camp whiskers on kittens // brittle nest

[Silk-kit]

The chill of leaf-bare had certainly begun to settle over the moor, sending icy gusts sweeping through the camp and turning just about everything to frost. It’s never something the kit has had to experience before in her short life, but the adults seem stressed. Silk-kit, however, seemed far more distressed about a different problem than she was about the cold. She sits in the nursery with her fluffy blue tail wrapped primly around her paws, glaring down at her nest she shared with Hickoryfur as though it had personally offended her. The usually soft and inviting bedding is now brittle and completely unacceptable.

"Oh, this is an utter disaster!" She wails dramatically, sapphire eyes glistening with dismay. With a dainty paw, she attempts to fluff up the stiff moss, but the brittle strands only crumble and poke uncomfortably at her delicate pads. "How am I supposed to get my beauty sleep in such atrocious conditions? I'll wake up with my fur all flattened and ruined!” Perhaps her words could be taken more seriously if they weren’t in such a high-pitched, kittenish voice.

She lets out a sigh so heavy it could rival the wind blowing through the hollow, before delicately rubbing her blue nose with the back of her paw. "No, no, this simply will not do," She declares with a sniff, looking around the nursery to see if any of her denmates shared her distress, or perhaps had solutions to offer. They simply must do something about it! Perhaps a new arrangement of bedding, or even just the softest of feathers…

Her gaze flits hopefully to the entrance of the nursery then, waiting for someone to deliver materials like they always did to her so she could restore luxury to the sleeping quarters.
​

 

[SEDGEPOUNCE]

It happens as if on cue—Sedgepounce is trudging toward the nursery with twigs and moss and miscellany trapped between his jaws, just about to duck into the heather den when an agonized caterwaul warbles from its interior. Bemused, Sedgepounce shoots @bunnypaw a glance. We better hurry up.

Finally padding through the maw of the den, Sedgepounce is greeted by the wide, mildly creepy stare of the burdened Silk-kit. "Okaaaay." He sets down his collection of den materials, separating things into categories for the approaching kittens and parents. "We've got some moss, and uh. Not a lot of wool, but maybe some of the long grass could help insulate?" He glances between the queens (and Thriftfeather) for their thoughts. The haul is admittedly mediocre at best. Hardly the plush elegance that Silk-kit hopes for, but the early frost has made resource gathering a desperate bid.

Turning his eye to the den itself, he wonders: "Any thin spots in the walls or anything?"

// no pressure apprentice tag < 3
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[Comfreykit]

The only thing that Comfreykit found himself concerned with as the days grew colder and shorter was the chill that seemed to permeate the air no matter where he went - the cold had even made its way into the nursery, if only a bit, and Comfreykit resented being away from the warmth of mother and his siblings. Sleeping alongside a menagerie of other bodies left little thought or care for the nest underneath it all, but Comfreykit had noticed what Silk-kit was complaining about - how the nests had curled up and become brittle, unlike they had been before. Apparently, they were quite unpleasant, at least according to the she-kit who liked to be pretty.

Sedgepounce enters the nursery with his apprentice before Comfreykit can dwell on the fact for too long, and he looks at mother when the topic is brought up again by the intruding warrior. What did mother think of the change in the nests? Were they necessary? He was sure to build his opinion off of what mother thought, and he awaited her judgment quietly, looking between those who had gathered in the nursery. In that silence, Comfreykit trotted forward, sticking out his nose to inspect the materials that Sedgepounce had brought with him. He seems to wordlessly consult the queens and papa, and Comfreykit decides to voice his own concerns.

"Cold!" He yips firmly, looking up at Sedgepounce. He'd met the warrior before, outside of the nursery. He had a weird name that was hard to pronounce, but Comfreykit figured he could give it another try. "Cold, Sed'pounce."

‎‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎OOC ᓚ₍ ^. .^₎ .ᐟ.ᐟ INFO ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎

• !
  

• 

• COMFREYKIT ✩ kit of windclan, zero moons
  → walks hunched over.
  → peaceful and healing powerplay permitted.
  → penned by Archivist → .archivist on discord.
  

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[FEATHERSPINE]

With this new chill in the air, ensuring the nests of the queens were perfectly upkept assimilated into his warrior duties. Though Featherspine was not one to hang around the nursery the same way cats like Mossthorn did, she didn't hate it ... kits were not ill company, and she had less of a desire to whip them into shape as she used to. Lessons would come with the harshness of the world, though ... and Featherspine would not cover their eyes from it.

Setting to the ground a small bundle of moss, ever-narrowed eyes flitted between Sedgepounce and Comfreykit, but found settlement primarily upon Silk-kit. Yes, teaching had a time and place... but born so close to leafbare, and now within a quick-blooming frost, there was no better time. "You will have to learn to buh... to b-buh-bear the cold eventually." A scowling face was set stony, unimpressed. "Puh- puh... maybe it is time to p-p-puh-practice."​

✦ penned by pin​

 

[Mallowtail]

Mallowtail had been padding past the nursery when the disapproving voices of Silk-kit and Comfreykit caught her attention. " What's a disaster, Silk-kit? " she coos as she glances around the nursery in search of any spots where the cold draft is getting through. Sedgepounce settles some gathering materials and a light bulb flickers as she grins ear to ear, " Ooh! I have something perfect for you and Comfreykit. " The cream sepia remarks proudly as she turns on her heels to go gather her hard-earned clump of rabbit's fur that she found while they went material gathering. Her long tail gives a flick as she slides into the nursery with her 'gift' and places it down before the two and closes her eyes, faking a dramatic sigh.

" Oh... I wish someone loved my rabbit's fur as much as Sedgepounce's materials, " she murmurs dramatically as she attempts to hold her smile back. Hopefully, Princess Silk-kit, elegant and beautiful, would be pleased with her new materials. A chocolate gaze glances towards Featherspine whose face is a mimic of a rock (if it had a face painted on it) and she smiles softly. The chocolate warrior had a point, but it was also up to them to keep their nesting as warm as possible. " Mmn, Featherspine isn't wrong but... I'll work harder for y'all. "

With her statement, hopefully the residents of the nursery would find appeasement in her gift (and her answer).

​

 

[BLUEFROST]

Bluefrost is no stranger, at this point in her life, to the petulant wailing of kits. Silk-kit expresses her discomfort loudly; the weather's turning has made the material in their nests brittle and sharp, and the smoke-pelted queen can understand the child's frustrations. She has felt the season's turn just as the rest of the Clan has, though she is admittedly in better shape than her warrior companions. She exists in a tiny, insulated space, tucked into a nest she shares with the tom she loves and their five children. Her little family does not want for warmth, surely.

Sedgepounce and his apprentice stop by, jaws laden with odds and ends to spruce up the nursery. Bluefrost regards him quietly. He is a nursery guard; the dark tabby-and-white warrior comes to relieve Dimmingsun when the lead warrior has other duties to attend to. Still, he has never expressed outward cruelty or disapproval where she could hear it, so she allows herself to relax somewhat. "The long grass will help, yes." She twists, slender green eyes narrowing and pointing to a patch of worn-away bracken. "That spot there has been letting the wind in more. Perhaps you, Featherspine, and Mallowtail could help fix it."

Comfreykit's eyes on her fill her with a strange feeling; she wonders, sometimes, if he waits for her to speak so he can model himself after her. It's both flattering and a little terrifying, to be someone a kit would imitate, but she supposes it's not different than the way she'd followed Sootstar around as a child... Her son declares it to be cold!, and she leans forward to touch her nose to his ear for a heartbeat in response. Featherspine's words are harsh, but he isn't wrong. "When you are a warrior, you will sleep in the cold. You will hunt in snow, and you will fight battles even when it is freezing." She addresses him like he is six moons instead of two. "Still, I do not want them ill if I can avoid it." She'd had her fill of kitten sickness with Rimekit's yellowcough.

『 out of character. 』 ✧･ﾟ:* 『 about. 』

• ooc: —
• 
• Bluekit . Bluepaw . Bluefrost, she/her w/ feminine terms.
  — “speech”, thoughts, attack
  — 23 moons old, ages realistically on the 14th.
  — mentored by Sootstar ; mentoring Brackenpaw ; previously mentored n/a.
  — windclan queen. sootstar x weaselclaw, gen 2.
  — penned by Marquette.
  
  
  lh blue smoke she-cat with white and emerald eyes. aloof, dignified, poised, haughty, composed, distant.
  
  

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