After Dark [O]

His legs had grown long under him quickly, and the nursery was feeling more and more crowded, pressed between his littermates, other kits he had no connection too, the queens... Daykit shuddered away from the den, feeling a little tangled in his gangly limbs as he stumbled into the fading daylight. I should probably stay inside... I guess it's getting late. But it wasn't that late. It wasn't dark or anything! The sky was streaked with orange, and a few cats were still milling about.

With one last half-guilty look towards the nursery, Daykit propelled himself forward, his paws catching against each other in his over-eager gallop. As he drew closer, he realized that... he wasn't entirely sure how to talk to the older cats. He skidded to a halt, eying cats he couldn't even place names to, and shrunk back. They're scarier, up close. He thought, defeated, as he lowered himself against the snowy earth. I mean, they probably have something better to be doing anyway... I should probably just go back before mom drags me back, anyway.

Swanmist had- surprisingly- good luck with hunting in the slowly-growing-familiar territory. No cats really took that much liking to her, even when she was trying to help the best she could. She wasn't as thin anymore, either, her eyes had definitely grown a little brighter over the moon and her fur was more plushy and soft.

As Swanmist was returning from her last hunting trip, she noticed a small pale shape huddled to the ground. A kit? She never really got to talk with the younger cats, almost always ushered away by their parents, and unfortunately, as a result, she didn't really know many Thunderclan cats. She tilted her head at the kit huddled in the snow. She didn't really recognise this cat, she hadn't seen them wandering around camp that much, so was this one of Waterlily's kits? The newest litter?

She waved her tail in hello, trying to keep a friendly gaze. She hadn't really spoken much with Waterlily, so it was hard to know if she would let her interact with her kit or not.

Oh, stars. She's coming over here. Daykit shivered, fur rising as one of the big cats took notice of him. She was white all over, and looked as confused by and interested in his presence as he was. And she was silent. Her tail arced in friendly greeting, but she said nothing. Am... I supposed to say something?

Worried over formality, Daykit tipped his head to the side, confusion written plain across his features, and waved his tail in response. Maybe... maybe this is a test of some kind? He squinted, gaze tight as he tried to work through whatever formalities he had to have been missing. His jaw worked as he tried to think of something to say, and while he was still trying to force words out, small pawsteps appeared at his side.

One of his siblings– Eveningkit, he thought, grateful for the appearance. "Uh... yeah, what he said." The paler tom murmured, slowly straigthening out. For comfort, he leaned against his brother, neck craned to watch their fur mingled together. We look so different! He wondered, blinking curiously for a moment before the situation at paw caught up to him again. Looking back to Swanmist, he hesitantly mewed, "Are you a warrior? Or just an apprentice? Every cat looks big, it's kind of hard to tell... do you get to do cool warrior stuff?"

Swanmist's head tipped curiously towards the newer kit. Ah, so they are Waterlily's. She hesitated for a moment. She never really expected to get so far before a queen yelled at her for some mousebrained pure loyality Thunderclanner reasons. But... She found it weird that no kit really found her to be strange and fish-smelling anymore. (If anything, she was glad she didn't smell so much like them.)

Anyway, she found herself with quite an issue. She had only really interacted with her kits and that was with words. Well, maybe she could just try to sign that she didn't speak? But... They were kits, they wouldn't know, would they? Maybe she should just try. Shuffling closer to the two, she attempted to sign to them. She moved a pure white paw over her muzzle and shook her head. I... Don't speak? She thought with each movement ...Would they be able to get that?

Of course, with how curious kits could be, the cream kit she know knew as Daykit, asked her a question. Brothers? They look totally different! I wonder who their father was, must've been a totally opposite version of Waterlily to get these two... She brought her attention back onto the kit, getting lost in her thoughts for a small moment.

She smiled a little when the small kit said she was 'so big'. She was really, just a tiny cat compared to the warriors. Swanmist pointed her paw to the warriors den to sign that she was a warrior, hoping that was clear enough. Pulling her small paw back in front of her, she nodded to the small kit's second question. Well, I suppose hunting is cool enough... The snow-white warrior really didn't have anyone to fight.

Littlekit fought off a yawn as the sun dipped behind the horizon, the last rays shinning into the nursery. The tiny golden tabby lay on her back, lazily batting at the sunset sunbeams and watching her paws slide through the light. She rolled onto her paws when she noticed Daykit and then Eveningkit leave the cosy bramble bush. 

The sky was streaked with orange and the shadows in the clearing were long. She skipped over to the smudge in the growing dusk of pale gold and black pressed side by side, and the slender white cat with silky fur and big ears who her brothers were talking to. 

She nudged against the warmth of her brothers, it was even colder when the sun wasn't in the sky! Littlekit's puffy tail quirked, this cat looked a little different from most ThunderClan warriors she had seen. "I'm Littlekit," she mewed, smile reaching her deep blue-green eyes, "hello!" She didn't even reach her brother's shoulder, her siblings had all gotten so tall suddenly!