The salt on the open wound (OPEN)

[NeverMore]

Trout was his least favourite kind of fish Freezingwind decided as he chew slowly on the sleek flesh of the fish in question. Being a RiverClan cat, Freezingwind loved fish but he did favour some fish over others. Say carp for example, was one of the better tasting fish that could be found in the river. Oh how Freezingwind found himself longing for carp right about now. Since it was leafbare, fish was rather rare in RiverClan and a nice change from the mice that had become the norm in RiverClan during the cold moons of Leafbare. Freezingwind sighed to himself, mourning the loss of fish but was forcibly dragged out of his thought by a chilly pelt pressing up against his own.

Instinctively the tom opened his jaws to release a hiss at the same time baring his teeth at whomever decided to disturb him. He was countered by another hiss who turned out to be his darker coloured sister, Northernlight. She regarded him through eyes of the exact hue of his own but with a touch of distaste within them.

"I didn't think you had enough brain power to be so deep in thought." She meowed coldly, which only Freezingwind could recognize as Northernlight's own unique brand of humor. The tom grinned at her and rubbed against the RiverClan deputy affectionately, ignoring her hiss of disgust at the sign of affection. Freezingwind laughed openly at her, grabbing the fur on her shoulder in his teeth and dragging her down to the spot next to him.

"Oh you can be so cruel little sister." He cooed like a song bird. Northernlight's ears flattened to her head and eyes narrowed in dislike.

"You aren't that much older so watch your tongue or you won't have one." She hissed, irritable as ever but allowing the afternoon rays of the sun calm her pelt. Freezingwind let out a deep chuckle and rasped his tongue over his sister's pelt, soothing the wild fur into a sleeker look.

"Maybe if you kept your pelt under control less cats would be so terrified with you." He meowed but instantly froze after the words left his maw. Northernlight stiffened as well, her body becoming tense once more but her jaw remained firmly shut.

Freezingwind positioned himself so his sister had to look at him in the eye. He tilted his head You know I didn't mean that. The look said. Northernlight twitched her whiskers, I know you don't know when to keep your mouth shut. Was the answering reply.

[Dai]

Skykit bounded after the nursery with Moonkit at is tail. The two kits had woken up later than usual, around sunhigh, and had been playing in the nursery until Mintleaf, tired of them play-fighting in such a small area, had sent them outside. When Moonkit finally caught up with Skykit, she leaped on top of him and tried to pin him down. However, being as frail and fragile as Moonkit was, Skykit easily shook her off, purring.

"You weigh as much as a mouse!" he crowed, jumping on top of her and pinning her down. "I win!" he cried.

"No way!" Moonkit said, her voice filled with frustration. She battered at him with her hindpaws, but it made no difference. Skykit was big and strong, so he held her their while she struggled to get up. Finally Moonkit gave up, and mewed sadly, "I can't get up! Skykit, let me go!" he stepped off her, triumphant of winning, as his sister staggered upward and shook the dirt off her pelt.

Mintleaf walked out of the nursery too, and saw Moonkit all dirty. "Are you two still play-fighting? Why don't you get a piece of prey for us to share." The kits nodded, and ran up to the fresh-kill pile. They looked at the meager amount of fresh-kill, deciding to pick a yellow perch. Skykit was glad to have picked a fish, seeing as there were more mice than fish during leafbare. Skykit picked up the fish in his jaws and trotted back to Mintleaf with Moonkit trailing behind.

They picked a spot where the sunlight shown, and all crouched down to eat. Yum, nothing better than fish! Thank you, Starclan! Moonkit thought graciously as the three cats ate. When the perch was gone, Skykit and Moonkit looked up at their mother, "Can we go play now?"
"Yes, you may play now." Mintleaf purred, and she lay down on some rocks to warm her pelt as the weak rays of sun reached her. The kits ran off happily, looking for someone to play with. Skykit spotted Freezingwind and Northernlight, and instantly bounded off in their direction.

"Wait up, Skykit!" Moonkit cried, running after him. Skykit ran up to the two.
"Hi Freezingwind, Northernlight!" Skykit greeted them. Moonkit skidded to a halt next to her brother, clumsily tripping over her feet and falling.

"Ooof." she mewed, and picked herself up. "Hi!"

[NeverMore]

Freezingwind tore his eyes away from his sisters with a stab of disappointment, knowing even something as small as that would make Northernlight ignore him for the rest of the day or until he managed to wrestle a response out of her. Instead his eyes landed on the form of Skykit and Moonkit, two new kits in RiverClan. He glanced over at Mintlyeaf only to see the Queen warming herself in the rare shafts of sunshine peaking through the dull clouds hanging over RiverClan.

"Hello little ones!" Freezingwind replied in his usual upbeat tone. He chuckled under his breath at the antics of the two kits and bumped against Northernlight to get a response from her, which predictably failed. the she cat in question was disconcertingly grooming her pelt to its usual silky perfection that was required by all RiverClan cats in order to swim.

Sighing quietly at his sister Freezingwind turned his attention to the kits once again. "Any plans for today kits? Or would you rather do something more fun" The way he twisted the last word made his sister send him an all knowing glare.

Northernlight knew that tone of voice, the one that said I-feel-like-causing-mayhem-today tone that usually involved some ridiculous shenanigans that would make her blood brother look like a ridiculously over kit. Good, Northernlight muttered bitterly inside her mind, that will keep him out of my fur and maybe annoy Froststar at the same time. Two birds, one stone.

She made to get up and walk away from her brother but he just grabbed a teeth full of her fur and yanked her back down with a annoyed mewl that clearly said Too late, you're already involved. Northernlight hissed at him for ruining her fur and batted harshly at his nose to make him let go. The tom just rolled over quickly to avoid the half-hearted hit.

[Dai]

Skykit and Moonkit looked up at Northernlight curiously, wondering why she didn't say hello too. Shrugging, Skykit turned his attention to Freezingwind, pricking his ears at his tone when he said fun. "No, we aren't planning anything! What's your idea, Freezingwind?" Moonkit continued to gaze at Northernlight for a bit before turning to Skykit and Freezingwind. "What sort of fun?" she asked tentatively. "Aww, don't be such a scaredy-mouse, Moonkit. Freezingwind always comes up with cool ideas!" he hopped around in anticipation at the idea of doing something exciting again. Mintleaf was always telling them to 'Stay in camp' or 'Go take a nap in the nursery.' so he loved going out and doing adventurous things. Moonkit, on the other paw, hated getting into trouble. She didn't have the courage to speak up and say no, however, so she didn't protest.