[ti]Private[/ti]dandelion leap

[honeythree]

Crowpaw is extremely proud of his catch; a pike from the river, big enough to feed the overfilled nursery den. He's seldom had the time to visit his old den, unable to catch up with old denmates like Stagkit now that he's an apprentice, but he's proud of how much he's learning and shaping up— though he'll be the first to admit he still has much to learn.

Fish in mouth, he holds himself back from wanting to sink his teeth in, instead heading towards the smell of milk and the sounds of chatting queens and their kits, stopping in the entrance and placing the fresh-kill down delicately.

"I bought you something to eat," From his knowledge, the younger kits aren't old enough to eat solid food like fish yet, so he turns towards the closest two, Firekit with his eyes of rose red and Frostkit and her lily white fur, with an amused twitch of his tail. "I can keep you two occupied while your mother gets a good meal."

[silverfang218]

Firekit had just been looking for an opportunity to sneak out of camp, though getting out of the nursery was step number one. He had quickly learned that if he simply walked out, his mother or any other queen would catch him easily (darn her longer legs!) and return him to the nursery. There always had to be a distraction.

Crowpaw gave him this distraction. Firekit hears his mother thank Crow for the food as Firekit carefully walks around the outside edge of the nursery to get around the apprentice. The queens seem more focused sharing the fish than Firekit, so the red-eyed kit thinks he has it made. Until Crowpaw turns and offers to keep the kits occupied so the queens can eat in peace; Fire doesn’t stop to see if Crow is referring to him with that statement and instead takes off running out of the nursery. He curses the fact that the apprentice had decided to pay the kits attention when Fire had been so close to getting away without a trace, but perhaps he can convince this cat not to instantly return him to Nightfur.

[Meow]

Frostkit hadn't been spending a lot of time in the nursery for the last few days. Rather, Frostkit had been hanging out in the medicine den during her waking hours, showering Silverfang with questions about clan life and the strange leaves she and Morningpaw liked to play with. Today, though, Frostkit hadn't been able to sneak out of Nightfur's sight- apparently, Silverfang needed to go "gathering herbs" today, whatever that meant, so she didn't have time to spend with Frostkit.

As one might guess, that meant that Frostkit was in a bad mood today. Frostkit just wanted to go have fun outside of the nursery; she couldn't understand why she had to be trapped in here with her stinky siblings. The pale kit pouted as she sat on the edge of Nightfur's nest, her little claws trying to tear up the moss beneath them. She was so irritated that she wasn't even trying to escape the den anymore. She wanted Nightfur to see what she was doing to her precious daughter!

Frostkit only lifted her head when Firekit darted out of the nest, making a run for it as he so often did. Firekit was her fun sibling, but that wasn't saving him from being annoying to her right now. Figures he would use Crowpaw as an opening to escape. As the apprentice then spoke to the kits, Frostkit turned a glare towards Crowpaw, looking for any reason to be angry with someone. Frostkit still had some learning to do when it came to controlling her emotions. "Nao look whatchu done," Frostkit huffed, wanting nothing to do with the cat who had helped Firekit escape. Nobody ever helped her escape. "I ain't wastin' no tiem on yew. Bother someone else." The she-kit then turned her nose up at Crowpaw before going back to ripping up the moss, waiting for someone to go retrieve Firekit.

Nobody escaped from this place. They would just be trapped for all of eternity, and Firekit needed to accept that... like she had. He would learn one day. One day, this place would break that spirit of his.

[honeythree]

Admittedly, he's a little shocked by the two kits.

He hadn't expected Frostkit to be in such a bad mood, for one, her little voice still clumsy around certain words but no less biting. It hurts him just a little, to be glared at and practically growled at by a kit unable to leave the nursery— it makes him feel like he's done something wrong, although he's not quite sure what it is.

He doesn't quite have the time to worry about her, as he had seen her brother Firekit attempt to dart out of the nursery with determination in his tiny paws. Crowpaw is quick to catch up, owing to his longer legs and larger body, and leans down to scoop the young kit up by the scruff.

"Alright, little one, your mother will claw my pelt off if you get out," He scolds lightly, though there's a joking undertone to his voice that's hard to pick out thanks to his flat voice. "Unfortunately, you can't leave the den until you're a little bigger. But I bet, if you ask her nicely, Nightfur might allow you to play inside the nursery."

Though, with so many tiny bodies inside, he's not sure if it's a good idea to actually play.

He calls out to the pale kitten. "Frostkit, would you like to play with us too?"

[silverfang218]

Firekit keeps running until he feels Crowpaw’s teeth sink into his scruff. It’s over; the end. He has been caught. The red-eyed kit goes limp as Crow picks him up, letting out a slightly angry sigh. He just wants freedom, is that so hard for his clanmates to understand? Fire has tested himself many times against the older cats, and he has found that no amount of wiggling earns him freedom so why bother.

He limply lets himself be carried back, staying limp even after Crow sets him back down. He is reduced to a pile of dejected kit and black fur, not even responding to Crowpaw’s efforts to start a game with him and his sister. He doesn’t even seem to acknowledge Crowpaw or Frostkit. He’s just a blob.