heritage [open for Juni/Lichen kits and family]

The sun was low in the sky, and the heat of the day was beginning to dissipate as Sunfire made his way into camp and towards the nursery. From his maw dangled both a mouse and a sparrow, freshly killed and still warm... perfect for a kit's first fresh-kill. Since the birth of Cypress, Plover, Sorrel, Bear, and Bubble, he'd been dutifully tending to his - and Juniperheart's - children... an attempt to lessen the load on his ailing mate's shoulders, with the hopes that she would recover soon.

A few small shapes at the entrance of the nursery drew him to a stop, and Sunfire stared down at the kits with soft, affectionate eyes. "Look, I've brought you all something. Come see!"

“Oh yeah, food!” Cypresskit cheered as if she hadn’t eaten in moons. The she-kit sprang away from where she’d been attempting to sneak up on a few of her siblings and bolted past them, nearly bumping roughly into her father. Oooh- “Didja catch that yourself? Can you teach me how to catch birds, too, and jump all high in the air like you do? Can I eat it? The queens haven’t let me have any, an’ they always catch me whenever I even look at the fresh-kill pile, but I’m plenty old enough. Can I get first bite if it is for me? I’m the hungriest, really Da, just fluff and bones!”

The flurry of questions over, Cypresskit flopped dramatically at her father’s paws, grinning up at him with a twinkle in her eye and letting her siblings ask whatever they wished to. She didn’t care, as long as she got the first word in- and it wasn’t like she was really expecting the prey to be for them. It was more than likely for the queens, as it always was.

Bubblekit knew Cypresskit was behind her. She was waiting, eyes alight, for the moment that her sister would try to surprise her--when she could turn around and surprise her instead! Finally she could get the better of her this time! However, all thought of yelling "boo!" fled when she looked up to see a golden-furred tom. She gasped. "Daddy!" The others must have seen him too, because a small legion of kits began to throng around Sunfire's paws. "Whoa! Daddydaddydaddy, did you catch those? Did you catch them yourself? Are we finally big enough to eat em now?" Her fluffy tail whipped around behind her in excitement as she looked up at him, her squeaky voice hopefully loud enough to be heard over her sisters' bickering. Bubblekit couldn't stop herself from bapping Cypresskit on the shoulder. "Hey, let him decide who gets the first bite! Besides, you haven't even been that good today. You were tryna scare me earlier anyway." But her mood was too good for her to be bothered squabbling for long, so she returned her shining green eyes to Sunfire, looking up at him in excitement. "You're the coolest warrior ever! I'm sure you could catch the sun if you wanted to!"

The first to greet him was Cypresskit, throwing herself at his paws and lamenting about the other queens in the nursery. Sunfire quirked a brow, looking down at her. "Ah, yes. Clearly, you are severely malnourished!" He dropped a paw on to her belly, tickling her as Sorrelkit pressed in next, nearly standing on top of her sister to greet him. Sunfire rasped his tongue across her ears affectionately as they bickered, his gaze traveling to Bubblekit as she trotted over and joined the squabble. Sunfire blinked amusedly, shaking his head before leaning in to touch her nose with his own. He couldn't remember ever having grievances wth his brother and sisters like this, but then again, that had been a long time ago, so perhaps they had. Time had a funny way of blocking out the unimportant things.  

Bearkit, his only son, was just behind Bubblekit, and as the little tom wound around his legs, Sunfire purred gently. Ploverkit was just behind her brother, and she too was subjected to a few affectionate rasps about her head as she leaned into his leg. They were all chattering, asking questions, throwing compliments... Sunfire took a breath, looking down at the five tiny kits at his paws and feeling suddenly like he would rather be nowhere else in the world. These were his children, lives that he and Juniperheart had created, and a line that traced back as far as SkyClan's living memory. One of these kits could be deputy one day, one could be leader. But right now they were small, impressionable kittens who thought he could wrangle the sun, and honestly, he dreaded the day that reality would catch up to them.

"Alright, alright," he said softly. "To answer your many, many questions... yes, I caught these myself, yes, I would love to teach you all exactly how to do it, and yes, these are for you." He fixed Cypress with a good natured stare. "All of you."

Moving to the side, he placed the sparrow on the ground for later, and brought the mouse to them. It was fat and healthy, but even so, just a mouse... it would be a mere appetizer when split between five kits. "There's enough here for you all to share... but - it won't fill you up, so savor it. You'll have to chew it, and chew it well, and slowly, or you will choke. I'm sure Smokepetal and Plumleaf don't want to see a choking kit in their den today, hmm?" He locked gazes with each of his children in turn, expressing the seriousness of his statement, and then put one paw on the mouse, leaned down, and best as he could, tore it into five equal-sized pieces.

Sunfire placed a chunk of mouse in front of each kit, swiping his tongue across his now-bloodied mouth. "While you're eating, I have something to do - so I will be back shortly." He picked up the sparrow by one wing, letting the other drag the ground. "I'm serious... eat slowly. I want all of you to have some left when I get back."

With that, he turned and left them to it. While they were distracted, the young warrior dragged the sparrow all around camp, making sure that the one wing was always touching the ground. He ignored the peculiar looks from a few other SkyClanners as he did this, finally finding a spot to hide the sparrow. He plucked a single feather from its body, and then returned to the nursery.

"The bird is for you, but, you've got to find it first. We're going to play a game... first one to find it gets first bite. Finish your mouse first, though, and have a quick rest if you need it." He knew that the small amount of fresh kill they'd had from the mouse wasn't going to be enough, and that they'd probably be eager to search for more, especially if it got them out of the nursery.


OOC: If you want your kits to hunt for the sparrow after they've eaten, have them search, and roll a hunting dice! The highest roll at the end finds the bird! If two of you tie for highest they will reach the sparrow at the same time! This is completely voluntary, no one has to do it if they don't want to or if it's not in their kit's personality. :) Don't write finding the sparrow into your post until everyone has rolled, then I'll do a post to answer the highest roller's.

Cypresskit squealed in delight, squirming away from her father’s paw. Wait- it was for them? Really? For reals? “Wait a moment, Da, don’t listen ta them! I didn’t say I wanted both ‘a them, I’m not that big yet! I just wanted- oooh! Mouse? Yeah, I’ll be real careful, just watch how careful I can be! Lookit!”

Sunfire divided the mouse into roughly-equal pieces, and so, obviously, it would be Cypresskit’s responsibility to divide them up. Of course. “Lookit, B’s the biggest so I think ‘e gets the biggest piece, right? We gots ta be fair about this. ‘Ere, I’ll take this un.”

Her coloured paw darted out to snatch a piece (not the biggest, of course, she wasn’t lying about Bearkit) and she swiftly sunk her jaws into it. Hmm. Very odd, but good. As long as she got the first bite, she didn’t really care who got the biggest piece- although, of course, she was always up for an argument. She raised her muzzle from the prey, licking blood from her fur. “Oooh… me likee!”

For a moment, she ate in peace, quickly finishing off her bit of mouse. Hmm. Not as filling as she’d like. Hmm. Suddenly, Sunfire returned, with news of- a game? “Oh! Oh! I play! I play! I’m real hungry still, promise! C’mon guys, beat ya to it!”

The she-kit scampered out into camp, wildly glancing about and pouncing on everything that moved. What did the sparrow look like again?

The member 'Cocoa' has done the following action : Dice roll

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'Hunting Dice' : 7

At the information that the prey was for all of them, Bubblekit let out a happy squeal, bright eyes looking up at her father. "Wow, so cool! Thanks, Daddy!" He split it up into equal pieces for them, because of course he did. He was so smart and awesome that he could think of anything. Even Cypresskit couldn't be unhappy with his fair decision. She nodded eagerly as he explained that they needed to eat slowly. She had trouble doing anything slowly, but for him, she would try. Of course, Cypress took it upon herself to divide the pieces of up. Since she gave Bearbear the biggest piece, Bubblekit rolled her eyes, but accepted it anyway. There was no point in squabbling when she was getting to try real prey for the first time! She could barely hold in her excitement as she bent down, taking a medium-sized mouthful--not too big, and not too small--for her first ever taste. It was so pungent at first that she second-guessed herself, but just a moment of chewing led to the richest flavor she'd ever tasted bursting across her tongue. So this was what apprentices and warriors got to eat all the time? She'd never drink milk again! She barely had the presence of mind to keep herself from wolfing the thing down in one bite. Instead, she savored its flavor, feeling herself let out a light purr as she did so. This was great. She'd always been happy, but this was the happiest she'd ever been.

Sooner than she would have liked, it was gone. But... for her first time eating prey, she'd been very satisfied. Still--she found herself wanting more. It had tasted so good, Bubblekit felt like she could have eaten it until she exploded. Boom! But before she could think anymore about bursting into a million million pieces, Sunfire came back into the room, telling them he'd thought of a game. "Ooh, a game?" Her mind was immediately taken off of its previous line of thought. She stood up from her reclining position, eyes shining. Hide and seek, trying to find the sparrow? Perfect! She had always been the greatest at hide and seek! Cypress darted off immediately, claiming that she'd beat the rest of them to it. Bubblekit allowed herself one moment to clean her whiskers before letting out a happy cry and scampering out of the nursery and into camp. Her eyes scanned the clearing, dashing around to different places, trying to check under every nook and cranny. She looked even in the hiding places she'd never used before. Where could it be?

The member 'Ash' has done the following action : Dice roll

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'Hunting Dice' : 3

The member 'Moth' has done the following action : Dice roll

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'Hunting Dice' : 8