Open Camp baby its cold outside || cold water

[HailkitHailkit's icon]

{$title} its cold outside, the river around camp cant POSSIBLY be cold as well, right? .... right?

A chill was settling in the air recently. One that was wildly unfamiliar to the kit, but familiar to the adults around her. One that scared her in ways. Talk from the adults around her was scary, too. Lack of food? How else would she eat!? There was one way to solve this issue. She had to learn to hunt. She had to learn to swim. Luckily for her, the river that supplied them life surrounded the camp, leaving them on their small island. Now, she wasn't sure if there was much edible in the river surrounding camp. She knew that it was a good place to practice swimming and that sometimes they could find minnows in the water. What is a minnow? Hailkit wasn't sure exactly, but maybe she's figure it out today!

On the back side of the nursery, Hailkit sits near the river's edge, a worried look on her face. What if I get swept in? Then Papa's gonna have to save me. And Papa's gonna be worried sick. Maybe I don' have to go fully in it? Maybe a fish can jump out! Oh... maybe not... Whining, she lowers her head. But I need to help out the clan! Gotta help out! Maybe I can be made a warrior faster. The look on her face switches quickly at this thought. Instead of upset, she now had a boost of confidence. Thats right! Pikestar will have no choice! With a confident flick of her tail, she bounced even closer to the edge of the river. Here we go! As if in slow-motion, her paw reaches towards the water. She was going to do this, she was going to swim and catch enough fish to feed the entire clan! That's right! And in just that moment, contact is made.

It was as if the coldest breeze decided to come and attack her. With her paw in the water, she froze - only for a second. The rest followed quickly. Fur pricked up as the shiver shot through her body, crawling from her paw pad up to her shoulder and evening out along her spine. Every nerve in her tiny little body fired, shooting her up into the air as she yowled, landing away from the freezing cold of the river and scrambling on the ground. "Cold! Cold - Owie!" Hailkit whimpered, "The river hurt me! Its cold!!" Her back arched as she lowered her belly to the ground, ears flattening to her skull. How could the river do such a thing?

​

HAILKIT she/her, riverclan kit 3 moons old.
a chubby black kitten with white spots and freckles across her body.
mentored by none // mentoring none
littermate to Lullabykit & Howlingkit [Gen 2]
Batgloom x Shiveringsong
"speech" // "thoughts"
penned by doc↛ m0dernd0c on discord, feel free to dm for plots.

 

[pricklepaw]

x

The fluffy kit isn't as familiar with Howlingkit's littermates as they are with the girl herself, so they don't approach Hailkit at first. But the younger kit is sitting a bit too close to the river's edge for comfort—flashes of yellowed teeth and snapping jaws play out in their mind's eye as they watch Hailkit. They've grown fearful, ever wary of a dog lurching across the water and hurting another clanmate, and Pricklekit can't help but worry about it now. At least… if anything happens to Hailkit, they can tell one of the clan's warriors. The black-and-white kitten isn't very visible tucked behind the nursery as she is. She looks worried as well, and the brown-patched kit wants to say something, but then Hailkit seems to gather her courage and makes a move closer to the river's rippling edge.

Maybe she's trying to fish; Pricklekit has tried to fish on their own as well, determined to try and help the clan out in any way that they can. The wintertime chill has made some of the older cats talk about starvation, which the kit only experienced in their youngest days, the hunger hardly a whisper of a memory lost in between the squeals of other kits. Their littermate's, as Pikestar had told them. The memory is foggy and unreliable, but it is unpleasant, and Pricklekit would rather not be hungry like that ever again. Maybe Hailkit has the same idea—she seems kind like that. But when she touches the water with a paw, she recoils after a sharp pause, and Pricklekit's eyes widen beneath tangled fur.

Hailkit lowers herself to the ground defensively, and Pricklekit can't scent any threats but still feels the rush of terror that the dog had brought with it. "Hailkit!" Their paws move without thought, carrying them to the white-freckled kit's side. Tilting their head they gaze down at Hailkit's affected paw, searching for any obvious injury and seeing none. "It hurt you?" By this point, any sign of a smile has faded from Pricklekit's face, replaced by open concern. "D'you need Jinglemoon?" The healer can fix any injury, even caused by the cold, right? At least, Pricklekit trusts that he can. But they don't want to make Hailkit feel bad, either, so they hesitate for a moment before taking a step toward the medicine den.

OOC —

PRICKLEKIT

THEY/THEM, RIVERCLAN KIT
✼ stocky, fluffy chocolate and white kit with thick fur hiding their eyes. clingy and oblivious, a sleepy kit who prefers naptime over games.
✼ enhanced sense of smell ; gets nauseous easily
✼ sibling to branchkit, hollykit, saffronkit, skykit ; adopted by pikestar
✼ peaceful or healing powerplay is allowed ; they appreciate physical contact
✼ played by foxlore

 

[RUSHINGTIDE RUSHINGTIDE]

x

It feels much colder in RiverClan than it ever did at the shipyard. While the snow doesn't linger for more than a day or two, and the winds aren't as harsh as those blown by the sea, the river water is still incredibly cold to the touch. It turned swimming into a dreadful activity, and it felt almost miraculous he hasn't gotten sick yet. And it's even more surprising to see the kits take an interest in the water— not even the ones about to become an apprentice, but the ones who are too young to be thinking about hunting or getting in the water. Piercing golden eyes watch the duo of Hailkit and Pricklekit by the stream behind the nursery, his tail curled neatly around his paws, though the fur bristled slightly.

In a second, Hailkit touches the water and launches backwards like she's been physically struck by something. She says the river itself hurt her which was. . . humorous. Pricklekit, worried for their denmate, asks if the medicine cat should be called. "There is no need to get Jinglemoon." The warrior dismisses it with the flick of an ear. Their medic didn't need to be bothered with this when he had more important things to tend to. "The river didn't hurt you. It was just the cold water. You'll be fine when you warm up." His expression remains closed off, but his tone isn't harsh.

OOC //

RUSHINGTIDE

WARRIOR OF RIVERCLAN
he / him, cismale
17 moons old, ages on the 14th.
adder x wavesong, littermate to crescentmoon
older brother of salmonkit, otterkit, foamkit, piranhakit, troutkit and shellkit
"SPEECH" // THOUGHTS // INTERACTION

penned by nocthymia