A I R K I T
Almost there.... Almost... Patience was not something a little kitten like herself knew well, StarClan knows she wanted to pounce ages ago, but determination kept her still. Her posture was terrible — her rump was too high in the air, her paws were splayed too far forward, and her chin was pressed firmly against the clearing floor. It was a hunting crouch horribly imitated by what her father had shown her a few days ago. Her clear blue eyes were pinned on a small, bright yellow finch that was pecking at the snow a couple tail-lengths away. How a bird had flown into a camp of cats and hadn't immediately fluttered away was a miracle. Perhaps the setting of midday and most warriors out on patrol made it feel safe enough to scrounge for food, oblivious to the little kitten who wanted to claim her first catch.
Airkit was lucky to have a pelt pale enough to give her cover with the snow, the little bird didn't seem to see her yet. She just had to wait until it was close enough to her that she could spring with confidence. Jeez! It felt like an eternity of waiting here. Her hindlegs were aching by now, tired of supporting her horrid posture. Just as she was beginning to feel incredibly frustrated, the finch hopped closer. It was now or never! Her little body flung, kicking up piles of snow in the process and alerting her prey that it was certainly no longer safe. The finch chirped in alarm, its wings carrying it away into flight. But it wasn't fast enough. Somehow, the kit had managed to snag her claws on the bird and drag it back onto the ground. The impact alone was enough to stun the little animal, and a sloppy kill bite involving a kitten shoving her teeth around its head was the final blow to the poor thing.
Overwhelming excitement poured into Airkit as she tasted the warm flood of her first kill. She dropped the bird immediately, not even waiting long enough for the limp prey to fall to the ground before she was bounding off in search of her father. Lately, he was never too far. The Clan deputy was busy in camp these past few days, constantly throwing orders around and having to be present in meetings she never understood the importance of. It wasn't too long before she found him nearby, talking in hushed tones with Desertstar. The 3-moon-old kitten didn't hesitate to run right up to him, stopping in time to just barely avoid crashing into his legs as she excitedly told him, "Papa! Papa! I did it! I got my first catch! Come, come! You gotta see it!!" She was already hooking a tiny little paw around his foreleg, tugging with all her pitiful little strength to move the large tom-cat in the direction she wanted him to go.
A I R K I T
The little beige kit had no idea what she was interrupting when she went to get her father. While she was old enough to understand the difference of tones in words, she didn’t fully understand the meaning behind them yet or why Hailgaze was upset with the patrol he was scolding. She had never had her father speak that way to her, of course. Airkit had no reason to know that part of him.
She was far too focused on her catch and the excitement bubbling deep down and how much she wanted her dad to see her achievement, anyway. When she finally had his attention, Airkit hopped happily on her paws and leaped over to where she had left the little bird on the snow. It was a mess, really. The unfortunate creature looked broken and battered- it was certainly not a clean, trained kill but it was enough to garner her father’s praise and she was more than happy about that.
A grin from ear to ear graced her little face as Hailgaze began cleaning her up. “When I’m old enough, you’ll show me how to catch other things, right?” She purred.
- ℍ𝕒𝕚𝕝𝕘𝕒𝕫𝕖 -
𝔻𝕖𝕡𝕦𝕥𝕪 𝕠𝕗 𝕎𝕚𝕟𝕕ℂ𝕝𝕒𝕟
Hailgaze felt his upper lip lifting as he gazed at Cometchaser, feathery dark grey and white tail lashing in frustration as he let out a grunt. “That is not an excuse for attacking clanmates. Lightpaw is simply being misguided because he’s hating the world.” He growled, scorching amber eyes narrowing as he looked amongst the felines of the patrol. “I am disappointed. You were ordered not to engage with them, they had no means of caring for their injuries.” He looked between Dayfall, Blackfire, and Cactuspaw. His stress levels were out the root. Lips parting to continue scolding his warriors before a very high pitched voice suddenly caught his attention, chin turning for his amber eyes to land upon Airkit as his little lady was rushing towards him with her face full of excitement. Ears perking up as he looked down at the creamy grey tabby, his lips pressing together as he reined in his temper while turning his gaze to look back at his patrol. “We are not finished. Go get something to eat for now.” Hailgaze ordered before looking back down at his daughter as she tugged on his foreleg.
“Did you really? Why don’t you show me this catch.” He mused as he finally turned away from the patrol, following his daughter in the direction of where she had left the dead bird. Eyes narrowing upon the catch as he could see the greatly disturbed snow, lowering his head as he walked closer, looking towards his daughter and giving her a smile. “My, my. Airkit, you caught a little finch.” He meowed, looking at the sloppy bite mark before looking back at his kit to see blood on her chin. Leaning towards her as he rasped his tongue over the patch to clean her up before her foster mother could see. “Well done, Airkit.” He smiled warmly at his kit, his previous anger forgotten as he lightly pressed his muzzle against her chest.
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