The Innocence of kits (OPEN)

Warm.
Quailkit felt so warm. Tucked up next to her brother’s soft pelt. In the heart of the nursery where other queens and kits dozed on. Safe and sound. Light shone in through the opening, and she squinted her eyes at it. They had lost the pale blue they had been at birth, and were now a gentle green. She tilted her head, then stood and shook the moss from her pelt. The small distance to the entrance gradually felt different. No longer the soft mossy feeling of many nests tenderly cared for. Here was dirt and something soft that was slowly growing.

‘Grass. I think that’s what they keep calling it.’ She stepped cautiously out from the nursery. Only a couple paces. A single blade stuck out from the white and soft… snow. Right, sometimes her mother came home covered in it. She nosed the little blade of grass, then reached out a sheathed paw to poke at it. Marvelling as it swayed and yielded under her paw easily, but was careful not to press too hard. She didn’t want to hurt it.

If she hurt it, maybe the other grass would be scared. Maybe it wouldn’t grow back. She paused, then placed her paw back on the ground, her little body crouched next to it.
“Don’t be scared, little grass.” She mewed gently, mimicking the gentle tone of her mother when she spoke to them. Her tail flicked behind her, the white tip distracted her for a moment. In the distance, she saw more blades of grass tentatively poking their way through the melting snow.

Quailkit couldn’t contain her smile. The grass would grow. Maybe the whole camp would be covered in it… but if the whole camp was covered in it… wouldn’t they be hurting it all the time when they walked? She paused, maybe the grass would leave a path? That would be nice of it.

Muddykit peaked out from behind the sleeping form of Hayglow as he caught wind of the sound of paws heading toward the entrance of the den. It was Quailkit, who didn't make it far before she just...Stopped in the entrance, crouched and murmured...Something. The older kit frowned as he stared at his half-sister, before he carefully drew himself away from is sleeping mother to make is way over to Quailkit. "What are you doing?" he asked as he came to a stop behind her, trying to stand on his toes to get an idea of what she was looking at but he didn't see anything that caught his interest. Weird.

Muddykit’s question startled Quailkit. A soft trill and bounce of surprise before she looked back at the larger tomkit. She smiled at him cheerfully, then pointed with a white tipped paw to the blade of grass.
“I’m saying hi to the grass!” She chirped cheerfully, then inched towards it. A soft breeze strayed through camp, ruffling her fur and making the blade of grass sway gently while she watched it. When it stood tall once more, she breathed a sigh of relief. It was unharmed. Her gaze went back to the darker eyes of the tomkit next to her.

“Isn’t it beautiful?” She asked, then tilted her head towards the other patches of grass. “I think, if we’re nice to it, we’ll get to see a lot more! Maybe it will grow to be tall as us… or as tall as mamas!” If it was that tall, maybe it wouldn’t mind them weaving off the path. Maybe it’d just grow too big to knock over by accident. She paused, green eyes widened.
“Do you think trees are just big grass?” She looked over at Muddykit with wonder. Huge stalks of grass envisioned in her head, taller than any cat. Tall enough, maybe, to reach the sky!

She’d heard of trees, apparently there were some near the border… but where that was… she didn’t know for sure. What a border was… maybe something strange? Her little mind puzzled over it for a moment, then her attention fell to something new. This wasn’t like the blade of grass. It was strange and brown. She poked it with a curious paw, surprised when it moved, but didn’t really move like the grass did. Instead the entire thing shifted.

Quailkit pawed it again. It was hard. It smelled weird, but familiar. Like something usually in the nursery, but much bigger.
“What’s this Muddykit?” She poked the odd little object again. Her mothers didn’t like it when the smaller ones got stuck in the moss or her pelt. She thought they called them… twigs?

"Quailkit! Muddykit! Wait for me!" called a small voice from within the nursery. It's owner bounded out, nearly crashing into his sister's back. He managed to slow to a halt right before and craned his neck as much as he could to get a peek at what the other kits were observing. He had overheard a bit of what Quail had been saying just before heading over and was quite curious to see for himself.

Young Silverkit tilted his head as he contemplated the scene before him. Huh. The tom-kit crouched down far enough for his curious eyes to be leveled with the blade of 'grass'. He narrowed them as he slowly crept forward, only stopping once his nose touched it. It tickled and was kinda funny looking. A small smile crept onto his face as his gaze followed the blade's lazy sway, nearly going a bit cross-eyed. After a few moments of watching it's mesmerizing dance, the kit's smile turned into an all out grin as he wiggled his tail in excitement. If Quailkit was talking to this 'grass', then he would too! He's gotta introduce himself beforehand though. It'd be rude not to, after all.

"Hiya! M'name's Silverkit! I'm Quailkit's brother. Nice ta meet ya." he said excitedly. He offered it a warm, closed-eye smile before sitting up. The kit carefully gave it a pat with a paw. "If ya ever want to play, just join on in! Don't be shy. Playin' is better the more of us there are." As soon as he finished, he gave it another friendly pat. It wasn't very talkative but it was probably shy. But hey, he ain't one to judge.

The tabby tom-kit snapped out of his thoughts when he noticed his sister's attention on something else. "What'cha have there, Quailkit? It looks kinda like a bigger version of those things mama has in her fur sometimes... Kinda pointy and hard." Silverkit had an inquisitive expression on his face as he gave it a poke. He turned to look at Muddykit expectantly for the answer to their question.

Saying hi...To the grass? Muddykit winkled his nose even more, glancing between the grass and his young half-sister. He...He didn't see much of a point - grass barely seemed to pay attention to them. Said noting, did nothing. Kinda of a waste, to be honest. It was fun to pouch on - and chew on, to be honest - but talk to? He poked out his tongue, huff escaping him before Quailkit questioned the idea of trees being big grass. That... "No, I don't think so," he muttered, but there was a flicker of doubt within him. He didn't really know anything about trees - he had heard of them in tales - one of the other Clans  liked climbing them or something? No,  no way - they couldn't be grass! Even the biggest grass wouldn't hold the weight of a cat! ...At least he was pretty sure. "I-I think trees are made out of...Something else?"

He drifted off, a little unsure of his own words before a new voice caught his ear - Silverkit, racing over to join the pair. He rolled his eyes as Silverkit decided to talk to the grass, letting out a huff. "Grass ain't no good at playing!" he retorted, tail flickering back and forth as he pushed past to poke at the grass as well. "It just...They aren't very good at withstanding blows. They move with the smallest paw - no fun to play with," he said with a nod - as of course he was right. He had poked and prodded at grass so many times, whenever he would be kicked from the nursery for playing rough. He hadn't found a single piece of grass that felt good enough to play with. He glanced over as both Quailkit's and Silverkit's attention was stolen by something else, both trying to figure out what it is. He hopped over, resting a paw against the rough object as...Um. What...What was it? His fur bristled, struggling to figure out the name of it - he...He was the older kit here, he had to know! He wanted to have the answer ready so that his half-siblings would be in awe. It...Uh... "Its a...Uh...." he hesitated, leaning down to give it a sniff. It... "I...Thi-No, I know its a stick!" he finally proclaimed, straightening up as his tail lashed back and forth.

...He hoped he was right.

Quailkit heard her brother’s shout. Her head lifted from the fascinating object to watch Silverkit while he greeted the grass. She purred in delight, now the little grass had two new friends! Maybe even three if it didn’t mind Muddykit’s little paw. He seemed a little less enthused, but she didn’t mind. With three friends to care for it, surely it would tell all the other grass around that this place was good and safe. She padded over when Muddykit complained it wasn’t good for playing with and whispered to it.
“It’s okay grass. You’ll grow big and strong. Maybe someday you’ll be happy to play with us!” She gave it a soft poke with her nose and giggled when it tickled against it.

Muddykit had gone over to the strange thing! She bounded over to the odd object and poked at it again. Underneath his larger kit paw, it didn’t move, it was pinned. There was no sound from it though. She wondered if that meant it didn’t mind, or maybe it wasn’t alive? Her head tilted curiously.
“Stick…?” She tried the word out on her tongue. It felt weird, sharp and hard to say. Her nose wrinkled. How sad! No wonder it didn’t move, she wouldn’t feel too happy with a name like that.

“Do you think it’s alive like the grass?” She asked, curious but also desperately hoping that it wasn’t. Maybe it would never have to know it had such an unfortunate name. “Can we play with it?” She prodded it with a sheathed paw again. It felt too hard to bite, not like the rabbits and other prey their mamas brought for them. Her ears pricked up suddenly, head lifted to look across the clearing. There!

Quailkit bounded away from the small group. Over the strange white snow and through a tiny patch of grass with soft apologetic whispers until she found the thing she was looking for. A tuft of rabbit pelt. It was covered in dust and soil, but that made it perfect for a game! She picked up her prize carefully in her jaws and padded back to the group, then set down her fluff proudly. In the nest they had played with the fur from the fresh kill… now they had so much more space!

“Let’s play with this!” She chirped, then nudged the little pale tuft towards Muddykit. It bounced and wavered with the slightest breeze, which blew it slightly off course.

"Aww. Well no wonder it wasn't talking or doin' much. It's alright though. Like Quail said, maybe it just needs a bit of time ta grow. You never know. You can't rush these things." Silver gave the grass a bit of a friendly poke before returning his attention to the... the stick? Huh.

"Stick's kinda a funny name dont'cha think? It... fits though? I ain't too sure about it..." he muttered as he bent down a bit and examined the hard object further. Something seemed to bother the kit as soon as those words left his mouth. Yikes! That wasn't very nice of him. "O-Oh! Sorry for makin' fun of your name Stick. Didn't mean to. It wasn't very nice of me." the tom-kit quickly amended, embarrassment clearly evident on his face. At least he apologized quickly. Phew! Crisis averted!

Silverkit's eyes snapped over to where his sister had bounded off to. It seemed like she's found something else! There were a lot of nice things to look at out here. His tail quivered in anticipation. What was she going to show 'em next? They didn't have to wait for long seeing as the she-kit was heading back with something soft looking in her jaws. "What'cha got there?" he asked the little tortoiseshell as she came up to them, green gaze scanning the thing she was carefully holding.

The tabby kitten quickly sat up as soon as he swiftly recognized it and gave a little happy purr, face displaying a joyful expression. "Good find, Quailkit! Let's play with it! Now that we have more space, the game will be even better. Pass it ta me next Muddy! Don't let it blow away, though." The kit jumped up and positioned himself a bit further away from his half-brother and his sister, eyes glittering with mirth and excitement.

Muddykit rolled his eyes as Silverkit apologized to the stick but he had to admit it was kinda...Nice how nice they were to it. It was pretty clear it wasn't a good play buddy so he hadn't paid it a lot of mind but he did suppose it was pretty rude... He glanced up as Quailkit and Silverkit bounded away - their attention stolen by something new as he leaned down towards the stick. "...Sorry," he muttered softly to it, before he quickly turned in hopes that neither of his half-siblings had noticed. "Right, what are we playing with...?" he drifted off as he spotted the ball of fur rolling his way. ...Oh. Well, that was boring. He much preferred play fighting and was about to open his mouth to point that out before he suddenly...Froze.

...He couldn't. He couldn't play fight with them. His claws dug into the ground when he thought about how many times he had been kicked out of the nursery for playing rough. He still didn't get what he had done wrong, he wasn't playing rough at all! They were just being babies! But...He didn't...He didn't want to make his half-siblings cry. He didn't want to see that look on their face whenever the other kits threw their fits. He... He tucked his claws away, leaning down to grab the ball of fur that Quailkit had rolled his way. "Right," he muttered, before he did his best to toss it towards Silverkit. He suppose he could make his own fun with this and if anything...He guessed seeing those two have fun would be enough for him.

Quailkit smiled in excitement when Muddykit picked up the ball of rabbit fluff and tossed it to Silverkit. A slight breeze made it float a little bit off course, but not too badly. She crouched to prepare for the ball to come to her. Ears pricked, then twitched in confusion at a new sound. A soft one, easily hidden behind their voices and the movements of other cats. It was weird, high and constant now that she had heard it.

Then she saw it. It floated between her and Silverkit. A strange black and yellow thing. Its tiny legs landed on her nose, made her struggle not to sneeze for a moment before whatever it was floated away towards Silverkit.
“What is that?” She mewed curiously. It landed on a piece of grass, little black patch with the… tail… was that a tail… wiggling slightly while it turned around and around.

“It looks so cute! Silverkit, Muddykit! Come see this!” She called loudly, though they were only a length or so away. This was more important than fluff! There were manners to extend! “Hi! I’m Quailkit! You’re so cute… what are you?” It spun around some more, the buzzing quiet while she watched it with avid fascination.

Sunnykit had woken to the voices of Muddykit, Silverkit, and Quailkit, but as she sat up she realized the weren't in the nursery. She carefully wriggled away from Hayglow and started to leave the nursery before turning back suddenly and giving her mom a gentle lick on the head. With her silent farewell done, she bounded out of the nursery, her small head turning wildly in an attempt to locate her brother and the others. Her eyes finally found them where they stood grouped around.... Something she couldn't quite see, and her curiosity got the better of her as she ran towards them. Skidding to a stop next to Muddykit, she greeted her brother with a head-butt to his shoulder before turning to look at the odd creature. It was black and yellow, with small clear things attached to it's back. "It looks like some kind of... Um... What did momma call it?..." She looked to Muddykit for a heartbeat. "A bug!!"

Silverkit couldn't help the grin that had formed on his face as he was passed the soft tuft of fur. He was about to move it along to his sister when he noticed a bit of hesitation and yearning flash across Muddy's face. It was brief but the young tom-kit had caught it. His half-brother didn't seem to want to really play with the furry ball. Silver's expression dimmed a bit but it quickly morphed to an inquisitive one. Did Muddy not want to play this game? Did he have something else in mind? He'd gladly play whatever the older kit wanted. He wasn't sure if Quail would but it wouldn't hurt to ask.

"Muddykit? Do you not-" Silverkit trailed off as his eyes followed a tiny... thing as it lazily flew around them. When it suddenly landed on Quailkit's nose, the grey tabby kit beamed with amusement and giddiness. His curious gaze never left it as it moved away and slowly toward a small blade of grass. He wasted no time and quickly yet carefully stalked to where it landed. "It's sooo small..." he murmured with a hint of fascination before addressing the oldest kit, "Come and take a look, Muddykit! It looks like it's gotta pointy tail. Wonder what it's called..."

It wasn't long before it appeared that they got an answer from their newest group member. "Sunnykit! Glad that you joined us! I was wondering when you'd come over. Ain't this little thing cool? It's a bit fuzzy and it's got a pointy tail thing." he quickly said to his step-sister as soon as she was close, delighted gaze landing on her form. He slowly shimmied away from the tiny creature and went to go join the older kits. Before he did, however, he made sure to introduce himself to the 'bug', "A bug? Well nice to meet ya bug! The name's Silverkit. I like your tail. It's real neat."

Muddykit blinked as Quailkit's attention was stolen - eyes trailing after the black and yellow thing that has stolen all of their attentions. His mind racked for a name as Quailkit and Silverkit both asked him before the arrival of Sunnykit stole the older kit's attention. "Sunnykit!" he beamed as his sister raced up to him, gently bumping her back as they greeted each other. "Sorry for playing without you, I didn't want to wake you up," he murmured softly before the attention fell back onto the strange creature - a bug, as Sunnykit pointed out. Right! Yeah! It was a bug, he remembered that now. He slowly approached to give it a sniff but, as usually, there was nothing. "Yeah, its a bug but..." he frowned. "There are different kinds of bugs but...I dunno this one. Haven't seen this bug before. But he is pretty cool looking! He looks..." he dropped into a crouch, pressing his cheek to the ground as if it would help him see it better the closer he was to the ground. "...Dangerous! I like him," he proclaimed happily.