Curiosity (Open)

Cold It built up around his tiny body, the weight of it in his pelt making it hard to walk. His thin tail was lifted into the air, bristling as the kit pushed himself through the white substance that chilled him to the bone. All he could see was white, he didn't know what he was trying to reach or when he'd make it to his impossible goal. Suddenly it was dark. His eyes opened and quickly gazed around. There was white, but it wasn't as high up as it had been in the dream. Beetlekit shakily stood up and fluffed out his pelt before yawning. His ears felt as if they had been stuffed with moss, so he shook his head in frustration and gave a snort.
Despite now being awake, it was still dark outside. He guessed silverpelt was out, since that was the only time it was dark. Beetlekit's eyes had opened just a few days before, and he hadn't gone three mouse-lengths away from the nursery yet. All the other kittens have explored, he bitterly thought to himself while stumbling to the entry of the den, why can't I? Truthfully, it wasn't a matter of if he could or couldn't, but more so of a if he would or wouldn't. No cat would stop him from leaving the den and have never tried, but the black tabby still blamed them for his reason to not go out. Just standing at the mouth of the den, he felt chilled to the bone. With a flick of his tiny ear, he padded out by maybe the length of his tail. Already, he wanted to retreat to the warmth of his nest. Young Beetlekit snorted again, fluffed his pelt and shook his head again, then he waded his way away from the den to look around.
Exploring at night did mean it was harder to see interesting things such as the leaders den or watching warriors return from patrols, but it also meant nobody could question him about why he was out of the den all alone. He wouldn't have to explain that he felt embarrassed by his shyness of the freezing wind or the white powder that made the paws of his pads ache. His amber eyes fluttered over the sleeping camp, and he found himself being bored. Why was every other kit who went out always so excited?
Suddenly he realized something. It was because there were cats to talk to and ask questions, and cats to tell them stories to make them eager to leave the camp and search. Of course it wasn't as fun when he was alone. With a small huff, Beetlekit turned and made a quick retreat to the nursery, to his nest to curl up with the rest of them.

As of late Dustcloud had found it hard to sleep, not only because of the leafbare chill but because of the images that now haunted her mind. With all the recent events, the situation in her mind had only grown worse and she couldn't help but have to leave her nest sometimes for a brief walk around camp. So now the Senior Warrior sat in camp beside the freshkill pile, taking in the fresh air and snow that surrounded her. As her gaze wandered around the camp, she settled on a small kit that had wandered out of the nursery. The dark-colored kit stood out against the snow, so he was easy to spot and keep track of, even thought he only wandered a few tail lengths from the nursery. She let out a soft chuckle as he reacted to snow for what she guessed was the first time. After the kit retreated back to his den, she padded forward to the mouth of the nursery, peeking in to see what he was doing. As soon as she laid eyes on him, she walked into the nursey on soft feet so she wouldn't wake any of the sleeping kits or queens. She stood at the entrance, waiting to see what the tiny kit would say to her.

The young feline had curled into a tight ball, nestled into the soft fur of one of his denmates when suddenly he felt a strange presence. At first he was confused, but then it sent a chill up his spine and fear alone made him look over his fuzzy shoulder to find out what it was. Beetlekit had not yet heard of badgers or foxes, so when he was frightened his mind imagined a terrifying, gigantic insect that wanted to drag him from the nest and feast on him. However he didn't see a beast, and instead saw the outline of another cat. Warm relief flooded over the black kitten and Beetlekit immediately stood to go closer to the stranger.
With perked ears and warm eyes, the little tom sat at the cat's paws and stared upwards to meet their gaze. "Hello," he mewed, the sound being soft and even sounding a bit tired. "Who are you? Shouldn't you be sleeping?" Suddenly the question he had been wanting to avoid himself came out, and he didn't seem to realize his hypocrisy.

When the young kit looked over to meet her eyes, Dustcloud smiled softly and flicked her tail for him to come over. When he did, a pang of grief hit her. He looked exactly like one of her kits had, and it hurt her heart to think of how she couldn't save them. Her poor kits, lost to a mouse brained fox. His big amber eyes staring up at her, his tiny body, the adorable kitten fuzz that still clung to him all reminded her of her lost kits. She shook the thoughts from her mind, looking back down to Beetlekit. "I'm D-Dustcloud." The ThundeClanner laughed a little at the younger cats' remark."Y-Yes, I g-guess I sh-should be s-s-leeping. But w-why would I-I sleep wh-when I c-could talk t-to you, li-little one?" Her crackly voice was gentle in tone, but rough nonetheless. She'd never have her sweet, warm voice back, not after what those fox-hearts had done to her at the Sunningrocks. Smiling back down at the kit sitting at her paws, the scarred warrior looked back out to the blanket of snow that covered the camp. "Are y-you h-hungry? W-We could g-go get y-you a p-piece of fr-fresh k-k-kill if you'd l-like. Maybe w-we could sh-share s-some, if i-it's too m-much for y-you." She instantly wrapped her tail around Beetlekit as a small gust of wind blew into the nursery, protecting him from the cold.

Beetlekit had went closer to her when the wind blew, and despite the warmth of her tail protecting him he still shivered and nuzzled into her foreleg. "I'm not really hungry... I-I was just going outside of the nursery since every other kit had so far... It wasn't as great as I thought." With a soft twitch of his small ear, he looked up again while pressing his body to her leg. Being a kit, he didn't know the difference between things to speak about and to not speak about, so seconds later he blurted out, "what's wrong with your voice? It sounds strange, and kind of like you swallowed pebbles..."

With a small amount of hesitation, Dustcloud let the ball of fuzz snuggle closer to her. Her smile grew a little wider as he spoke about not having much fun outside of his den. He must have been surprised by the cold snow that stung his sensitive paw pads."C-Cold? H-Here, let's m-move closer t-to the m-middle." After the kit got up and started moving, she followed after him so that they were both in the middle. This time she laid down, making sure not to bump into any other cat that may be sleeping. She looked back to Beetlekit, who had inquired about her voice. War was unquestionably not a topic for kits such as he, so she'd have to change it around a bit. "W-Well, not t-too many s-s-sunrises ago, I g-got into a f-fight with a b-big nasty b-b-badger. H-He was a m-mean old th-thing, and w-wanted n-nothing m-m-more but to g-gobble me up!" This would have to do. "I b-beat that m-mean ol' b-b-badger up, but n-not before h-he could g-g-get a couple h-hits in on m-me." She smiled down at the younger kit, awaiting his response. She didn't mind having to tell a few white lies, and she'd tell him even more stories if he wanted.

A stirring from the inside of the den was what caused Eaglekit's eyes to snap open. His amber gaze fixed on the little shadowy frame of what was clearly one of his denmates. It took a moment for him to fully rouse himself from sleep. The drowsiness clung to him and made it difficult to shake. Although, curiosity won out and he rose onto sturdy paws. Despite still being rather young, Eaglekit already stood stocky and well-muscled, bigger than most of the other kits. His rigid stance made him appear even larger. It only took a moment for him to climb out after Beetlekit, given he wasn't far away from his apprentice ceremony. Per usual, the snow chilled his pads and he fluffed out his fur in response.

"Cold? It's not too cold for me! You have to toughen up, Beetlekit." The young brown and dust-colored tabby chimed in as he walked up to the pair. While he was speaking, a shiver ran down his spine. But, he would never show it. Momma Sharptooth had taught him to be tough. He needed to be tough, to be a better warrior than Coyotefang. His mother never spoke ill of their father, but he had come to know what a pathetic warrior and mate the tom had been. He narrowed his eyes at the other kit before turning to Dustcloud. She seemed to be an old warrior, "In a few moons, I'll be able to beat up a badger too! And I will never let one attack you!" Eaglekit stood straighter as he boasted his own strength and vowed to defeat any badger that ever tried to mess with Thunderclan. All thoughts of sleep were long forgotten.

Beetlekit had just opened his mouth to comment and question about the scary badger attack, mostly wanting to ask what a badger was, but then another meow interrupted him. He lifted his eyes to the source of the noise and gave a snort. Eaglekit. "I bet you're lying," he accused while abandoning Dustcloud's warmth to go over and bat at the tom's tail. "Just because you're bigger and older doesn't mean that you are any more resistant to the cold than I am!" The larger kit didn't annoy him per say, but Beetlekit did wish he wouldn't boast as much about being more capable. It wasn't fair, almost like a cat bragging about how great their sight was to a blind cat.
With a tiny snort of frustration, he padded his way back to Dustcloud and lied back by her side, pressing his way into her fur and closing his eyes. "Mm... My nest is always crowded, so I like this a lot more." He stated simply in a mewl before lowering his head to rest on his tiny paws.

The silver warrior cocked her head slightly as Eaglekit told Beetlekit to toughen up, but her conscience reminded her that they were just kits and it didn't mean too much for them to bicker. She could tell that the little brown tom was at least a little cold, but it only made her chuckle. "I-I think that y-you two w-will be th-the best w-warriors this C-Clan has ever s-seen." She commented on the part about fighting the badgers. Her mind flashed back to how she'd really lost her voice, the Sunningrocks Battle. She thought of all the things she'd done wrong, what she knew better than to do. When Beetlekit spoke up to the older kit it dragged her attention back to the nursery, and the two kits before her. She had to admit, he was brave. She would have never done that as a kit, not even an apprentice! She laid her head on top of her paws, watching him bat around Eaglekit's tail with amusement. It wasn't until he was nestled by her side that she lifted her head, a very confused expression on her face. She couldn't help but be a little startled- the last time she'd been in a situation like this was back when she had her own kits to love, and to love her back. Before the fox came and took it all away from her. And now, sitting in the nursery, she found herself feeling the same emotions she had felt when she looked at her own kits in the same way. The tiny little kit settled next to her brought warmth to her heart, and she smiled without even knowing it. Dustcloud looked back to Eaglekit, a warm smile still on her face. "Y-You're welcome t-to join us i-if you'd l-l-like." It was a whisper, yet still audible to him even thought the tabby kit was all the way across the nursery.

The tiny black kit pressed closer to her and found himself curling his paws up against his chest and stomach for warmth. It made his little tail twitch, as if it were angry about being left out. Beetlekit looked back to the other kit, snorting again before turning his head to press his face into the she-cat's fur. "Arrogant kits don't get to huddle up with Dustcloud."

A small dark brown tabby she-kit peers out from the nursery cautiously. Her eyes widen in both astonishment and fear as she sees how big the outside world is, but then narrow again as the sun's glare makes her newly-opened eyes ache. She notices a black tabby kit and a silver warrior sitting side by side. The cold was getting to Pinekit, while they appeared to be nice and warm, sharing body heat. Tempted to approach the two cats, but too scared to act on it, she simply sits down near the nursery's entrance and averts her eyes shyly.

"I'm practically an apprentice, and then a warrior. And warriors don't get cold!" He retorted quickly. Beetlekit didn't seem to understand these things and it frustrated the slightly older tom. Didn't his mother teach him properly? Cats aren't praised for their weakness. As the other kit batted at his tail, Eaglekit drew it away before flashing out a paw to tap the other tom on the head. One day he would show his clanmate what it really meant to be a good warrior. But, for now, Dustcloud was speaking up again. With Dustcloud's encouragement, he found himself nodding furiously. If one of the senior warriors thought it true, it had to be, right? Her next question caused him to hesitate.

As much as he did not want to give away the fact that he just wanted to shiver right now, the offer was very tempting. Eaglekit also did not want to offend the she-cat. After a moment's debate, he still did not have a response. Beetlekit chimed in once more. And that only made him want to join them more. If Beetlekit said he couldn't, then he had to. Shooting the other cat a smug look, he picked his way through the snow to settle down at Dustcloud's other side. The warmth was wonderful. It took everything in him to choke back the purr that threatened to rumble in his chest. Instead, Eaglekit looked up and meowed, "Tell us about the war, Dustcloud! If I'm going to be just like those warriors soon, I need to know everything." If they hadn't been sleeping, his eyes would have shown with pride while he looked over Thunderclan's finest.

Before she started, he spotted the now awakened Pinekit and called out, "Come on and join us before you miss the stories!"

Delighted that Eaglekit had invited her to join them, Pinekit eagerly bounded up to Dustcloud. Her curiosity overcame her shyness, as she wanted to hear the warrior's stories as well. She wondered what the she-cat might be able to teach her. She blinked gratefully at Eaglekit, and gave a friendly nod to Beetlekit, before settling down alongside them both.

Beetlekit gave a tiny snort when Dustcloud invited his newfound enemy over, even though they didn't have a serious competition on. It didn't even anger him that much that Eaglekit came to join them when asked, but he acted like it did. Suddenly the tom called for another kit, one Beetlekit hadn't seen before. His eyes were alight with interest. "Who are you?"

Pinekit was happy that another cat cared enough to talk with her. "I'm Pinekit. We're littermates, remember?" She was a little surprised that Beetlekit didn't seem to know her, but figured that she simply hadn't been noticed by the dark tabby. She tended to be quieter than most, after all.