The Orphaned Kits [CLOSED]

The sky, with its cloudy gray nature which was how the flame orange kit so often found it, was an even darker grey than usual. The slight breeze that came along with the clouds carried the scent of rain, or at least he thought it was rain. There was an entire lake right next to him, so it could be that too. He didn't know anymore. All he knew was the scent of water was nearly constant. The new kit was tired of being wet, and tired of being kept close to the other cats. All of the other cats smelled vaguely of some far off place, a territory that he had been told was far away. Obviously, he knew at this point about what had happened, not just to his parents but to this entire group of cats. He knew that all he had was his siblings, and that was it.

Rowankit was padding around outside of where the cats had made their makeshift nests and camp, and he was bored. Every waking hour the cats either said they were too busy to play, or they were teaching him about the clans, especially Riverclan, which that's where they said he came from. Well, the ginger-furred kit decided he'd finally do something about it. He wanted to play, maybe his siblings would be up for it. Everyone was always doing something, but it'd be unlikely his family would be doing anything. They were kits just like him!

It wasn't the wee hours of the morning, but it was still morning. Before checking to see if his siblings were awake or not, he rushed over to their nest and skidded on the soft leaves they used for them. "Dapplekit, Otterkit, let's play something! Anything! I'm bored out of my mind and the only thing keeping me from jumping in the lake is you two! Comeoncomeoncomeon!" He excitedly meowed this at them, slashing his tail through the air and having to fight to keep himself from jumping up and down.

Dapplekit had been sleeping peacefully, dreaming of nothing in particular. The sudden sound of skidding on leaves and the excited words of her brother abruptly woke her up. Blinking hard against the sleepiness that threatened to envelop her still, she yawned and turned her attention back to her brother. "Rowankit... You seem awfully awake for so early..." She slowly stood up, legs shaking as she stretched them out. After another quick yawn, she locked her blue gaze on her brother with a playful glint in her eyes and head but his shoulder. "What do you want to play?"

Otterkit's soft breaths gently shook the leaves below her as she lay asleep, paws twitching as she dreamt of warm days and sunny skies. Though she was mostly still, in her mind she was leaping through golden fields, chasing after dancing lights and feasting on plump, dry fresh-kill that no longer bore the scent of the lake. A slight smile crossed her muzzle; though she had never seen a day without rain and mud, one without such things ought to be pretty nice.
The little kit began to stir as the comfort of her sister left her side and the pattering of tiny paws flew past her ear. Lifting herself groggily, she turned to look at the disturbance. Unsurprisingly, it was her brother.
"Oh, bugger off, Rowankit," she grinned, batting at his ear playfully. Flattening a loose tuft of fur with a white forepaw, she remarked, "What's more important than a good rest?" Eyes still droopy, she peered out to look at the lake, which sat with a morose, brown-grey bleakness that seemed to dull everything around it. If Riverclan cats were supposed to swim, the water back home better be nicer than this. Turning back to her brother, paws already wet and dotted with dirt, she began to speak. "So, what did you want to play?" A tremble ran down her spine as a single drop of icy water fell from above, sliding down her back, and a breeze sifted through her pelt. She inwardly groaned; will there ever be a day without cold here?

His bouncing came to a stop as he saw he had woken both of his sisters from sleep. A fluffy tail flicked quickly, marking his embarrassed state. Whoops... He didn't mean to wake them, he assumed all cats got up as early as he did. Oh well, they're awake now aren't they?

A smile crept onto his face at his sisters' replies. "I'm awake because I'm booooored. We get enough time to sleep because we don't do anything cause we're kits! Now, let's play something like..." He trailed off for a moment, searching for something to play with. He was trying to make sure that he wouldn't end up playing something that would upset any adults or Flurryshine.

Suddenly his amber eyes landed on a rather large piece of driftwood, leftover from the flood the cats around him talked so much about. "Well... we could mess with this branch. It seems pretty sturdy, and we could try taking it from each other. Whoever keeps it the longest wins! What about that?" Whatever their reply was, Rowankit had already dashed off, dragging the wood over to his siblings, showing that it could be dragged easily enough. Despite the fact he was taller than them both, he had faith that they would give him a challenge. Also, it would give his sisters a chance to win, which would be nice.

Dapplekit's eyes gleamed as she watched her brother drag the piece of driftwood towards her and their sister. This would certainly be a good challenge... One that they could win working together. Casting a glance to her sister out of the corner of her eye, she suddenly charged Rowankit, bowling into him as they both rolled away from the driftwood. "Hurry, Otterkit, grab it!" She yelled as she stood up, eyeing her brother with a playful challenge. "I'll keep Rowankit distracted." Her tail lashed back and forth and she crouched, watching her brother carefully.

Otterkit started to feel less sleepy when Rowankit brought over the driftwood, a smirk crossing her face. This would be fun. She watched as her siblings wrestled and was about to join them, when she heard her sister's voice and saw the branch, defenceless and up for the taking. With a mischievous glint in her eye, Otterkit flew past her crouching sister and darted over to the branch, standing over it defensively.
"Who said we were working together?" she grinned, placing a paw triumphantly over the grooved, damp bark and puffing her chest out with a strong confidence. "There can be only one! Otterstar, leader of all the driftwood ever!"

The flame-colored kit didn't have time to think before the wind was knocked out of him. One moment he was smirking at Otterkit, next he was staring at the sky. Lifting his head he saw that Dapplekit had done it, and was planning on working with Otterkit! This would simply not do! He stood up as quick as he could. "Dear sibling, oh how it hurts me that you have teamed up with your sister and not your dear brother! Oh the emotional pain!" Then he ran and bowled her over in turn, gently as he could of course.

Upon hearing that Otterkit had claimed the branch for her own, he turned and looked at her, a glint of mischievousness in his eyes. "How dare you claim this for your clan! Rowanstar will be taking that, thank you very much!" He rushed towards the branch, pulling it out from under her. Dropping his fake... whatever accent he was doing... he exclaimed, "Victory will be mine!" Giggling, he rushed away, not turning to watch what his siblings would do next. He was sure Dapplekit would be closer than Otterkit, since she had been knocked over first. However, who was he to know. He didn't have eyes in the back of his tiny head.

As her brother stood Dapplekit grinned, laughing joyfully at his monologue. Her eyes widened as her bowled her over, and she rolled with it, clumsily rolling back onto her paws a short distance away as she heard the betrayal from her sister. Eyes narrowed playfully, she gasps. "How could you, I trusted you!" She watched as her brother took the branch and ran off with it, and gave chase. "Not if I, Dapplestar, have anything to say about it!" She yowled, grabbing the end of the branch and sitting down, putting up as much resistance as she could to prevent just being dragged along with it.

The sudden movement of the branch below her made her slip, falling onto the ground with a huff as her siblings fought for the branch. Otterkit grunted, lifting herself up from the ground to see Dapplekit, determinedly gripping the end of the branch with her teeth, attempting to stop Rowankit from running. Shaking a speck of dew from her ear, she got to her paws and shot towards them. Once she was less than a tail-length away from Rowankit, she pounced, emitting a mock battle screech, and pummelled him over, pinning him to the ground. "Your clan is full of mouse-hearts and crowfood!" she sneered, forgetting about Dapplekit in her playful facade.

First Rowankit heard the battle screech and tried to pull the branch more against the weight of his sister, but couldn't. Soon after he felt tiny paws push into his back, pinning him as he dropped the branch. Though while he was held in place, he could still distract his sister. "Well even if I have mouse-hearts and crowfood, you have fox-hearts and bad hunters!" He wiggled, but couldn't quite get free of Otterkit. He would just wait for her to get up and get the stick when both of his sisters went after it.

Dapplekit stumbled backwards, the piece of wood pulling over her as her brother's weight was suddenly ripped from the other side of the branch. Legs flailing momentarily as she tried to find her footing, she realized that this was her chance, with them both distracted she should be able to escape! Finally her paws connected to the ground beneath her, and as soon as they did she took off, running through the shallows so the driftwood floated behind her, creating less resistance as she ran.

After only a little bit of running, her small lungs were begging for a break as her legs shook, ready to fall from beneath her. Satisfied with the distance she put between herself and her siblings, she dragged the stick back ashore and stood over it, challenging her brother and sister who she was sure was just behind her, tail lashing playfully.

ooc: ak sorry for the late reply

ic:
Even though Otterkit wasn't really Otterstar and she didn't have a clan of her own, her back fur still prickled at Rowankit's words. She brushed it off; just her temper, supposedly. Raising a sheathed paw as if she were about to strike, she did a fake snarl, pushing her muzzle 'menacingly' close to her brother's face.
"Watch your words, Rowanstar," she tried to growl, suppressing a childish giggle. She then realised she was in quite a tight position; she couldn't let Rowankit go unless she wanted him to run off again, but it wouldn't be very fun if she didn't move, and he'd get the better of her sooner or later. Besides, she needed to get the stick - wait, the stick! Leaping away from her brother, she quickly glanced around, searching for her sister, when she noticed the silver kitten only a bit away, flaunting the driftwood as if it were hers; which it wasn't! Otterkit's paws pushed against the earth below her as she propelled herself forwards, running as fast as her little body could carry her. Huffing and puffing, she splashed through the shallows, feeling the chill of the water leak through her fur; at least it cooled her off a bit while she was running. She'd get the driftwood off of Dapplekit and she'd definitely do it before Rowankit could!