Juncostar
shadowclan leader
The forest was covered with a fresh blanket of snow, the first of the season. It was yet undisturbed, and glittered in the pale morning light. Upon seeing that it had snowed overnight, Juncostar had been filled with a kit-like glee, and had immediately rushed out of his den to marvel at the sight. It had been then that he'd caught sight of Ravenkit, seemingly having sneaked away from his mother to see his first snow. Juncostar remembered his own wonder at the stuff when he was younger, and he was eager to show his nephew just what fun this all could be. He'd ushered the kit out of camp, all giggles and glowing eyes as he explained excitedly what they were going out to do.
"There's a clearing in the trees out here that's just perfect for playing in the snow," he explained, "We got lucky; this snow is the best for building snow cats." He could hardly contain his anticipation, a bounce in his step as he led the way through the forest. He was careful to keep his pace slow enough that Ravenkit could keep up with his stubby little legs, not wanting to lose him out here. He'd be lucky enough if he survived Mercuryrose's anger as it was, if he got Ravenkit back to camp safe when they were done; if something happened to the young tom when Juncostar sneaked him out of camp, not only would he never forgive himself, but he'd likely wash up somewhere along the sea shore come greenleaf.
As they came to the clearing he'd mentioned, the tom paused to take in how beautiful the snow was under direct sunlight. His eyes were wide, glowing bright as a huge smile grew on his lips. "Come on," he urged in a whisper, leaping and digging his paws heavily into a small pile of snow, scooping up a pawful and flinging it in Ravenkit's direction.
Juncostar
shadowclan leader
Head hanging in shame, Juncostar was forced to accept that maybe it hadn't been the best idea to sneak his nephew out of camp. "I... I'm sorry, Mercuryrose," he murmured, ears falling to his skull. He hadn't meant to scare her; he'd just wanted Ravenkit to get out and do something fun. It was the tom's first leafbare, and Juncostar remembered how excited he'd been, himself, when he'd seen his first snow. He turned his eyes on the she-cat as she turned away from them, nervousness settling in his belly. He didn't know what he was bracing himself for, but it was in vain when his friend announced that they were both grounded.
"Grounded!?" he repeated, eyes wide in disbelief. "Mercuryrose, you can't--!" He broke off with a heavy pout as the queen stepped closer to examine their snow cat. He was just thinking how lucky he was to only get off with a grounding, when suddenly his friend was threatening him. He gave a frightened squeal, hopping to his paws and stepping further away from her. He believed that Mercuryrose would make good on her threat. She was never one to make empty threats. His head and tail hung as he followed along behind the pair, dragging his paws through the snow as though they were made of lead. "This is a load of feathers," he cursed quietly, cheeks puffed indignantly.
Mercuryrose Shadowclan Queen Dark green-pink eyes were narrowed as the large Maine Coon refrained from going towards the Shadowclan leader and smacked him straight in the face in anger. Why on earth did Juncostar think it was appropriate to leave camp without her permission?! The black and rose-gold molly stalked towards the two toms, she heard Ravenkit squealing when Juncostar knocked him off but giggled when Juncostar caught him just in time. Her little Raven was such a troublemaker, a sweetheart, but was always up to no good. “Juncostar, I would like a heads up before you go ahead and kidnap my son to make a snow-cat!” The molly snapped, causing Ravenkit to pout. Mercuryrose stopped right in front of the two, and she let out a small sigh “I don’t want to be scared like that, Juncostar.. Mintstrike and I were looking everywhere for him.” Mercuryrose explained, as she had been trying to let Juncostar understand how she felt.. As she was truly trying her best to explain herself without being aggressive. The molly had assumed the worst, that her little son was lost in the snow storm. A brief memory of watching her sister Aurora losing her own daughter Luna in a snowstorm had caused Mercuryrose to panic, she didn’t want to lose her child like that. Letting out a small snort, she watched Juncostar carefully before turning around as she needed to think of a consequence for both toms as they hadn’t listened to her. “Both of you are now grounded.” Mercuryrose said suddenly, turning around to look at the two toms. Ravenkit’s golden eyes widened “Oh come on Mom! You can’t ground us!’ The black and white kit whined while it seemed like Juncostar was also in shock about this sudden news. The leader of Shadowclan was also grounded?! Watching the boys’ expression, she narrowed her eyes before going towards the snow-cat and observed it carefully and sniffed at the pebbles “You forgot the smile.” Mercuryrose simply said before lifting her paw, one of her toe beans moved gracefully across to make a smile for the snow-cat before turning towards Juncostar “Oh, Juncostar..” She said before gesturing for Ravenkit to cover his ears and watching in satisfaction when her son did it “Juncostar, if you take my son out without my permission ever again.. I will grab you by the tail and hang you from a tree that they’ll have to call you Possumstar,” She said, before looking at Ravenkit and letting him know it was okay to listen now and flicking her tail for the two toms to follow her back to camp. “Let’s go Ravenkit, We have to fetch some good moss and feathers for Juncostar as he will be staying in his den for a while.”
Juncostar
shadowclan leader
Juncostar seemed to brighten even more as Ravenkit announced he was his favorite between the two, eyes glittering. He strove to be the fun uncle, to give Ravenkit some of his greatest memories so that he could look back on his kithood with fondness. It was something Juncostar had never had; he only wanted to make sure his nephew was happy. It was merely a bonus if he were the one to bring that to him. And the fact he could do that without serious injury befalling the kit made it even better. He seemed to relax upon seeing that Ravenkit was uninjured, and he was happy to sit back and watch as the little tom brought back his chosen pebbles. He offered assurance that they were perfect, and just what I would've picked, for each one as it was presented.
He lifted the pebble offered to him in his teeth, steadying himself with his paws planted firmly in the snow as he lifted the kit to place the first eye on the snow cat they'd created. He placed the second one-- a little lopsided-- on the other side of the snow cat's face, stooping to lift the pebble Ravenkit had picked for the nose. He was just about to hand it to the tom when--
Juncostar jumped, giving a dramatic screech. He was quick to catch Ravenkit, having knocked the little tom off his paws in his startle. He recognized the voice immediately. Turning sheepish eyes on the large she-cat standing at the edge of the clearing, Juncostar attempted to calm the situation. "Heeyy, Mercuryrose!" he greeted, a sugary sweet smile touching his lips. "You, uh... Ya like our snow cat?" he offered, flicking a paw in a weak gesture toward their sculpture.
Ravenkit Shadowclan Kitten His golden eyes lit up when his uncle complimented him, a huge smile appeared on the black and white kit’s face. It had meant a lot that Ravenkit had plenty of cats that cared and adored him in Shadowclan. With Mercuryrose and Mintstrike, and his uncle and aunts.. That famous saying ‘It took a clan to raise a kit’ was true, and Ravenkit would definitely grow up to remember that. “Thank you Uncle Junco.. Don’t tell Uncle Mellow, but I like you more.” Ravenkit cheekily said, as the little tom tended to led Mellowfrost and Juncostar believe that they were better uncle. It was quite a mischievous move on Ravenkit’s part, but he enjoyed seeing the excited expressions on each of his uncles. Whipping the snow away from his face, the little tom let out a blep before nodding and sticking his tongue back in “The snow tastes cold! My brain froze!” He chirped, clearly showing that Ravenkit didn’t suffer any injuries.
The little tom nodded, full of excitement as Ravenkit quickly turned around and ran around the clearing. His little stubby legs carried him to a nearby pine tree and began digging with one paw and was carefully looking to the ground until spotting a brown pebble. Ravenkit let out a little bounce in excitement before nosing the pebble and picking it up while going towards Juncostar and placed it carefully next to Juncostar. He repeated the action as the kit returned to the same tree and began digging and finding a shiny black pebble. Ravenkit quickly picking it up and dashing through the snow until placing it to the brown pebble and moments later, the black and white kit returned with another black pebble “Uncle Junco, I did it!” Ravenkit cheered, and beamed while seeing that the gray leader had finally finished stacking the huge snowballs together to form a cat
Carefully picking up the first black pebble, he nudged the second one to Juncostar before carefully climbing on the leader and with his right paw, carefully placed the black pebble on the top ball to create the eye. Watching Juncostar placing the other pebble to create the other eye of their snow-cat. A small giggle escaped Ravenkit "Almost there." He breathed, happiness overcame Ravenkit as he was watching Juncostar picking up the brown pebble with his paw until his golden eyes widened at a sharp tone, a familiar voice ran through the clearing
“What on earth were you thinking Juncostar?!”
ef1fc2 - Mercury
Juncostar
shadowclan leader
Juncostar waved a paw in an attempt to ease Ravenkit's worries. "I think you're tougher than she thinks," he admitted, "You're a tough lil dude, and you're doin' amazing just how you are." He hoped that was enough to get his mind off it. Juncostar had grown up with a couple littermates, so he clearly couldn't relate to being the only kit his age in the Clan. He had no idea that Ravenkit might feel lonely; the way he saw it, the young tom had so many cats around him that cared and who played with him and gave him all the attention he could need.
He didn't have long to dwell on that thought, though, as soon enough Ravenkit was moving on to the next subject. This one was decidedly happier; Juncostar was grateful for the change. He nodded enthusiastically, rolling his snowball as big as he could manage. When it became too heavy to keep rolling, he carefully patted another ball into shape. He was just starting to roll this one when his nephew fell, causing Juncostar to lurch forward with a gasp. "Are you okay?" he fretted, eyes trailing over the kit's tiny form to search for any injuries. The last thing he wanted was for any harm to come to his nephew while they were out of camp; he'd never be able to forgive himself if the kit got so much as a small scrape.
He breathed a shaky sigh of relief as Ravenkit laughed, brushing snow off himself. He took a moment to compose himself, focusing on his breathing to try and calm his racing heart. He'd never been so panicky over another cat before; it was a weird feeling to react so quickly, so anxiously. He hardly had time to relax when suddenly Ravenkit was talking about lightning and behaving. Eyes widening, Juncostar fell to a fit of giggles, gasping between laughter, "Oh, I'd give anything to see that!" He prodded Ravenkit with a paw in his side, jerking his head toward a small pile of stones toward the edge of the clearing. "Hey, how 'bout you go pick a couple stones for his eyes? 'Could probably use one for his nose, too. I'll go ahead 'n get these snowballs stacked while you do that."
Ravenkit Shadowclan Kitten A giggle escaped Ravenkit’s lips when watching Juncostar pretending to be wounded before collapsing on the ground, the small black and white kit quickly making his way towards the Shadowclan leader before climbing on him and grinning proudly “Silly Uncle! I don’t want you to melt with the snow!” The kit said, his eyes widened slightly at the thought of the grey leader melting with the snow before frowning and shaking his head “Don’t melt, please.” Ravenkit said, as he didn’t want his uncle to leave when Leaf-bare was over.. Who would look after Shadowclan then? Uncle Mellowfrost? The cream and brown deputy was such a troublemaker, Ravenkit didn’t want all his stuff to be hidden in the leader’s den! Quickly jumping off Juncostar, the small kit was bouncing up and down in excitement on what the larger tom had planned for him. Eagerly following and watching Juncostar rolling up the snowballs to create a snow-cat, his golden eyes were focused as the tom started patting to create the first ball before rolling it together. “Mama tells me that she worries because the others are in Thunderclan, while I’m here” Ravenkit said, as he knew that his mother felt bad about being the only sibling living in Shadowclan. It was a somewhat lonely childhood, as Wildflower’s kits were still too young to play with.. But he was grateful to have such fun uncles and aunts to keep him entertained, along with his parents that were loving to him and gave him everything that he needed.
“I wanna make it bigger than me!” Ravenkit said, his voice full of excitement as his tail began waving back and forth in happiness. Watching as Juncostar began rolling another snowball, making it bigger, Ravenkit attempted to follow his lead but let out a small oof when his face fell into the snow as he misplaced a step. Chuckling, his rubbed the snow away from his nose “Oops” He said before following after the grey tom once more. It wasn’t until his eyes widened at the mention of Waspsight, of course his best friend would know!
“I’ll ask Waspsight when we get back to camp! Maybe he can ask the spirits where my toy went! Maybe they can shoot a bolt of lightning on Uncle Mellow and tell him to behave too!” Ravenkit said, his eyes shining in excitement. Where did he get that last line? From Mellowfrost, when the Shadowclan deputy grumbled the other day under his breath about how he wished that Leafstorm would get hit by a bolt of lightning after the elder was snapping at the cream and brown tom after an apprentice wasn’t assigned to take care of him.
Juncostar
shadowclan leader
The tom's excitement only grew when he saw how happy Ravenkit was to be playing in the snow. Even better than having fun himself was watching his nephew have fun; he remembered when he was a kit, when his mother had ushered him out of camp to do this very thing. As the little tom flung snow back, Juncostar made a halfhearted attempt to roll out the way, catching a hit square in the chest. He released a dramatic wail, falling to his side. "You got me!" he lamented, raising a paw to his forehead to feign weakness as he lay in the snow. "I don't know if I'll ever recover." Soon enough he was over his own theatrics, and he rolled back onto his belly, standing swiftly and shaking the excess snow from his pelt.
He caught Ravenkit's attention, carefully packing a ball of snow and rolling it to collect more. "Look," he explained, placing his paws gently so as to not break the ball he was building. "If we roll it like this, it'll keep getting bigger. How big you wanna make this?" he offered, giving Ravenkit the choice. However big the kit wanted the snow cat to be, Juncostar would try his hardest to achieve it.
Pausing as the tom spoke again, Juncostar released a small hum. "Where other cats stay when they're ready to rest..." he repeatedly quietly, brows furrowing hard as he thought. After a moment, his expression relaxed and he gave an easy shrug. "I dunno, little dude," he admitted, "But go ahead and ask Waspsight. He probably knows where to find it." He went back to his work, only to freeze once more as Ravenkit mentioned his mother. "Yeah, uh... about that," he giggled, flashing a sheepish smile in the kit's direction. "She's gonna have my tail when we get back; but this snow cat will be worth it," he justified, eyes glittering. "I'm sure once she sees what a good job you did, she'll forget all about that. She's gonna love it."
Ravenkit
Shadowclan Kitten
His amber eyes were widened, mouth parting in awe as the little black and white kitten was watching the snow at the entrance of the nursery. It was Ravenkit’s first snow, and he couldn’t be even happier. Mercuryrose had been sleeping in their nest, the black and rose-gold Maine Coon didn’t want to bring her son outside yet as he just recovered from his cold that Waspsight treated.. But Ravenkit couldn’t help but press his paw against the blanket of snow that was in front of him and let out a soft ‘Woah’ as he pressed his other paw against the snow. A giggle escaped him.
It wasn’t until he saw Juncostar approaching him, also excited about the snow. His amber eyes shined in excitement as he followed after his uncle, he was going on an adventure! Following after the gray leader, Ravenkit’s eyes crossed slightly when letting out a breath and seeing it in front of him “This is cool Uncle Junco!” He said, and let out a laugh when Juncostar stopped as he suddenly found a good place to build a snow-cat and flung some snow at him. Ravenkit began to fling snow back at Juncostar, and even managed to get a small piece to hit the tom’s chest. The black and white kit had ran around the clearing, laughter could be heard from him as he began jumping around the area.
It wasn’t until Juncostar got his attention, and he made his way towards the larger tom. Watching closely, he watched as Juncostar was slowly rolling up a ball as he was starting to make the body of the snow-cat. Ravenkit moved towards his uncle and began helping him, gathering snow and patting it to make sure it stays in place “Uncle Mellow keeps hiding my favorite pebble, he told me the hint of the day.. Says that it’s where other cats stay when they’re ready to rest.. But he’s confusing with his riddles.” He mentioned as Ravenkit was truly trying his best but there were too many dens for the poor kit to explore.. He was going to tell his mother again, she usually makes Mellowfrost give the answer after a while.
“You don’t think Mom is gonna be mad that we went out right? She’s been saying that the cold weather is icky.. Even she hates it!” Ravenkit said, as he knew that his mother wouldn’t be overly fond of Ravenkit leaving her without permission.. Hopefully the duo will arrive back at camp before she awoke, and Ravenkit and Juncostar would instead say that they were hanging out in Juncostar’s den instead of being outside of camp.