okay..." He turned around to start heading over there instead but stopped at the entrance to peek his head inside. In there he saw mothers taking care of thier young ones, grooming them and preparing them for the night. It looked so warm and coxy in there.

After a moment of observing the atmosphere in there he took a step back, deciding to not enter the den. Instead he placed himself outside and laid himself down with his paws underneath his belly for warmth. It was cold outside, and he was freezing a bit but nothing he wasn't used to. Shallow turned his gaze up to the nighty sky wanting to watch the stars for a bit before going to sleep. Soon the day would be over and tomorrow would be a new day.


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[Sunfreckle]

After finally getting Spark-kit to submit to a grooming before bed and struggling to keep the energtic little tom still in the process, Sunfreckle didn't have much of an interest in sleep himself for the moment. His green gaze drifted lazily to the mouth of the den as a brief flicker of movement caught his eye and he watched incredulously as a child settled down to lay in front of the nursery as if preparing to sleep there of all places. With a careful shift so he could stand without jostling any of his kits, the tom strode forward to peek out and spot the new little tom who Sunnyday had brought into their fold. The older tom with the sunshine name had a penchant for finding kittens out in the wilderness, it seemed, as this was not his first and would most certainly not be his last. Perhaps it was naive of him to think ThunderClan was a clan who would accept in all, even knowing that the coming cold meant more mouths to feed and more paws to train, a chilling wind keeping their usually abundant prey nestled away beneath the earth and out of sight. The red tabby paused at the den's mouth, taking a seat before gently raising that lone paw in a little wave to get the youngster's attention.
"You're the little fellow Sunnyday brought home, yes? Why are you out here? If you need a place to sleep you can come share my nest with me-there's plenty of room!" He glanced back into the den, watching Dewkit, Mossykit and Flickerkit bundled together while Spark-kit flailed about nonsensically in his own little corner not wanting to rest just yet. Problem child that one, at least his sisters respected bedtime proper.
"'Shallow right? Sorry, I'm not very good with names...come on in if you like! You can sleep on the other side so the kits don't disturb you." His great plume of a tail whisked in a gesture behind him, encouraging the other to rise and follow.

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[JAYWISH]

"Could you... urgh... could you please stop?" Jaypaw squirms away from the storm of legs belonging to a bundle of kicking kittens in defeat. His makeshift nest has been taken over by the fuzzy little wave and he's given up trying to push them back himself. While he appreciates the kindness of the families that let him stay here, he feels like it's soon time for him to move in with the other apprentices. Each cramped night of screaming, touchy children is just more evidence further and as he slinks through the nursery door, Jaypaw misses the forlorn kitten. It's a cool night and it hits his paws with an almost sting. He amuses himself just with being able to see his breath. It's not until Jay hears Sunfreckle's voice that he pulls his head up from a frigid stamp of water and pays full attention. As he turns to go over, Jay accidentally steps into the puddle with hisses under his breath, sleepiness shocked out of him by then. There's still hints of it in his soft smile but he supposes he should just give up on the whole sleep thing tonight. "Yeah, you'll get sick if you stay out here." He starts to say on impulse, 'and Freckle's really warm!' He would die of embarrassment as an apprentice aged cat. ​

[ I'M THE HERO THAT SAVES ME ]​

 

[SHALLOW]

Shallow blinked his eyes when the queen had captured his attention. He didn't really respond to thier wave-greeting, instead he just stared at them. Shallow would give a short nod when being asked if he was the kit Sunnyday had brought in today. To the question however to why he was out here the kit took a moment to think out an answer, as well to the invitation. "I didn't want to disturb." came his well thought out reply. Now he just needed to think out an answer to the next question...Shallow twitched his whiskers, taking a bit longer on this one....

It took him a such long time that Sunfreckle already had moved on the the third question, his name. He wasn't used with a cat talking this much to him all on the same time. Was this...normal?. He would give another nod, preferring to use as little words as possible. No need talking if he didn't need to.

Before he could finish thinking on his words...a second cat arrived to join them, this one much younger. They looked to be of a more similar age like themselves. This one stated that he would get sick if he stayed out here. Really, he could?. Getting sick sounded troublesome. Finally having his decision after thinking it through carefully, the kit stood up, returning his attention back to the red tom with the flower. Still he didn't move, hesitating. " Are you sure?." he needed to double check, to be sure that this was actually okay. Shallow had never known the warmth of a mother. He had been forbidden to sleep next to his own mother. He had always been a disgrace in her eyes, a plague she had hoped would just end up dead one day. He had respected the distance she had put between them hoping one day she would change her mind...she never had.


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[Sunfreckle]

I didn't want to disturb. Sunfreckle's smile does not fade but it softens at the remark, the way a child could feel themselves a bother to the world had always upset him; he thought about his own kits who never hesitated to ask for something if they needed it because they knew they were wanted and loved and would not be pushed away. He'd never really known his own mother, sadly taken from him still young and his siblings not long after, the warmth of another was a foreign thing to him before Rabbitnose and even then he had taken to it with ease and desperation. A drowning man fumbling for something to keep him above the water. Whatever had brought Shallow here, he hoped it was not too heavy.

A tiny exhale of relief escaped him at the other young tom's appearance and remark, having another cat who was closer to his age confirming things would help ease the newcomer most likely. "Jaypaw is right, better to be warm than sick-you're never a bother here. If you need anything, feel free to ask.."

"Of course, come on in. Pick whatever spot you want, if you don't want to be kicked by a kit you may want to choose a spot near the edge of the nest." His great plume of a tail flicked outward, motioned for Shallow to go on ahead of him and he smiled patiently at the hesitance. New strange place, new strange cats, it was fine to be wary and concerned but ThunderClan was a welcoming clan. Perhaps a bit too welcoming at times, but he would never condemn them for helping cats and offering homes to the lost. "I'm Sunfreckle, by the way. If you ever need anything, you're welcome to come to me....if I can't help you, I can certainly find a cat who can." Emberstar and Howling Wind were lovely cats, as were their lead warriors, but sometimes authority was scary to a child.

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[SHALLOW]

You're never a bother here... Could he really trust words like that?. Shallowpaw hesitated before he gave another nod of his head. If he was not good at asking for help prefering to handle things on his own since that was what he was used to but he didn't wanted to be rude to plain out reject her. Shallow was at least making an attempt to not get himself enemies on his very first day here.

Okay...so it was fine for him to enter the den then. Shallow had done his part of giving this mother a chance to retrack back on her words but clearly that was not her intention. The kit blinked his eyes over to glance inside of that dark place now until he found the nest this queen was trying to direct him towards. " Okay." Was all he said before he entered the den to start walking over to the nest he had kindly been invited to. When it come to the issue of kits kicking at him. Shallow would make sure to keep this in mind as he was aiming for the edge of the nest away from the other kits, not wanting to intrude more then he already had. Once laying down and making it comfortable for himself, he paused to blink his eyes. It was...really warm, alot warmer then laying outside or crawling himself up into a hole in the ground or sleep underneath a monster. Shallow had never slept in a nest as warm and cozy as this one before.

Distracted by this new experience he almost hadn't paid attention to what the mother had said. [ " Huh?." His attention was once more looking up at her, staring at her face. Another sun related name. Sunfreckle. Sunnyday. Both share the same name as the sun. " It suits you." he would blunty state his honest opinion, whiskers twitching. Returning his gaze back to the attention of the nest. " Thank you." he would mumble out quietly, like he almost was shy expressing his gratitude for inviting him into her nest...for offering out a helping paw to him. Shallow lacked any other words to express his emotions at that given moment so...thank you was all he had.


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