The Shadows Unseen [OPEN]

Harekit stretched, then bounced to her paws, the seeming transition from sleeping to waking taking only a few moments. She'd been asleep for... Who knew, really, but the tortoiseshell kitten was sure it had been long enough. Her siblings appeared to be asleep... And so did the queens that were watching over her.

Naturally, this was the perfect time to sneak out of the nursery, right? Harekit carefully (as careful as any four-moon-old kit could be) scrambled out of the nest shared with her siblings, padding toward the entrance of the nursery. Evening sunlight was visible through the gap of the den entrance, and tumbling outside, Harekit quickly righted herself. Nobody had seen that... She was sure of it. She stood for a moment, blinking as her mismatched blue and green eyes slowly adjusted to the light.

Snowfoot emerged from the warrior den as the sun set, preparing herself for a night of hunting. She blinked slowly as she stretched each of her legs, wincing a bit with her sore one. Looking around the camp, she noticed some motion near the nursery. A kit, probably one of Murkystar’s last litter. The whole clan had struggled with Murkystar gone, but Snowfoot really felt for the kits. After all, her mother was dead too.

Padding silently over, Snowfoot greeted the kit. “Good evening.”

Echokit had awoken shortly after Harekit decided to scamper away from their nest. Bright green eyes stayed looked on the other kit even as she tumbled outside. With a sigh the tortoiseshell Tom pulled himself out of the next, shaking Moss out of his fur before following after his sister. He didn't look around, even if he was curious as to what was around the camp.

"Harekit, what are you doing?" His voice was flat, even looking up at the warrior for a moment before turning back to his sister.

Rosekit had, in fact, not been asleep come evening. Clouds know she wouldn't have noticed her littermates if she was. She was a deep sleeper, could sleep through the largest storm and not even know it happened. The problem was actually falling asleep. That usually took a while. And of course, since her siblings had woken up, she very well couldn't go to sleep now. Not when something was happening! It would be a crime not to follow her littermates.

Echokit seemed to be a stick in the mud, surprise surprise, as Harekit snuck out. A grin plastered itself on her face, walking up and flicking Echokit over the ear with her tail before speaking. "Yeah, Harekit? What are you doing, coming out here without telling me? I am hurt!" She feigned a pained expression, before looking up at Snowfoot as she walked over.

Uh oh. They were busted already.

Snowfoot giggled. “Don’t worry, you guys. I won’t tell. I remember being your age. Deerleap and I hated being stuck in the nursery!”

Leafkit woke up at the sound of cats talking loudly. she raised her head and blinked slowly, trying to adjust to the sudden light. she didn't move an inch, but her amber eyes watched her littermates like a hawk.

Deerleap looked up from her spot in the nursery. "We sure did!" she laughed softly as she remembered all the fun times she had when she was a kit. her eyes glowed warmly at the four tortoiseshell kits.

Her eyes had managed to adjust to the brightness, but not before her exploration was abruptly interrupted by both a sheet and her brother... Who as just being a boring stick in the mud. Was she about to get in trouble? She hoped not. "Oh come on Echokit! You know you'd want to explore too! And I wasn't going to go far, staying in the nursery is just so boring!" Harekit mewed, bright gaze turning from her brother to the taller she-cat pleadingly. She was older than them, though Harekit hardly knew the difference between the age of an apprentice or young warrior. Their fathers were older, as was the queen looking after them.

Rosekit's voice made her turn, grin crossing her expression. "Well you're awake now, sleepyhead!" She huffed at Rosekit playfully. Leafkit was watching them rather than participating... Harekit needed to fix that, "Leafkit!" Maybe pestering her would convince her to join them!

The older she-cat spoke up again, and Harekit was relieved that there was no reprimand in her voice. "Deerleap? And what's your name? You're a warrior?- See Echokit? Nobody likes being in the nursery!" Let him try to ruin her attempt at exploration now!

And- Another pale-furred cat had joined them, Harekit blinked up at the newcomer, bright mismatched eyes shining with curiosity.

Deerleap noticed a pair of mismatched eyes watching her curiously. luckily, she still remembered the kit's name. "Hello, Harekit! I'm Deerleap, and I'm only a few moons older than Snowfoot. I'm staying here because I'm expecting kits soon," she introduced, hoping she had answered all the questions the she-kit had in mind. Harekit really was energetic, wasn;t she?

"What???" Leafkit groaned as her sister called her name. couldn't they just leave her alone? being a kit was tiring enough, she didn't think she would ever make it to warriorhood. huffing, the tortoiseshell she-kit turned around and closed her eyes, as if she could block out the noise.

Snowfoot met Deerleap’s eyes and smiled. They’d been friends since Snowfoot, then newly named Snowkit, first joined ShadowClan. She bit back a giggle as Harekit squabbled with her brother. Honestly, Echokit almost reminded her of herself. She might’ve disliked being stuck inside, but she did try to listen to the grownups. As Harekit continued rousing her siblings, Snowfoot couldn’t help but remember a time Deerleap (then Deerpaw) had led them both out hunting as apprentices. They’d made a good haul, but in hindsight probably weren’t supposed to do that on their own. Harekit would probably pull something like that at some point, she was pretty sure.

“Yes, I’m a warrior,” Snowfoot mewed. “Just like you’ll be when you grow up. Who knows, maybe I’ll be your mentor, if my leg ever heals.” She rolled her eyes.

Echokit flinched away at his sister's touch, while he loved his siblings he didn't like the random affection. "Don't touch me." He said with a low growl edging his words.

His attention turned back to Harekit as she shouted words at him. The tortie tom scoffed. "I never said we needed to stay in nursery I was just asking what you were doing." His voice returning back to it's normal tone, not really paying any mind to the warriors. He didn't know them, so he didn't really care about them.

The tom let out a sigh as he turned and looked away from the growing crowd. He wanted to keep an eye on his siblings but he didn't like others he didn't know being around. "Leafkit. You know they aren't going to stop bothering you until you join us." He warned his sister, wanting to save himself from the complaining Rosekit and Harekit would do if Leafkit didn't join them.

Leafkit opened her eyes and finally turned back to glare at her siblings. Even Echokit was against her! huffing, she crawled towards them and flopped down beside Harekit. "Happy?" she signed. what had she ever done to be deprived of sleep like this?