Upon The Wind, It's Carried [open]

Pale shadows crept across the soft dusting of snow that blanketed the camp, the iridescent specks of light that framed the partially-frozen snow occasionally catching in the weak early morning sun. Blotched little face peeking out from around the shallow shelter offered by the Tallrock, the young kit was carefully observing the relatively empty clearing- very obviously checking to make sure that no particular cat was watching him too closely. The last time he had tried to escape, the Queen who had been watching him had caught him before he had even taken two steps outside! He didn't want to get that same fierce scolding all over again; especially if his mother found out again. Although his mother had left in the earliest hours of the morning, Brindleface had thoroughly warned against going out- Shrikekit was still too young to safely leave the warmth provided by the den without running the risk of catching a chill.

Hmph! It wasn't like any of the other kits weren't allowed to go out and play, despite all of them being close in age!

When the clearing seemed empty enough to successfully leave Brindleface's den without immediately getting caught, Shrikekit bolted out several steps into the surprisingly deep snowdrift. Nearly tumbling head over heels after colliding with the soft mess of icy slush, the young black and white tom found himself floundering through the deepest pockets of snow, sharp chin titled upwards as he huffed and puffed.

Fernstep was eating a piece of prey when she noticed a little kit struggling in the snow. She couldn’t help but chuckle and wish she had her own, but alas patchpaw was still too young. She padded towards the little kit and realized who it was. “Need any help there young Shrikekit?” she asked while looking down at the young kit.

Violently sneezing out a lungful of snow, Shrikekit promptly redirected his wide gaze to Fernstep, undercurrents of exhaustion weighing down his limbs as he continued to flounder uselessly in the snow. Alright so, his current plan backfired. Who knew that snow could be deep? Next time he'd be prepared for this obstacle. Feeling the slowly melting snow creep through the wild mane of his fur, the little tom hurriedly weighed his options; Fernstep could easily pull him out of the snow and probably not make too much of a fuss, or he could not embarrass himself anymore and escape the snow on his own efforts. The last thing he wanted was one of the cats closer to his age witnessing this entire ordeal!

Giving a final, futile kick that did absolutely nothing, Shrikekit puffed out a little snort of exhaustion. Going totally slack and chin bumping against the slightly frozen crust of the snow, he gave a dramatic sigh of defeat. "Yes please!" The little tom finally squawked out, dark eyes a puddle of warm light as he peered up at the older Warrior.

Fernstep nodded and picked up the little bundle of cold fur and brought him over to an area with little to no snow. “I can bring you back into the nursery but I know how boring it gets in there so I won’t do that to you.” she mewed while smiling. She laid down as her fluffy fur had snow in it from grabbing Shrikekit. She groomed her bengal pelt before wrapping her big fluffy brown tail around her side.

"It's not fair!" Shrikekit squawked, voice sharpened by the unpleasant strain of being carried by his scruff, "We're supposed to stay in the Nursery or some of the other dens during weather like this, but there's nothing to do. There's not even enough space for any games or something fun!" The blotched little tom's features screwed up in a blatant display of disdain, hardly bothering to hide his annoyance of having to spend precious daylight trapped in the stifling confines of the Leafbare shelters. It was so boring! There was hardly anything to do other than sleep, and you could hardly do that considering how cramped it always was! Giving himself such a rigorous that his teeth were promptly and audibly rattled, glinting flecks of half-frozen sludge and ice were cast out in every direction in a shimmering little snowstorm.

Suddenly rounding on Fernstep with a surprising amount of speed and dexterity for a half-frozen kit, there was a pleading note of excitement simmering in the depths of his gaze. "Isn't there anything fun to do? I feel like I'm going to die of boredom any minute!"