Muddy Fun

When he had grown bored of the discussion going on between Toadpool and, apparently his grandfather, Ashflower, Stormykit hadn’t hesitated to bound away from his parent and the sad looking grey-furred cat. Stormykit didn’t really know what was going on between the pair before his or Seedkit’s arrivals, but he didn’t really feel too keen on finding out when Ashflower looked at him with sad eyes. “You're very right; Your Abba is the coolest cat I know, too.  I won't ever be as cool as them.” 

Lamenting on the cat’s words and his actions, Stormykit decides that adults are strange. Very strange. Stormykit understands being sad when you’re not in the presence of your loved ones — but he doesn’t understand being sad in their presence. What is there to be sad about? Why did Toadpool look so… Irritable? The look on their face, he realized, made him feel strange. Stormykit can’t help but hope that his relationship with Toadpool won’t ever cause him to make a face like that, ever. 

His plan had been to go back to his siblings' game of hide and seek, an activity that stopped the kit from thinking too hard about the fact that Sturgeonkit was still missing. The game didn’t quite fill the absence of his brother, but it did fill in the thoughts that would come swarming into his mind like a bad, gloomy cloud. But it looked as though Shrewkit had picked up the game on his own — albeit a little bit more on the one sided end, since Stemkit was sleeping soundly where Stormykit had last seen him. 

A glance is thrown over his shoulder, back to the sad looking grey cat and his parent. Ashflower had left Toadpool’s side by now, leaving them to comfort Seedkit with a bump of their muzzle against the top of his head. Stormykit almost wants the same comfort, but can’t help sticking his tongue out at the sight instead. That was fine, if he couldn’t get his Abba’s attention — he would just do something else… Turning his head away from the sight of his parent and sibling, Stormykit’s eyes land back on Stemkit. 

Well, if Stemkit isn’t doing anything… Stormykit comes trotting over, his tail perked up as he looks down at the sleepy kitten now only a few taillengths away from him. A paw is lifted, ready to prod at his brother. “What do you want?” Is Stemkit’s response, before Stormykit can poke at him. It makes him pause — how did his brother know he was here? “You’re loud.” 

“I didn’t even say anything!” Stormykit explains, his eyes growing wide as he watches Stemkit lift his head, a sour expression on his face. “Again, you’re loud.” Stemkit grumbles, as though Stormykit hadn’t heard the insult the first time. Stormykit pouts in return, lowering his paw before coming up to the front of his brother with a bit of unease. Stemkit’s ability to know what the heck was happening, even with his eyes always closed, freaked him out to no end. 

That wouldn’t sway Stormykit from loving his brother, though. Nor would it sway Stormykit away from the notion and determination of bugging him into going on an adventure with him. “I wanna do something,” Stormykit begins. “You should come with me.” 

“Why?” Stemkit asks. In all fairness, it’s a good question, but Stormykit doesn’t really know if he has a good response that will convince Stemkit to join him. So, he sucks in a deep breath before speaking. 

“Because,” Stormykit replies. “Abba looks upset. Dad isn’t here, he’s off at that dumb tree. Shrewkit is busy, Seedkit is too. And… And Sturgeon —” a lump forms in his throat, and Stormykit grimaces and flattens his ears down a little. Stemkit stares up at Stormykit with that familiar, critical expression on his face before giving a drawn out sigh. It’s the kind of sigh that doesn’t make Stormykit think that his sibling has given into the idea of coming with him, but instead is going to shoo him off so he can go back to his nap in peace. 

“Fine,” Stemkit grumbles as he sits up, making Stormykit’s heart leap with excitement. “I’ll come with you, but don’t expect me to do anything.”

“Great! That’s great!” Stormykit exclaims, only really hearing the ‘ fine ‘ part of his brother’s words, a sign of agreement that makes a big grin come onto his muzzle. Before his brother can change his mind or even regret the decision that he’s made, really, Stormykit bounces forward and away from his brother, looking over his shoulder with an excited shout. “C’mon!! We’re gonna ‘splore ‘round here!” And although Stemkit looks hesitant, the tired kit follows after Stormykit in a way that makes him beam with excitement. 

The walk around Ravenclan’s camp isn’t as fun as Stormykit was hoping it would be. In fact, it’s a little daunting with the amount of cats that surround the space currently — even with most of the warriors being out and about doing whatever the adults are so worked up about right now, it still feels pretty cramped in the clan’s camp. Not to mention, the mingling scents of foreign cats makes his pelt prickle with uncertainty — something that Stormykit does his best to shove aside. Occasionally, he preoccupies himself with looking over his shoulder to make sure Stemkit hasn’t fallen asleep on him. 

To Stormykit’s relief, Stemkit doesn’t fall asleep throughout their little journey, and just trails after him with squinted eyes. But eventually, they reach a destination that Stormykit is pleased with, something that he hasn’t really had much of a chance to lay eyes on before: a pond. Granted, Ravenclan’s pond looks… Like it’s lacking quite a bit of water, with mud caking toward its edges. But it’s enough to incite Stormykit’s curiosity, and push the tom kit forward with an excited purr. He doesn’t notice the cool, wet mud soaking onto his paws and in between his toes as he leans forward. Instead, he tries hard to focus on looking into the murky, shallow water. 

“You think they ever had fish in this?” Stormykit asks, tilting his head to Stemkit. Stemkit trails behind him a little, but eventually catches up to Stormykit and sits beside him. “I don’t know.” Stemkit mumbles in response. “Seems dumb to have a pond with fish, but go hunting.” 

Stormykit hates to admit it, but Stemkit is a secret genius. He nods his head in agreement, still looking at the water curiously. The kit can’t help but reach a now muddied paw forward, dipping it into the shallowest end of the water that he can before making a cupping motion. “Stormy, what are you doing?” 

“I’m trying to see if there’s fish.” Stormykit replies as though it’s obvious, furrowing his eyebrows together as he digs his paw deeper into the wet mud that he’s scooping. “Abba would be happy again if we caught fish, I bet!” Stemkit snorts, looking at the water with furrowed eyebrows before conceding, “I really don’t think there’s any fish, Stormy…” 

“But I got somethin!” Stormykit exclaims proudly, using all of his strength to pull the mud that he had scooped up from the shallow water beneath him. With a squelch, the substance comes up — but Stormykit quickly finds both himself and his brother covered in both water and mud alike, disrupted and brought up by the sudden force of the kit’s pulling. Stormykit blinks in surprise, a little dazed and disappointed by the sight of the clump of mud just… Sitting on his paw. No fish. 

“Ew, you got mud all over me!” Stemkit squeaks, wiping at the few droplets that had gotten onto his pelt with a grimace. Stormykit inspects his sibling, and then quickly decides that Stemkit is overreacting. It’s with a scoff that he waves his muddied paw, unintentionally flinging more mud onto both himself and Stemkit. “Nah, it’s not that bad —” 

“Now it is.” Stemkit hisses back, paws moving to try and wipe the mud off of his pelt. “We’re both all gross and wet now — it’s gonna take forever to dry.” With a huff, Stemkit looks at Stormykit with an expression of disgust… Causing Stormykit to pause and look back down at himself, his own grimace beginning to form at the sight of just how much mud he had landed on himself and his brother. 

“Whoopsie,” Stormykit mumbles, flattening his ears down a little. “ ‘m sorry, Stem, I didn’t think it was that bad…” He begins to apologize, furrowing his eyebrows together. But before Stemkit can respond to him, another cat joins their conversation. “There you two are!” Toadpool exclaims, their eyes widening at the sight of their now dirtied kits. “What were the two of you doing?” 

“Stormykit flung mud at me.” Stemkit proclaimed, lifting his head up with a pouty look. “He made me get up and go walkin’ ‘round, then hit me with mud.” 

“Did not!” Stormykit bites back, his eyes growing wide with disbelief at Stemkit’s words. His brother wasn’t really lying — but that’s not how it went, either! “I was tryin’ to catch a fish for Pa, but there aren’t any fish in this stupid pond!” 

Toadpool looks between the two with an expression of amusement, although Stormykit senses that they’re a little annoyed with the situation. Nevertheless, his parent stifles a chuckle as they gently guide the pair away from the pond. “Okay, okay — how about we focus on getting you two cleaned up for now instead?” And although a bath doesn’t sound the most pleasant, not arguing with Stemkit sounds even nicer, so Stormykit nods his head in agreement. “Fine…”