A Menace to Society(but Mostly Just her Family) [CLOSED for kj]

Mountainkit loved mornings. She loved most things, in fairness, but mornings were surely near the top of the list. Like, number 5. Maybe 4. She always made sure to wake up just before the sun rose. That way she got first dibs on the fresh snow, and she got to watch the sunrise and listen to the birds. The other cats in the nursery said this made her a 'menace'. She wasn't sure what that meant, but they were usually laughing when they said it so it was probably good. So here she was, at the crack of dawn. Doing menace things. She dove into the snow. She made bird noises back at the birds, in hopes that she would be accepted into their bird gang. When that didn't work, she moved on to making all her friends out of snow. She thought the misshapen lumps of snow were quite good likenesses, she'd definitely have to show them later. And her mother. She'd be very proud. As a matter of fact...

"Ma! Ma! I made snow people! Come look before they melt!" She nudged her mother with oversized paws. She sat down next to her, waiting semi-patiently for her to get up.

A paw prodding the queen had her lifting her head, blinking awake blearily. Had she fallen asleep again? Probably, though she hadn't meant to. It was, Smokefeather thought, entirely too early to be woken up. She offered Mountainkit a tired purr, carefully disentangling herself from Featherkit's sleeping form with a yawn.

"Alright, alright, let's see what you've made, hmm?" She managed, turning her head to hide a yawn. Shaking off the sleepiness, Smokefeather affectionately nudged her daughter before turning her gaze in the direction of the snow-people in question.

"They look great, Mountainkit." Smokefeather purred. The mounds of snow were misshapen, but if she squinted and turned her head just slightly, they did look like vague impressions of cats. Truly life-like and realistic. Smokefeather couldn't praise her daughter enough for the effort.

Kits were easy to entertain and keep happy. Sometimes Smokefeather wished she was still a kit, to have only the worry of finding ways to entertain herself and knowing nothing of the hardships that came with being a fully-grown warrior and defending the clan, of being able to remember different times. She worried for how the kits would grow up with Asylum's constant presence, and intended to protect them for as long as she could. At least the rogues seemed wary of approaching when she was around her kits. She'd keep the kits innocent of their influence for as long as she was able to, hopefully.

"How long did it take you to make them?" She asked Mountainkit, eyeing the snow-cats with the sort of reverence only a mother could muster.

Mountainkit beamed proudly at her creations. If ma thought they were good, then they must be amazing! Ma was smart like that, she knew when things were good. "Thank you! I worked hard on them. They're my ma... my mashterpee... Uh, like when you make something really good." She scrunched up her nose, trying to remember the answer to her mother's next question.

"Uhh, I started when the sun was riiiiight there," she pointed vaguely at the horizon, "and now it's there," she pointed at the sun, "soooo... Like a moon? Really long." She nodded once, confident. "How long would it have taken you, ma? I bet you could do it even faster. You're bigger, so you can carry more snow. You could make a whole snow Clan!"

Smokefeather's whiskers twitched in amusement as Mountainkit spoke.

"Oh, it wasn't that long, you're impatient, kit. But I suppose it'd take me longer, I haven't made snow figures in a while." Smokefeather responded to Mountainkti's enthusiasm in kind.

"I wonder where she gets that impatience from." Beechface snickered, padding towards the pair. The large tabby smelled of herbs, though she didn't carry any with her. The price of being a medicine cat. "Hey, Mountainkit."

"Oh, hush." Smokefeather rolled her eyes, "I don't need you teaching her your snark, you already got your claws in Primroselight." Smokefeather snarked right back at the medicine cat, playfully flicking her shoulder with her tail.

Grinning, Beechface turned to Mountainkit,

"Come on, she deserves to be hit with a snowball, for that." Beechface whispered, "I'll help you." She nudged a clump of the fluffy white stuff towards her younger sister, a conspiratorial glint in her yellow-green eyes.

Moutainkit huffed good-naturedly. "I'm not impatient, ma, honest! I'm just- ooh! Beechface!" Her sentence all but forgotten, the large kit bounced up to her older sister. "You smell funny. Is that on purpose?" She asked obliviously. She watched the exchange between the two older cats with a confused look on her face. What was 'snark'? Was it a bad thing? It was probably a bad thing.

Beechface seemed to think so too, and Mountainkit looked at the clump of snow with wide eyes. Throw a snowball? At ma? Ma didn't look like she would mind...

A cheeky grin spread across her face as she made eye contact with her sister, grabbing some snow between her paws. She shaped it into a lumpy ball, much like she had shaped her snow-friends, and lobbed the ball at her mother.

It hit the ground just at Smokefeather's paw, spattering some snow onto her leg. In other words, an absolute win. "Snowball fight!" She declared excitedly, already grabbing more snow.

"Mountainkit," Smokefeather admonished with a sigh. Stars above, if any question would provoke Beechface, it was one like that. She still wasn't happy with being a medicine cat, she knew.

"It's the herbs." Beechface answered the question more gracefully than Smokefeather would've thought possible. The queen's eyes narrowed as Beechface nudged a small pile of snow in Mountainkit's direction, though she couldn't quite hide the smile that crossed her expression.

"Mountainkit, don't listen to your sister," Smokefeather laughed as the snow scattered against her paw... Which quickly turned into a startled 'oof' as Beechface launched her own snowball directly at her face.

"Menaces, the both of you." She grumbled affectionately, shaking snow out of her face. Smokefeather quickly flicked her paw, sending a flurry of snow towards the younger cats with ease. Most of it was aimed at Beechface, but if Mountainkit didn't move she would likely have a decent dusting of it across her head and shoulders, too. The impromptu snowball fight was enough to earn a grin from Beechface as she readied another snowball for Mountainkit, at least.

Mountainkit looked confusedly at her older sister. What were herbs? Some kind of animal? She wanted to ask, but her sister was busy preparing a snowball of her own. It landed squarely in her mother's face, startling her. Mountainkit faltered for a moment, worried. Was ma okay? That looked like it hurt...

Smokefeather threw a snowball back, and Mountainkit was reassured. She grinned even wider. "Yay! Menaces! Did you hear that, Beech? We're menaces!" She grabbed another pile of snow, hastily shaping it once again. She wound back and threw it, rocking forwards in the process. The snowball sailed from her paws, but she didn't see where it went as she had faceplanted right into the snow. She sunk deep into it and flailed for a moment, trying to dig herself out.

After some struggle, she emerged from the snow with a pile of it nestled on her head. "I'm okay!" She announced proudly.

Beechface snickered at her younger sister. Menace, indeed.

Kits were clumsy, especially in the snow. Beechface's whiskers twitched as she leaned over to help the kit to her paws, a purr rumbling in her chest as she flicked snow off of her with her tail while Smokefeather sputtered indignantly. Their mother sounded more amused than anything, however, and didn't seem to mind the snow being flung in her direction at all.

"Careful, you." She murmured, before cheerfully setting Mountainkit up with another snowball.