Who's Hungry? (Open)

[Midnight]

The first thread for this experiment.

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Tigerkit had spent the entire morning yowling in the nursery, hoping someone would answer and he'd have a playmate. Unfortunately, that didn't happen, and that led the little brown tabby kitten out into the Clan's clearing. There were many sick cats around, but Tigerkit had managed to stay healthy in spite of it. There was a mischievous glint in his eyes, and although he really wanted to mess with someone, he wasn't sure it was going to happen.

The young tom meandered over to the fresh-kill pile, tail-tip twitching. What would he do today? Tigerkit flopped down, poking at a small mouse with his claws.

Idea! Tigerkit leaped up, grabbing the mouse and bolting into the medicine den. "Hey, who's hungry?!" The young feline squeaked after dropping the mouse. "I know you're all sick, so I wanted to bring you some fresh-kill. Anyone?!"

[Deleted]

Owlkit sat in the medicine den, still unable to get the image of Lilykit dying by his paws out of his head. A cough escaped him, but he didn't care. He didn't even want to fight the disease anymore. The always confident little tom was scared and alone. Well, not alone- there were plenty of coughing cats surrounding him- but he hadn't exactly had any visitors.

He looked up when he heard a voice at the den entrance. He thought he remembered that Tigerkit was his name, though he didn't really have the mental ability to think it through at that moment.

"Hey," he said weakly. It was the first time he had spoken since his last words to Lilykit.

[Asher]

Eaglekit coughed again. It happened so often now he had learned to ignore it. Lilykit's death had made him terrified. What if I die of greencough too? I'll never be a warrior! Eaglekit coughed some more and tears welled up in his eyes. Whether they were from sickness or Lilykit's death, he couldn't tell. Eaglekit curled up next to his denmate, Owlkit. The two had been sleeping together in the medicine den ever since Eaglekit got sick. Then, the new kit, Tigerkit stumbled into the den. "Hi there, Tigerkit." rasped Eaglekit.

[Whiteleaf]

A sleek black tom cat slipped through the entrance of the Midnightclan camp with a ball of moss in his jaws. As of yet, Swiftpaw had somehow managed to stay healthy from the greencough sickness that has been spreading through the clan. He didn't see many cats out as he glanced around the clearing, but he did spot a tiny kit near the fresh-kill pile. He silently watched as Tigerkit picked a mouse before darting towards the medicine cat den a couple moments later.

Following suit, Swiftpaw headed over towards the medicine den, knowing that they'd also probably need fresh bedding. When he reached it, the young apprentice poked his head through the entrance before shouldering his way in.

The stench of sickness was very evident, but Swiftpaw decided to try and ignore it. Dropping his ball of moss to the ground, he spotted two sickly kits talking to Tigerkit. "Hey guys, I got new bedding for you!" the tom mewed, trying to sound cheerful for their sake.

[Asher]

Eaglekit coughed, his lungs burning in pain. This is agony... StarClan come get me already... Just like you did to Lilykit... Swiftpaw padded in. "Hey guys, I got new bedding for you!" "Thank you Swiftpaw." rasped Eaglekit. His throat felt like it was on fire. Eaglekit tried to stand up so they could replace the bedding but he failed and stumbled on his side instead. "Ouch!" he hissed. I'm very weak...

[Midnight]

(Posting order so far: me, Fawn, Asher, and Whiteleaf. If anyone else joins, then they'll be put at the bottom of the order.)

There were more ill cats than Tigerkit expected. His ears fell to his head when he heard his peers coughing, and he tried to look as though he pitied them. he knew them only by name, and hadn't interacted with them much, if at all. Truth be told, Tigerkit couldn't care all that much less about these cats, Clanmates or not, without any sort of emotional attachment to them. but he'd fake it. He'd act the part he'd chosen.

"Hi, Owlkit and Eaglekit," Tigerkit mewed cheerfully. "I guess we'll need a change of plan. I didn't think there'd be so many of you guys in here!" The young tom did his best to tear the mouse into two halves, but he ended up with two small messes of meat on the ground in front of him. Tigerkit paused for a second, staring at the torn remains of the dead mouse, then shrugged and brought a piece to each of the kits.

Another voice entered the den, and Tigerkit jumped and whipped around. "Hi, Swiftpaw!" Tigerkit greeted the apprentice, running over to touch his nose to the apprentice's. Unfortunately, he was too short, so he fell back to the ground with a small thump. "Oof, I'm okay, don't worry," the tom grunted. Oh great, look at him, bringing fresh bedding to the sick ones. How special and cool is he, right?! How noble of him! What a loser, I had the idea of helping the sick first, Tigerkit thought, glaring up at Swiftpaw. The tom instantly looked away, blinking, and felt a flash of panic. Had Swiftpaw noticed?

"Hey, so do you guys want to play a game?" Tigerkit asked, turning to look at Owlkit and Eaglekit. "Maybe it'll take your mind off being sick, and then you won't feel so yucky!"

[Deleted]

Owlkit watched as Tigerkit absolutely shredded the prey he had brought for the sick. He would normally have been amused, but right now he felt too bad to care. He curled his tiny body closer to Eaglekit. They hadn't really been friends back in the nursery, but now, the two stuck close to each other pretty much constantly.

Swiftpaw entered a moment later, and Owlkit couldn't help but be excited by the idea of new moss that didn't smell of sickness.

"Thanks, Swiftpaw," he mewed weakly, then, almost as an afterthought, he mewed, "thanks for the prey too, Tigerkit." It wasn't that he didn't appreciate the prey, but it turned his stomach inside out to even have it near him- there was no way he could eat it.

Then he heard Tigerkit's offer to play. He would have laughed, but all that came out was a harsh cough that sent tremors through his body.

Then he saw Eaglekit trying to play, so he decided he might as well give it a shot. He stood slowly, his legs shaking violently underneath him, barely able to support his weight.

"Okay," he mewed hoarsely. It was all he could say before he was interrupted by another bout of coughing that sent him sprawling onto his face.

[Asher]

Eaglekit saw Owlkit try to stand up but failed, and sprawled onto his face. "Owlkit, are you alright?" rasped Eaglekit. Eaglekit wanted to play too, but could he? He felt so weak from the sickness and he could hardly talk.

"Maybe we should skip playing for now, Tigerkit." said Eaglekit, "I think we are too weak to play." Eaglekit looked at the shredded prey. There's no way I could eat. I'm sure Owlkit feels the same way. "Why don't you and Swiftpaw share the prey. I don't know if me or Owlkit can eat. Thank you for offering though and thanks for the moss Swi-" Eaglekit was interrupted by another bout of coughing. My throat...

Eaglekit lied down and curled up next to Owlkit. He started to groom the other cat's ears. "I hope we get better Owlkit."

OOC: Fawnstar, do you plan on killing Owlkit? Please don't!! Eaglekit will live and the two of them can be friends outside of the medicine den. What do you say?

[Whiteleaf]

The young apprentice smiled at Eaglekit when he had thanked him for the new bedding. but as Swiftpaw watched the determined, but weak, kit stumble and fall, the black tom looked away to hide his grimace. He really hoped the Midnightclan medicine cat could get the greencough epidemic that had swept the clan under control quickly.

He then shifted his gaze to Tigerkit and the two messy piles of meat he had made. "Hi Tigerkit," Swiftpaw mewed in response to the other kit, silver eyes widening in slight surprise when he had tried to touch noses with him. The apprentice rolled his eyes when he caught the glare Tigerkit had shot him, deciding to just to ignore it. He was just a kit, after all.

"You're welcome" he mewed to both Eaglekit and Owlkit, but Swiftpaw just stood there with the dry ball of moss still at his paws, not knowing what to do. The kits were obviously too weak to move get out of their nests, and the black tom didn't think that he should move them. Instead, he tried to pick up the torn up mouse Tigerkit had gotten and move it to the side, but a moment later, he quickly spit it out. With dread, Swiftpaw groaned. He realized too late that it probably was already contaminated by all of the coughing by the sick cats in the den.

[Midnight]

Of course his food wasn't appreciated. They didn't even want to eat it! Tigerkit growled at the two kits, pain flashing in his eyes. Why was it that nothing he ever did was enough? How come Swiftpaw got all the credit? "No, I brought the prey for you two! Eat it! You need to eat to keep your strength up! You don't want to starve, do you?! That would be even worse than dying of a cough!" He went to go grab the mouse again, but it wasn't where Tigerkit had set it. When he found it nearby, it looked as though there was spit on it. Swiftpaw had tried to eat the fresh-kill for the kits! Tigerkit shot another glare at Swiftpaw, this one much more obvious, and spat near the tom. How dare he? Just because he was older, he thought he was more important? "Why did you try to eat that when it was for Eaglekit and Owlkit? Do you want them to starve?!" Tigerkit squealed, crouching and flattening his ears against his head, his eyes growing wider.

Tigerkit decided to ignore Eaglekit's declination to play, instead padding over to Swiftpaw, ripping off a piece from the ball of moss he'd brought, and flung it at Eaglekit. "Okay, your turn! Fling it back!" Tigerkit squeaked, jumping around the ill kits' nest.

[Lionhearted]

The dark, fawn-colored apprentice padded gracefully through the camp, his large, wide eyes sweeping the Clan. His jaws watered as he smelled food... in the medicine cats' den?

Then, just as he was about to peer into the den, he backed up slightly as he heard loud voices coming from within.

"You're welcome," said Swiftpaw's familiar voice.

"No, I brought the prey for you two! Eat it! You need to eat to keep your strength up! You don't want to starve, do you?! That would be even worse than dying of a cough! Why did you try to eat that when it was for Eaglekit and Owlkit? Do you want them to starve?!"

A couple of scuffles, and Mudpaw smiled slightly in amusement. The voice was that of an overemotional, over-worrisome kit. "Okay, your turn! Fling it back!" squealed the same kitten's voice. They had obviously decided to abandon the food... or were they playing with it? In the medicine cats' den? This was not appropriate.

Picking up a vole from the fresh-kill pile, Mudpaw returned to the medicine cats' den, and walked inside. No, to his relief, they weren't playing with the food. It was a moss ball being tossed around. Three kits were inside, as well as Swiftpaw, and a rather battered-looking mouse. Had they been toying with it before?

"Hello. Are you all still hungry?" he said, eyeing the prey. "I've brought more. There's plenty to share," he said firmly, looking at the kits. One of them was the dramatic one he'd heard before he came in. "We don't want anyone to starve, and we all work hard to ensure that there's enough prey for everyone. So we shouldn't have wasted that mouse," he said gently, nosing the old mouse. He set his vole down in front of the kits, and then crouched in front of the mouse. "I can eat this one, if no one wants to. Does anyone care to share it with me?"