My Open Life (Open!)

[Lionhearted]

OOC: Pun f*cking intended. 

Shellkit tumbled out of the nursery, ready for a full day of playing and horsing around. "Be careful!" his mother had said to him before he'd left. Heh. Like he would listen... 

Wow. This was the first time he'd been outside, and it was huge. It was bigger than he'd imagined it be! And this was, as Mother had said, only a small portion of the entire world. And the world was endless. Wow... this is so great! Look at all the warriors! They're so big! Will I be that big? Excitement coursed through him, and he shivered. He couldn't wait to explore every corner of the camp, and meet all the warriors. For a moment, he stared around, wide-eyed and open-jawed. 

Then, he dashed into the outside world, away from the sanctuary of the nursery, and skidded to a halt in the middle of camp. "Who wants to play?!" he yowled to the camp, parading around the clearing circles. "'Cause I want to! I want to go into the territory! Someone show me everything!" It was just so overwhelming. 

Suddenly, Shellkit felt somewhat scared, and uncertain. There were endless possibilities that lay in the land, and even in camp. What if something came at them? Like, as in right now? Oh, no. Oh, no! He did not want to see everything. No, he didn't want to see the badgers and foxes the visiting cats talked so vividly about. No, those were very scary, among other things. 

A sparrow flew by the camp over head, its shadow passing Shellkit, who squealed and began dashing towards the nursery again. He tripped, and howled. 

"Take cover!" he screeched, small claws unsheathed and swiping blindly at the air. "Take cover! We're under attack!!"

[kaethe]

It was a rather quiet afternoon. The camp wasn't as busy as usual, and Honeytuft was enjoying her well deserved rest. After all, going on a hunting patrol in leafbare sure was a lot of work. Sighing in content, the golden furred femme surveyed the clearing lazily, looking for anything even remotely interesting to look at. Amber eyes twinkled almost mischievously, though it would take a lot to get her lazy butt off her nest. Snuggling in deeper, Honey let her mind wander. It was the same fantasy she usually came upon. Having a family of her own. She almost teared up at the thought of cute, fuzzy fur balls climbing over her and loving her. Though young physically, she was an old, sentimental queen at heart.

It was all quite enjoyable until a loud screeching jolted her out of her fantasies. Lone behold, it was a kit. "Well speak of the devil" she muttered to herself. It was a phrase she has heard elders say often, and now seemed like an apt time to use it. Momentarily proud of her usage of the phrase, she was distracted until she heard the ear shattering noise again.

Take cover! We're under attack!"

That was enough to get her attention. Snapping back to the commotion, she felt the fur on her back raise. Getting up anxiously, she peered out of the den. What she saw wasn't the enemy attacking though. It was the yells of a kit. They looked very young, and unsteady on their feet still. Funnily enough, the kit was screaming because of the sparrow that had flown overhead. Chucking to herself, Honeytuft pushed herself to her feet and padded over to where the youngster was. Putting a calm and inviting look on her face, she dipped her head kindly. As a name popped into her head, shellkit, she plopped down and looked them in the eye. Speaking in a low, serious voice, she replied.

"We better rally the clans to face this daunting enemy, shall we."

The mirth was an easily noticeable undercurrent in her voice. He was adorable, she wanted to gather him up in a hug right at the moment. So much cuteness. Pulling herself together, she flicked her tail in amusement at the poor thing.

[Lionhearted]

The sparrow paid no attention to Shellkit's screech. He had leapt a few tail-lengths away from it, but it swooped towards him, and he screeched again. The next thing he knew, a warm, wet thing landed on top of him with a squishy plop.

Shellkit spotted a she-cat staring at him in amusement. Why was she amused? Didn't she knew he'd just gotten attacked? What was that that the bird had dropped on him? And where did it come from? He didn't see the bird carrying anything! Letting out a frightened squeak, the small creme tom scurried behind her, gazing upwards at her with large eyes. "Please protect me," he whimpered. The bird droppings on his back stood out against his pale orange-red pelt, and he shook with fright. "What did it do? It doesn't hurt- am I dying?"

No. The outside world was much scarier than he'd thought it would be. Perhaps this she-warrior would protect him. She wasn't his mother, but she was a warrior of MidnightClan, and so he trusted her. "It just flew by me, attacked me, and left!"

[kaethe]

OOC;; Sorry for the short post, I was a bit busy today :3

IC;; It took of of Honeytuft's self control to not burst out laughing right there. The sparrow had swooped back in, and pooped on the kit. Snorting in an attempt to keep her outer expression calm, she had trouble keeping her trap shut at the sight of the fecal mater dripping down Shellkit's back. He was already having a more eventful kit hood then her, it seemed. The poor thing stared at the bird flying away, his expression seemed to be a mixture of confusion and fear, from her perspective. As he scurried up to her, she felt the need to help the little guy.

"Please protect me! What did it do? It doesn't hurt- am I dying?..."

"It just flew by me, attacked me, and left!"

The young toms words came out so fast she could barely understand, but of course, she decided to tell it as it was.

"No, it didn't attack you, it, ah, pooped on you."

She chuckled at that, her chest threatening to explode with laughter. This was the most eventful thing she had seen all season! Wrapping her tail around the Tom, she whispered in his ear. "That was probably the biggest sparrow I've ever seen!" in an attempt to make him feel better. Searching the clearing dubiously, though, the vaguely wondered where his mother was.

[Lionhearted]

"No, it didn't attack you, it, ah, pooped on you." The she-cat wrapped a comforting tail around him, and he felt reassured, and relaxed. Pooped on him? So that was its attempt to kill him? "That was probably the biggest sparrow I've ever seen!"

"And I survived it! Hah!" he said in triumph, forgetting about the bird poop still on his back. "I should've caught it! Taught it a lesson not to attack MidnightClan again! Hey, what's your name? I bet it's a cool warrior name like my mom's! And can you take me out to the territory?" he asked, his eyes wide again. Excitement coursed through him. He couldn't wait to tell everyone about the attack he survived!

[Whiteleaf]

A dark lithe figure slipped through the trees, heading in the direction of their territory border. The lone cat stopped for a moment, opened his mouth to scent the air, before continuing on. The trees began to thicken a little by the time he was close to the border of his clan's territory. Swiftpaw stopped at the edge of the border, and then glanced around to see if any other cats were there. He quickly marked the border before noticing a large rabbit near the edge of Midnightclan territory. Swiftpaw dropped into the hunter's crouch before moving silently towards his relaxed prey. In less than a few seconds, the apprentice burst through the white snowy undergrowth and quickly tackled it, before going in for the killing bite. 

His prey immediately went limp as birds called out alarm calls to the rest of the animals that was in that area. Swiftpaw dropped the dead rabbit to his paws and raised his head, ears pricking up with alertness. He then grabbed his prey near the neck before he started to drag it back towards the camp. Finally, the sleek black tom managed to drag it all the way back to camp with his stomach starting to growl with hunger.

Before Swiftpaw could emerge from the camp entrance, the tom heard a cat's screech. Leaving the rabbit at the entrance, he barged through into the clearing, claws unsheathed. He looked around, trying to spot an intruder, but to his surprise, there was nothing that unusual about the scene in front of him. He scanned the camp, finally spotting a slightly fearful-looking kit hiding behind a warrior. Swiftpaw walked closer to them, trying to find out what was going on.

[kaethe]

"And I survived it! Hah!
..I should've caught it! Taught it a lesson not to attack MidnightClan again! Hey, what's your name? I bet it's a cool warrior name like my mom's! And can you take me out to the territory?"

The golden furred Siberian kindly smiled at the easily excitable ball of fluff before her, long fur waving in the slight breeze blowing through the clearing. Licking a tuft of hair on the top of the tabby tom's head, she purred happily. "My name is Honeytuft." She meowed pleasantly, as if she were upholding a conversation with a fellow warrior. She became aware of another figure approaching out of the corner of her eye. Turning around slowly, she eyed the curious apprentice thoughtfully. They seemed a little surprised, if not a bit confused. Dipping her head politely at the other Tom, she motioned with her tail for him to come join the two.

"He got pooped on by a sparrow on his first time out of the nursery."

She meowed cheerfully to the slightly larger Tom, winking, she turned back to Shellkit, she chided him gently, "You know I can't take you out of camp, maybe when you're older, stronger. Then you'll be ready for everything nature has to throw at you!" She loved how obliviously innocent he was, a relief to the oh-so-serious clan mates she was surrounded by daily. Definitely much more fun than a day of napping. Her green eyes twinkling happily, she reach back and modestly licked her fur, meowing, "Maybe you'll even become clan leader!" She hoped she wasn't overdoing it, but the bundle of fur was too cute to resist.

[ShiverCry]

Owlpaw padded into the camp after training, stopping in surprise as he saw an apprentice, a warrior and a kit all in the same spot. Blinking, he padded over. "W-what's going on?" He asked timidly. Was that... sparrow droppings on his pelt? Shaking his head, he looked again. Nope, still there.

[Lionhearted]

"A bird attacked me and I survived!" squeaked Shellkit, no long feeling so scared. Pride coursed through him. He had lived through a fight on his first day outside the nursery! I'm going to be a great warrior! "Hi!" he said to the two apprentices. "What're your names? Wow! You've got prey!" he said to Swiftpaw, seeing that he'd dropped his rabbit. "Can I have some? What is that animal called? It's so big! Did you fight it all by yourself? Did you get hurt and get scars? Can I see them?" he babbled, his eyes wide with excitement. His fear ebbed away. "Ugh, is that stuff still on my back? Should I get rid of it?"

[Clemintine]

A russet she-cat walked out of the apprentice den, her fur looked a bit odd against the snow, like a dull flame flickering, trying to stay alive. As the cold wind caused her fur to ruffle she also caught the scent of several cats. Her olive green eyes glanced over to them and noticed a kit being the center of attention, she also noticed some.. bird poop? on His back. The small she-cat began to walk over to them, she had medium length russet fur with dark russet tabby stripes on her forehead and legs.

She walked up behind the small kit speaking forgot she got too close hoping not to startle him "Yes it is still on your back" her voice was soft and welcoming. She sat down behind him "if I may?" giving her forepaw a few licks she reached her paw out attempting to wipe it off him, as long as he didn't move away.

[Lionhearted]

"Yes, it is still on your back," said a different voice. Shellkit turned. How many cats were in this one camp?! And his mother had said that this was only one of the four Clans... and there were other cats, too, rouges and loners, kittypets... wow. This world was much, much bigger than he'd imagined. Did his mother even know everything about the world? Did StarClan?

A red-furred she-cat walked up to Shellkit, and before he could open his mouth, she said, "may I?" and smeared her paw down his back. He felt something slide away with it, and shook his pelt vigorously.

"Thanks," he said, "it's off, right? Are there any scars?" he mewed hopefully. He would live with those scars forever, and remind everyone that he met about the time that he faced a bird on his first day in the outside world. Hah!

Suddenly, his stomach rumbled. Looking around at the cats surrounding him, he said, "I'm hungry... mother says I can have solid foods now! Where's the food pile, or whatever it is?"

[Whiteleaf]

The young apprentice smiled at the warrior when she motioned for him to join the two. "He did? Wow, and on his first time out!" Swiftpaw mewed with some amusement showing in his bright eyes, glancing down at the creme-colored tom with the sparrow's droppings on his back. The black tom has never really gotten the chance to talk to this kit before, but from what he remembered, Shellkit was the name. He was secretly thankful that his own first day out of the nursery wasn't as "exciting" as Shellkit's.

Before he could say anything else, the golden warrior turned her attention back to the kit. As Swiftpaw listened to her humor him, he noticed that another apprentice had joined the trio. He flicked his ear in greeting to Owlpaw, before Shellkit grabbed his attention. He was talking so fast that he could barely keep up. "I'm Swiftpaw, and that is called a rabbit!" the tom answered, trying to remember all that he had asked. "I didn't fight it, I caught it all by myself though! And with no scars."

Before Swiftpaw could answer his latest question about the poo on his back, another of his denmates joined them before wiping the gross, white stuff off of Shellkit's back with her paw. "Yes, it's finally off your back," he told him, stifling his laughter when he heard the younger tom's stomach grumble loudly with hunger. "The fresh-kill pile is over there'," Swiftpaw pointed to where it was with the tip of his long black tail, "but you can try a piece of this rabbit if you want." He nudged the fresh-kill towards Shellkit.

[ShiverCry]

"I'm Owlpaw..." Owlpaw mewed faintly, trailing off as Shellkit and the others started talking about other stuff. Shaking his fur, he tried to get rid of the urge to run away from all this commotion. No. If I want to make a good impression, I need to stay here. Owlpaw opened his mouth to tell the kit where the fresh-kill pile is, but Swiftpaw beat him to it.

[Lionhearted]

"Oh, wow! So that's a rabbit? And you killed it all by yourself!" Without waiting for anyone, Shellkit bent down to take a bite. "This is yummy. So we just eat these all day long? It's much different than milk. but it's really good! Thanks for catching it," he said, turning to Swiftpaw.

"I'm Owlpaw..." said another cat beside him, trailing off. Huh. Shellkit hadn't noticed him.

"Hi!" he exclaimed. "Can you kill rabbits too? Is that what we learn to do when we're 'paws? I want to learn now!" he said. "Can you all kill those birds, too? The ones that attack us? They look so small, but the things they drop are really nasty. I should've killed it when I got the chance, but all I did was cry. Does that make me a coward?"

[ShiverCry]

Owlpaw's eyes widened and he blinked. He wasn't quite used to the kind of enthusiasm that was emanating from this kit. "Um, well, you learn to hunt and fight things when you're an apprentice..." He began. "And I don't think you're a coward. You're only a kit, after all." Owlpaw finished, hoping he didn't hurt the kit's feelings.