Nestled in and warm (Tiny)

[Wolfie]

    As the last bits of night turned to day, Nightstream opened er eyes and glazed around. She was in the nursery in which she has been for the last three moons. One moon before her birth. She should have returned to her warrior duties, but after the lost of her litter another queen had passed away, leaving behind her four kits ad the father turned a nose and left them, much to her anger. She lost her litter and mate and that tom had his kits and he refused them. She loved kits and would do anything to have her own.

    As she shifted her glaze to the four adoptive kits, her glaze was loving and caring. She bent down to lick each of there heads. Three of them were 5 moons while the other was 2 moons. She let out a purr as she stood. She made sure them were all wrapped together, before pushing out of the nursery. She made her way to the fresh kill pile, but stopped and looked at nursery every few seconds to make sure there was nothing harming her adoptive kits. As she made her pick of a large rabbit and one mouse, she took the meal back to the nursery. The older kits were eating food now, while the younger one was a mixture.  As she pushed into the den, she placed the food down and called to them, "My dears, I bought you all food."

[Tiny]

Just a few more pawsteps and she had made it…she could taste it now. Aspenkit was so close to being out of the nursery for the first time in her two moons of life. The little kit was so bored, all her mother and bigger siblings did was smother her. She couldn’t play with the bigger kits (she was too little), she couldn’t pounce on her siblings (they were scared they would hurt her because she was too little), and she couldn’t go out of the nursery (she was too little and sickly). The common part of their reasoning was that she was too little. But Aspenkit didn’t believe that at all. She was just as big as her siblings, wasn’t she? She only had to look up at them some of the…..well most of the time. But as her luck would have it she was quickly grabbed by the scruff and dragged away from the entrance of the nursery.


”Ooid! Fafs no aiw!”  Came the complaints from the tiny brown tabby kitten as she looked at her big brother. Sootkit was being mean again and not letting her have fun. Her brother just sighed and placed her back in the nest. He had woken up just after his sister had stirred, and knew she would be up to no good once their adopted mother left. And Aspenkit knew she was going to go crazy soon.


The moment Sootkit became distracted by one of his other siblings (pretty much he curled back up and went to sleep), the tiny kit bounded the other way and out of the nursery. She let out a delighted mewl at her success. Her golden eyes were wide as she scanned her surroundings. Everything looked so different out here. She found herself bouncing up and down in excitement, completely forgetting about the cold that she had or anything else. Her mother didn’t want any of the other warriors or apprentices to contaminate her, so she was pretty much kept isolated from anyone other than her siblings. Aspenkit thought this was silly. But now she had a taste of what it was like outside.


Seconds later she realized there was something falling from the sky and her fur became wet. She didn’t understand what was going on, and didn’t know if she liked this or not. The second she realized it was rain, the kit began to mewl and run straight back for the nursery. Curling up just inside, she began to try and wash away all of the droplets with her tongue. She didn’t like that rain stuff, it was wet and cold and made her sneeze. With a huff, she realized this was taking too long. Aspenkit got onto her paws and shook herself, her fur drying slightly, but still was wet and she was annoyed. Why would Sootkit let her do something like this anyway? Was he mousebrained? Glaring at her brothers, she saw they were still occupied. With a deep sigh, she curled into a ball, trying to warm up. Right now she was too cold to think about going over there. Maybe she would just stay here for a few minutes to warm up, then go attack him. Yes, that sounded like a plan.

It was getting cold over here by herself and the moment her mother came into view and began speaking, the little kit perked up. In her mind, Nightstream was her real mother. She had never known any different. She called Nightstream her mother and didn’t believe it when her other siblings said otherwise. Aspenkit stumbled from her spot over to her mother and mewled excitedly. She was happy her mother was awake and now that she was too, she could play! But when she saw what her mother had brought them, her eyes were wide. The rabbit was bigger than she was! Instead of eating it like her bigger siblings, Aspenkit tried to pounce on it, only to fall. The smallest kit thought the food was a new toy to play with.

Sootkit, however, instantly woke up at the smell of food and bounded over to Nightstream. He stared at his little sister and shook his head. He would let Nightstream deal with that. Instead, he grabbed the mouse (since his siblings were still asleep) and dragged it over to where he could eat it on his own. This was his favorite meal. ”Thank you Nightstream.” he said politely. Sootkit may not see Nightstream as their true mother, because he remembered the old one, but he still respected her.

Translation: ”Ooid! Fafs no aiw!” = Sootkit! That’s not fair!
Note: She was standing under a tree that had droplets of water, therefore she thought she was being rained on.

[distressedmoon]

  In the tight bundled of warm comfort, slept the one of the older she-cats in the litter, Juniperkit. Even when Nightstream arose to her paws, even after Aspenkit and Sootkit broke form the group, and even with the arising excitement over the prey brought to the nursery, none of that could awake this heavily sleeping kit. Juniperkit did awake however, when to the mouth watering smell of prey drifted to her pink noes. Padding up to the large rabbit that lied on the floor, Juniperkit quickly started to scarf down it's soften flesh. "Thank you Nightstream!" She grunted between moments of gulping down her food.

  Juniperkit nearly choked in surprise as the rabbit began to move. Much to her relief, the movement was caused by Aspenkit's batting on the rabbit's head. Swiping her tongue over her jaws, Juniperkit joined by Aspenkit's side. She gave her little sister quick licks on her forehead and mewed. "How are you doing, Aspenkit?"

[Wolfie]

As Nightstream came into the nursery she noticed Aspenkit coming up to her. She let out a purr as her adoptive kit came up to her. She loved the kit with all her heart. Even if she can not speak propertly she was still perfect to her. In fact she loved all four of her adoptive kits. She reached down to lick her head then noticed her playing with the rabbit. She reached forward and grasped her by the scuff and placed her by her older siblings. "That is for food, Aspenkit, not play. The warriors and apprentice worked hard to catch that. Understand? And why are you wet?" She grunted as she crouched down and licked most of the water off of her fur to warm her up.

Then she smiled at Juniperkit and Sootkit. "You two are very welcome, dears," She purred and licked all three of tbere heads. She turned to Eaglekit and nudged him awake. He opened his eyes and grunted at Nightstream. He padded past her to his siblings before settling next to Juniperkit. He began to eat and between bites he smiled at his siblings. "Morning Sootkit and Juniperkit! And good morning Aspenkit!" He purred before flicking his tail at her nose. Out of the corner of his eyes he saw Nightstream lay on her side boocking the nursery entrance.

[Tiny]

Aspenkit

The little kit was having so much fun with her new toy. It didn’t matter that it was bigger than her, she still was trying her best to play with it. She couldn’t wait till she was big enough to catch rabbits like this! She could just see herself with a rabbit, trying to drag it along after she caught it. Her bigger siblings were almost apprentices. Maybe she could ask to be made an apprentice with them, after all she’s not that much younger than them.

Aspenkit’s game was interrupted when she heard a voice and she felt a tongue on her forehead. She blinked quickly, letting go of her fun and turned to see who had stopped her fun. ”Ipkid!”(1) she mewled happily, seeing her big sister was finally awake. ”I ood!”(2) Aspenkit added. She bounced on her paws, around and around Juniperkit.

But then the new voice interrupted and she saw her mother. She mewled with delight, bouncing all over again. When she was picked up, the kit instantly went limp. She liked being picked up and not knowing where her paws were going to touch next. She didn’t struggle, only if she was being picked up for causing too much trouble. Not when it was something simple like this.

Her eyes stared at the rabbit. She was suppose to eat that? No way! She thought it was something to play with. When she was questioned about being wet she grinned wide. ”Mama, I o owide. I wain on. Old.” Aspenkit sounded so proud when she began to speak at first, then when she realized she was cold, she shivered again. Her little body was no used to the cold, she was always by the warmth of her siblings or her mother. She began to purr, her whole body now shaking with the purr as she felt herself getting warmer and warmer with her mother’s tongue getting rid of all the cold. She was just about to bury herself in her mother’s warmth when her mother turned to her brother.

When her other brother was finally awake she knew she could be as loud as she wanted. She had been told over and over that she had to be quiet until all her siblings were awake. Now that all three were awake, she no longer had to contain herself. She squeaked as she saw her brother’s tail coming near her. She wanted to pounce, but lost her balance and landed face first. ”Eegykid!”(4) she said, happy to see all her siblings up. She quickly recovered from her fall, like usual, and managed to sit back up.

She noticed her mother was no longer right there beside her and began to whine. She didn’t like when mommy was that far away! Aspenkit spotted her near the nursery entrance and purred. She watched her siblings eat for a few moments, then went to Nightstream, crashing into her fur and grinning up at her. ”Mama, o owide?” she asked, pointing to the entrance with her tail.


Translation: 1. Juniperkit. 2. I’m good. 3. Mama, I go outside. I was rained on. Now I’m cold. 4. Eaglekit! 5. Mama, can I go outside?


Word Count: 506
Tags: Siblings, Nightstream

[distressedmoon]

 
 A soft purr escaped Juniperkit's throat as Aspenkit hopped around her. She was always glad to see her younger sister with so much energy, mostly cause of how sick she was at birth. When little Aspenkit mewled though, it was a bit hard for Juniperkit to understand. Ears flicking slightly, she mewed back. "You're good then?" Very slowly so that Aspenkit could possibly pick up on the correct way of speaking. Aspenkit won't become a good warrior if she can't mew right. Juniperkit thought thoroughly.

 Juniperkit's thoughts were interrupt as Eaglekit brushed her nose and pelt. She gave a playful look at her large brother, feeling a challenge to fight raising inside her. Eaglekit and Juniperkit always would have the best play fights, though he would win most of the time. That doesn't matter though, not after she beats him this time!

  "Say, you up for a fight? Or have you gotten fat in  your laziness." Fierce words, at lest Juniperkit thought they were. Juniperkit lowered herself to the nursery ground, green eyes sparking with defiance.

 
 

[Wolfie]

    Nightstream listened to her adoptive kit carefully as she spoke. She felt a small purr when she called her mama, but then grunted as she slowly caught on and put two and two together. She went outside one her own. She crouched down so she was eye level with Aspenkit. "You know mama and your siblings don't want you outside on your own, my dear. You are so small. Next time please ask first, okay, my dear kit?" Nightstream mewed gently. 

    While she was laying down she watched the four siblings interact with each other and chuckled. She heard Juniterkit taunt Eaglekit and chuckled, kit play. She remembered when she and her brother did that. "If you two are going to wrestle, do it outside, it's a nice day." Then, just as she was about to begin grooming her fur she felt a small weight upon her and she looked at Aspenkit. She listened again and they were similar words as before. She smiled at Aspenkit, "Yes, I think all of us should go outside, as long as you promise to listen when I call for you or it's back in the nursery for you for another whole moon at least."

    Eaglekit smiled as his sister greeted him. He sat before the tiny she-cat and smiled. "Morning, sis. Can you say morning?" He asked her in a friendly tone. He wanted to help her and make sure she could speak by the time her apprenticeship took place. Then, he growled as his sister called Nightstream mama and she called Aspenkit her kit. He lashed his tail as he glared at Nightstream. "She's not our mama," Eaglekit said to Aspenkit, before turning to Nightstream, "As she is not your kit." In which Nightstream let out a small sigh and her eyes became sad for a moment before disappearing.

     Then he turned to his sister and growled. "Me fat and lazy? I am broad and wild!" He crouched down ready to spring, before Nightstream's warning. He smirked at his sister as he tackled her, before standing up and running out the entrance. "I bet you three couldn't catch me!" He called to Sootkit, Juniterkit, and even Aspenkit.

[Tiny]

Aspenkit

Her words were slow and shaky as she first started speaking, her vocal cords were not accustomed to so many words coming out of her mouth at a time. But her eyes were sparkling as she received so much attention. Aspenkit nodded fiercely as her sister questioned her. Of course, that’s exactly what she had just said. She had thought her words were getting better and the others were understanding her better. Or maybe it was them just getting used to her way of talking and understanding it more. The thought made the little kits ears drop.

When her sister began the challenge to her biggest brother, Aspenkit grinned wide. She wanted to play with them too! She was big enough now and now that she had a taste of what it was like outside she wanted to go back. ”Ee oo!”(1) she responded quickly.

At least mama understood what she was saying. She was glad of this. She had been so proud of her adventure but her mother didn’t seem to like that she had done something on her own. She was just trying to be like the bigger kits, why couldn’t anyone understand that she just wanted to be like them. She saw them going outside all the time, and it was something she had never seen. Aspenkit listened as mama told her she had to ask before going outside again and she nodded. But she wasn’t small, and she glared at Nightstream when that was mentioned. ”I no aww! I ig ike Eegykid!”(2) she huffed, upset that it had even been thought that she was small. And her response was to think of her biggest sibling and compare herself to them. She would though ask to go outside, she didn’t like to upset mama.

Everything changed the moment Eaglekit sat right in front of her and spoke. She blinked up at him and shook her head. That word was way too hard! It had taken her this long to say ‘mama’ right. That had been hard, and it was probably the only full word she could say that was correct. Even her siblings names were troublesome. But she loved her big brother, he was always so patient with her and tried to help her speak like the other big kits. ”Orig”(3) she tried, clearly proud of herself as she spoke a new word. Sure, it wasn’t anywhere near the correct way to say it, but anytime she could try a new word the little kit was excited.

But his next set of words confused her. Sure, she didn’t have as big of a problem understanding as she did speaking, but her brain was having trouble with this set of words. How was Nightstream not her mama? She took care of her, and she had been there for as long as Aspenkit could remember. She stared at Eaglekit with questioning eyes. Maybe she had misunderstood? It wouldn’t be the first time. She looked back and forth between Nightstream and Eaglekit. ”O! I Mama!”(4) she mewed, determined that yes, Nightstream was her mother. It was too hard for her brain to understand any other way. She had been led to believe that, so why wouldn’t it be true now. Then again, these same words were spoken just about every day, and Aspenkit fought back every day. She felt the anger going through her body and she buried herself deep into Nightstream’s fur, wanting the she-cat to know that she didn’t believe what her big brother was saying. Nightstream was her mother, as far as she was concerned.

Aspenkit watched her two siblings as they were about to go and play. When they took off to go to the entrance, she watched Sootkit get up also. He looked at her, smiled, and followed his siblings outside. He probably wouldn’t take part in their games, but he would most likely watch and if it got too rough, would stop it. But when Nightstream gave her the answer she was looking for, that she could go outside again, the little kit mewed in delight. It was more of a squeaking sound, than a mewling sound…then again half of what Aspenkit was different than what everyone else did.
”Fank oo mama! Oo o owide ooo?”(5) she asked blinking. She didn’t want to go outside without Nightstream. She wanted her mother to have fun with them too. She began to try and drag her mother by the paw, her kit teeth trying their best to get Nightstream up and coming outside.



Translation: 1. Me two. 2. I’m not small, I’m as big as Eaglekit. 3. Morning. 4. No, she is my Mama. 5. Thank you Mama. You go outside too?


Word Count: 757
Tags: Siblings, Nightstream

[Featherclaw]

Palewhisker grimaced as he noticed the group of kits bounding out of the nursery. He didn't usually rise this early, but when he did, he preferred for there to be peace and quiet. The cream tom stretched his back out lazily and began to thoroughly groom himself, wondering what had even possessed him to wake up this early in the first place. The sun had usually at least cleared the horizon before he could be roused from his nest. It must have been hunger, he thought as his stomach gave a low rumble. All he'd had last night was a stringy old frog, since all the best prey went to those mewling scraps in the nursery. He barely hid a snort of disgust - what cat in their right mind would ever want kits, let alone somehow decide to produce another litter before the first had even been weaned? It was no wonder the smallest one didn't turn out right.

His stomach rumbled again and Palewhisker flicked his tail. It seemed he would have to venture over to the fresh-kill pile whether he wanted to or not. And really, there was no reason he shouldn't. After all, he was one of the warriors who were actually providing the prey for those ravenous scraps of fur. If anything, they should be grateful to him - at least enough not to bother him as he was eating. But, he thought as he rose to his paws, kits rarely did what they should.

[Wolfie]

    Nightstream smiled gently as Aspenkit said she was as big as Eaglekit. She reached down and licked the kit on top of the head. "Oh dear, he's older then you, so he's a tad bigger, but you are becoming such a strong beautiful kit" She purred. Then, stood up and sighed as Eaglekit grunted about her being not the younger kit mother. She may not have given birth to this kit, but she sure felt like they were all her kits. She spoke nothing on this, but watched over the kits. She smiled as Aspenkit tried pulling her up by the paw. She stood up with her and followed he others out, "Of course, I will, Aspenkit." She noticed Palewhisker and nodded her head, surprise to see him up. "Morning, Palewhisker," she mewed.

    Eaglekit smiled as she tried pronouncing the word. He licked her cheek and smiled, "Good, try,keep practicing it and you will be speaking better then us!" He purred. Then, sighed as she defended Nightsream. There was no point. She never got to know there parents, although there father was alive. She turned to Aspenkit, Juniperkit, and Sootkit. "Lets play hide and seek!" He knew this was something their sister could keep up with. Then saw Palewhisker and nodded his tiny head.

[Featherclaw]

Palewhisker dipped his head in Nightstream's direction. "Good morning, Nightstream." he said calmly, swiping the plumpest vole he could find out of the fresh-kill pile and settling down with it nearby. He waved his tail in acknowledgement to Eaglekit, but kept his gaze focused on Nightstream. "Care to join me? You look exhausted. I bet you'll be glad to get out of the nursery in a moon or so, hm? The warrior's den is so much more quiet, aside from the occasional snoring."

As he took his first bite of the vole, his eyes couldn't help but fall on Eaglekit, and he frowned. He'd been threatened with getting assigned an apprentice before, to "improve his behavior," and this time he had the sickening feeling that his leader meant it. After all, three little fleabags were ripe for apprenticeship, right under his nose. Little pests.