welcome to the human race [C]

Falconkit couldn’t keep from grinning. Maybe it was the wind felt a little fresher tugging through his fur, or it was the silly way Ryekit came popping--and subsequently rolling--through the gorse wall, but he just couldn’t keep a smile off his face. As soon as his new, decidedly best, friend had recovered from his sneeze, Falconkit was inserting himself right at Ryekit’s side, hoisting himself up on the stockier toms shoulders to place his forepaws on his head. ”A good idea?” He echoed, ruffling the already-scruffy fur on Ryekit’s head. ”Rye, this was a great idea. If you keep coming up with things like this, then we’ll be friends for life.” Falconkit craned his neck so Ryekit could see his grin get even wider. Then he clambered down and strode a few paces away, taking the deepest breath he ever had as he went.

”Now, we can’t be gone for too long,” he said when he exhaled, ”’cause someone’ll start to get suspicious, or notice. And I don’t wanna get in trouble with Dad.” The thought made him cringe a little bit. He could stomach Brightripple’s disappointment--only barely--but consequence from Tigerstar made his fur crawl. It wouldn’t be so bad if his father weren’t the leader, and repercussion didn’t mean more coming from him. Falconkit sighed the thought away and looked back over his shoulder. ”But that doesn’t mean we can’t enjoy ourselves, yeah?” And just like that, he was off, with only a quick, ”Race ya!” thrown over his shoulder to signify they were now running.

Despite his propensity for soaking up sunrays as opposed to burning up all his energy, Falconkit loved to stretch his legs. He loved to run; it was in his blood, as a WindClan cat; as the leader’s son. It was in his build, his narrow ribs and legs already proving to be long. Racing his siblings from one end of camp to the other was a second favorite pastime of his. But this-- this… The grass whipping at him as he ran past, the tug of the wind threatening to pull him off the ground, the pounding that thrummed from the earth into his pads and ran all the way to his brain…

It was like getting struck by lightning. He’d never felt so alive.

Howls of laughter pealed out of Falconkit as he ran. He didn’t know where he was racing toward; just that he was. Eventually, his paws led him to the top of a small hill. He had to stop anyway to catch his breath. His sides were heaving and his jaw was slack trying to recover from the burnt wind. His nerves and veins were all sizzling and trying to wiggle out of place. From the top of his little hill, he could see the valley that made up camp in the near-distance. Far, far away, he could see tall, jagged figures that must have been trees; he could see stones that looked like teeth rising right into the sky. And the sky--beautiful, cloudless blue, stretching out in every direction, a blanket of infinity. Falconkit tried to look at the sun, but it made his eyes burn, so he quickly looked away.

The wideness of Falconkit’s smile and the narrowness of his pupils gave him a wild, half-mad look when he turned to watch Ryekit catch up. For several moments, he was too awestruck--and too breathless--to speak. He simply demonstrated his excitement by looking back and forth between the other tom and the rolling fields around them. Oh--are those flowers? There was no shortage of sights to take in. Falconkit swallowed down the dryness in his mouth and panted, ”We gotta think of somethin’ to do out here.” His tail curled happily over his back and inspiration lit up his eyes. ”Think we’re fast enough to catch a rabbit?”

Of course Ryekit was his new best friend for life. This just affirmed it. All of this: the grand idea and the wind in his lungs and the electricity coursing through his paws. Falconkit couldn’t stop from laughing as Ryekit came gallumphing over to him, nearly barreling into him. Not at Ryekit; not at anything at all, really. There was just too much joy in him for his body to contain, and it needed expelled. When he came down from laughing, Falconkit managed to nod at the other tom’s words. ”That’s fine,” he said. ”I mean, kits and elders eat first anyway, right?” He winked and started to stride off again, slower this time.

Though they’d been half-snatched by the wind, he’d processed the words Ryekit attempted before being left in the dust. They went on his time… with a family as big as his, it was easy to go unnoticed amidst them all. But on the other paw, there was no shortage of eyes resting on the leader’s kits, and someone was bound to note his absence… likely sooner than he would’ve liked. Falconkit grimaced slightly as he padded along. That just meant they had to be fast. But they were WindClan cats--fast was what they did best.

Falconkit plodded along a little directionlessly, chatting idly with Ryekit until something that smelled like the fresh-kill pile caught the attention of his nose. He immediately shushed them both and trotted in the direction of the scent. When he crested a hill and looked down into its valley, he saw it: a rabbit, standing on its hind legs and swiping its paws over its face. It was so… strange, to see one alive and moving. Falconkit’s blood quickly started to thrum in his veins. His pupils narrowed to slits and he took a tentative step forward. "Hey." His voice was low, heavy with uncharacteristic seriousness. His ears were turned fully forward and his whiskers quivered with eagerness. "Watch this."

With that, he shot off down the hill. Gravity helped him in catching the rabbit more than actual skill did. Falconkit barreled clumsily into the slope and collided hard with the rabbit. They rolled, a mess of orange-and-brown fur. The rabbit was nearly bigger than he was, but Falconkit was determined to come out on top. Eventually his frantically snapping teeth managed to catch something sensitive, biting its throat just hard enough to put an end to its fighting. Falconkit held on until it stopped twitching; only then did he untangle the mess of limbs they'd become, right himself, and set the rabbit down. "I did it..." he breathed out, eyes slowly widening. His head snapped up to look back at Ryekit up the hill. "I DID IT!" Falconkit hollered up the rise. He bounced eagerly between paws, tail waving proudly behind him. "Come on, come down here! Let's eat!"

Foxkit attempted to catch a rabbit... attempt successful! -2 EP.