The future's in your paws. Shape it well.Roleplay in a cat Clan of warriors. Based off the Warriors series by Erin Hunter. Takes place in an AU before the cats in the books existed.
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Subject: lollipop, lollipop (c) Tue 27 Jun 2023 - 12:46
Bubblekit breathed sunlight. The warm sun beat down from the sky with a heat that some might have found oppressive. But she thrived in the higher temperature, blossoming almost like a flower as she lay in camp, soaking in every bit of sunbeam that she could. Her mind wandered as she did so. She couldn't stare straight at the sun, unlike in her dreams, so it was hard to tell exactly what color it was. But it seemed to be yellow. At least the patches of sunlight on the ground gave a yellow tint to any grasses, stones or moss, so that was her best thought. What was yellow, anyway? What if other cats saw yellow differently? What if all colors were different? Maybe she was actually purple and she just didn't know it! Or pink! The idea was thrilling. Eyes shining, she immediately stood up from her lounging position, not noticing that bits of dirt and twigs might have been caught in her beautiful fur that she groomed often. She needed an answer. The small kit skipped over to the first other cat she saw--a smallish gray and white tom sitting by himself. Or wait, maybe he was green and blue. That would certainly be prettier, even though his fur looked very soft and nice. Maybe she should touch it. But first her question! "Hey!" she chirped, stopping right in front of the tom and looking up into his eyes. "Do I look pink to you?"
Rainfrost had been lost in thought. Learning Juniperheart was pregnant was a surprise. He didn’t know Sunfire very well, and was now internally fighting a lot of protective urges around him, given that he and Rainfrost’s sister were apparently… involved. Now that the kits are born, he’s been spending a lot of his spare time worrying about Juniperheart. Forgive him for being paranoid about losing siblings, but the harsh kitting had her laid up in the medicine den, and he was worried sick about her. He’d been visiting her every day, checking on her and making sure she was okay. Unfortunately, this meant he wasn’t focusing as much on the kits themselves, as excited as he was to have new family. He came to visit the first day they were born and sometimes checks on them from afar from time to time, but he was far more focused on his sister than anything else. Even now, he was staring at the medicine den. He’d already visited once today and she needed her rest, but maybe…
Fortunately, his anxious deliberations were interrupted by a small voice chirping up at him. Rainfrost’s head swivels down to look at the kit in front of him, and he blinked again before smiling ever so slightly. One of Juniperheart’s kits. Even if he hadn’t gotten a good look at them when they were born, he would’ve known it just from the way the kit carried herself. She didn’t look like Juniperheart in pelt or eye color, but something about the way she carried herself reminded him so much of his baby sister when she was first brought home. When she was still small enough to curl up in his nest with him after she had a nightmare.
Oh, right, he was asked a question. “You do not look pink to me.” He said, with a slightly confused tilt of his head. “You look gray. Why do you ask?” He paused and shifted, then lowered himself down to be on Bubblekit’s eye level. “You’re one of Juniperheart’s kits, right?” He rumbled softly. “My name’s Rainfrost. I’m her brother. What’s your name?” His voice was normally deadpan even when he didn't mean it to be, and he tried to make it more gentle now. He wasn't terribly good with children (Except maybe with baby Juniperheart) and he didn't want to scare the excitable kit off with his standoffish demeanor.
Darn. Apparently her theory was incorrect. Or, maybe they just saw the same colors. Bubblekit shrugged, pale green eyes meeting the tom's without a hint of disappointment. "I dunno. Just checking, I guess. You don't ever think about what it would be like to be a different color?" Still, the tom's slight smile was encouraging. Lots of warriors would just tell her to go away or "run along" as if she hadn't come to talk to them specifically. Not only did he humor her query, but he asked one of his own. She smiled brightly. "Yep! Juniperheart is my mama."
"My name’s Rainfrost. I’m her brother."
She stared at him for a moment, taking in what he said. So his name was Rainfrost. He was her mama's brother. Then, that made him... Her smile widened, breaking into an enormous grin as she launched herself at him. "Uncle! You're my uncle then! Uncle Rain!" She buried herself into his fur, snuggling close. Her small form wouldn't be much of a problem to swat away if he wished, but in the meantime, she inhaled his scent and enjoyed the soft feel of his pelt against hers. Why wouldn't anyone want cuddles? Though somewhat muffled by how she was pressing herself into him, her high-pitched voice continued. "I'm Bubblekit! Juniper is my mama and Sunfire's my dad and that makes you my uncle, so that makes you my friend! Can we be friends? Canwecanwecanwe?" She was going to keep asking until he said yes.
Rainfrost opened his mouth to reply to Bubblekit’s question, and then a poof of gray fur was launching herself right into his chest, snuggling right into his fur and practically burying herself there. Rainfrost’s eyes went wide and he momentarily went stiff, uncertain how to handle the bout of affection.
”Uncle! Uncle Rain!"
The words brought an unexpected rush of emotion swelling up in Rainfrost’s chest, not unlike the first time Juniperheart called him her brother, or the first time he called Birdstar ‘mom.’ Looking down at the tiny kit, his eyes went soft and he let out a soft chuckle. Resting a paw atop Bubblekit’s head, Rainfrost smiled down at her. “Yes, we can be friends.” He said, gently cutting off her rush of “Can we?”s. “It’s good to officially meet you, Bubblekit.”
Bubblekit felt her grin grow even wider at the soft presence of a paw on top of her head. Though the weight was a little bit heavy, it was obviously a gesture that meant affection, rather than "Bubblekit! Stop that! Shut up!" which she appreciated. Uncle Rain was the best already! She could tell they were gonna be best friends forever. "Okay!" she agreed, beaming. Light green eyes stared into his curiously, as if trying to read his personality just from the depths of his blue gaze. "Soooooo, you're a warrior. What's it like? Have you ever caught the sun? Or the moon, even? How long's it take to become a warrior?" Her tail waved behind her in excitement as she considered all the knowledge that Rain probably had. "Oh, and--why are you so small? Do you think I can get bigger than you? Big enough to give you badger rides?" Oh, maybe that was rude. She blinked. "That was prob'ly mean. Sorry, I don't wanna be like Cypress. She always tells me not to bat the mossball around so much cause it's gonna get messy. But aren't mossballs s'posed to get messy?" Bubblekit had already forgotten her perceived offense.
Oh, that was a lot of questions before Bubblekit slowed down. Rainfrost blinked slowly, thinking with rueful affection of the lost feeling he often got with Lightningbreeze, and tried to address her questions one by one. Some of the questions were absurd, like if he had caught the sun, but it felt real to Bubblekit, so he tried to take them seriously. He simply blinked once at her question about his size.
“I am a warrior.” He started with a little nod of agreement. “It is nice. It can be stressful, when things get serious, but I like providing for my clan and the warrior code is very important. I take it all very seriously-- sometimes too seriously, as my friends have told me. I have not caught the sun, or the moon. They are very high in the sky and very big, so it would not be possible for a simple warrior to catch them. Also, they are important, so it would be bad to catch them even if you could.”
“As for how long it takes, it can depend on you, your mentor, how quickly you learn, the circumstances of your apprenticeship…” Rainfrost trailed off. “It depends. My apprenticeship took a while, but that was in part because I asked Birdstar to delay my ceremony by a few moons. I wanted to wait for my best friend to be able to become a warrior as well. So I’m afraid I cannot give a terribly concrete answer there.”
Taking a deep breath, Rainfrost carried on. Man he wasn’t used to talking this much. How do Bubblekit, Lightningbreeze, Crookedlight, all of his chatty friends not get tired after just one or two sentences? “I do not know why I am small.” He said in his usual flat tone. “I am uncertain. I have asked the medicine cats before, and they have told me it likely has something to do either with my birth family or with the fact that I got sick at a very young age, which may have stunted my growth. Or a combination, I suppose.” He offered a shrug.
“Whether or not you get bigger than me, I cannot guarantee an answer, but I would say it is more than likely. Most full grown cats are bigger than me, other than I suppose Thornstalker, who is about the same size as me. Especially in our clan, because our clan is made up of giants.” He offered a slight, rueful smile, thinking with affection of his mother. “I do not know if you’ll get big enough to give me badger rides. And, do not worry. I did not take the question in a mean way. I know you are only curious.”
He lowered himself down to her height, resting his chin on his paws as they spoke, blue and yellow eyes soft as they spoke. “I have not played mossball in some time, but I think most kit games tend to get messy.” He said, answering her final question. “It is the nature of unrestrained play.”
