once upon a younger year [open!]

Rain pattered among the canopy as rivulets of moonlight streamed through gaps in the green leaves. Bright eyes peered out from a shadowed den; somewhere between kit-blue and golden. They seemed afraid. The kit had never been outside of the comfort of her nests in rain before. It was a scary new experience for her.

Brindlekit, however, was not one to be deterred by something as trivial as rain, despite how important it seemed in the moment. With a soft squeak, she rushed out of the den, and let the raindrops soak into her fur. Why had her mother complained so much about being wet from greenleaf storms? …Was this a storm, or just light rain? She couldn’t tell the difference. But it felt so good! The tortoiseshell kitten sank to her haunches and tipped her head back, opening her tiny mouth and sticking her tongue out to try and catch raindrops. She should’ve gone outside in the rain sooner; this was great!

Dandelionkit had been sitting in the nursery all day. Most of the cats were sleeping because the rain, but sleep would not come for her. While she absently rolled around a ball of moss, a tortoiseshell kit rushed out of the den. This intrigued her and wondered to herself, Maybe she’ll play with me, before running after her. Peering out of the den, she saw the kit trying to catch raindrops. Walking out of the den to ask why, Dandelionkit was greeted with warm wet raindrops soaking her small body. This didn’t bother her and she plopped down next to the kit and asked, ”Does rain taste good?”

In the shelter of the nursery, a young kit tossed and turned in her nest. Her momma had told her to sleep, but the little lynx point was filled with too much energy. And the sound of the rain pattering outside was simply too distracting. How could any cat sleep?

Well, as it turned out, she was not the only one experiencing these difficulties. She heard the rustling of nests, and looked up to see a tortoiseshell kit exiting the nursery, followed by a tabby a few heartbeats later. That meant it must be playtime!

Getting to her own paws, and being very careful not to wake her momma, Rabbitkit rushed out, feeling droplets of water on her fur. This was so much more fun than sleep! But she halted when she saw the two other kits sitting down. Were they not playing?

"Hey! What are you guys doing? I've never seen a sitting down game before! Can you teach me?"

(OOC: I don't think Sal will be posting again, so the topic can be just between us)

IC: The other kit didn't seem to notice her, but another kit soon appeared. "Sitting down isn't a game, but this is!" Dandelionkit ran into the nursery and pulled some moss out of a nest. She rolled the moss into small ball and picked it back up. She ran back out and dropped it on the ground. "You throw the moss back and forth, and try to see how many times we can throw it without dropping it," she meowed, before throwing it to the kit.

As soon as Dandelionkit had come out with a moss ball, Rabbitkit's eyes immediately lit up. "Ooh, I like this game already! It seems like it will be so much fun!"

Immediately, Rabbitkit ran to the ball, trying to position herself under it. She couldn't let it touch the ground! That would be no fun! She watched until the ball moved closer, her blue eyes beginning to cross as it got closer, and then she leaped.

She could feel the soft surface touch her head, a telltale that she had succeeded. She didn't even see where it went after that, whether it went on target or not. All she knew was that she hit it. "Yay! I did it!"

Dandelionkit was delighted that the kit was excited to play the game. She watched as the kit leapt up and hit the moss back towards her. She ran after the moss, skidding on the slightly muddy ground, and positioned herself under the ball. Dandelionkit wiggled her haunches as she prepared to pounce. She leaped up and batted the moss ball back towards the other kit. She remebered that she didn't know what the kits name was and asked, "What's your name, I'm Dandelionkit!"

By this point, Rabbitkit was grinning from ear to ear as she batted the ball back to her denmate, who introduced herself as Dandelionkit. "Ooh, you have such a pretty name! I'm Rabbitkit! Does this mean we're friends now? I really hope so!" Already, Rabbitkit was loving today, rain and all. This was the best day ever!

Dandelionkit listened to Rabbitkit’s response and batted the moss ball back. She was enjoying playing with the she-Kit and called back, “Yes!” They continued to bat the mossball back and forth, when a large rumble of thunder startled her. She remembered about the mossball just in time to stop it from hitting the ground and yowled to Rabbitkit, “Did you her hear that! It was SO loud!”