Here Comes The Sun [c]

Sunkit is bored and restless, both things that are often true of the young tom. What he really wants to do is to go find his parents, but his attempts thus far at sneaking out have been entirely unsuccessful and he’s reluctant to try again so soon since he’s pretty sure Perchstar won’t refrain from permanently leaving him at kit rank. So, he needs to find something else to occupy his time.

Sometimes he can entertain himself on his own, but that gets old fast. Usually he tries to find Rookkit or Larkkit, when he can, to at least have somebody his age to talk to.  Sometimes he can even rope Rookkit into a game or two.  However, they’re both asleep, and even Sunkit knew better than to wake somebody up from a nap. Occasionally he’ll bug the warriors as they go about their duties. But the cat he likes to see the most when he’s feeling like this is residing in the still-damaged elder’s den.

“Twistpool!”He cried as he marched right in, looking around and carefully holding a fish in his mouth. It’s much too large for him, so he’s wobbling a lot as he tries to carry it inside. “Twistpool, have lunch with me!” He all but begged. Twistpool was hardly one for games, but he was fun company! Even if he got fed up with Sunkit often.

Twistpool

Twistpool had not been comfortable in the slightest since they returned to camp. They were RiverClan cats, yes, but that did not mean that he enjoyed living in dampness at every hour of the day. He hated the way the cold and the wet seeped through his fur and into his bones. It left him achier than usual, and far crankier than usual. The apprentices were able to find him some fresh moss and they did their best to squeeze out the water, but it was still so uncomfortable to sleep on. He tried to occupy himself by sleeping as much as he could until this whole mess was done with, but even Twistpool could not sleep for all hours of the day. And even he had to eat.

He looked to the kit wobbling into his den. The solitude of being the only elder of the clan was quickly washed away by the presence of this scrap of fur. Twistpool snorted at seeing him struggle to bring in a fish. He stared blankly at the kit until he managed to drop the fish down in front of Twistpool.

“Is that fish for me, boy, or is it all for yourself?” Twistpool sneered. “It’s nearly as big as you are. It’s a miracle it didn’t get caught up under those huge paws of yours.” Perhaps it was just that Twistpool was in a sour mood this morning due to his wet moss, but he was snippier than usual. “Why would you want to have lunch with me when you have a very kind queen looking after you?”

Sunkit seemed remarkably unaffected by Twistpool's snippiness. Perhaps it was that his father had always been the gruff and grumpy type, or perhaps it was simply Sunkit's stubborn desire to spend time with the old tom, but he didn't blink twice as Twistpool snapped.

"I said have lunch with me, didn't I? It's to share!" He declared, sticking out his tongue as he trotted cheerfully to Twistpool's side and plopped down beside him. He didn't blink twice at the wetness that soaked into his fur from his position on the ground, only stretched out uncaringly. What's a little water and mud? He's constantly a little muddy these days, what with how wet the camp is.


"Also, my paws are perfectly normally sized, thank you very much." He wrinkled his nose playfully up at Twistpool, tail thumping lightly on the ground with his excitement. "Also also, Ms. Lakestone is very nice and all, but you're cool, and I want to hang out with you too. So there." His grin exposed canines that are just a little too big for his mouth. 

Twistpool

Twistpool stared unimpressed at Sunkit. The kit was as small as any other kit, but built like his body intended for him to be much bigger. Huge paws, big teeth…big mouth. Twistpool hoped that this kit wasn’t deciding he was attached to Twistpool now. He’d had enough of that with Stormdance when he was still an apprentice.

“You’ll be lucky if you get more than a nibble on that fish,” he grumbled as he started to eat. If he ate enough, maybe this scrap of fur will stop thinking that he can  eat with him. Squash the idea before it even starts. “I think you should talk to kits your own age. An elder like me is hardly ‘cool.’”

“Oh, but I do talk to kits my age.” Sunkit said matter-of-factly, though there was a certain smugness to the words, like he was pleased to prove Twistpool wrong. “There aren’t many in the nursery right now, y’know? There’s just me, Rookkit, and Larkkit! I’m friends with both of them.” Sunkit puffed out his chest, then deflated.

"But they’re brothers, so they usually want to spend more time with each other than they do with me,” Sunkit explained. A thought popped into his head, that almost everyone he wanted to spend time with usually either didn’t want to, or had someone they wanted to spend more time with. He frowned, ears laying flat at the thought before he quickly shook off the icky feeling the thought brought. That’s fine though! It’s fine. He’ll spend time with them anyway, and it’ll be great.

Rolling over onto his back (he doesn’t really care about lunch, if he’s being honest. He just wanted an excuse. And Twistpool always seemed happier with food.) He looked at Twistpool upside down. He looked silly like that, which prompted him to giggle. “So here I am! You’re stuck with meee,” He practically sang it, twitching his paws in the air.

“Can you tell me about some of the warriors in the clan? You must know a ton of them! You know, since you’re old and all?” Sunkit grinned at him as he rolled back upright. “Ooh, you know my mom and dad right? Can you tell me anything cool? Did they win any super tough battles?”

Twistpool

Twistpool gave Sunkit a quick hiss at the old comment and stuffed his face with more fish. “Respect your elders more,” he grumbled. Talk about the warriors around here? Twistpool glanced out of the den entrance. There were a number of warriors that he did not exactly think of as being great. He scowled and meowed, “The warriors nowadays aren’t half the cats that were around back in my day! Stars, you should have seen my brother in his heyday. Sparrowclaw could-" He stopped when he was interrupted by another question from Sunkit. Twistpool’s expression withered until he heard what Sunkit was actually requesting.

The scrap of fur’s parents? Well. Twistpool did not know them terribly well…but he knew how eager Sunkit was to see them again. Despite popular belief, Twistpool was not completely heartless. So he gave an irritated sigh and tried to think. “Now I didn’t know them much. I was late into my warriorhood by the time they were born, and unfortunately I was not interested in getting to know kits. Nor did I mentor either of them. But we were warriors together for a couple of moons before I retired.” He sniffed and lifted his chin as he thought. “Your father, he was a stubborn cat. Not a cat of many words, either. You did not take after him in that regard. But he was a good and loyal warrior; I think that RiverClan was lucky to have him. Your mother, she was very passionate. I think she saw the good in everything.” An annoying trait when she also saw the good in other clans, but he kept that part to himself. “She was quite cheerful. Much more like yourself.”

Sunkit listened with wide eyes, tucking his paws underneath himself and looking at Twistpool with eyes sparkling like stars. “Mama always said there’s a bright side to everything.”He says with a small smile. “She called me her bright side. She got kinda sick when I was born, but she said I was the bright side of it all. That’s why she named me Sun! Also cause I’m yellow. Like the sun.” He giggled. “I bet she and dad were so cool.” He paused. “Are. So cool.”

Shaking his head quickly, he looked at Twistpool again. “Who’s Sparrowclaw? Your brother? I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to interrupt before.” He could get carried ahead of himself. He was always being scolded for interrupting others. “What was he like?”