Moss-ball![open]

[shiningheart]

"Get it, get it, get it!" Rainkit chased after the ball of moss that he and Willowkit were playing with, his sister right on his heels. He dived for the small green ball and scooped it up on one paw, throwing it up in the air behind him. He heard Willowkit squeal and turned just in time to see the mossball come down and bounce off her head. Rainkit laughed at her and squeaked, "Ha ha, Willowkit got beaten by a ball of moss!" he laughed, pointing a paw at her.

Willowkit gave a squeaky growl and mewled, "Stop laughing, you're the one that threw it!" Rainkit didn't stop laughing. If anything, it just prompted him to laugh louder. Willowkit glared at him before scooping up the mossball and throwing it at him, smacking the black-and-white tomkit in the face. "Ha, now who got beaten? Briarleaf should have named you Mosskit instead of Rainkit!"

Rainkit hissed playfully and crouched down with his hindside waggling in the air. "Say that again, Willowkit. I dare you."

She acknowledged the challenge by copying his form with her tail lashing excitedly. "You heard me, Mosskit!" she taunted. The two leaped at the same time and collided in the air, tumbling around the empty nursery in a playfight.

[ferny]

Rippleshade's pelt warmed comfortingly in the sun's beams, as she lay stretched out beside the nursery, peering in to watch Mosskit and Willowkit play. Her slim, blue-grey form was radiant in the light, and her fur beautifully kept due to the abstinence she had taken from warrior duties since the she had moved into the nursery. She watched her brother's kits playing with a warm glow of affection in her amber eyes, and sat up gingerly, mindful of her own precious cargo, cradled and sleeping inside of her.

Some days, the slender queen wished her pregnancy would hurry up and be over. Wary as she was of kitting and the physical pain it would mean, she had become accustomed to seeing the gentleness with which queens tended to their kits, and also the pang of jealousy Rippleshade felt when she saw this. It was the most beautiful thing. Rippleshade so badly wanted it for herself, she could hardly wait.

However, she also liked the sense of completeness she felt now, with her kits inside her. She could feel their fragility, and their dependancy on her, and she knew she loved them. She also knew that when she gave birth to them, they would gradually begin to lose some of that dependancy, and would grow away from her to live their own lives. Right now, selfish as she felt for thinking it, she liked that her kits were a part of her.

"Say that again, Willowkit. I dare you."

That said, she couldn't wait to see the tiny creatures play like Briarleaf's kits were now. She couldn't wait to see how beautiful they were.

"You heard me, Mosskit!"

The two kits launched into a raucous play-fight, practically bouncing off the nursery walls.

"Careful, you two!" she purred affectionately to her niece and nephew. "There'll be no nursery left if you carry on like that."

[shiningheart]

Rainkit's greater weight won out in their brief tumble. Willowkit gasped out as the breath was squished out of her lungs. "Ooph! Get off of me, your fat is crushing my chest!" Rainkit scrambled to get off of his sister, accidentally hitting her in the face with his hind paw. "Owie! You did that on purpose!" she squealed, rubbing her face.

The black-and-white kit glared at her accusation and pouted. "I did not! Your big head just got in the way!" Willowkit growled and jumped on him, hitting him over the ears. Rainket yelped and ran around a bit, trying to dislodge her. That's when Rippleshade called in to them. ""Careful, you two!" she purred affectionately to her niece and nephew. "There'll be no nursery left if you carry on like that."

Rainkit shook Willowkit off, finally, and ran outside of the nursery to hide behind Rippleshade's swollen belly. "Willowkit's gone crazy!" he squeaked, staring up at his aunt.

[ferny]

Under the warmth of the sun, the RiverClan queen was beginning to feel a little sleepy. She was almost thankful for the racket the kits were making; it kept her from nodding into a slumber from which she would most likely not wake from for most of the day. Her pregnancy had been making her very tired of late, but she was loathe to give up the wakeful hours she had before her kitting. Many queens found carrying kits to be a chore, she knew, but Rippleshade thoroughly was thoroughly enjoying it. Whilst she would not regret the day it was over, she still wanted to savour every minute of it that she could.

Unfortunately, her body had other plans, wanting to sleep virtually every five minutes. Only the other day she had fallen asleep mid-conversation, waking to see a very bemused-looking Reedfoot standing over her.

Rippleshade watched as Rainkit dislodged his sister, escaping from the boisterous tussle, and scampered over.

"Willowkit's gone crazy!'

The swollen queen smiled down at the kit. "I agree. I think she probably has." The queen flicked her blue-grey tail, swiping the little creature's head. "But I'm sure she didn't just go crazy on her own. In fact, I'm certain that her equally crazy brother had something to do with it!"

Using a gentle hind leg, she pushed Rainkit from his hiding spot behind her massive belly. "Shoo! I'm not here to be hidden behind." she laughed, urging the kit to scamper back into the nursery. She enjoyed watching the two of them play. She actually had some vague memories of her own kithood, and playing just as Rainkit and Willowkit were. It seemed a little strange, watching the kits of the very kit she herself had tussled with.

[shiningheart]

Rainkit looked up in surprise, his eyes bright and his tail up int he age. Rippleshade was agreeing with him! Willowkit really was insane, if one of the grown-ups said it! Then Rippleshade continued, and Rainkit's tail and ears both lowered. He had absolutely nothing to do with Willowkit getting bees in her brain! Then Rippleshade shooed him out from behind her.

Willowkit caught sight of her brother and grinned evilly. Rainkit giggled nervously, backing away from his little sister who didn't look so little anymore. Her pelt and tail were fluffed up and, while this may just be his imagination, he could swear that a dark cloud of promising-doom hung over Willowkit's head. "Eh heh... Hello, baby sister who I love very much and loves me in return and would never ever wish harm upon me..."

Wrong thing to say. Willowkit let out an adorable little roar that sounded more like 'rawr' than 'roar'. Rainkit didn't know the difference and, with a terrified wail, turned and ran. Willowkit charged after him cackling psychotically. "Run, big brother, run!" she crowed. Her legs were just a tiny bit smaller than Rainkit's, letting him keep a bit ahead of her. The two kits ran in circles around their aunt, never once touching her and the distance between the two of them never once shrinking or distancing.

[ferny]

Rippleshade thought that Rainkit's wide eyes were heartwarmingly bright as he looked up at her. She watched him closely as he, unwillingly, crept back out to resume playing with his sister. She could see something of Briarleaf and of her own brother in both of them. It was probably that which made her feel so attached to her niece and nephew. Looking at them now, she wondered how they'd be in a few moons when they were apprenticed. She supposed the time would fly by.

Absently, she wondered how Briarleaf would feel about her kits leaving the nursery. Six moons must feel like an awfully short time for a mother to spend with her kits constantly by her side. She tried to picture the little creatures inside her having to eventually leave her and become apprentices. The thought came with a gut-wrenching feeling, and she felt a stab of pity for her friend.

Then again, she would surely be very proud. She remembered her own apprenticeship, and was consoled. Yes, she would be more than pleased to see her kits leave her to become the great cats they would surely be.

Satisfied, she smiled to herself, and stretched out a little on the ground, and closed her eyes.

"Run, big brother, run!"

Rippleshade's eyes snapped open once more, and she gave a loud and overdramatic sigh as she registered the fact that both the little creatures were prancing round and round her in circles. She heaved herself to her paws, and reached out to bat one of them lightly, hoping to stop the endless circle.

"You two are quite the troublemakers, you know that?" She sat down to look at them with a mock stern expression. "Your mentors are going to have their pawfuls when you're apprenticed."

OOC: I'm sorry this took forever! I've been beyond busy DX