camp we will stand by your side // leaving nursery for first time!

// @FLUFFYKIT @weedkit @Daisykit @Dandelionwish No need to wait for them to post!

A moon and a half old already...Butterflytuft just can't believe how fast the time has gone by. Her kits are no longer toddling, but walking, new words being added to their vocabulary daily, it seems. And keeping them confined to their nest has been harder than ever! It seems all they want to do is explore right now, so she has decided that finally, she will let them leave the nursery.

She slowly makes her way out of the holly den, head and tail low to the ground so as to try to stay close to them, herd them. "Come on, little ones, this way," She coos softly, shuffling out a few paces before stopping. She looks out at the camp with a smile and trills, "This is outside. You can only come out here if I'm with you, or Howlfire or Mottledove or your dad. It's very busy, and very big, so you mustn't go wandering!" She sits back on her haunches to relax, but all of her attention remains on her three kits, waiting to see what they'll do or how they'll react. And of course, she's always on high alert for danger, even in the safety of camp.
 
4d5460.png
  • 68451166_mY2BOSe6hTLMAcu.png

    orangeblossom | tags
    — she/her ; deputy of skyclan.
    — scarred white-and-ginger she-cat with brown eyes.
    "speech" ; thoughts
    — chibi by waluigipinball
    — penned by mercibun. @ me in any official tabbytales discord for plots.
    4d5460.png
Butterflytuft's kits are considerably more well behaved than Howlfire's. This is a thought that Orangeblossom may regret having in the near future and find herself sharply corrected upon (kits are always unpredictable in their personalities, and while her own kits and Howlfire's had shown their mischievous colours early that doesn't mean that Butterflytuft's wouldn't grow into them).

For now, however, as the tortoiseshell queen emerges from the nursery with a trio of wide-eyed kittens in tow and her mate close by, the deputy looks over from her conversation with a Clanmate and makes a considering noise. Were they old enough to form memory yet? With a small gesture for her companion to follow her over so that they can continue their chat in short order Orangeblossom heads for the nursery, pausing a respectful distance away from the parents and three of the four youngest SkyClanners. No use in terrifying them the instant their noses leave the holly. Brown eyes flick upward. It's a good day for a first venture, even if it is whisker-numbingly cold again.

"Good morning." She meows to the group, making an effort to tone down her usual frown into something a little more palatable. It doesn't entirely work, but she believes it helps her look a little less intimidating. "Welcome to the camp."

 
Howlfire’s kits were fun to watch grow up, so Drizzlepelt finds himself close to the nursery when Butterflytuft finally takes her own litter outside for the first time. It’s a momentous occasion, and one Drizzlepelt hopes he gets to be a part of more often as he and the clan ages. Maybe one day, it’ll even be his own kits taking their first steps into the camp…but that’s wishful thinking. Only time will tell.

Shaking off his own baby fever, he stands close by to the deputy as he waits for the mother to give her warm cautions. Good thing the weather today isn’t as brittle as it has already been, a brief respite. After Orangeblossom gives her own greetings, he chimes in himself. “Morning, you all! Hope all the new scents don’t overwhelm them,” Drizzlepelt chuckles, cheerfulness in his voice despite the actual concern.​
 
By this point, Daisykit was somewhat used to the comings and goings of cats, of the many faces that peered into the nursery time and time again and she knew that they had come from outside but she also knew that outside was not somewhere she was supposed to go. When Butterflytuft gathered them all together she was surprised to be told they were going outside, even if she didn't fully know what that meant she knew that before the outside had been off-limits so it suddenly being a place she could go caused a mix of emotions within her - surprise, fear, but mostly excitement.

Head peeked out from the holly and for a moment she dipped back in as her mother continued on out, eyes widening in alarm as she realized that Butterflytuft was not coming back inside but instead staying out and quickly the child haphazardly scurried after her clinging to a hind-leg as she peered around the older feline's body. Fur rose on end as eyes stayed wide, head turning to her mother quickly before a shuddering exhale escaped the girl - "Is big..." she'd quickly mutter out, head snapping to look to Orangeblossom and Drizzlepelt as they spoke, shrinking back towards Butterflytuft once more. These weren't the faces she had grown used to, coming from the shadows of the "outside" to bring her mother food or to coo at her and her siblings, there was too much space right now and she didn't like it.

* . ° • ★ | • ° ∵ DAISYKIT ∵ ° • | ☆ • ° . *
 

Time had to be latched onto some sort of hawk. It soared past them at a sickening rate, and Twitchbolt felt entirely too young to see his friend's kittens walking and talking and staring out at the big, bright world for the first time. Still, that was his reality- the hard, cold ground beneath his feet reminded him of that- and he approached it readily, dressed with his most sincere smile. Despite his shivering, he really was happy- this was a big moment not just for Fluffykit, Daisykit and Weedkit, but for Butterflytuft herself. Dandelionwish, too. Who'd've thought he was once a Windclanner? Felt like a stupid, made-up notion now...

"Hello," he chirped, voice a little frayed and fractured, but made as soft and sweet as he could manage. Noticeably, he'd toned his screeching volume down... but there wasn't anything to be nervous about really, was there? Daisykit's insight coaxed a squeaking, hoarse laugh from the wide-eyed warrior. "It's very big. You'll- you'll know it very well eventually, though."

Was that soothing? It was supposed to be... nervousness was starting to take hold again. Stars did he want to make a good impression...
penned by pin ✧
 
It would be a lie to say Fluffykit hasn’t been curious about the world her father exists in, outside the protection and warmth of the holly bush. The tiny she-kit ambles after her mother with a pinched, nervous expression on her face. Immediately, the wind strikes her whiskers, and she lets out a tiny squeak of disapproval. “’S cold,” she complains, and as Daisykit cuddles up to Butterflytuft’s side, she follows suit, pressing one cheek comfortingly into orange fur.

“This is outside,” her mother tells them. “You can only come out here if I’m with you, or Howlfire or Mottledove or your dad.” Fluffykit nods once in agreement and understanding. It is busy, and it is big—she can’t imagine wanting to be out here by herself.

Cats begin to draw closer, curiosity rounding their eyes. They’re scary, some of them. The first to speak is a she-cat, her muzzle scarred. That reminds her of the big tabby who had come to the nursery and scared her, so she cowers, tiny body trembling both from cold and fear. She has seen the orange-eared she-cat before, she knows she has, but the scars momentarily freeze her stuttering memory. Her puffy pelt fluffs up enormously as if to protect her both from the breeze filtering through camp and her Clanmates' peering eyes.

A gray cat speaks to them, tells them they’ll get used to the smells. Fluffykit looks from him to Twitchbolt—she knows him, he’s peeked into the nursery on multiple occasions, just like the scarred orange-eared she-cat. Her heart is beating fast, fast, like a trapped insect, but she does not flee. She sticks to Butterflytuft’s leg like a burr caught in her coat.



, ”
 
just because i carry it so well doesn't mean it's not heavy .
︶꒦꒷♡꒷꒦︶
lCreeping toward them, Tatteredlight remained silent, only offering a quiet hum in greetings, odd hues crinkling in a closed-eye smile. So little. He thought, staring at the small bundles nestled beside Butterflytuft. To think they were all that small, naïve to the world and so, so silly that it nearly brought a laugh if he didn’t stamp it down with a shuffle of paws, subtly shaking his helm.

“I’m sure they well with time.” He spoke with a swish of his plume-like tail against the ground. “It’s scary, isn’t it?” He crooned. “With all these cool scents and sounds.” He laughed quietly, keeping himself at a relative distance. He’d feel awful if he scared them.
thought speech
 
THERE WILL COME A SOLDIER — Blazingkit had been playing a game of chase with the other kittens and was bolting around camp nearly tripping a few clanmates in the process though the russet tomkit finds himself skidding to a halt when he realizes that Butterflytuft leaves the nursery which she normally didn't do unless she had to go do stuff and trailing behind her was Fluffykit and Daisykit of who he had seen multiple occasions (they were denmates after all). His eyes immediately light up with interest causing him to immediately ditch his game of chase as he saunters over with heavier kitten paws, he realizes that he's bigger than the kittens of which isn't a surprise due to their age and his heritage. Whenever he's around them he knows that he should have a quieter voice or has learned to whenever he saw Fluffykit withdraw at his usually louder and bolder voice "Hi Fluffykit, Daisykit, and Weedkit!" His tail raised in excitement seeing that the trio of kittens were out and about of the nursery, a part of him wondering if they would be able to play with him soon. Probably not Lionclan warriors but moss ball.

"Oh wait!" He pipes out scrambling back into the nursery already making his way to his nest and plucking out a moss ball from it with his claw, he holds it in his jaws as he makes his way out once more only to turn to either of the kittens and gently bats it to one of them to initiate a game to make them more comfortable of being outside. Maybe even distract them from all the giants outside. "Now you bat it back to me," He explains with a toothy grin.


  • Untitled248_20231022220251.png
    longhaired red tabby tom with green eyes
    4 moons old; ages the 28th every month
    sexuality unknown; too young
    son of coyotecrest and howlfire
    brother to wolfkit and hawkkit
    easy to befriend; will throw a tantrum if you call him filthy
    "speech", thoughts, attacking
    peaceful powerplay allowed
 
𓆝 . ° ✦Weedkit trots along behind Butterflytuft with the rest of his siblings, lingering at the back of the pack with his sprouting desire to observe; a sort of desire to look (albiet for a long time) before the proverbial leap. His mother seems excited, but Weedkit is less than thrilled to be faced with so many unfamiliar scents and faces and voices at once. They seem, for the most part, to maintain distance between the tiny family and themselves, but Weedkit would rather they just stay away altogether.

The first two to greet them get a hard stare from the small black kitten. "M... Morning," Weedkit greets Orangeblossom and Drizzlepelt in kind with owlish eyes. Good morning. What constitutes a morning as being good? Was there such a thing as a bad morning too? A thousand questions swirl around the small kit's mind, but he shrinks back into Butterflytuft's familiar warmth as the crowd of SkyClan cats grows around them. Why are there so many of them? "Strangers," Weedkit acknowledges, looking up to Butterflytuft for guidance or perhaps for his mother to pick him up and take him away from all this dreaded newness.

Weedkit squeaks in surprise and nearly falls over backward when Blazingkit bats the moss ball right toward him. It rolls gently and doesn't even touch the kit, but from the way he reacts one could think the other kit might have thrown the ball with all his strength. The little black kit bristles at the ball, and he follows the path to where Blazingkit stands toothily grinning at them. He looks to his mother again, then back to Blazingkit. "Um..." Weedkit hums, simply unsure of everything. He reaches out and pushes the ball back towards the older kit. It only reaches half the space between them between his lack of commitment and minuscule kit-strength.

Weedkit is just satisfied the ball didn't reach out and eat his paw, really.
 ° .  . ° 
  • ooc:

  • WEEDKIT — HE/HIM ・ 1 MOONS, 3 WEEKS ・ SKYCLAN KIT ・ PENNED BY CARAT!
    longhaired black tomcat with low white spotting. born 11/9/23 and ages realistically 1 week every Thursday. Follow along with his growth here!
 

Greeneyes swears it was just yesterday he'd helped his sister move to the shelter of the nursery. It feels like the duo of Weedkit and Fluffykit had only just become a trio with the introduction of Daisykit, like he'd only just met his sister's kits for the very first time — small things, wriggling close to their mother's form in search of warmth and milk.

But they grow so fast, the three of them, and every time Greeneyes sees them, they're bigger than the last, accomplishing things brand new to them.

He returns to camp from a hunting patrol with a bird between his jaws, and it's after he donates the catch to the fresh-kill pile that patinaed sight catches a glimpse of their newest achievement. His gaze brightens at the scene, and his stride turns to greet the trio and their mother.

" Well, look who's out and about! " Greeneyes chirps, a shining smile on his face. Leaving the nursery already? Stars, they'd be apprentices before he knew it!

Their newly opened world is big and cold, he translates from kitten-tongue, and oh, if only they'd had this opportunity in newleaf, rather than leaf-bare. They would've loved it, he thinks — the colors, the warmth.

" It'll be warmer before you know it, cariños, " he promises them, though newleaf feels like it's seasons away, now — more than a lifetime, really, for his nieces and nephew. " The cold always goes away — "

From the corner of his eye, Blazingkit appears, a mossball in tow, ready to play with the kits now that they're old enough to leave the holly bush. It feels familiar. Like, newly met faces, a freshly-named Greenpaw carrying a pinecone gift to oak and pine's newest share of kits.

He'd been this small once, he remembers — they all had been. And now he watches with a smile on his face as the newest generation of his own family and his friends' interact like their predecessors did before. Has it really been that long? ​
border2.png
  • 74596946_rY2pLJ2YZGmQ0CI.png
    GREENKITGREENPAWGREENEYES
    ── Lead Warrior of SkyClan

    ── Daisyflight x Raven Ramble
    ── AMAB; He/Him
    ── A red tabby and white tom with bright green eyes.
    ── Mentored by Sheepcurl; Currently mentoring Falconpaw
    ── "Speech"; Attack
 
Butterflytuft purrs in greeting as Orangeblossom and Drizzlepelt approach, offering a small, "Good morning," to them before she feels all three pelts of her kits press close to her. She peers down at them, her gaze gentle. Daisykit comments that it's big out here, Fluffykit tacks on how cold it is. "I know, sweethearts. We won't be out long," She is quick to assure them, sweeping her fluffy tail around them to try and keep them warm.

She smiles warmly as her friend approaches, her purr never ceasing. Twitchbolt is right. Soon, they'd know this camp like the back of their paw, bounding and playing and pestering their clanmates as her siblings had once done. She had never been the time to run and play much - she had been far more content nestled next to Daisyflight in the nursery. But maybe her own kits would be different.

As Blazingkit tries to initiate a game of moss-ball with Weedkit, Butterflytuft's attention turns to Tatteredlight and Greeneyes. She smiles big and proud, lifting her chin a bit higher than it normally is. "When it's warmer, I'm sure you three will love exploring!" She trills to them, looking back down at the little ones clustered at her flank.