[ti]Open[/ti]Dirty paws

[noctemq]

Cherrykit rolled over, catching a few loose twigs in her pelt. She was perfectly wedged in the gap between two rocks; her hiding spot would've been perfect if it wasn't for her brightly striped pelt, which highlighted her little body despite the rock's shade. She was trying to escape the endless grooming from older cats that plagued her. Being a rough and tumble she-cat, she hated to pause her adventures to get cleaned up. What was the point of a neat pelt if she was just going to get dirty again, anyways? 

Her wide brown eyes surveyed the area in her peripheral. The coast seemed clear. With one hesitant step followed by another, Cherrykit slowly left her hiding spot. Yes. freedom! She dashed back to the large feather she was playing with before tongues interrupted her. The striped kit rolled over onto her back, pawing at her feather and collecting even more dust into her pelt. 

[Miss Tactical]

The red tom had been swinging his head from side to side from afar, sure it looked silly but it was the only way he could truly get a whole look at what was going on. The tom was blind in one of his eyes and he was always trying to get a good look at things. His eyes fell on a she-cat, playing with a feather rolling around in the dirt getting their pelts dirty. That certainly looked like a lot of fun! He looked back at his mother, and then scouted the camp for his father, there was no signs of him and his mom was asleep so now would be the perfect time! With a playful look in his eyes he picked up a special rock and padded forward, dropping it at the she-kits paws.

"Hi there! I brought you a rock. I don't share this with anyone so It's kinda special." He mewed. The stone was a special rock picked out by his dad he had found it on one of his patrols and brought it back to him. Sure he wasn't the BEST tom in the world but he was a good dad. "The names Redkit! Sorry If I swing my head back and forth I can't see out of one of my eyes, but I'm nice and like to play in dirt too can I play?" His tone was almost pleading but he figured his shiny green stone would nearly seal the deal for him this time.

[noctemq]

Cherrykit stopped rolling around when the other tom’s approached her. Little claws clamped against the feather, she stayed on her belly with her hind legs tucked up and looked at him up at down, then back down at his offering. A rock, huh? Redkit was right, though. It was pretty special looking. She’s only seen dull brown and gray ones before, so green was definitely a new color for her to see on a stone. Her ego built itself up by a notch knowing that she got to see something from Redkit that the other kits haven’t seen before.

“Hmmm...” She pretended to give it some thought. Honestly, the rock already had her sold, so this was all for show. “Sure. Why not,” Cherrykit responded nonchalantly, as if she didn’t care. She flipped over onto her back and propped herself up in a seated position, laying the feather to the ground right next to the rock. It was quite the treasure pile already.

“What happened to your eye? Did a bird peck it? Oh, was it a hawk?” Her questions were a bit rude and invasive, but she had no ill intentions towards Redkit. Curiosity just filled her, and Cherrykit wanted to know everything.

“Oh, I’m Cherrykit. I guess I should’ve said that first but whatever.”

[Miss Tactical]

Redkit tilted his head to the side as she examined his stone. Yeah it was special, his dad found it, although he didn't say where. His dad was always all over the place. This stone was special to him. The kit sighed softly before nudging it forward. "You can keep it if you promise to be my friend forever." He mewed puffing out his chest. Sure he had other friends, but Cherrykit seemed really cool and even the apprentices liked her so maybe if she was friends with Cherrykit they would like him by default to. He took his paw batting the rock closer to the she-cat a grin on his face as he did so. He was glad to have a new friend.


When the she-kit asked about his eye he hesitated. As far as he knew he had been born this way. He frowned slightly but soon his ears perked up hawk would make it sound really cool! That story would be hard to beat. "Yeah it was totally a hawk, I somehow managed to sneak out of camp when a hawk got me. one of the warriors saved me. I lost my vision in one of my eyes, but the other one works just fine!" He mewed. Was that story believable? Oh goodness he sure hoped so, he really wanted to make a good first impression. The tom pounced on the she-kit playfully giving a chuckle. Wanna play now?Roll in the dirt? My mom gets mad at me when I do that...but I'm a bad boy kit I do it anyways." He mewed with a sloppy grin.

[noctemq]

Cherrykit looked at the rock, then up at Redkit, then back to the rock again. “Are you sure?” She asked, a small bit of hesitance in her voice. “It looks more special to you.” She nudged the rock around with her paw, feeling how smooth it was against her soft pads. This rock must have some sentimental feeling, especially since it was from his father. Even without having known parents of her own, Cherrykit could understand how important that was to Redkit.

“How about... we share it instead? Friends share things anyways, I think.” Oh boy, Cherrykit was not good at sharing. This rock would be different, though, especially since it didn’t belong to her in the first place. “We can share this big feather I found and your rock. Then we’ll have the biggest, hugest pile in Mothclan!” She quickly grew less possessive over her favorite toy feather once she thought about the two of them, small little kits, sitting on a warrior-sized pile of goodies.

Cherrykit stared right into Redkit’s eyes for a moment. “Whoa. That’s super cool. I bet they’ll name you something cool like Redhawk or Red....talon.” She nodded approvingly and broke eye contact with him so she could march ahead before flopping and wiggling into a bunch of dry moss. Cherrykit looked up at him once more before batting a dusty paw out to make a noticeable smudge on his pelt.

“Gotcha!”

[Miss Tactical]

The flame colored tom puffed out his chest when Cherrykit mentioned how cool it was even thinking of a couple of warrior names for him. He liked the idea so much that he didn't even seem phased by his little white lie. He looked at the feather then the stone and nodded. "I sneak out ya know a lot so maybe I can find other treasures to." He didn't want to make that a promise as he wasn't sure he would be able to comply with such a task, after all he couldn't see out of one of his eyes and it would be hard to navigate but perhaps he could try! The tom was brought out of his thoughts as a large paw hit his flank leaving a dusty mark on his fur. He snickered slightly before dropping into a playful crouch.

Redkit jumped back and forth on purpose stomping his paws to get them covered with dust and dirt. "I'm gonna getcha now!" Redkit turned his head his one good eye focusing on the she-cat in front of him. He had to be rather careful not to misjudge or he would end up no where near her. That was his problem. Redhawk they call me Redhawk." he stuck his tongue out slightly as if it would help him make a better call and jumped forward dirty paws outstretched ready to make his mark on the she-cat. "HA! GOTCHA!" He teased before rolling onto his back creating a storm of dust as he did so.

[noctemq]

Cherrykit looked around cautiously to make sure there were no other cats listening to their conversation. She was quite the rebel kit as well, and it would be incredibly dangerous fun to have a friend to get in trouble with. "You sneak out? How'd you do it? I've always tried, but some warrior or elder or somebody always finds me right as I pass the entrance to camp." She spoke at a hushed volume, though her excitement clearly showed through her tone. If only she had met Redkit earlier, before she was part of this clan... she wished she could've shown him how wild life was outside the confinement of the camp area.

Cherrykit, still very distracted, landed with a small "Oof!" as her new playmate caught her by surprise. Now on her back with one hind leg sticking up straight in the air, her face lit up in a challenging grin before hopping back onto her feet. "It's on, Redhawk!" She meowed back in the most grown-up voice she could muster. "Nobody puts a paw on Cherrystrike without payback!" She wiggled her rear end before leaping back towards him, dust going everywhere. It was hard to see where she landed, but she did feel something soft and fuzzy in front of her.

[Miss Tactical]

Cherrystrike landed on Redhawks tail, he let out a playful yowl of surprise he was sure by hiding when the large dust storm he would be well hidden. He twitched his whiskers with amusement gently kicking, claws sheathed, to get himself free. He rustled his fur running in circles with heavy paws creating a deep haze of dust as he did so. His eyes stared forward, his pelt now a dusty ginger instead of the flame color it normally was. He raised a brow, his features curled into a goofy grin, he was proud of his mess. He looked across the clearing and saw small indents from where their paws were stomping around. There were also small pieces of bramble and twigs snapped and broken. His eyes widened with surprise shocked that two little kits could cause such havok. He gave a nervous chuckle knowing that Brackenfall would NOT be happy. OH WELL! You were only a kit once.

"Umm yeah I sneak out through the ummm." He looked around quickly trying to think on his paws. "The dirt place tunnel. I won't be able to sneak out that way for much longer, but for right now I can."Redkit puffed out his chest tail waving back and forth. Now his story made all sorts of sense. He had snuck out through the dirtplace tunnel and a hawk got him and he was saved by a warrior. That was totally believable right?

[noctemq]

“The dirt place tunnel?” Cherrykit repeated after him, her nose scrunching up in disgust. “You’re brave, I’d never go down there.” She shook her head around to get the icky thoughts out of her head and some dust puffed off of her fur as well. “Was it worth it?”

Cherrykit’s memory of her life outside of the clans was still vivid, considering she had been out there only a few moons ago. A lot of it was scary for her, but she’d never admit that. There were parts of her that missed the freedom, but it was impossible for her to survive on her own. If it wasn’t for the kindness of strangers, she would’ve probably starved a long time ago. Hunting was difficult when every piece of pray was practically the size of her whole body. Though, she was proud to say that she was the only kit in this whole camp that’s killed a mouse before. Sure, it was already injured, but a kill is a kill.

“It’s more fun around here with all the rocks and trees and stuff. Once you’re closer to where the two-legs are, it’s really stinky. Probably as stinky as you were when you crawled through the dirt place tunnel!” Cherrykit teased the young tom with a snicker before jumping back into a tiny play-fight stance. There was a little pebble stuck in the fur around her flank, but she barely even noticed. Both of them would be in for an extreme grooming session once an older cat found out what they were up to.

[Miss Tactical]

When Cherrykit called him brave he felt his ego get blown up like a balloon. He had never really been down there himself, let alone sneak out that way. This was getting out of his paws rather quick. He supposed since he would be made an apprentice next moon he could avoid her for a bit and then come back to it. He just shook his head and wriggled his nose. "I dont' think it was, I don't plan on doing it again. I'm an apprentice next moon anyway." He mewed. When the she-cat mentioned the rocks he had to agree. It was fun to jump and climb on them, to run in the tall grass. He closed his eyes for just a second thinking about the breeze blowing through his fur. That would be the best thing about being an apprentice. He wouldn't really need to 'sneak out' anywhere. Sure he would need his mentors permission but that was it.

When Cherrykit dropped into a play stance he followed suite his tail waving in the air. That's when he noticed a pebble sticking to her fur near her flank. It didn't seem to bother the she-cat, but then again, perhaps she didn't know it was there. "hold on." he mewed. He padded towards cherrykit as he looked at fur, he took a gentle paw, parting it, and soon the pebble hit the ground. "Perhaps they will call you Cherrypebble instead." He mused with a playful twitch of his whiskers. That's when his eyes flashed with amusement and he leaned in giving her a playful nudge before rolling onto his back, covering himself in dust in dirt.