Brighten Up A Dim Day (Closed for Leaf x Speckle fam)

you guys be nice kiddos and let Sunkit post first or I'm pouring milk before cereal))

Birchpaw had kept herself out of sight ever since the battle. She'd slip out at night to fix up camp and often, she considered sneaking out with the night as her cover. She'd think of Swooppaw's mishap in the snow and think better of it. She knew this was foolish to do; keeping herself all tucked away like she was having a tantrum. To be honest, a missing tail was really embarrassing when you lost most of you balance. She'd never been very interested in her looks but, she knew that cats were supposed to have tails and she didn't like the fact she lacked a requirement. With a sigh, she slipped out the medicine cat den and glanced around camp. The snow was rather high up with the lack of strong branches on their trees to hold the powdery flakes above them. She stretched and cut it short when she lost her balance. She just needed practice. It was just like a hunting crouch and she just needed to learn. The apprentice nodded to herself and set about doing some of the tasks that most apprentices tried to avoid. She gathered a mouthful of feathers from around the fresh-kill pile and headed toward the nursery. Sunhigh was the warmest it would get and she knew that the queens would be happy to get a break from their kits. Besides, kits seemed to be the main source of hope in the clan now. Anything to help them along would be fantastic for everyone.

There was a sudden squeak as a brown bundle of fluff skidded through the snow. "Hello! My name is Sunkit, and one day..." The kitten cut off his usual "I'm going to be a warrior one day" speech and stared curiously at the feathers the stranger was carrying. "Are those feathers?" His whisker twitched in amusement. "You know, you look really funny. It looks like a bird you ate is trying to fly back out!" He shook his head. "Anyway, hi. I'm Sunkit! What's your name?"

Specklefang laid still as stone on a sunning rock in the camp, her crooked tail flicked over her paws as the young she-cat stared into space, her face washed of the emotion it once held. Specklefang let herself melt onto the stone, her fur unkempt as she stared glassy-eyed, looking ahead and at nothing. Paying no heed to her beautiful daughter who needed her to help teach her how to adapt to life without a functioning tail, her adoptive kit who needed her parent to teach her the wrongs and rights of the world.

Leafstorm was sitting beside Specklefang quietly, talking to her about anything that came to mind. "Specklefang, d'you like it here? It's nice and quiet..."
He looked up with a purr as Birchpaw and Sunkit bounded towards them.
"Hello, little one." He mewed, feeling a stab of nostalgia as he looked at Sunkit. "You're a bold fellow, aren't you," The large warrior leapt gracefully off of the rock, grinning. "You remind me of when my sister and I were younger."

Sunkit's face brightened in excitement at Leafstorm's words. "Really?! Well if that's true, it must mean that one day I'm going to be a great warrior like you, right?" The young kit fluffed up his fur and stood on his toes, "I think I'll need to get a lot bigger, though!"

Birchpaw smiled and placed the feathers down on the nursery floor. "I'm Birchpaw." she said with a chuckle at the imagination of the young tom. She followed the kit and dipped her head toward Leafstorm. A twinge of discomfort flickered in her eyes too quickly for any of them to see. Specklefang didn't even seem to be alive? She wished she worked harder, maybe Thistlepaw would still be alive now. Her claws dug into the earth and snow when she started to lose her balance and steadied herself quickly. Sunkit's conversation made her heart swell a bit. She could remember thinking just the same thing when Leafstorm had brought her into the family full of much larger cats with genetics that she had not been graced with. Dark pelts with black stripes. Only her green eyes seemed to match. Even then, she had a blue wash over them. "You'll grow with time, Sunkit. I'd focus on learning rather than size if I were you." She purred. Normally, she'd clear a patch and sit down. However, her grim injury hurt enough as is.

"Of course! I'm going to learn everything there is to know, just you wait!" Sunkit crowed. "I'm going to be a great hunter, and a great warrior, and a great mentor..." Sunkit paused. "Okay, maybe I won't be the best warrior; I don't like the idea of hurting anyone. But I'll help the clan in other ways! Like hunting, and being nice, and making friends!" Sunkit beamed.

Specklefang did not respond to her dearly beloved mate, opting to continue staring blankly at nothing. Her thoughts continuing to spiral around her dead daughter, Thistlepaw, blurring out everything around her.

Leafstorm chuckled softly at Sunkit's attitude. "You'll go far, little one." He gave Birchpaw a nuzzle before turning to the small tom. "Why, I wouldn't be surprised if you become a leader one day. Starclan knows we need a little more cheer in the world..." With a small grin, he gave Sunkit a playful bat on the head. "Good luck standing up to me, the great and ferocious Leafstar of Rougeclan!"

Sunkit let out a mock gasp of horror, before planting himself between Birchpaw and Leafstorm in a protective stance. "I'll never let you hurt my clan, foul Leafstar! To get to them you'll have to go through me! And I'm warning you, I'm not gonna be easy to defeat!" The brown kitten crowed. "As leader of Thunderclan, I, Sunstar, command you to surrender!"

Birchpaw smilied and played along. "You could never defeat Sunstar, Leafstar!" She meowed, fluffing up her pelt and folding her ears back in mock aggressiveness.

((bad post is bad))