A Cold Night

[Eaglefeather]

Ravenkit shifted in his sleep, crawling to nestle in between the warmth of the pelts of his littermates. He shivered then opened his green eyes and lifted his head. It was completely black inside of the nursery, telling the black kit that night had fallen. Slowly, the small kit rose to his paws and stretched, stifling a yawn. Ravenkit blinked and looked down at his nest, hesitating. He was reluctant to go back to sleep, for he wasn't tired and the cold would keep him awake anyway.

The black kit leapt out of his nest onto the cold earth ground. Then, Ravenkit bounded out of the darkness of the nursery into the moon-lit clearing. It was a clear night, and thousands of tiny stars shimmered brightly above his head. His breath billowed out in a cloud as he watched, and snow shimmered on every rock and on the ground beneath him.

It's not so bad, if I don't think about it. Ravenkit thought, taking a few paw steps away from the nursery. He looked around the camp, and didn't see anyone. Everyone was probably warm and snug in their dens, sleeping the night away even though it was a clear night and perfect for playing outside in. Ravenkit bounded in high leaps across the clearing towards the pile of fresh kill, where a lone mouse sat at the bottom of the heap. Frost sparkled on its fur, and ice formed frozen drops of water on its whiskers.

Ravenkit let out a mock growl. Then, he swiped a paw into the pile and scooped the mouse out, tossing it high over his head. It landed in the snow somewhere behind him. He let out a squeal of delight then chased after the mouse, pawing at it and scooping it high into the air. He became so involved in his game that he didn't notice the cold night, or that he was making so much noise it would probably wake everyone up.

[Hamster]

Smudgepaw woke to a rustling noise. Morning already? she thought. She peeked her head out but it was almost pitch black. But wait, what was that? She picked up a scuffling sound with her sharp ears and followed it to the source of the noise. A kit was squealing around in the snow with a dead mouse.

Smudgepaw let out a soft growl and approached the kit. "What are you doing here, Ravenkit? It's cold. You should be inside the nursery. And that," she added with a look of disgust at the mouse, "could have fed someone, but now it's just crow food. It's hard for us to catch fresh-kill now that it's leaf-bare. You should have though better." Her tone was icy.

[Eaglefeather]

Ravenkit took a moment to realize the apprentice was there. At her words, his green eyes narrowed angrily. "Oh yeah? You're not my mother- and you're not even a warrior! Don't come up and think you can tell me what to do!" His voice sounded small compared to the apprentice's, but he was only three moons old, and he still squeaked when he talked. "This can still be eaten," Ravenkit added, poking the mouse with his paw. "There's nothing wrong with it. What, do you think I'm diseased?"

[Hamster]

Smudgepaw laughed. "Of course you're diseased, you silly little kit. If anyone touches that mouse then they're going to die, all because of you. But if you insist, I'll place this in the fresh kill pile." She was only teasing, but hopefully this would teach the kit not to go where he wasn't supposed to go. She picked up the mouse by its tail and threw it into the pile. Disgusting. It's all wet. Even if it was edible, I'm not sure that anyone would want to eat it! To make sure that Ravenkit wouldn't pull anymore tricks, she grabbed him by the scruff and proceeded to drag him back to the nursery.

"Yfer oin akk foo fuh ersary wevver oo ike ih or oh!" She had meant to say "You're going back to the nursery whether you like it or not," but it was hard to do that with a mouthful of fur. She placed him down and watched him to make sure he went inside the nursery.

((As you can tell, Smudgepaw doesn't like kits very much))

[Eaglefeather]

"You can't make me do anything!" Ravenkit wailed loudly, wriggling in protest to get out of the apprentice's grip. He managed to escape and fell onto the ground with a crunch in the snow. Ravenkit rolled onto his paws then raced away from Smudgepaw, hiding beneath one of the nearby dens. "You can't catch me!" He sneered, waving his tail and bounding across the clearing, sliding into the thorny hedge that surrounded the camp. He was so small that he could fit, but a cat of Smudgepaw's size would become entangled in the thorns if they even tried.

[Hamster]

Smudgepaw rolled her eyes and followed the kit, up until the thorny hedge. "Ravenkit, get back here...OR ELSE I'M FETCHING...YOUR MOTHER."

[|S|pot]

What was all of the ruckus out there? Can't they see that there are some cats who actually like to sleep? Wispstripe's blue eyes fluttered open, shining in the moonlight. Grunting, the warrior sleepily stormed out into the open of the camp. A cold wind rushed through her fur, making her want to run back to the warmth of the warrior's den. But, she wouldn't get a moment's rest until she stopped the noise.

"Ravenkit, get back here...OR ELSE I'M FETCHING...YOUR MOTHER."

[/i] So it was Smudgepaw and Ravenkit, wasn't it? The black tom seemed to be hiding in the thorny hedge, while Smudgepaw was trying to persuade him to get out. "What is the matter with you two? Haven't you thought that maybe some cat is trying to get at least a little bit of rest?" She whispered harshly to the apprentice in an irritated tone, walking up to Smudgepaw from behind. "Here. Let me handle this." Walking towards the hedge, the white warrior called out in a sweet and gentle tone. "Ravenkit. Please get out of the hedge. I know that you probably want to play around, but as you can see not many other cats want to. How about if you go back to your nest now I'll help you with battle moves in the morning. How does that sound?" Bribery always worked. At least, almost always. Let's just hope that this was one of those times...

ooc:: Hamster, can you please keep all ooc comments at the end of your post? Also, capitalizing something normally indicates shouting, and I think that that would wake up the whole forest xD Thanks.[/size][/blockquote]

[Hamster]

"He woke me up first!" Smudgepaw complained. "And how come Ravenkit gets to learn battle moves! I'm the apprentice." She slunk back to her den, mumbling under her breath. Hope that little bugger gets a good telling...stupid furball...mouse dung, I'm missing all the fun. Abrubptly, she turned tail and quietly retraced her steps. She stopped a few tail-lengths behind the warrior. Hopefully she wouldn't notice Smudgepaw. She'd be too busy scolding Ravenkit, anyways, the troublemaking apprentice snickered.

((Sorry, Spot. I have this terrible habit where I try to include afterthoughts everywhere xD My writing teacher gets so annoyed, lol.))

[Hyena]

Inkpaw blinked his dark amber eyes open, woken by his sister's rustling around the den. He stretched his legs, and padded softly after her. "Smudgepaw, what are we doing here?" he whispered. His dark eyes were wide open now, and there was no trace of sleepiness left in him.

[Hamster]

Smudgepaw whispered back, "I'm watching Ravenkit get told off by Wispstripe! Ravenkit was making such a ruckus, and he battered around a poor piece of fresh kill. I could understand if it was a butterfly or something, but you're supposed to show respect to the fresh kill that Starclan has given us to feed the clan! And it's leaf-bare." Smudgepaw, with her thick fur, didn't feel much of the cold, but she shivered anyway. "Hey...where were you when Ravenkit was running around and making such a racket, anyways?"

[Hyena]

"I was sleeping," he whispered. "Even with ears this big, I was lost in such a great dream, I couldn't hear him. I can still taste that rabbit I.. er.. dreamed I caught. Do you really think she's going to tell him off? He is just a kit.."

[Hamster]

"Well, she might not. But if you'd heard the volume of the noises that he was making, you'd be against him too." Smudgepaw always got in a grumpy mood when she was woken up from her sleep, even though she wasn't feeling groggy now. She glanced at Wispstripe, still trying to coax Ravenkit out of the thorns. "You know, if that kit doesn't get out of there soon, he's going to get a scolding and a bunch of thorns stuck into him!"

[Hyena]

"Was he really that loud?" he meowed, surprised. "Oops, I said that a bit too loud.." he shuffled his white paws, hoping only Smudgepaw heard him.

[Hamster]

"Shh! We don't want Wispstripe to hear us. We're not even supposed to be here. And yes, he was really loud. Some of us aren't very heavy sleepers, you know." She stole a quick glance at Ravenkit. Despite his disturbance, he was pretty defiant, and Smudgepaw admired him for that. "You think we should head back? We don't want them to postpone our mentor-giving if we're caught doing something bad. Besides, I have a feeling Ravenkit's going to stay there all night."

((You know, we need either Spot or Ravenkit to be here. It's getting boring with just us two xD))

[Eaglefeather]

((Thanks for going on without letting me post...))

Ravenkit blinked a few times, watching as Wispstripe approached his hiding place. "Fighting moves?" He asked, his green eyes growing wide. Slowly, with some hesitance, Ravenkit stepped out of his thorny hiding place. "You'll show me how to fight like a warrior?" Ravenkit's eyes widened even further. "Wow!" Then, his eyes narrowed and he took a step back. "Are you sure you're not just saying that to make me go to sleep?" He asked suspiciously.