she's UNAWARE. ( ofhisSTARE )

[SHADE. :D]

nymphkit

The nursery seemed oddly empty, oddly subdued. It had been like this ever since the battle against the dogs. One nest was empty, but for three kits, tucked up beside eachother. The biggest, a ginger tabby, was in the middle. The one on her left was a pale tom with ghosts of caramel covering his body. The one on her right was the smallest, a pure white she-cat. And this kit was dreaming. Nymphkit was wandering in darkness, trapped inside her skull. Her blue eyes were huge in her thin face. "Mummy? Daddy? M-Mummy? Where are you?" Her voice was high-pitched and terrified. "Come back, please! I'm sorry I was bad, please Daddy!" And then she was awake and wwrithing, wailing and screaming in her nest. "Daddy! Mummy! Daddy! Come b-back!" Her paws struck her brother and sister as she flailed, but she was still caught up in the horrors of her dream - horrors that echoed what had happened in her life.

[(aurora) of the problematique]

×× Hornetkit ××
--::[Back off, I'll, take you on; Headstrong to take on anyone]::--

[/size]
^{The fattest kitten of the trio rolled over to the right, earning her a whack in the jaw from Nymphkit's flailing dreamwalking. Hornetkit shot up with a hiss, her ginger hair on end as she spat at her sister. "What the crap was that for, pigeonhead?" the ornery one barked. She paused when she noticed that Nymphkit was fast asleep and couldn't hear a damn word Hornetkit was growling. The large ginger frowned severely and headbutted her sister. "Wake up, you silly gahoot. You hit me! Why're you crying about Mom and Pops?"}

[SHADE. :D]

nymphkit

Nymphkit struggled to wakefulness, to find one hind paw pressed up against Forestkit's cheek. She removed it quickly. Her peaky little face was wet with tears, her ice blue eyes huge and glistening. The dream had been so real. Why couldn't they come back? Why did they go? She needed them. The small snowy-coated kit blinked in confusion as she heard a rough voice. She turned to look at the red tabby shape of her sister, Hornetkit. She sniffed loudly, fresh tears pouring down her face. Her mouth turned down further at Hornetkit's angry words. "S... Sorry," she mewed, for once not snapping at her sister's accusation. "I had a scary dream. Why won't they come back, Hornetkit?" Nymphkit pouted in sorrow, her eyes huge.

[(aurora) of the problematique]

×× Hornetkit ××
--::[Back off, I'll, take you on; Headstrong to take on anyone]::--

[/size]
<sup>She frowned deeply and put her massive paw on Nymphkit's face, trying to wipe the tears away but accomplishing nothing except smudging the wetness all on the she-kit's soft white fur. "Cause they're dead," she said bluntly. "Those dogs killed them after Mom and Pops beat the crap out of their pack for attacking the Clan. Stop crying. You'll make us look bad." Hornetkit patted down her sister's fur.

In truth, she was saddened over her parents' deaths as well but unlike her sister, she did not weep aloud or she'd risk losing her reputation. She wondered how Forestkit was taking it.

ooc;// crap post x__x</sup>

[SHADE. :D]

nymphkit

Nymphkit's bottom lip pushed itself out petulantly, and her huge ice blue eyes were glistening. Her grandmother, and aunt's eyes. The small, snow-coloured kitten blinked at her hard-faced sister. "Yeah, everyone sez that they're with StarClan and stuffs," she mewed sulkily. "But..." More crystal tears ran down her face. "But Hornetkit, Daddy said he'd always be there and stuff, and we need Mummy." Her voice rose to high-pitched peak then fell to husky little sobs. She ignored what Hornetkit had said about crying. She didn't care. Nobody would dare tease Hornetkit. They'd get a faceful of fur and teeth if they did. Half the nursery were afraid of her big sister. Ravenclaw fondly said that Hornetkit was just like her mother, and Forestkit just like their uncle Chaosdance. Nymphkit huffed a little as her thoughts distracted her. Nobody said anything like that to her. It wasn't fair.

[kee :]]

forestkit

The peaceful and serene air of the nursery that always comforted poor lost Forestkit made up for his lack of sleep since his parents died. He slept a little but most of the night he stared at the wall of the den, his back to Hornetkit, but close enough so that he could stay warm. He admitted that he was depressed and he knew his sisters could notice it but to others, it was just the same old Forestkit. But then Nymphkit began to scream and wither and flail all about. It scared the crap out of Forestkit but he lie there, still, pretending to be asleep. He didn't want to be involved with his sister's arguments about mother and father. He was depressed and way too tired. But it was something that Hornetkit said that bothered him very much. Stop crying. You'll make us look bad. Look bad? The worse thing that could happen would be that we would look bad? Forestkit could care less what those other cats would think. He knew they could cry. They lost their parents and Forestkit noticed that others respected them for being about to deal with that.

Sighing softly, he rose to a sitting position, shaking his ghostly light fur and settling himself next to Nymphkit. He pulled her closer and began to lick her face and cheeks. He didn't like it when his sister cried. It made him very sad. "Hornetkit is right. They are dead and we just have to understand that. I miss them very much but they wouldn't want us to dwell on it forever. Mum and Dad... They will always love us," Forestkit mewed softly, his face sad and his eyes were holding back tears but he wouldn't cry. He had to be strong for his family.

[(aurora) of the problematique]

×× Hornetkit ××
--::[Back off, I'll, take you on; Headstrong to take on anyone]::--

[/size]
<sub>Hornetkit's fur puffed out irately as Nymphkit's crying started up again. The she-cat growled and narrowed her eyes. "LOOK! Shaddap with your cryin'! Geez, Pops says he's gonna be there for us then he's gonna be there. You callin' him a liar?" the chestnut-eyed femme barked out, her big nose touching her sister's.

Then Forestkit spoke and Hornetkit ripped her face away from that of her sister. She smirked when her brother acknowledged her as being correct. She looked over at Forestkit and told Nymphkit. "Hey, look at Forestkit. He's not cryin', is he? We need to be stronger. I ain't gonna be some orphan brat who can't keep her mess together and neither will you, hear?"</sub>

[SHADE. :D]

nymphkit

The tiny white kit pressed close to her twin brother. She sniffed his mistily-marked tabby fur to comfort herself. But she looked affronted by what Forestkit was saying. "So I'm just meant to forget them?" Her white fur bristled as she said this. They had died, like, two moons ago! Nymphkit sniffed, tears dripping down her cheeks again. It wasn't like her to cry genuinely. Usually her tears fell from the eyes of a crocadile. But not today. "No!" she wailed in Hornetkit's face. Forestkit may accept the red tabby's huffing and puffing, but she never had. Her small size did not make her a coward. "Of course I'm not callin' Daddy a liar!" This thought made her talking cease, and sobs pour from her mouth for a few moments. They seemed to let up, and the tears dried. She bared her teeth at her sister, her sadness morphed into anger. She hated it when Hornetkit tried to boss her around. That was her job, bossing others around. "That's you, not me!" she used her best snarly voice to say this, though her throat was still closed up from crying so it wasn't very effective.

[(aurora) of the problematique]

×× Hornetkit ××
--::[Back off, I'll, take you on; Headstrong to take on anyone]::--

[/size]
^{Hornetkit's chest puffed up like a hawk about to shriek. Her eyes narrowed dangerously and she stamped her feet in frustration. "AAGH!" She didn't know what else to say so she gave up on her sister, sighing heavily. The red tabby rubbed her temples and sat down heavily, plopping her chubby self down in irritation. She turned to Forestkit. "You deal with her. I'm gonna see Auntie." The ginger pulled herself up and stomped away, going off to see Ravenclaw.}

[SHADE. :D]

ravenclaw

The night had been peaceful, and warm, too. She had been sandwiched in the middle of her family; Orochiclaw, and their kits. They were all so big! Ravenclaw flicked over their new names in her mind. Saffronclaw. Salmontail. Geckorain. Sunsetsoul. Sunrisefur. She exhaled happily and opened her eyes. Almost as though that had been the trigger, weight crashed down on her shoulders. She had to deal with her dead sister's poor kits, and then there was her mother, too. Pearlblade was sick. Coughing, horribly. She couldn't help remembering the cruel fate of Cardinalspire, the deputy's mate. She didn't want her frail old mother to die the same way. Ravenclaw eased herself away from Orochiclaw, trying not to wake him up, and left the den. On the way to the elders' den she bumped into her niece. "Hey Hornetkit," she mewed, smiling. "What are you doing out here? It's too cold for kits." She knew the red tabby would protest at that (she was so like Spectreflame), but it was true. Even she was cold, with her thick smoky black coat fluffed out to it's utmost.

[(aurora) of the problematique]

×× Hornetkit ××
--::[Back off, I'll, take you on; Headstrong to take on anyone]::--

[/size]
<sub>She was too busy mumbling and grumbling to notice the chill until she ran square into her aunt. Hornetkit looked up with an expression almost indentical to Spectreflame's.

"I ain't cold," she said but she shivered visibly and pulled herself closer to her aunt, a former queen.

The ginger meowed grumpily. "Nymphkit done woke me up and started crying about Mom and Pops."

She rolled her eyes, mumbling about stupid crybaby sisters. "So me and Forestkit started talking to her to try and stop crying but she just made me mad cause she wouldn't listen to me so I got up and said I was gonna talk to you." Hornetkit exhaled heavily from her tirade, calming down some now that she was venting to her auntie who she liked very much. She didn't talk to either of her gramses that much. One was sick and one was sickly sweet.</sub>

[SHADE. :D]

ravenclaw

The longhaired black she-cat smiled wryly at Hornetkit's protests. She pressed the little ginger kit into her thick fur when she shuffled closer, and licked her between the ears. "Nymphkit deals with things in a different way to you," she mewed in a voice that was soothing but not patronizing - a voice she had developed specially for Hornetkit. "I can see why it might get on your nerves a bit. It's good that you walked away rather than fighting." She smiled down at the young she-cat. Though of course loosing Spectreflame had been terrible, it would have been far worse without Hornetkit. She was like the reincarnation of the prickly white she-cat. Ravenclaw exhaled, musing to herself for a moment. "I was just on the way to see Grandma Pearlblade," she told her niece.

[(aurora) of the problematique]

×× Hornetkit ××
--::[Back off, I'll, take you on; Headstrong to take on anyone]::--

[/size]
^{The pudgy red tabby meowed softly, her hackles laid to rest by Ravenclaw's mollifying. She sighed and let out a mew. "Sure, I guess I could go with you. I ain't got anythin' better to do." She wasn't on the best of terms with Grams Pearlblade, who, to her, smelled like her nest when it hadn't been changed in a while. But she decided to go anyway, because she knew that it would make her auntie happy. Hornetkit got to her paws, shook herself, and looked expectantly at Ravenclaw to lead the way.}

[SHADE. :D]

ravenclaw

Ravenclaw twitched her tail with amusement as Hornetkit reluctantly agreed to accompany her. She knew the hotheaded youngster wasn't too keen on Pearlblade. It was understandable, she supposed. But the old cat's heart would break if she knew that. Not that she remembered who the kits were half the time. Ravenclaw sighed, and headed towards the elders' den. She poked her head in. The stink of sickness trailed into her nostrils, and she wrinkled her nose. She padded to her mother's side and nudged the frail, bony tortoiseshell's patchy shoulder. "Mother...?" Her voice was low and soft, like talking to a kit.

pearlblade

Pearlblade did not hear her daughter and grandkit approach (though she didn't like to admit it, her ears weren't what they used to be). The old cat opened her eyes to glare at Ravenclaw. "I wasn't sleeping!" she snapped, lashing her limp tail angrily. The old she-cat blinked her filmy ice blue eyes, once the same bright, piercing hue as Ravenclaw's, at her visitors. "Ah, you brought young Saffronkit to see me," she crooned croakily, mistaking Hornetkit for Ravenclaw's grown daughter Saffronclaw. "Good, good. Nice to see she's growing." Pearlblade squinted up at Ravenclaw scrutinizingly, before her body was suddenly racked by spasms of violent coughing. She wheezed painfully, managing to stop in the end. Her body felt utterly drained afterwards, but she managed to pull herself back up and stare at her daughter. "Spectreflame hasn't visited me in ages," she complained suddenly. "Won't you have a word with her, Ravenclaw?"

[(aurora) of the problematique]

×× Hornetkit ××
--::[Back off, I'll, take you on; Headstrong to take on anyone]::--

[/size]
^{She frowned in uncertainty when she followed Ravenclaw into the elder's den, more so when Pearlblade called her Saffronkit. Hornetkit's tail flashed. "Hey, I ain't--!" She broke off, realizing who she was talking to and sighing as a result. She got closer despite herself and looked up at her grandmother. "Hi Grams. It's me, Hornetkit!" However, the older she-cat hadn't seemed to notice her. The red tabby sighed again and looked up at her aunt with a look of "This is hopeless". When she got up to leave, Hornetkit froze. Why on earth did Pearlblade mention her mother? Her hackles rose nervously and Hornetkit tapped Ravenclaw on the flank. "Auntie, what's she talkin' about?"}

[SHADE. :D]

ravenclaw && pearlblade

Ravenclaw sighed as her mother began to speak, calling Hornetkit her older daughter's former name. The longhaired ebony she-cat placed her fluffy tail on Hornetkit's shoulders soothingly, knowing seeing her forgetful grandmother would stress her out. There was also a warning in the touch, not to be hasty in her responses. Pearlblade may be old, but she could still whip away all of a cat's self-esteem with her barbed tongue. "Mother, this is Hornetkit. Saffronclaw is a warrior. Hornetkit is Spectreflame's kit, remember?" Her tone was gentle, as though to tell the old cat that it didn't matter how forgetful she had been. This seemed to infuriate Pearlblade. "Don't treat me like a kit Ravenclaw!" she stormed raspily. "I gave birth to you! And I know who it is, and I know that Spectreflame's-" She broke off, coughing violently. Ravenclaw rubbed her mother's flank with a forepaw gently, despite the fierce words that had just spilled from the elderly cat's mouth. She needed Dancinghare to take a look at Pearlblade (though she wasn't sure the elder would comply). This could just be a cough; but it could be something more serious.