going underground

Sunlight streamed in through the walls of the nursery, and Crakekit immediately jumped out of the nest he shared with his mother, shaking moss out of his kit-soft fur. Amber eyes surveyed the den as he looked for another kit to play with, and disappointment rang sharp as he was greeted by still sleeping clanmates, and he was not risking Swallowtail's wrath to wake up another kit. Sighing in resignation, he rested his caramel muzzle on equally brown mottled paws, figuring he'd have another boring day of desperately craving his apprentice ceremony.

"Go on dear, I can sense your restlessness. I'm sure one of the apprentices will be able to entertain you," because on Riverstar herself, I need sleep. his mother left out, but gave her son a quick rasp in between his ears as a signal of approval for him to leave the den on his own.

Immediately the tom scampered from their shared nest out into the exciting world of the RiverClan camp, and gazed around in absolute wonderment like he had so many times before. But this time was different, this time he was all on his own with no mother stepping on his tail and withholding him from any exciting activities he may not have access to otherwise. Purring loudly, Crakekit hoped someone would come along and give him something to do!

Waterkit was playing with his brother in a wrestling match, they were both trying to see who was the better fighter and Waterkit was winning. Waterkit got distracted by a kit running out of the nursery and whitekit pinned him. “Ugh, fine you win!” He mewed getting to his tiny white paws and shaking any dirt out of his white fluff. He noticed the kit was looking around and decided to go up to him. “What are you looking for?” He mewed as he sat down, wrapping his big fluffy tail around his paws.

The thickly-woven swath of reeds and grasses, carefully maintained at every opportunity to conceal the vulnerable contents of the camps, shuddered violently as Nettlesplash strode back into the confines of camp. Drenched coat, irrefutable evidence of his early morning patrol rotation, glistened in the strong early morning sunlight- bathing the massive tom in varying hues of vibrant reds and golds that stuck out against the backdrop of pale greenery associated with Newleaf. Giving himself a rigorous shake that sent a storm of chilly river water spattering in all different directions, the soft scuffle of paws and low chatter of voices against the otherwise silent morning atmosphere quickly caught his attention. After spending the majority of his already lackluster morning out making the rounds alongside the rest of the dawn patrol, all he wanted was the ability to indulge in a little peace and quiet without fear of some kits sticking their noses somewhere they didn't belong, or even worse; toppling head first into the overly full river.

"You know," Nettlesplash eventually rumbled out, "Just because you're without supervision, doesn't mean you have free reign- I don't think any of the Queens would appreciate having to start their mornings by plucking you two out of the river."

The two brothers decided to spend their morning mostly play fighting. This particular "match" was going on for some time. Waterkit seemed to be winning when all of a sudden, he lost his focus. Whitekit took this opportunity to turn it around pin his brother. That ended the round. He grinned at his victory then got off and released his brother once he admitted defeat. Whitekit was just about to ask if they were going to play some more when he saw the other begin to walk away. He seemed to be talking to somebody but the older kit couldn't tell who it was from where he stood. He began to approach and once he was close enough, he saw that his brother was speaking to another kit. This one was younger than them and appeared to be waiting for someone or something.

As Whitekit was about to ask what was going on, he heard a new voice join in. This one seemed to belong to the warrior that was headed their way. The kit cracked a smile at the warrior's comment and then walked up to him. "I don't think that'd be a good start to anyone's morning but it'll sure wake 'em up." he said with a cheeky grin. "I'm Whitekit by the way. My brother over there is Waterkit. I'm not sure the other kit's name though." He said the last part while looking over at the third kit with an apologetic expression. He then turned back to the warrior before asking, "What's your name?"

Dovekit was lying in her nest, bored beyond words. She saw her two brothers having a mock wrestling match, but didn’t want to join. She was scared of the unknown and didn’t want to get hurt. She wrapped her cream and gray tabby fur around her, the snowy-white base barely shown in the tabby markings. ‘Whitekit? Who is that?” She whispered, slightly frightened and nervous.

Excitement caused his whiskers to tremble as some of the older kits approached him, and as he opened his mouth to chirp out a response to Waterkit, a warrior currently unknown to him berated the tomkit for an act he was not even thinking of committing. Scorn burned in amber depths, and once more he was interrupted as he opened his mouth to retort something equally as dumb, Whitekit stepped in and attempted to smooth the ruffled pelts. Crakekit's tail twitched to and fro in annoyance, he'd come to play with his clanmates, how dare this tom try and take this away from him? Though luckily the entitled kit had the sense to keep his mouth shut, more in fear of annoying his mother than this bully of a warrior.

"I'm Crakekit," the caramel tom replied, forcing his fur to lie flat and tail to stop twitching. He was starting to come back to his senses a little more, and the rage that had spurred him before dripped away like water off a leaf. "We weren't planning on going into the river, this might be my first time in camp on my own but I'm not that minnow-brained!" The kit huffed, although a begrudging glimmer of humour had returned to his eyes and his tail had completely ceased its movement.

Waterkit smiled in excitement as more cats came. His sister showed up also and than the kit started to speak. “Let’s all play a game!” He mewed wanting them all to play together, okay maybe not the warrior.

Shaking away the nagging droplets that stubbornly clung to his sodden coat, effortlessly kept away from his actual skin by the sheer density of his pelt, Nettlesplash dropped a broad shoulder into the sand-softened earth of the camp, flopping down onto his side with all of the grace of a completely blind badger attempting to navigate a swath of thorns. Watching the various expressions dusting of expressions crossing the throng of young kit's soft features, ranging from defensiveness to outright deference, his drowsy expression of casual disinterest sharpened into an infuriating little crooked smile as his whiskers twitched in silent laughter.

Rolling his shoulders in a secondary attempt to chase away the stubborn tendrils of sleepiness, the burly tom's joints gave a satisfying crack beneath the untamed mess of his coat as he continued to observe the young kits' plethora of reactions to his warning. Although he had spent countless days in the Nursery back whenever he had been tasked with raising his younger littermates, he hardly bothered giving the den a second glance these days- it wasn't like he had a reason to be so involved anymore.

"Ah, my apologies." Nettlesplash's low voice rumbled out as he eyed the ruffled Crakekit, amusement painfully heavy on his lolling tongue, "I had no idea I was speaking to an experienced Warrior. Perhaps Lichenstar will task you with the duty of making sure your denmates understand the same thing; especially when the snow-melt floods and heavy rains make the waters rise even more." The red-furred tom's thick tail twisted absently around the hard muscle of his hindlegs as he shifted once more, whiskers trembling softly in the light morning breeze. Committing each of the hastily done introductions to each respective features, the tom's jaws parted leisurely in a wide yawn. "I'm Nettlesplash." Nettlesplash blithely introduced, attention quickly redirecting to Waterkit with an arched brow as he waited for the little tom to continue.