pafp STRANGER TIDES [ ✶ ] "EXTRA NEST"

[Graypaw]

Earlier, he had seen Robinheart moving a nest into the nursery. This confused him though. The nursery was already full, he had heard the adults say so and plus Robinheart had not slept here before so why would she randomly start now? He likes the cats that he lives with, has settled into a comforting routine amongst the other kits. Whatever this was was unacceptable in his young mind so one day he decided to do something about it. No one else was going to say or do anything, so he needed to take matters into his own paws. Robinheart was a nice cat, he's certain, but minnows must be swimming around in her brain for her to suddenly decide that she sleeps here now.

He grips the nest in his teeth and drags it out of the nursery dropping it a few feet from the entrance. From there, he's certain she can figure it out and make it back to the warriors den okay. His work here was done. Tired from the "manual labor" that had been forced upon him (by no one other than himself) he settles down nearby and begins grooming, tongue running over long silky gray fur as he begins to contemplate what he was going to do with the rest of the day. His schedule was now clear, after all.

// please wait for @robinheart

( ˏˋ°•*⁀➷ ) I can feel you leaving

• 
  
  
• 
  GRAYKIT RIVERCLAN KITTEN ; HE / HIM
  LILYBLOOM X LAKEMOON BROTHER TO SNOWKIT
  

  A plush coated kitten with a pelt marbled in varying shades of gray and white. He has dull green eyes and a tall stature. Most of his personality can be described as carefree though some also say that unmotivated is a more than apt term. His trust and love is easily won through praise but he will do little work to receive it.

  ✶ easy in battle + no formal training
  

​

 

[robinheart]

Admittedly it had taken a lot of mustered courage for Robinheart to finally move her nest from the warrior’s den into the nursery. She had barely settled into the warrior’s den after all; barely left a mark of her existence there before being whisked away to a new location. Guilt gnawed at the pit of her stomach (or was it nausea?) for taking up space in an already crowded den of kits and queens. Iciclefang had warned her of the burgeoning capacity a few days ago and she fully believed the tortoiseshell queen. However there was no undoing what had been done - she couldn’t remain in the warrior’s den whilst her belly slowly grew with the young of a former flame.

A short venture around camp to stretch her legs had afforded a certain gray furred kit enough time to evict the newest resident. Truthfully the mottled molly couldn’t blame him, she wasn’t nearly as round as Swiftfire or nursing kittens like the other queens. One could merely glance at Robinheart and not know she was expecting. They’d have to know where to look to notice the signs. Graykit wouldn’t know that at his age. That being said, Robinheart perhaps thought he had been told about her purposeful arrival into the nursery.

On her trek back she notices a nest sitting a few feet from the entrance of the nursery. Already her mind jumps to conclusions, its mine, I just know it. They kicked me out. I must have done something wrong, despite being brand new and innocent to each growing concern. Robinheart’s steps falter slightly and she slows her approach, ears angling back as she confirms that it is in fact her nest. But who had removed it? And why? She can feel tears wanting to fill saddened eyes but firmly wills them away. She has cried enough in the past few weeks.

Citrine eyes scan the surrounding area and notice Graykit grooming himself nearby. Aha, he would be able to recount the details of her sudden eviction. ”Graykit, did you see who moved my nest out of the nursery?” Robinheart asks in a gentle voice, fighting against the emotional warble that threatens to encompass her words and make her crumble like a sandcastle at high tide.​

[ penned by kerms ]​

 

[Graypaw]

When a shadow passes over him, he pauses in his grooming. Pale green eyes flicker upwards and he greets Robinheart with a smile, certain that she would thank him for moving her nest for her. Upon her question he nods his head "I moved it." he answers with a shrug of his shoulders. He had done nothing wrong, he's certain of it and in fact, he still thinks some gratitude was in order. He had done her a service after all, moving her nest halfway to the warriors den. He didn't want someone taking credit for all of his hard work!

But Robinheart doesn't look pleased, in fact, she has that look on her face that sometimes he saw on the other kits right before they broke out into tears. The smile falls off his face and his nose wrinkles, his brows knit together. Hadn't he done good? Shouldn't she be happy? "The other queens said the nursery was full!" he explains, voice taking on a slight whine. If Robinheart was going to be upset at someone about this, they should be upset at them, not him. He was just trying to help, after all. "And you don't have any kits, why did you put your nest there if you don't have any kits?" The only queens he had encountered thus far in his young life all had their own babies, but Robinheart didn't (that he knew of) so therefor she must not be a queen and therefor, in his mind, she belonged in the warriors den with the other non-queens.

( ˏˋ°•*⁀➷ ) I can feel you leaving

• 
  
  
• 
  GRAYKIT RIVERCLAN KITTEN ; HE / HIM
  LILYBLOOM X LAKEMOON BROTHER TO SNOWKIT
  

  A plush coated kitten with a pelt marbled in varying shades of gray and white. He has dull green eyes and a tall stature. Most of his personality can be described as carefree though some also say that unmotivated is a more than apt term. His trust and love is easily won through praise but he will do little work to receive it.

  ✶ easy in battle + no formal training
  

​

 

[willowroot]

( ☾ ) ever since robinheart revealed her secret to willowroot, the latter femme has done the best she can to help her former apprentice in any ways she needs. whether it befetching the freshest prey or finding new moss for the girl's move to the nursery- willowroot is happy and willing to help. as she pads into camp clutching a crow, she holds her tail up high, glancing around for the mottled shape of robinheart. gaze brightening as she spots the girl conversing with graykit, she moves toward the scene, arriving as the kitten is explaining something. letting the crow flop onto the earth, willowroot will press briefly against her former apprentice, greeting the girl with a soft smile. "good morning, you two!"

emerald eyes flick down to observe the mottled kit, head tipping as the little voice only just reaches her good ear. you don't have any kits, why did you put your nest there? the boy wonders, and willowroot will allow a small twitch of her whiskers, finding amusement in the frank and unbothered tone of the boy. she can feel robinheart slightly trembling, can sense the anxiety radiating off of the girl. "ahh, graykit, that's where you're wrong. you know how swiftfire has kits in her belly? well," leaning down, she murmurs conspiratorially. "robinheart does too. you just can't see them yet." eyebrows raised, she leans back again, tipping her head. "so, she does need the nest, after all."

hoping she hasn't just overstepped, the feline glances towards her former apprentice, kindness in her gaze. "i brought this crow so you could have the feathers, robin. maybe you, graykit, and a couple others could share the meat while i put the feathers in your nest?"

THE ECHOING HYMN ☾ OF MY FELLOW PASSERINE

• // " speak "
  
  
  
  
• 
  
  
  
• 
  WILLOWROOT ☼ SHE / THEY, WARRIOR OF RIVERCLAN. MENTORING ROBINPAW. PENNED BY LAVS
  
  
  a long-haired black smoke oriental with sage-green eyes. smokey long fur coats the length of willowroot's lithe body, with friendly sage green eyes that narrow in an almond shape. her muzzle and limbs are thin and long due to her oriental heritage.
  
  
  
  

​

 

[Gladefrost]

After the incident of Robinheart pregnancy being noted by her puking by the river and her helping clean her fellow peer, the spotted tabby found herself coming over to check on her. While Graykit admits to kicking her out the nursery, a half-disappointed sigh parts her lips as she grabs the nest in her jaws and brings it back to the nursery. She can notice the anxiety rippling off the tortoiseshell and was reminded of her tearing up when she helped clean her up, dread filling her in case the other she-cat started to tear up again. She was just... horrible at comforting someone when they were sad but she always tried her best.

"I'll go get more moss or break down some cattails for your nest, it's not as comfortable anymore." Troutsnout wasn't going to reprimand Graykit as it wasn't her place, but she could only do some damage control. Hopefully, he didn't throw an tantrum and hoped the crow that Willowroot offered would be a peace offering. On that thought, she trots off to the river to find a cattail and break it off at the stem and carries it over. A curved claw sheaths as she tears into it slowly so it doesn't explode everywhere, slowly rebuilding Robinheart's nest to a fuller form.
​

"speech", thoughts, attacking

 

[brookstorm]

Brookstorm makes an effort out of avoiding the nursery. It's much too full for lingering cats, anyways, not only with an over abundance of newleaf queens, but also the new code instated left many of the kittens within their confines until they were nearly full grown. At least... that's most of what she tells herself. She also readily knows that she has no right to hang about, given she and Robinheart are not together anymore. Nonetheless, she does not expect to come across this display on her walk across camp, much less does she expect to be so upset about it.

Robinheart moved out of the warrior's den - that, Brookstorm knows, even if they do not sleep beside one another anymore. But shouldn't the kits in the nursery know when another resident moves in? So much of the warrior wants to chide the child for being ignorant, but even she knows that's low for any cat worth their weight in scales. Graykit earns a brief but scalding glare from the green eyed warrior, one she does not hide but one that is swiftly shifted towards Robinheart, softened, and then torn away again. Kittens will be kittens, she supposes, in all of their unknown innocence.

Troutsnout is helping her, she tells herself as she moves along, Willowroot too. She'll be fine. And Brookstorm leaves without saying a word.

[ in & out ;w; ]​

 

[SWIFTFIRE]

I'VE LEARNED LOVE IS LIKE A BRICK — Initially, Swiftfire doesn't notice the soft commotion from nearby - just as she hadn't noticed Graykit's little adventure off with Robinheart's nest in the first place. Not intentionally, for obvious reasons. She would've gently chided Graykit and ushered him back to his own nest had she taken notice, but she was just so tired lately. The kits were certainly taking their toll, and while she seemed to be perfectly healthy in every other respect, she spent most of her time sleeping when she wasn't being brought prey. Had she been a lazier cat, it probably would've been the ideal existence. Unfortunately for her, she much preferred being able to get out of a den and stretch her legs, a task that had become significantly harder with each day that passed. There was no doubt that she would love her little ones, she just wished they were a little bit smaller.

With all of this in mind, she had been blissfully dozing when Graykit had taken off with Robinheart's nest, only awakening when she heard the lightly warbling tone of the new queen from outside. The newly-blank spot was painfully obvious in the packed nursery, and the chimera couldn't help but wince. Regardless of who had decided to forcefully evict Robinheart, she knew the whole ordeal had to be painful - especially when one was so newly vulnerable. Heavy steps lifted her from her nest as she headed out, arriving just in time to nod in Troutsnout's direction as the warrior brought the nest back in. "I'm all in favor of getting some sunlight while we've got the chance, but I think fully moving a nest outside might be a little much." There was a fair amount of good humor in her weary tone, even as she yearned to turn around and head straight back into her nest.

Though she wouldn't scold Graykit - he wasn't her own child, after all - she would flick her fluffy tail lightly against his head, her own shaking from side to side. "Trust me, I might be a little more plump at the moment than usual, but I could handle things myself if I needed someone out." Hopefully her words and what had already been said would be enough to soothe the tiny tom and keep him from throwing a fit, the edge of a whine in his voice already having her on edge. The last thing Robinheart needed was a full-on tantrum over her nest being wrongly moved.

YOU CAN BUILD A HOUSE ✿ OR SINK A DEAD BODY

• 
  ✧ shorthaired blue and red tabby chimera molly with green eyes
  ✧ 41 moons old; ages the 1st every month
  ✧ bisexual; secretly mated to hush
  ✧ daughter of lilou and germaine
  ✧ formerly of the ripple colony; loyal to riverclan
  ✧ easy to befriend; desperate to improve the former colonists' reputation
  ✧ "speech", thoughts, attacking
  ✧ peaceful powerplay allowed

​

 

[robinheart]

Perhaps it is his innocent smile or youthful naivety that quells her anxiety just a little bit. Not entirely - just a bit. Being evicted by a kitten who didn’t know any better was leagues better than being evicted by one of her fellow queens. The tortoiseshell takes a second to try and even out her shaky breathing, nodding in understanding to the gray child. But before she can utter a response (not that she has one formulated in her emotion jumbled brain) she feels smoky pelt press against hers and a voice much more maternal than her own speak up for her.

Willowroot always seems to know the right thing to say.

“Thank you Willowroot,” Robinheart whispers as she presses against her former mentor, the gratitude not only for the gentle explanation granted to Graykit but also for the crow deposited at her speckled paws. “W-What part do you want, Graykit? I’m sure m-moving my nest was quite a difficult task. This’ll be good for replenishing your energy,” the young queen offers, her voice beginning to regain its usual rhythm, hoping just as everyone else that Graykit will accept the news (and peace offering) gracefully and not throw a fit.

She also hopes the crow will act as a distraction from Troutsnout replacing her nest in the nursery. The cinnamon molly seems to have a hard time consoling others - for which Robinheart cannot blame her. She is thankful regardless and offers Troutsnout a small smile while the other gets to work fixing the disrupted moss and reeds. Guilt does gnaw once more at her belly over having another move her nest back to the nursery and reassemble it, going as far as adding to it to make it more comfortable. Robinheart should be able to do that herself.

While she doesn’t quite catch the glare her former mate gives Graykit, Robinheart does glance just in time to meet Brookstorm’s eyes. She notes a softening of what was typically stone before the blue molly tears her gaze away. A knot forms in the tortoiseshell’s chest - a ball of yearning with nowhere to go. It takes everything in her to look away from retreating warrior and focus on Swiftfire as the queen emerges from the nursery.

She nods at the queen’s humor and carefully calculated words, hearing them but not fully processing them as her mind remains fixated on a short lived grassy stare. Robinheart longs to find meaning in the split second she had been afforded, but even just thinking too far into the moment has her eyes misting with tears once more. To cry would be to erase everything happening in the here and now. To invalidate every word spoken and action committed to fixing a simple mistake. So she blinks back the tears and forces a friendly smile. “Trust me, I wouldn’t have moved in unless necessary. The nursery is pretty full. I’ll try and take up as little space as possible,” she adds after Swiftfire to further reassure Graykit as well as acknowledge that her presence was not a mistake - that deep down she had to tell herself that she belonged there alongside the other queens.​

[ penned by kerms ]​

 

[Graypaw]

The stream of adults seems endless. Willowroot is there to tell him he's wrong and for a moment, he glances at her like he's convinced she has bees for brains. Were Robinheart's kits invisble then? Or maybe she was just stupid. "She doesn't look like she has kits in her belly he protests. How did she even know? Irritation prickles along his spine as Willowroot moves promptly on to the next thing "Im not hungry. he grumbles stubbornly. He does not miss the gaze Brookstorm fixes upon him either. It makes his gut twist, makes him feel awful and terrible and angry all at the same time. If her eyes would only linger a second longer she would find him sneering in her direction.

His attention shifts as Swiftfire adds onto the already massive pile of guilt weighing burdensome upon his tiny shoulders. It's too much. It wasn't his fault! Tiny claws poke out from his feet and pierce the soft earth under his feet as he grits his teeth to try and keep himself from raising his voice at Swiftfire, from calling all the adults stupid like he wants to. Tears spring to his eyes that he tries his best to fight away. This was all just so.. dumb.

But then Robinheart pushes the crow closer to him, asks him which part he wants and wait.. she recognized how hard he had worked to move her nest, understood that he had not done it out of a place of malice but rather he had done it because simply he wanted to be useful, to be seen and heard and thanked. The anger ebbs from his body and suddenly he feels so tired. Tears stain his marbled cheek fur but he nods. "'m sorry Robinheart he says with the warbled voice of a kitten speaking through tears, even as he lifts a leg to try and wipe them away. "I was just- hiccup "just trying to help

( ˏˋ°•*⁀➷ ) I can feel you leaving

• 
  
  
• 
  GRAYKIT RIVERCLAN KITTEN ; HE / HIM
  LILYBLOOM X LAKEMOON BROTHER TO SNOWKIT
  

  A plush coated kitten with a pelt marbled in varying shades of gray and white. He has dull green eyes and a tall stature. Most of his personality can be described as carefree though some also say that unmotivated is a more than apt term. His trust and love is easily won through praise but he will do little work to receive it.

  ✶ easy in battle + no formal training
  

​

 

[robinheart]

Something in her changes at the sight of Graykit’s tears. Almost like a maternal feeling all her own, not forced or to be fearful of. Robinheart has always been tender hearted, would likely always would be, however this was something beyond sympathy for the kit. It was a desire to soothe him and protect him.

The tortoiseshell gently raises a paw to try and clear away the kitten’s tears, a wobbly smile taking its place on her face. “It’s okay, Graykit. I’m sorry if I seemed upset earlier,” she murmurs. Her emotions had gotten the better of her, as they seemed to do quite frequently these days. “Thank you for wanting to help. My kits will be so lucky to have you to learn from,” the mottled molly adds. It feels weird referencing the little lives within her, but maybe that feeling she had felt earlier was making her braver? More excited to become a mother and talk about her kits who were to come in less than a moon’s time?

Maybe Graykit had done her a favor pulling her nest from the nursery. Maybe in doing so he helped pull her from her metaphorical shell. ​

[ penned by kerms ]​