Building Bonds

Tawny wrinkled her nose at the thought of having to seek out her cousins... but she didn't want to do this all by herself. There was that other rogue kit that she'd met in the medicine cat den, but the idea of actively seeking him out was also just as embarrassing. She scuffed her paws roughly in the dirt, tail twitching as she pulled back her ears in frustration. Why was she being such an idiot? The kit had promised herself that she wouldn't let herself feel fear anymore -- and it wasn't like she was afraid of the other kits, but she was sure afraid of them rejecting her.

Was she? Now that she was thinking about it, she would fight them if they tried to ignore her and not involve her in stuff. Tawny wasn't about to get pushed out by a bunch of soft Clan cats! With a huff, she straightened herself, before looking around for one of the culprits. A sinister smile grew on her face as she realised that Kinkkit was ahead of her, but he didn't know she was lurking behind him ... with silent steps, she edged her way slowly over to him, about the pounce when -- WHAM! The air was shoved out of her lungs, and she mewed in distress.

"Ha! I gotcha before you got Kinkkit!" Featherkit cheered, a huge grin on her face. Tawny had to fight back the spit that almost so easily escaped her. She needed to play nice with these kits -- they were her new family, after all. The kit tried not to show how much that had hurt, and climbed back to her paws, swiping the debris that clung to her fur. The two-tailed molly wasn't paying attention to her, however, turning to Kinkkit with a smug expression, "Look, I protected you."

The tom didn't seem to hold much, if any, appreciation towards his sister. A growl in his tone, he shot back, "I didn't need your protection!" Tawny noticed that his fur stood on end, and she wasn't entirely sure if that was because he was annoyed, embarrassed ... or, perhaps, a mix of both. His eyes darted to Tawny before quickly looking away and the molly quickly realised that his feelings erred on the side of embarrassed. She didn't exactly blame him; he had a sort of complex about rogues for some reason, so it must be overwhelming to realise he hadn't even noticed she was there.

"Y'know, if you paid more attention to your surroundings, you would've easily noticed me there. I don't exactly blend in." Sure, she had brown tinged with red fur, which was useful in the autumn ... but that didn't cover her black and white sections on her fur. Kinkkit wasn't an idiot -- he was actually quite smart -- but he didn't really take advantage of that, being too busy thinking about himself. It was a habit he'd have to grow out of, but no amount of pushing from her was going to hasten the pace. Kinkkit didn't reply to her comment.

Her thoughts were interrupted by two approaching figures, and her attention was caught by the dark fur of Bat, the other rogue kit. Standing next to Pumpkinkit, he seemed a little unsure, shuffling a little on his paws. The molly accompanying him didn't seem to take note of that, though, calling them all over, "If you guys are just going to mess around, you might as well make yourselves useful and help us decorate the camp. We can't go to the Cedar Circle because the warriors are busy, but we can do our part here."

"Why the hell does he have to do it with us?" The complainer was Kinkkit, who was shooting a glare of sharpened claws at Bat, whose ears pulled back anxiously. The group of kits seemed to become a little uncomfortable, and Tawny huffed out a loud breath, irritation spiking in her body.

"Leave him alone, Kinkkit. He could probably beat the milk out of you if he wanted." She looked towards Bat, feeling boastful, "Rogues are tough -- much tougher than you, so chill out if you don't wanna back up your insults." Her smile dropped, tail puffing up as she glared at the RavenClan tom.

She was a little worried that he would back them up, not really in the mood to fight right now, plus not really wanting to be in trouble. Although she ensured that her body was tensed up, just in case. Kinkkit paused for a moment, before scoffing and rolling his eyes. "Whatever. Not worth it, anyway." At least the two of them agreed that this was a fight they didn't wish to have.

Tawny's gaze went back to Bat, who's eyes were sparkling a little too much with gratitude. Her fur tingled a bit uncomfortably, as she sent a firm nod his way, in an effort to show him that she understood. This seemed to only be a signal to him that they were cool or something, because he almost sprinted over, patting at her leg. She sent a tense smile his way, feeling a little overwhelmed with the obvious emotions on his face -- she wasn't accustomed to others just wearing their feelings so freely, but her smile began to relax as she came to terms with it. He was pretty sweet, in his own way, though it'd take some getting used to. It felt like they had to stick together, anyway, so she was sure it wouldn't be hard to adjust.

pkinkit cleared her throat, "Okayyy, so now that that's out of the way, let's have some fun!" She pounced forward, bumping into her siblings playfully. "Bat, Tawny -- you go and grab some brambles and vines. Kinkkit, you're in charge of flowers," The tom glared at her, before storming off, though Pumpkinkit only giggled, "Featherkit, you're with me! Seeds is a two cat job, after all." With the plan in action, they all split up into their groups. Tawny couldn't help but feel a little bad for Kinkkit, though she was sure he could handle himself. Maybe she'd try and talk to him later, though ... maybe.

As they walked, Bat seemed a whole lot more enthusiastic about their mission. The more distance they put between them and the other kits, the more she relaxed. Tawny knew she was meant to care about them, to even love them at some point ... but it sure was difficult. All of them seemed to have some sort of issue with rogues, and Tawny wasn't around for any of the drama that evolved from that, so it was a little hard to sympathise with them. She knew that some rogues were nasty business, but ... it still hurt that they seemed to hate her for that, too.

The other rogue kit suddenly patted her leg again, and she looked back at him. Had he found something good for them to take back? She pushed down the disappointment that grew alongside the thought that she didn't want to return back to them just yet --  though, her feelings dissipated as she realised he was trying to tell her something. Pausing, she watched his movements carefully -- the actions before had been a little confusing to try and understand, but this one seemed a lot clearer. Her chest caught as she watched his paw touch his own heart before placing it onto her own. Was he saying what she thought he was saying? "We're ... the same? Is that what you mean?"

Bat nodded enthusiastically, a huge grin on his face. It seemed he was just as happy that she understood him than she was about what he'd just said. Her chest felt tight, and she swallowed the aching feeling growing in her throat. She was not going to cry in front of a stranger, even if they were so similar. That would be embarrassing. Clearing her throat, she nodded. "Th-thanks." Tawny wasn't about to be all sappy, but she did appreciate it. Before she could get too overwhelmed, she motioned in front of them. "Come on, let's keep looking."

It didn't take them long to find what they needed; they'd been given one of the easier jobs, the more Tawny thought about it. Maybe it was because Pumpkinkit wished to be nice to them, or maybe it was because she didn't believe they had the capacity for a more difficult job. Whatever the reason, the molly was thankful for it -- she still didn't feel comfortable in the RavenClan camp, and she wished to explore it more in her own time, not when she needed to do stuff.

Decorating used a lot more energy than she'd thought, what with everything being so much bigger than them. Although it felt more satisfying when they got it all done, like they were invincible. The sight of Kinkkit basically drowning in flowers was a funny sight to see, and even he smiled when the group of them began placing flowers in their fur and walking around they were being controlled by them. Even Bat relaxed a little around the others, and while there was still a definite tension in the air, her cousins weren't throwing insults his way, at least. Tawny allowed herself to think that this could work, that she could start feeling comfortable here ... if she really tried. It helped that Bat was in a similar position, and the more time she hung out with him, the better she felt. She vowed that she would protect him, perhaps to make up for the fact that she'd failed to protect her grandmother.