"Sneak Attacc!"

The idea had come to her as she'd watched cats bustle in and out of the nursery, more busy and active than usual. They seemed to be removing a lot of nesting material, replacing the old gross stuff with the new nice smelling stuff. It would have been a little interesting to look at the new bedding but she could do that anytime....rarely did she have an opportunity to practice her sneaking skills. She didn't know a lot of these cats, which meant they were prime unsuspecting hunting targets. 

She'd started trying to practice sneaking not long after her mom had succeeded in startling her a few days ago. Her mom said that it was a secret how she did it, but that had only sounded like a challenge to little Splash's ears...she could figure out a secret! Momma would be so proud if she was able to figure it out all on her own, without any help!

At first, she'd tried to find something to hide behind, but with most of the nests up against the sides of the den with a lot of them being replaced, the little kit was discouraged to find that even her small little body had a hard time going unnoticed by the other cats. Some gave her odd looks before she even tried to hide, others noticed her crouching behind nests immediately - some even scolding her for getting in the way, to her frustration. Couldn't they see she was training!? 

Determined to prove them wrong, and maybe even startle some of the more naggy adults, Splashkit continued to try and duck behind various nests and piles of nesting material. It didn't help that it was a particularly bright day for bareleaf, sun reflecting off of the snow outside and seemingly chasing away most of the shadows within the nursery.

When her endeavors continued to fail, Splash looked for alternatives, having noted a few adults who were able to sleep through all the ruckus. Yet when she tried to duck behind them, though they didn't wake at first, when she did try and leap out at a passing cat she just ended up tripping over her own big feet with a loud "eeek!". 

Which in turn had her landing on the sleeping cat she'd been hiding behind, waking them up and earning herself a stern scolding followed up with being picked up and placed in the corner with firm instructions not to move.

Hmf. This was stupid. 

Tail whipping back and forth, yellow eyes glaring out between squinty eyelids, Splashkit couldn't help the occasional little growls of annoyance that exited her chest...even if she obeyed and made sure to stay still. She didn't want to get in actual trouble after all.

Frustrated and annoyed the little kit angrily started grooming between her toes, muzzle wrinkled. Her feet were really big. They kept getting in her way....they'd got in her way when she had woken up Puddle accidentally while going out to explore camp. She could very clearly remember how she'd tried to tug her foot free from the pile of her siblings, only for it to get stuck. When she'd pulled harder and it had popped free, she'd gone head over heels! 

Even when she was just walking she sometimes tripped over her own feet...sometimes she felt a bit weird about it since it didn't seem like her siblings had as much trouble as she did. She didn't know what the word was for the feeling, but it felt a bit icky. It was like the tips of her ears were really warm and there was something she was trying to swallow but it wasn't quite going down.

It was stupid. This was stupid...how was she supposed to become a master at sneaking like her mom if she was stuck in a corner? With big feet! 

She couldn't even use any memories of Freckle sneaking cause she hadn't seen her mother sneak up on her....one moment she'd been minding her own business, bored out of her mind, the next her mom had been scooping her up! She hadn't seen how her mom walked...if it was different than normal. She hadn't heard a sound, or a breeze, or anything!

By the time Splashkit would be allowed out of her corner she'd be thoroughly clean, having groomed herself with an angry intensity as she tried to figure out just what she'd been doing wrong. It was a little bit of a comfort, having been able to do something...even if it wasn't sneaking. She didn't think she'd learned anything much from this, but maybe next time she'd have better luck.