Bite-sized Adventure (o)

Walking all day should’ve tired her out. But any cat who believed that underestimated Daisykit and her boundless sense of adventure. Maybe a more settled life would have seen her content to stay huddled in the warm pile of her siblings, their thick fur the perfect defense against the night chill. But Daisykit didn’t seem to be content with anything less than cataloging and exploring every new thing she came across. The day’s trek had been uneventful, more grass to sniff and strange-patterned bugs to follow until someone called her back to the group. Now, with Silverpelt fanning out to light her path, the bi-colored kit squeezed herself out from under Molekit’s bulk where she had been conserving warmth. Gently, she nudged both her littermates, amber eyes bright with mischief. “I’m going to go look at that cool tree we saw earlier.” She whispered, tail twitching back and forth in excitement, it’s white tip a blurr. She flicked an ear towards her mother to make sure the gray queen was still asleep.

Grinning, the she-kit bounded off towards the tree, avoiding the sleeping shapes of her clanmates bedded down in the grass. It was up to her siblings to keep up if they wanted to come. The object of her attention wasn’t far from where the traveling cats had grouped off to settle down for the night, still well-within earshot, but the distance seemed like a trek in itself to the kit. At first she just admired it, the slender reach of its branches, the wide leaves stained in dark reds and browns from the cold setting in. And then she thought about the wide leaves, and the sound they made when they brushed together. That’s when Daisykit decided she needed a leaf from this specific tree, because they would be gone tomorrow and she may never see it again.

With broad shoulders set in determination, the kitten gazed up at the leaves, paws buzzing with excitement. “I bet I could climb a tree.” She mused to Molekit, rump wiggling as she prepared to spring. “Look how strong my shoulders are!” With a little growl of self-encouragement, Daisykit leapt at the trunk and sunk her claws into the bark. Gracelessly and relying more on the strength of her puny limbs and sheer determination than any actual skill, the kit scraped her way up the trunk and onto a low-branch. She kicked out her back legs as she hauled herself fully onto the branch, leaving shallow marks where her claws had caught and pulled.

Daisykit looked down at Molekit from the dizzying distance. Feeling nothing but elevation as the world sprawled out underneath her. She was unafraid of the height or the precarious swaying of her perch. She puffed out her chest, feeling like one of the leaders when they leapt up onto whatever spot they could find to hold sporadic ceremonies. She could see the whole world from up here after all! Using her tail for balance, she wobbled over to one of the many colorful leaves and plucked it from its place. “Here!” She called down to the tom-kit. “Catch!”

She watched in fascination as the leaf spiraled down to the ground. Grinning, she grabbed another leaf and threw that one down too, and one more, just in case she lost the first one. With her goal accomplished, the kit moved to climb back down. Only, she couldn’t figure out how to get down. Climbing up was easy, but she couldn’t just slide down the trunk face-first towards the ground. The gray and white kit twitched an ear nervously. “Uh Molekit? I think I’m stuck.”