Mud and Mischief

WILDBLAZE
It was well into the afternoon, the sun was warm but there was still a cool, pleasant breeze whistling through the trees to counteract it. The snow that has blanketed the valley was practically non-existent, giving way to bursts of flowers and the return of many hibernating animals, much to Wildblaze's excitement. 

The young molly was returning to came, mouth occupied by the bodies of fresh kill. She made a beeline to the prey pile and dropped her catches, licking her chops and eyeballing the options set before her for only a moment before she decided she was not, in fact, hungry yet. 

With a content hum, Wildblaze turned quickly and set her sights into the nursery, an easy and excited smile spreading across her maw as she hobble wobbled quickly to the den's entrance, poking her head in and giving a brief nod to Sweetbird and her kits before setting her sights into two very familiar looking grey and blue pelts.

"Blizzardkit! Breezekit! Are you awake?"

BLIZZARDKIT
The snow melting was a very unpleasant experience for Blizzardkit. First of all, that was his namesake (kinda)!!!!! And it was really kind of rude for it to get all water-like and mix with the dirt into this awful mud mixture (though it had to be said, Blizzardkit's argument wasn't with the mud itself, that was actually kind of fun to play with!!! It was all the cleaning that his dads had to do when he got "too much" mud on him)! On the plus side, there were now colourful flowers and growth around the camp which was admittedly a bit more exciting than the white that had basically blanketed the area beforehand. 

It did mean that for almost the entire morning, the young kit was found sticking his nose in every nook and cranny to explore this new growth (and, likely to the displeasure of some cats, getting a plethora of mud on his pelt). His next course of action was obviously to next drag his sister and all the other kits in the nursery to join him in his explorations. Which, luckily meant that Blizzardkit had exhausted his almost boundless energy for a time, and after a quick nap, was recuperating (rather noisily) in the nursery. 

Chattering away to Breezekit and whoever else would listen, it was obvious as his energy slowly recovered as he became increasingly wriggly. By the time Wildblaze stuck her head in the nursery, Blizzardkit was already ready for another adventure, bouncing straight up at the sight of his favourite (and only) aunt. "Wildblaze!!!!!" He chirped excitedly at the question, tail sticking straight up in greeting as he bounced over to the warrior. "I'm up!!!! I'm very awake!!!!"

BREEZEKIT
Of course, she was awake— The little molly was practically always up at the crack of dawn, and she was pretty certain she woke up before anyone else in the Valley! She had no evidence to back this up, but she had a feeling about it, and that meant she was very confident. So, when her aunt popped her head into the nursery to ask if she was awake, she only nodded. Wildblaze wasn’t an idiot and would work out that the tiny molly had been up for a while, seeing as her fur wasn’t a complete mess like many of the other kits’ here. While her dads kept up her appearance (as she requested), she was slowly beginning to learn how to do it herself. Soon she’d be completely independent! 

Tail perked up in greeting, she quietly made her way over to her aunt. She wasn’t completely sure where Blizzardkit had run off to, but she was certain he’d show up at some point— An ear-splitting yell vibrated the air and Breezekit cringed a little, rubbing a paw on the side of her head, eardrum ringing. Where on earth had her brother just come bounding out from? For all her complaints about his noise, she’d missed his whereabouts… On closer inspection, she noticed that his legs were muddy. Sniffling in slight disappointment, she couldn’t help the judgment in her tone, “Why are you so dirty? I thought Dad cleaned you.” She stepped away subtly, fearing that he may take their closeness as invitation to splatter mud all over her.

Her attention turned once more to Wildblaze, her eyes slightly pleading as if to say ‘Please get me away from this dirt trap’, though the light flickered. Breezekit assumed that if their aunt was calling for the both of them, there’d be no hope in losing her rambunctious brother. A small huff of air escaped her lungs as she resigned herself to the fact that she may not come out of this ordeal in the same neat state she was currently in. Oh, well. She didn’t mind, not really, if it brought her family joy. Flicking an ear in Blizzardkit’s direction as a gentle way of telling him to calm down, she purred at her aunt. “Hi, Auntie Wild. We’re…” She wrinkled her nose a little, though her expression remained amicable, “We’re both awake.” 

WILDBLAZE
A feeling of joy soared in Wild's heart as her niece and nephew approached-- one full of boundless energy and the other much calmer. They reminded her of herself and Frostfeather, actually.  A warm smile spread on her maw and she hunkered down to the kits' level, finding it much nicer to speak to them at their level, though when her eyes lingered on Blizzardkit for a moment longer, and realized he was a bit scruffy and dirty, she reached her one front paw forward and snatched him close to her chest, holding him firmly and licking his fur to clean it, though her eyes lifted and she was sure to give Breezekit her attention, speaking between licks to the both of them.

"Once I--hold on let me get your toes-- once I finish this, what do you two say about a little outside the nursery time?" She chirped, little tail wriggling to and fro with excitement, simply from seeing her brother's kids. 

She finished her forced grooming session quickly, standing again. "I know how stuffy it can get being cooped up in the nursery-- I can take you anywhere you want!-- so long as it's in camp." She was careful to add in, knowing how eager some kits could be to leave the safety of the camp's walls.

BLIZZARDKIT
Somehow, Breezekit's lack of enthusiasm over the mess Blizzardkit had made of himself completely went over his head. Brightening when she made an appearance, he started to lean towards her, as if gravitating to her presence as she purposefully stepped away (something, that he also did Not notice). "Hm? Dirty? Oh, you mean-" Sticking out a leg in response to the question asked of him, he wiggled it slightly in Breezekit's direction before actually responding. "Wellll there was this little hole in the nursery wall so I stuck my paw through it! .....There wasn't anything interesting on the other side though so that was a little disappointing-" he hummed, completely unbothered by the dirt on his pelt. 

Tail flicking to and fro as Breezekit greeted their aunt in turn, calming down just a little bit as he waited to see what she had to say. Only to instantly start to squirm in protest as he was brought closer for an impromptu cleaning. Mouth opening to add to his displeasure at the situation, he abruptly clicks it shut when Wildblaze begins to speak, unwilling to miss out on what she had to say (even for a few lines of protest- he did however, put just a little more effort into his wriggling to hopefully convey his Dislike of the cleaning as the warrior spoke).

Eyes glimmering at the proposal of their aunt, his struggles stilled, just enough for Wildblaze to have a much easier time of cleaning him up, as his mind raced with ideas. Outside nursery time was the best!!!! Especially with Aunty Wildblaze, they always did such fun things!!! Anddddd there was always the chance to pester stories and things out of her (and other warriors and apprentices about). Shaking himself off as he was released from the clean, Blizzardkit settled beside Breezekit, tail poking at her slightly to convey more of his enthusiasm. 

"Oh anywhere?!" the kit's ears pricked at the words before they drooped slightly when the warrior clarified that it had to be in camp before they pricked again when a thought crossed his mind. "......doessss the Leader's den count as anywhere-?" Blizzardkit asks coyly, batting his big kit eyes up at his aunt as if it'd make her give in to his suggestion easier. ...the answer was probably no, but it wouldn't hurt to try- He could just try and get in there some other day in some other way instead if so!!!!

BREEZEKIT
She cringed away from her brother flicking around the mud, brushing her own tail down her side just to ensure that she hadn’t been covered with any unsuspecting splatters. As it came away dry, Breezekit was satisfied that she still looked presentable, though she kept her gaze hovering somewhat towards Blizzardkit, just in case. She adored her brother but she didn’t adore the way he seemed to collect every speckle of dirt in the near vicinity. It was probably better to keep away from her whenever that happened… Which was often.

“Oh, outside?” The molly asked a slight excitement tinging her tone before realising that her aunt still meant inside the camp. She tried not to look too disappointed, but her ears pulled down for a second. Her eyes drifted back over to her littermate before he began yelling again, and found that her tail lifted up at his suggestion— They hadn’t ventured into the Leader’s Den at all, and she’d always wondered what it might look like inside. She was sure that the other dens were massive compared to theirs, but the highest-ranking cat’s nest must be more exciting than that. Plus… it was probably very clean, just how she liked it.

She was much more lively now, jumping to her paws with a grin on her face. “Yeah, let’s go to the Leader’s Den!” It was a very rare, if not altogether never before, experience for her to yell. Breezekit was always very quiet, not really seeing the point of raising her voice— But the prospect of getting into places she usually wasn’t allowed into got the better of her. This would be their one chance to see it without getting into trouble; Auntie Wildblaze would look out for them, Breezekit was absolutely positive of that. Today was a day to take leaps and bounds and the little molly was focused on taking advantage of it.