woe is me! [open~]

Vinekit's tail flicked absentmindedly as she scanned the camp. With every piece of grass thoroughly stomped on, and no pebble unturned, she had little to do anymore in the way of abusing the camp around her. She wasn't even allowed to leave the camp, taken back to the nursery much to her annoyance. However, she spied a cat who seemed to be enjoying their prey a little too peacefully. Vinekit decided at that moment that poor cat must be in desperate need of some kind of entertainment- be it game, story or...

An evil idea popped into her head. Being sure to crouch around from the cat's sight, (it wouldn't do to alert her prey, after all,) Vinekit prowled forward, unsteady, and launched herself onto the most enticing, juicy tail she had ever seen in her life.

Having been sent out on a dawn patrol, Raventail was still more asleep than awake as he absently chewed on the grouse he’d pulled from the fresh-kill pile. Perhaps, taking this into account, he could be forgiven for not noticing the kitten sneaking up behind him—but, then, he wouldn’t have been more likely to spot her on any other day. When not on the moor, the dark warrior paid significantly less attention to his surroundings. WindClan’s camp was safe; what need was there to be on alert?

A weight landed squarely on his long, fluffy tail. Raventail’s head jerked up so fast he almost flung the grouse between his paws. Then he twisted just enough to see the golden-and-white bundle of fur pinning his tail down: Vinekit, Grousefrost's daughter (a fact Raventail would never be able to wrap his head around) and one of WindClan’s youngest. A grin flashed across his face, hastily hidden as he ducked. ”Augh,” he groaned, half-flopping onto his side and abandoning his meal in the process. His tail gave a faint twitch. ”You’ve caught me.”

Grousefrost was enjoying a tasty vole. It was a rare prey item, a lucky find as it scurried out of a tunnel at exactly the wrong moment. Perhaps it got lost from the treeline, or maybe it had no sense of self preservation. Regardless, when he had brought it back the prey pile had been far from empty. Most bellies were sated and full, and Grousefrost himself wasn’t particularly into a large rabbit when this small morsel was enough. The practical thing to do was eat what one could actually enjoy.

A flicker of ginger fur caught his gaze, head lifted for a moment to observe Raventail tucking into a grouse. A white and ginger kit not far from his tail. He chuffed, a short brief sound of amusement as he waited for it. More chuffing laughter in his throat as she ‘successfully’ hunted his clanmate.

Blue eyes sought out the mother, Petalbreeze, with no luck. Of course not. He huffed as he realised he would have to look after the kit himself for once.
“What are you doing, Vinekit?” He meowed, pulling his daughter off her prize. Amusement was a rare sight for the normally serious and stoic tom as he set her down close to his forepaws. “You should be doing something useful.”

Vinekit's pounce was majestic, as she had expected it to be, but the real kicker was her prey's dramatic and glorious fall. She puffed out her chest fur, proud of creating such a story that would be told to kits for generations. "Yes!" Vinekit mewed loudly, haunches wiggling in excitement. With pure kit power, she launched herself on top of Raventail, her little body flopping down and soft paws trying to pin him down. Vinekit didn't realise that Grousefrost was approaching from behind, and she squeaked in protest as he dragged her away from her rightful prize.

Vinekit didn't pout at Grousefrost's question. She didn't. "I am doing something useful! I'm hunting, see?" She kneaded Raventail's pelt. "This prey is sure to feed the clan for many moons!"

"It certainly is! Just look at the size of that catch. You'll certainly make your clan proud!" Goldenpaw padded up at Grousefrost's side, casting a quick glance to Raventail along with a small, tentative smile. Perhaps she should try to mend the relationship between mentor and apprentice, even if her mentor still refused to accept the tunnels... That was a conversation for a different time though. Her attention returning to the kit, her smile widened. "Your crouch was pretty well-balanced, and you did it outside of your prey's view, way to be observant!" She flicked Grousefrost's shoulder with her tail, pleasantly surprised to see him amusement in his expression. "She's a wonderful addition to the clan."

At Vinekit’s victorious mew, Raventail had to stifle another grin just before the little kit pounced on him in a clear attempt to pin him down. His struggle was brief and half-hearted; he went limp quickly, letting his flailing paws fall to the grass. As he lay there, eyes closed, Grousefrost’s voice sounded from above before the weight was abruptly removed. ”You should be doing something useful.” Unsurprising, coming from Grousefrost. Raventail was used to it, but he had to wonder—had Grousefrost ever been a kitten, or had he just appeared in the middle of camp one day as a half-trained apprentice? ”She’s hunting,” Raventail said a moment after Vinekit did, peeking up out of one eye. He winced as Vinekit began to knead his pelt. ”See, she caught an entire cat! Seems pretty useful to me.”

The soft brush of steps heralded his apprentice’s arrival. Raventail returned her smile with matching hesitance. As nice as it had been for him, meeting with Dappleshine at the Gathering hadn’t been the magical fix he’d been hoping for. She'd been learning as fast as ever—well enough to repeat some of the things he'd taught her to Vinekit, apparently—but tension shrouded their training sessions. Then again, this wasn't a training session. At least, not for Goldenpaw. ”I didn't even see you!" he meowed, sitting up and looking toward Vinekit once more. His tail swung back and forth, a silent invitation for her to chase it. "You'll be taking down rabbits in no time." Of course, rabbits didn't usually lie around on the moor half-asleep... That particular fact, Raventail decided, wasn't important enough to mention.

The pale and silver tom lifted up his chest proudly.
“Well she is my daughter.” He responded to Goldenpaw. “Her efficiency is likely genetic. She’s born to be one of the greatest hunters in all of WindClan.” He declared, unabashedly as he watched her knead Raventail’s fur. A glint of mischief in his eyes for a moment as he turned serious.

“Once you’re a mighty hunter, you should learn how to effectively pluck the fur off a piece of prey without getting it stuck in your mouth.” He casually continued, “After all, prey is inedible until it is properly prepared.”

Vinekit inwardly buzzed at Goldenpaw's praise, the older apprentice's recognition making her chest fluff somehow puff even further. She nodded seriously at Grousefrost, still balancing herself unsteadily on Raventail's mass. Her ears twitched at his suggestion, something of a very cheeky grin growing on her face. Before poor Raventail could react, she buried her muzzle into his pelt, clamped down, and began pulling with all of her might. (Which was, admittedly, not much.) "Fwr the cwlan!" She yowled, mouth full of silky black fur.

Listening to Grousefrost’s unapologetic confidence in his daughter’s potential, Raventail couldn’t help but laugh. ”I wonder when she’ll start calling everything ‘efficient,’” he joked, taking his eyes off of the kitten. This proved to a mistake. It took a moment for what Grousefrost said to sink in; when it did, the smile drained from his face. ”Uh, Grouse—“

But it was too late. Vinekit’s jaws found a clump of fur and yanked. Though it didn’t hurt much compared to a full-grown warrior’s bite, Raventail wasn’t accustomed to having his fur pulled by anything stronger than gorse thorns. With a yelp, he shot to his paws. ”Owowow—you can't actually eat me, you know!” Vinekit shouted something like ”For the Clan!” which would have been adorable if it’d been anyone else’s pelt getting chewed on. ”Grousefrost,” he pleaded, searching the witnesses for any signs of sympathy.

Goldenpaw chuckled lightly, amusement glimmering in her eyes at Grousefrost's response. She blinked as he said his next piece, before pushing it to the back of her mind, surely he was just joking, right?

Grousefrost may have been joking, but Vinekit had done it. Blue eyes widened as the kit clamped down, having watched the thought be mulled over carefully, and Goldenpaw gasped as she saw the strength in the Kit's jaws, wincing as Raventail sprang up. The kit's words though were what made her relax, and she started laughing. "For the clan, oh Vinekit, that was really good! How does your prey taste? You must enjoy it, you know." Her eyes glinted mishieviously as she watched the warrior and apprentice.

When Vinekit bit down onto Raventail’s pelt, Grousefrost stepped forward as though to pull the little ginger and white kit off. Her declaration made him pause though. Then stop dead in his tracks as he huffed, then began to properly laugh as Raventail bolted up.

Her tiny little teeth couldn’t possibly have hurt him, but Grousefrost watched in amusement as the warrior tried to plead for them to help.
“Vinekit, come now. He can’t serve his clan effectively if he’s simpering in pain from a kit bite.” He chuckled as he padded forward to lift her off but reconsidered for a moment. “The best plan of attack is to get him here.” Grousefrost declared as he playfully knocked Raventail down, making sure that Vinekit wasn’t going to be hurt and opened his jaws to mock bite at the black tom’s throat.

Baykit starred at Vinekit. The young kit started to walk over to the other kit, feeling slightly jealousy of the fact that Vinekit has a mother and father, and he didn't. The cat sniffed the morning breeze, mewing with joy as he smelled the fresh moor air. He stopped to swat at a tall piece of grass, growing isolatedly in the sandy hills, before moving on to play with Vinekit. 

"Peh!" Vinekit spat the fur from her mouth and tumbled onto the floor, oblivious to Raventail's moans of pain. "Tastes like... fur! Is this what all the prey tastes like?" She was being tutored by two fierce clan cats and a willing(ish) subject- what more was a kit to want? Vinekit let out little individual mrrs of happiness as Grousefrost showed her how to efficiently take down prey. It wasn't often she got to see her father having fun, and it seemed to influence the mood around him in a way that made Vinekit's heart lift.

She was just about to go in for the 'kill' when her little ears picked up little pads behind her. Vinekit turned, still half caught in her idea of a hunter's crouch when she saw Baykit, an older kit, approaching. "Hey! Baykit!" She mewed loudly. "Can you help me out with this prey? Two cats is usually better than one, right?"

No sympathy. In fact, Goldenpaw and Grousefrost were both laughing at him. Raventail’s ears twitched back, but he caught himself grinning despite the very, very mild pain. Grousefrost laughing was a rare sight, and Goldenpaw…well. He was just glad someone (aside from Vinekit, who was probably having the time of her life) was enjoying this. Releasing his fur at last, Vinekit fell; he relaxed upon realizing she was unharmed. ”Nah, real prey is much—“

As in any battle, he paid for this lapse in attention. Once again, he found himself on his side in the grass. ”Grousefrost,” he said with greater urgency as the gray warrior’s jaws neared his throat. It wasn’t that he didn’t trust Grousefrost or that he feared injury; the most a young kit could do was take a few strands of fur. But Vinekit was awfully enthusiastic about this, and…and there was another one now, Baykit, who had come out of nowhere, and they were both creeping forward in a clear imitation of a hunter’s crouch, waiting to spring as quietly as their excitement allowed… All right, maybe he did fear injury a bit. No wonder rabbits were so jumpy, if this was what they were used to seeing.

Raventail tried to pull away from Grousefrost’s grip, careful not to hurt himself in the process. He didn't want to ruin the kits' fun; he also didn't want anyone's teeth near his throat, no matter how tiny they were. ”You’re supposed to team up on rabbits, not your own Clanmates! Besides—wouldn’t it be more of a challenge if I could move?” He’d never been practical-minded, but now was as good a time as any to try it. There was no other way to appeal to Grousefrost.