Tilting at Windmills (open)

Lilykit stood at the edge of the nursery, looking at the thorns and briars protecting the outside.

How did they build this place? Why do they have thorns, where did those come from? Did StarClan make those?

The cream colored kitten stared at the structure in awe. Many cats before her were born in the same nursery. Was it different back then? Maybe so…

She heard a noise next to her and froze. Who could it be?

Eggkit made it her goal to make the best use of the fresh-kill her mother had just eaten. The brown and black rabbit pelt lay to the side, as she hadn't gotten up to remove the carcass from the den. And, she was asleep. With effort, the kit wiggled under it, propping it up onto her back. "Rah!" Eggkit yowled, jumping towards Lilykit, the dead rabbit's head flopping to the side, and the carcass fell over. Of course, taking Eggkit with it. She toppled over onto the floor and wiggled in place. "Aw, mousedung!" The black kitten squeaked, kicking her legs out enough to get out from under it. Rabbit blood and fur were left on her pelt, though, she didn't seem at all annoyed by it.

"Did I get cha'?" Eggkit asked Lilykit, a brilliant grin on her face.

Lilykit let out a squeak as she saw a dead bunny carcass heading towards her. This kit was covered in blood, which made Lilykit uneasy.

“Yeah, you got me…”

Her gaze returned to the nursery structure. So many different gnarled branches, bracken, moss, thorns… it was astounding to her.

She realized the other kit may have wanted to know her name.

“I’m Lilykit,” she said softly, almost like the cooing of a dove.

"I'm Eggkit!" She chirped back, settling down next to the other kit to groom herself. Slowly, the blood vanished, but the back of her head still had some despite her best efforts. "Lilykit, your voice is really pretty. Is your mom's voice like that too?" It was soft, kind of soothing if she was honest. Like her mother when she tried to get Eggkit to sleep.

“Yeah, she’s got the same voice I do.”

Lilykit gave a weak smile to Eggkit. “It’s good to meet you, Eggkit.”

She noticed some blood left from the rabbit on the back of Eggkit’s head. “Do you… do you want me to get what’s on the back of your head?”

Eggkit nodded, her voice was a bit raspy. Perhaps it was from all the yelling she did. "I still have some on my head?" She asked, tail swishing in annoyance. "Darn, I thought I got it all!" The kit ducked her head, slightly embarrassed. "Would you mind?"

Lilykit had a soft smile when Eggkit asked the question.

“Sure.”

The kit rose to her paws as she tried to kick Eggkit’s head. The queens made it look so easy! But Lilykit had already committed to helping Eggkit out, so she would stay until she got every drop off of her head.

“I think that should do it.”

Lilykit felt a lot of pride in herself, if only for a moment. Maybe she wasn’t too weird for friends after all.

Eggkit let out a sigh of relief. "Man, if someone had come in when I had blood on my head, that would be so embarrassing. Thank you Lilykit!" She offered the other kit a happy trill. "So, what were you doing before I scared you with the rabbit?" Eggkit asked, wrapping her tail over her paws, hiding the white patches that decorated the toes on her right foot.

“Do you ever look at stuff and wonder how it got there?”

Lilykit flicked her tail towards the top and sides of the nursery.

“Do you see those thorns and bracken? I want to know how it got there, how long it’s been there, like have all our ancestors slept under this place? Not everyone gets to be a warrior, but everyone starts as a kit.”

She realized she may have rambled a little bit.

“Sorry,” she mumbled, afraid she scared off her new friend.

Eggkit tilted her head, turning her green eyes to the plants that were around them. In all honestly, it sort of faded to the back of her mind. She had seen these plant walls all her life. But... "Well, now that you point it out..." The kit tilted her head and walked close to the plants. Her tails swished in thought. "Don't be sorry! It's a good point." Her head ducked low, trying to look a the bottom of the walls. "Let's see if we can find the answer, Lilykit!" She chirped. It was a great mystery! And it was her job to solve it! "If they are plants, maybe they grew here! But, it would be awfully convenient, right?" The black kitten turned her head to look at her friend.

"Let's look for roots!" And she started digging at the ground.

“Roots! That’s a great idea.”

The cream she-cat walked to the right side of the nursery, starting to dig. Her little claws weren’t making much headway, but she was determined to find the answer. Surely they would find one, right?

Eggkit's attempts at digging through the ground were not going well. Every so often a rock would get stuck behind her claw, and the kit would spend a few moments digging it out with her teeth. After a long few minutes of digging, Eggkit sat back on her haunches, kicking up sand from outside with each swish of her tail. "My claws aren't strong enough." She whined. After allowing herself to languish in her failure, the sit stood up. "Let's check the outside." She decided, leading the way with her tail held high.