[ti]Open[/ti]Every Day a Little Death

[Taako]

Boar had been an ambitious cat, he'd had a lot of things he wanted to do, a lot of plans he'd wanted to see unfold. He'd wanted nothing more than to become a warrior, serve his clan, make his dad proud, make his whole family proud. Normally when things like this happened, cats would shoulder it off onto Starclan, surely they had a reason, a different calling for you...But what good could come of this? Why reason could there have been to steal so much from him in one fell swoop? He was useless now, sequestered to the elder's den because that's where you shove cats you don't want to think about anymore.

He flicked his long tail and curled it over his nose, sighing into his long fur. Starclan could eat dirt for all he cared, if this was the grand plan of his ancestors, then he wanted nothing to do with them. He hoped he died young only so he could go and give those starry cats a piece of his mind, he silently dared one of them to ever appear to him in his dreams, he wanted to hear their excuses, he wanted to hear what they had to say.

He could hear the raspy breathing of the napping elders, and made an annoyed sound as he pressed both paws into his ears. Annoying, it was so annoying, being stuck here with elders who spent most of the day napping, when his paws itched to run, and explore, and hunt. Annoying. His tail twitched as he angled his ears to listen to the sounds of the clan's activity, the only thing to break up the dull monotony of uselessness.

[americanfacepalm]

Pricklekit did not often go into the elders' den. Really, she kind of avoided it completely. Even despite the warrior code's emphasis on respect for elders, she thought they were kinda stinky and gross. That, and the real lifeblood of the Clan lay in the warriors, in her opinion. Who hunted? Warriors! Who fought? Warriors! So why even bother with old, useless cats who could do neither? She did not really get it. Yet she was poking her fluffy little head into the den regardless, all because of a dare. All she had to do was poke in and poke out. Hopefully, no cat would notice her, especially not her brother, Boarspark... Well, he could not see, so he probably did not even know she was there.

[silverfang218]

Boarspark may or may not have been aware of the little kit peering into the elder’s den, but Lionpaw sure was. It’s no secret that most kits- most apprentices too, if they are honest- avoid the elders’ den at all costs. Lion too wouldn’t enter the den willingly if it weren’t for the fact that his brother Boar lived inside. That being said, Lionpaw swoops in to ruin Pricklekit’s hopes and dreams with a mischievous glint in his eyes.

“Let’s go see our brother, shall we, Pricklekit?” Lionpaw chuckles, grabbing the kitten’s scruff and picking her up without delaying so she can’t get away. He carries the kit right over to Boarspark, plopping her down beside their brother before rubbing his cheek affectionately against Boar’s; Lion assumes his brother heard both his words and his pawsteps and won’t be overly surprised by Lion’s greeting. Hopefully.

“How are you feeling today, Boarspark? Instead of freshkill, I brought you a Pricklekit, but I can go get you some food if you are hungry.” Lion offers, flopping onto his side next to Boar. Lion is just taking a break, making himself at home. Don’t mind him.

[pebble]

Elkpaw was almost always busy. Between remembering herbs, delivering moss, and dealing with simple wounds like thorns, the she-cat had been working her butt off. She hadn't realized how easy warriors really had it. Sure, they fought but, they didn't have to remember the kajsjajs of herbs there were!

So, break time! Woops! Elkpaw slipped out of the medicine cat den just in time to see the last of Lionpaw's tail slink into the elders' den. She tilted her head a little, confused. "What's he doing now?" She thought aloud before bounding after them. She poked her head into the den, chuckling a little once she noticed her siblings. The soft-pawed she-cat purred a greeting. "Hi!" She meowed as she sat on the other side of Boarspark, resting her tail across Boarspark's flank and the too of her tail flicking and playfully tickling Lionpaw's side. The siblings were massive compared to poor little Pricklekit.

[Cosima]

PALESTORM - -

The elder she-cat was giving herself a quick cleaning when she heard the paw-steps of kittens outside the den. It appeared that her grandson, Boarspark, was receiving visitors. "Hello, my dearest Pricklekit," She greeted the young she-kit.

Palestorm let out a hefty laugh at Lionpaw's joke about her grand-kit. "Boarspark, if you don't take up the offer, I most definitely will," She reached out to pull Pricklekit into her grasp and gave her a few firm licks on the head, rasping her fur out of place.

[LupTacco]

Bleakbelly wasn't sure what brought him to the elder's den- not thoughts of retirement, certainly. If his mother could be stubborn and remain on her paws for so many moons, so could he. Maybe check on Cougarheart- it was so odd to think of someone he had trained alongside as an elder, and even odder to be older and still on duty. Perhaps he was being too stubborn, fighting against aging joints and a sometimes dusty mind. Life had worn hard on the grey and white tom and yet he had, in his mind, worn on life pretty hard back. I give as good as I get, he half-purred to himself. Any other cat would be proud to have lived this long with the life of a warrior, but with Palestorm and Mothstar still around, he just couldn't bear the thought of dealing with his mother on a daily basis in the elder's den. 'I didn't retire until I was one hundred and twenty-five moons!' he mocked her tone internally, and scrunched his nose up with agitation.

He paused to compose himself outside the den's entrance. If he was being honest, he was here to spite his immediate family by getting closer to the rest of their kin, but second to that was checking in on his rather debilitated nephew. The sickness from leaf-bare had been exceptionally unkind to the young cat, and he had been surprised when Mothstar gave him an honorary name- perhaps Bleakbelly had assigned more harshness than was fair to his brother. Poking his nose in, he spotted some young relatives and let out a gravelly purr of amusement. "Hmm! Offerin' kits in place of prey now, eh? I don't think even Palestorm could eat kittens," an amused tone softened the roughness of his voice. Realizing more immediately that Palestorm was in fact awake already, he dipped his head with awkward curtness. "Mother," he mumbled in greeting.

[silverfang218]

((Taako was too slow, too bad))

Lionpaw purrs as Elkpaw comes bounding in, greeting them all with a hello. “Hi. Haven’t seen much of you lately, Elkpaw. Cedarleap been keeping you busy.” Lion gently whacks her tailtip away from his side with his own ginger tail while shooting her a playful look. Lion chuckles as Palestorm decides to take him up on his offer of freshkill, hopping up to his paws once more in order to carry out the offer as he nods his head in greeting to her. “Is there anything in particular you want from the pile?” He asks, his tail flicking Boarspark’s side to let him know that he’s still offering it to his brother as well.

Lionpaw snickers as Bleakbelly mentions that not even Palestorm could eat kittens. “I think you might be right, Pricklekit looks like she might not taste all that good.” Lion gives the kit a smile, letting her know that they are just messing around and joking with her.

[Taako]

Boarspark didn't miss the scent of his brother entering the den, or Pricklekit, in the wake of losing his sight he'd found his sense of smell had gotten keen and sharp, he probably could have still hunter were it not for the way his legs just didn't seem to want to work quite right, or the way his body and strength just gave out and sent him shuddering to the ground. He hadn't had a scare as close as the first, the one that had blinded him, but the fear was still there.

"Lionpaw, why'd you bring me such a stringy and scrawny piece of fresh kill..." He wrinkled his nose, but there was a purr of amusement in his voice. For all the grump and fuss he tended to feel, it always made him feel warmer when his siblings came to see him, a reminder that he did still exist to them.

His ears twitched when he heard another cat slip into the den, and he trilled softly, "We're having a family reunion then? Suddenly remember that your poor lame brother exists?" He rolled onto his back with an melodramatic whine, stretching his twitching legs out before going limp, "so rude." He smirked between them.

"Offer? Oh! Fresh kill!" He chuckled and rolled back over to tuck his legs under him, looking thoughtful, "hmmm...Perhaps a nice fat squirrel...Or a mouse...Thank you." He laughed in response to Bleakbelly's remark, curling his tail, "kits are very nutritious I'll have you know." His blind eyes scrunched in amusement, clearly joking, "but Lionpaw is right, Pricklekit would give me an upset stomach for sure!" He smirked, feeling the annoyed, angry feelings from earlier melt away.

[americanfacepalm]

Pricklekit let out pathetic mews of protest, utterly detesting Palestorm's loving licks. Not only was she being bathed in general, but also by her grandmother! Oh, and it felt weird! Ah, her fur was all out of place now! Yet, somehow, the grasp on her was too tight for her to escape. That left her sitting there with a very grumpy look on her tiny face.

However, at the talk of eating kits, she retreated into Palestorm's fur more, hissing at the innocent teasing. "Ain't nobody gonna eat me!"

However, even with her desire to remain uneaten, she looked offended at the fact that Boarspark thought she was like something rotten. "I'm better than any squirrel in this entire forest!"