PAFP Camp SkC Little friends in strange places || A lesson in bugs

[Ptarmiganpaw Ptarmiganpaw]

———————————— You're not meant to sing along, it isn't that kind of song. ✦

It wouldn't be too long until the kitten would earn her new name, gifted by Hawkstar. But in the meanwhile she rested rather antsy just outside the nursery, splayed on the ground watching what few insects still flit about the camp as the weather cooled and cooled. It didn't bite into her pelt as much as she feared, the caretakers commenting she had gotten fluffier the longer she had stayed here, Swallowbreeze's treatment doing wonders for her.

She rest her head on her paws, nothing else to do for the moment, until something caught her eye. A beetle, a rather large thing, its shell reflecting in the light of the sun. It was a pretty thing, with so many tiny little limbs and their feathery ears and beady eyes and... Uhm...

Ptarmigankit tilted her head a little, trying to get a better look at the thing. She knew bugs ate stuff, like plants, its why Swallowbreeze swatted the things out her nest and why warriors grew indignat when they were found chewing on their nests. But on closer inspection, her face faultered a little. They didn't have normal mouths but sharp little things where there should be one. At least, she thought it was a mouth? How else would a beetle eat.

Her face scrunched up, she knew a good amount about plants and a little about butterflies. But she sat there, stumped. The sealpoint hummed in annoyance, proping herself up as she looked around, gaze falling on one of the only other meek kittens in the nursery, the one Mulberryburst and Maplemouse brought to camp only half a moon or so after her.

The kitten hesitated for a moment, before calling out. "Peonykit?" She kept her voice soft, not to scare Peony or scare of the beetle. "Can you help me with something? I- Do bugs have mouths?" Ptarmigankit motioned to the thing with her face knit in confusion. "It doesn't have teeth- I think. There are uhm... Pointy bits where there should be a mouth?" She turned back, squinting at the thing. They were both small, but the beetle was smaller, and it was hard to figure out what its mouth even was.

——— Now you're lying face down.

You blend into the background. ———

• ooc - let @Peonykit reply first!!
• 
  Ptarmigankit
  ✦—Skyclan Kitten | 6 moons
  ✦—They/She/He
  ✦—"SPEECH", 'THOUGHTS', ATTACK
  ✦—A long-haired sealpoint kitten with tired amber eyes.
  #94e4ae

 

[Peonykit]

Not much had been going on with the young kit recently. It almost seemed like her worries had been gone. Mulberryburst and Maplemouse had been giving her encouragement and comfort. Of course, they weren't always there. From her understanding, they always were up to something for the clan. Flowercloud gave them instructions, and it was for hours at a time that she wouldn't see either of her saviors. Instead, she got more time to hang out with her fellow kittens, playing games and watching as she grew with them. It was still hard to interact with them at times. Peonykit was shy at times or simply waited for her parental figures to return. This wouldn't stop her today, however.

As her name is spoken, her small ears turn to the voice. A friend, perhaps. A question. Slowly blinking, she takes one last look at the entrance to camp before turning to the older kit. The tortie listens carefully to the inquiry and moves closer to the bug on the ground. Ptarmigankit was asking about its mouth, but as stated, it didn't have one. Two sharp things adorned the face of the beetle. How odd. Peonykit blinks at Ptarmigankit, confusion taking its place in her mind and her face, as her mouth opens slightly and an eyebrow raises. "They eat... right?" The kitten looks back at the beetle and frowns. "How? With claws... on it's face." Were they even claws? They kind of looked like it. She stretches her paw out to the beetle and watches as it flexes its mouth-claws. It was so odd. "I think... ants... are same?"

​

PEONYKIT they/she, skyclan 5 moons old.
a small tortoiseshell kitten with dark green eyes
mentored by none // mentoring none
littermate to ???
NPC x NPC
"speech" // "thoughts"
penned by doc↛ m0dernd0c on discord, feel free to dm for plots.

 

[Flutterkit]

FLUTTERKIT
FAE/SHE
2 MOONS
SKYCLAN KIT
SPEECH | THOUGHTS

PENNED BY PLOT

Flutterkit watched the older kits with fascination. Fae wasn't entirely certain that the beetle was safe, so she had hesitated in inching closer, but as the two studied and discussed it, there seemed to be no issue. Her whiskers twitched with interest, and she padded a little closer.

"What do bugs eat?" she asked, her query louder than intended. "They don't eat cats, right?"

​

OOC:

 

[Deerkit]

There was a beetle, quite a sizable one at that, iridescent in the sunlight. Its face-claws were the topic of discussion as Deerkit stuck his head out of the nursery, curiosity clear in his yellowish eyes. He did not know any of these kits very well - he was still quite new here, after all, and making friends was a challenge - but they were his peers, and he found himself wanting to participate in their conversation. "Some bugs eat cats." The chocolate-striped tom-kit ventured in response to Flutterkit with a wrinkle of his splotched nose. "Ticks and fleas eat us slowly. I think that's why we get rid of them, 'cos if we left them, they'd eventually eat us all up."

Deerkit smoothed down a tuft of white fur on his chest, feeling compelled to groom himself at the very thought of parasites in his fur. Then he leaned in close to the beetle, studying it intensely for several long moments before declaring: "But I don't think these eat cats. I think they eat...dust. Or plants."