Girls, meet world [O]

The weather was quite warm, though a steady breeze ruffled the feathers of the pelt Woolywing had grown so attached to these past few weeks. He yawned, allowing himself a moment of rest before getting up with a soft exhale. He hadn't slept in for some weeks now- not since he became a dad. Well, something of the sort. He'd always assumed he'd settle down with a certain special someone, maybe talk about kits in a year or two and sire a litter of his own when he was good and ready.

He was not good and ready.

Blossomkit had proven to be quite a handful, already stirring up trouble before she could even see. The queen that kindly offered to nurse her recounted to him on many occasions stories of how she pushed aside this kit, bit that kit, sat on top of those kits... The list went on and so did Woolywing's stress. It didn't get much better as she grew up- Now, at a moon and a half old, she was pulling 'pranks' on her denmates left and right. Not to mention Turtlekit. The poor she-kit's mother had died almost exactly at the same time as Frostgaze. He offered to take her in, impulsively. She was, apparently, a gorgeous kit. Both of them were. But they were also both little spitfires, and Woolywing hoped they'd mellow out as they grew.

Oh, but he loved them. He loved them more dearly than anything else in his life, save for maybe Yarrowblossom. They were troublesome and boisterous, but they were his. He slept in the nursery now, loathe to be separated from them. And today, he was going to show them the world outside the nursery.

"Turtlekit, Blossomkit?" He called out, a smile on his muzzle. He waited for the pitter patter of their approach, sniffing the air in front of him to confirm they were both there. "Do you want to go outside today? You'll have to stick by me, of course- especially you, Turtlekit- but you can meet all your Clanmates and see what our territory is like! What do you say?"

Blossomkit sneered mischievously, at Turtlekit when she was specifically told to stay close to their dad. Blossomkit often did just as she wanted, and never really considered other cats, and this would be no different. But there was something that her dad said that REALLY piqued her interest, 'territory'? But kits weren't allowed to go outside! "Yeah, I'd LOVE to go see the TERRITORY dad!" Blossomkit shouted, much, much louder than what was necessary, so much so she was practically yelling at the top of her lungs. "Lets go outside!" Blossomkit yowled, bursting forth from her dads side and out into the camp, gunning for the camp entrance like an absolute lunatic.

The she-cat's ears perked at the call of her name. If she could, the small kitten would greet him back with happy mews but instead, Turtlekit welcomed him with a wide smile and a strong, affectionate bump on his leg, so he would she was there. It was really lucky she ended up being Woolywing's daughter: if anyone in the clan could understand her and her condition it was him.

As she thought it was just going to be just like another day, the warrior surprised them with a visit to the clan's territory. Turtlekit's green eyes meet Blossomkit's and she couldn't contain her flicking tail. She jumped gleefully around his dad's legs, making him note that she was excited to go.

She grabbed his tail softly with his jaws to follow him and stay close just as he instructed. It was a special day and the kitten didn't want her dad to worry about her. But her sister had other plans. What is she doing!? She thought as Blossomkit rushed to the entrance like a lighting. Turtlekit let go of Woolywing's tail and ran right behind her, hoping to catch her before going too far. Dad is going to worry! The fluffy molly jumped towards her sisters, landing clumsily on her back. This led to both of them rolling through the dirt and stopping the chase, at least for a few seconds. When Turtlekit finally managed to stand up, she extended her paw and put it on Blossomkit's forehead playfully as she smiled. Come on, let's wait for dad, and then we can cause mischief when he is not around. Though no words came out of her mouth, that's what she wanted to say with her expression.

Cloverkit was curled up in her nest when she heard her denmates leaving the den. Blossomkit and Turtlekit, she was pretty sure. She hasn’t talked to them much, but hearing the offer to explore camp from Woolywing was tempting. Tempting enough that she large kit pulled herself out of her nest, trying not to wake up her mother or siblings (it was surprising they were able to sleep through Blossomkit’s yelling!).

Cloverkit blinked sleep away from her eyes and stared at Woolywing. She was nervous to ask if she could tag along - she’d never left the den; Splashpool hadn’t given a certain date on when she could do so. But she was about the same age as Woolywing’s daughters, so it was probably okay. The issue now became Cloverkit’s reluctance to ask Woolywing if she could come too. She slowly stumbled up to the warrior, keeping a distance between herself, Blossomkit, and Turtlekit. “Can I come too?”

Blossomkit collided with the dirt in a paff. Blossomkit glowered up at her sister, Turtlekits paw smushing her forehead skin into her eyes so she could barely see. "But I wanna NOW, Turtlekit!" Then she lowered her voice, "We could do it now, if we don't make a sound. If we're sneaky enough dad won't even hear us leave." Blossomkit whispered conspiringly, she didn't want to wait to do things, she wanted immediate results she was going to get them! Blossomkit wriggled out from under Turtlekit, which was a struggle and a half, since she was the smallest of the two, but she managed to do it. "I'm gonna go, no matter what! You gonna come with or nah? If you don't you gotta cover and make noise for the both of us!" Blossomkit huffed, trying not to stamp her feet to get how serious she was about escaping camp.

Woolywing gave a pleased purr as Turtlekit bumped his leg, making sure she was staying in contact. She still hadn't spoken yet, something that terrified him initially- but for all her vivacity, she was a very caring kit. She understood from the start that he couldn't see her, and had developed an adorable (and very useful!) habit of nudging or bumping him when he called for her. Blossomkit, on the other paw... He shook his head to himself with a gentle smile. She was a pawful, he'd leave it at that.

A voice made his ears prick up, one much quieter than Blossomkit's. He turned to the source of the noise, lowering his head. "Hello there! Of course you can- if your mother says it's okay, that is. What's your n-"

He was cut off by a loud exclamation from Blossomkit. Her intonation was wrong. He opened his mouth to dissuade her from whatever plan she'd clearly come up with- but it was too late. He felt her leave his side and heard her rapid footfalls, heading swuarely for the camp entrance. His stomach dropped and he shot to his feet. "Stay here." He meowed quickly to Turtlekit. Blossomkit he could at least hear, but if Turtlekit got lost...

He set off out of the nursery, familiar enough with the camp that he didn't crash into anything. But he was still careful, too careful to be fast enough. His breathing quickened. "Blossomkit!! Come back!" He doubted she'd listen. His ears flattened as he pursued her, she must be almost at the camp exit now-

He heard another set of paws dash past him. Turtlekit. He cursed under his breath. It sounded like she crashed into her, based on Blossomkit's annoyed yowl. He kept running, his goose pelt shifting. He was within a foxlength of them now, based on Blossomkit's hushed tones reaching his ears. He felt a slight jolt of annoyance that she'd whisper to ensure he didn't know where she was, knowing that he was blind. He cast it from his kind, though. It wouldn't do to be annoyed with his own child, Frostgaze had certainly never been annoyed at him. Disappointed, yes. Angry or annoyed, no.

He found the girls by scent, bumping into Turtlekit with his nose. Below her was the escapee, and he grabbed her in his mouth without a second thought. "Shtay clothe." he told Turtlekit, voice muffled. He could only hope she'd obey.

He made a beeline for the warriors' den, worried that if he put Blossomkit back in the nursery she'd just run out again. He could ask the queens to watch her, but they had their own kits to attend to. No, he knew just who would help.

"Shtormdanthe?" He called into the den. Stars, he sounded stupid. He waited until he heard paws approaching and he set Blossomkit down. He sniffed to confirm it was Stormdance, giving the tom a slightly strained smile.

It occurred to him with a pang of shame that his former mentor had never met his kits. "Ah, this is Blossomkit." He nudged the kit in front of him. "And that's Turtlekit. They're, uh, my kits. Of a sort. Sorry that I haven't told you, I've had my paws full." Right, that was out of the way. He took a deep breath, calming his still rushing heart. He turned Blossomkit to face him and lowered his head. "Blossomkit." He started, voice painstakingly level. "That was... Incredibly irresponsible of you. I can't find you if you get lost, and predators can. You're lucky your sister caught you." He gave Turtlekit an approving nudge. "I'm... I'm still going to let you see camp, because you need to learn what it's like. But you're going to stay with Stormdance, and if you run away again he will catch you. I need to keep you safe, okay?" His voice broke slightly, and he hoped Blossomkit didn't hear it. "That is, if you don't mind, Stormdance. I'm sorry for, um, springing this on you. I just..." His voice faltered and he made a vague grimace, hoping the older tom would understand.