An egg-cellent day

With the kits being old enough to play and start learning things about the world they lived in, Periwinkle sat quietly outside the nursery keeping a watchful eye. He wasn't quite sure what exactly he was watching for, but he had heard the horror stories that his father had told them... though he wasn't sure what exactly to believe, seeing as though their mother rebutted practically every word Sunflower said... Anyhow, attempting to keep his family safe seemed like a noble effort and so he intended to do just that. Ever cricket that hopped by, every bird that chirped in the distance... he was honed in on; his abnormally large ears swiveling back and forth. The white and brown tom did find it difficult not to go chasing after the bugs... as they seemed fun to play with, but he didn't want to get distracted.

Letting out a long yawn, the buzzing of a fat, black fly overhead immediately grabbed his attention away from whatever he'd been previously doing. Leaning back to help stabilize himself, he lifted a large white paw and batted at the ever so annoying bug that flew around him as if taunting him, but it hovered just beyond his reach. Swinging again though with a bit too much force this time, he lost his balance and fell down, luckily catching himself and not landing face first in the dirt. Sitting back up and giving his short pelt a shake, he scoffed and grumbled under his breath. "Stupid bugs," he huffed, digging his needle-like claws into the dry ground bellow. Hopefully no-cat saw him, though he hadn't seen or heard any of his siblings leave the den, so to his relief he was more than likely in the clear.

Lacking the relative decorum of her brothers, a tall orange blur came scrambling from the carton they called home and made a beeline directly for her littermates. Butterfly's ears, still yet to straighten, flapped wildly about her angular head as she careened into the boys. "Woah! Incoming!" But her warning was too little, too late; both she and Periwinkle were sprawled across the ground.

It took her brain a moment to register the locations of her overly long limbs, eventually finding them in an odd knot with Periwinkle's. It took a moment more for the guilt to kick in. "Oh, clouds! Peri, are you okay?? I'm so sorry, please don't be cross. You're not hurt, are you? Oh, your coat's all dirty now..." She untangled herself from him and tried to help him up. Ignoring her own dusty pelt, she got to work cleaning her brother's fur despite any protests.

Omce she was done, she gave Periwinkle one more apologetic lick and inclined her head towards Forest. Rather impressively, the butterfly on his head was still there despite the ruckus. Her eyes lit up excitedly. "A butterfly!! Oh, it's gorgeous. Did you find it all on your own? Could you find me one?" She got up on her hind legs, looking around for a butterfly of her own to catch. 'I look like a twoleg,' she thought to herself with a giggle.

Understand bugs? Who in their right mind would want to understand bugs?
Rolling his eyes at Forest's comment, Periwinkle batted at a clump of dirt with a swift swing of his paw. "I don't need to understand them," he began, his tone cold and disinterested. "They're just bugs," he huffed.

Watching as a butterfly fluttered over towards them and decided to take rest on his brother's head, he raised a non-existent brow, curious as to his brother's fascination with bugs. Didn't he want to practice his hunting skills or become a better protector? Sunflower surely wasn't going to be the one to save them if anything went wrong, so some tom had to take charge at some point.

"Woooow..." Periwinkle began with an exasperated sigh, rolling his eyes. He didn't understand his brother's fascination with little things such as bugs and didn't think ever would. "So coo-"

Before he was able to finish his somewhat mocking statement, some-cat ran into him at full force. Sprawled out on the ground with the wind knocked out of his lungs, the gangly white and brown tom did his best to regain his bearings, his long legs flailing about for a few moments. Jumping up and giving his short pelt a shake, he shrugged off his sister who begun trying to make the situation better. Shaking his head to rid himself of the lick she had given him, his abnormally large and odd shaped ears laid flat against his head and his shoulder fur began to bristle as her attention was immediately pulled to the dumb bug that sat on their brother's head.

He couldn't believe that any-cat could be so uncoordinated enough not to be able to stop their paws in time or look where they were going. "Klutz!" he hissed, his blood beginning to boil more due to the lack of attention he was receiving. Stupid, stupid bugs!

Bounding over to his siblings and past Butterfly who was standing up like some Twoleg, Periwinkle jumped up and swatted at the butterfly above Forest's head. Catching its' wings perfectly in his needle-like claws, he smacked it down onto the dirt bellow. Lifting both paws up, he brought them down on the crumpled, dazed bug, and smooshing it into the dirt, he swiftly ended it's life. Good ridden, one less distraction in the world.

"Listen!" he huffed, turning his piercing olive gaze to meet his sister's. "You could've hurt someone! What if either of us had fallen wrong and ended up with a broken paw?" he questioned, hoping that she would be able to understand his concerns.

Peri brushing off her attempts to clean him with a sharp insult stung a little, but Butterfly swiftly recovered as she stood on her hind legs with a giddy smile. She could see everything from up here! She was far taller than her brothers now. She was even at the same level as the butterfly! She watched it flutter about, wings glimmering prettily. She reached out to it with a paw, wobbling slightly-

A brown-and-white shape filled her vision for a moment, and the butterfly was gone. She looked around for a moment, confused. Where did it go? It was only after she heard Periwinkle's exasperated hiff that she thought to look down. And oh, what a sight it was.

She immediately fell to all fours, staring wide-eyed and open-mouthed at the smushed screature on the ground. The once beautiful orange wings were now caked in dirt and its legs were still twitching, though there was no doubt it was dead. She looked at Periwinkle, who looked not the slightest bit remorseful, then back at the butterfly.

The dam broke. A sudden wail pierced the air and she collapsed to the ground, cradling the broken creature between her tiny paws. Tears spilled from her eyes and stained her fur. "H-how could you? How could you?? she sobbed, voice gurgly. She pressed her forehead to the squished butterfly, crying onto its wings. "She was so pretty. She was so pretty..." she cried softly, still cradling the butterfly.

She got up shakily, shooting Periwinkle a heated glare with watery eyes. He was saying something, but she didn't want to hear it and his words fell on deaf ears. She went over to Forest, burying her face in his fur. "I hate you! I hate you forever and ever!" she declared. Forest was her only brother now. Periwinkle was mean and evil and she wasn't friends with him anymore.

Ears pinned back in disbelief at what was unfolding before him, Periwinkle couldn't do anything but listen and through the anger that made his blood boil, a twinge of sadness pricked his heart as Butterfly's words hit his ears. Did she... really hate him? He didn't want to make her sad, but she... she was so aloof and just wouldn't listen to him! All he wanted was to make sure that they all stayed safe, why was that so hard to understand?

Being brought back to the moment, he snapped his gaze back towards Forest, who apparently thought he was so high and mighty. "You're not mom, I'm not doing what you tell me to!" the white and brown kit hissed, barring his teeth and readying himself to take a swing at his brother. But just before he could do anything more, the force in which he admittingly feared a bit arrived; their mother.

"Mom... I was just trying to-" but she cut him off before he was able to get any other words out.


~~~~~


If you want something done right, do it yourself. Apparently, that applied to parenting as well.

Pushing her way through the entrance of the den, Snowdrop came to a stop and stood tall above her quarreling kittens. She didn't care what in the world they were fighting over, but whatever had happened was unacceptable. Casting her icy gaze over each of them, it was obvious that Periwinkle was the instigator, per usual. She had hoped he would've been more docile, even if that meant being like Sunflower of all cats, but that clearly wasn't the case.

"Take a hike," she spoke simply to Periwinkle, disregarding whatever he had tried to start explaining, her muzzle showing nothing more than disappointment as she tried to contain her growing anger towards him. When he hesitated at her command, the lengthy silver queen took a step forward, placing her paw down hard against the ground. "Now," she hissed through bared teeth, snaking her long next down towards him so that he fell on his rump.

Turning her gaze back towards the others, she let out a sigh. "The rest of you get back in the den, it's too early for this."
Turning around, she pushed past Sunflower who had decided to finally show his useless face. Well, maybe him and his compassion or whatever could help smooth things over. Whatever he chose to do, she didn't care. She was done and they'd better figure it out before they came back inside, for she wasn't about to deal with a bunch of whiny kits.


~~~~~


Great StarClan she worked quickly.

Having just gotten to the scene Snowdrop was already making her way back into the den. The cold gaze she shot him before passing sent a shiver down his spine and he swallowed a lump in his throat. Now standing amongst his disgruntled litter, something caught his gaze and looking down, he noticed the crumpled butterfly that laid twitching on the ground. They fought over a butterfly? But why...?

Turning to Periwinkle, he expected to see him furious per usual, but this time he had a look of dismay on his muzzle. Just what had Snowdrop said to him?

His daughter's sobs pulled him back to the matter at hand and turning to Butterfly, seeing her cry made him want to cry.

"A-are you alright?" Sunflower mewed, making his way over to the orange she-kit. Lifting a paw, he placed it gently on top of her head, trying his best to hold back his tears though it was in vain. "D-don't... cr-cry," he said, sniveling between words. He didn't want to join in on the emotions, as he needed to be a source of comfort for them in times like these... but he just couldn't help that seeing his kits like this made him sad as well.

Forest was wrong. She was never ever going to talk to Peri ever again, even if he said sorry sorry sorry a bajillion times with a cherry on top. She was just going to ignore him, like when Ma was very cross with Pa. Oh, but it made her so sad to think about it. Now how was she going to say good morning to everyone? Or tell Peri about the pretty flowers she'd found? Or share her bountiful hunts (of leaves and twigs) with him? Now she was crying twice as hard.

Pebble walked up to her and Butterfly detached from her brother with a sob, eyes too full of tears to actually see her sister. "They- They don't??" She cried, the reassurance only serving to make her more upset. "H-how come it can't live long? I don't want the butterflies to die!" She sniffled, trying in vain to calm down. Pebble didn't want her to cry! But how could she not cry, when such a terrible thing happened? This butterfly was dead, and if butterflies didn't live long then soon all the butterflies would be dead! Then there'd only be caterpillars, and she'd have to wait so so long to see another butterfly. If anything, the thought made her wail even harder.

Now, Pebble hadn't been able to stop Butterfly's crying. But Snowdrop emerged with a sharp command to Periwinkle and it was like a switch had flicked. With a few more heaving sobs and a pawful of sniffles, Butterfly's tears came to an end. She was sad. But not sad enough to want to get yelled at by Ma. And Ma was always so stressed, she didn't want to stress her more! She wiped her eyes with a lanky paw, set off towards the den with wheezy, watery breaths- and bumped right into Sunflower. "Pa!" She sniffled, pressing her forehead to his leg. To her horror, he sounded like he was about to cry. No! Now she was making everyone sad. "I'm okay! I r-really am, Pa, please don't cry too!" She nuzzled his leg. "Let's go to the den, and then we can all have a nap to feel better." She suggested shakily, beginning to wobble towards the carton once she was sure Pa was following.