[Fawn]

[Smear:fa401c]HAZEKIT[/Smear:000000]

Oh Mr. Sandman,
Won't You Bring Me A Dream?

"I'll get it!"

Shouted a small, plush tortoiseshell kitten, the little tom bounding away from the group with an energetic spring in his mottled feet, eyes bright and full of a usual kittenish innocence. These bursts of energy were frequent when he'd just been woken up from one of his 'sleep attacks'; while they were both extremely inconvenient and utterly mystifying in the eyes of his Clanmates and Nursery-playmates, Hazekit had to admit, he liked the refreshing burst of energy and vigor he felt whenever he came out of those surprise slumbers.

Going to retrieve the mossball Whitekit and the others had tossed out of the nursery, Hazekit darted quickly around the traffic of incoming and outgoing warriors, not bothered by the makeshift camp or the fact that the ground here was even a little soggier than he would've liked, ginger-flecked paws the same hue as mud by the time he reached the mossball. Got it!
"Be right there!" He mewed around the wad of moss in his mouth, intending to trot back with slightly less energy then he had expelled retrieving it.

Halfway to the nursery, it happened.

As though there were a genie on his shoulder, a spirit or a mystical cat with powers beyond the realm of StarClan and anything in between, had suddenly clapped their paws and he was caught under a spell. Eyelids drooping, the kitten's movements abruptly slowed, as did the train of thoughts in the little tom-kitten's head.
I'll be right...there...guys..don't...play without...

In the span of a few heartbeats, the NightClan kit was fast asleep in the middle of the thrown-together campsite, tail hanging loosely against the muddy, grassy earth, his head falling onto his chest and inevitably squishing the mossball against his tiny nose and muzzle, but not even that could wrench him free of Somnus's tight grip.

[BlooRey DVD]

[smear:ff0000]Sunkit[/smear:ffff00]
~~~~~~

The ginger tom had been sitting near the entrance of the nursery, watching some of the other kits play with a ball of moss, tossing it back and forth. It didn't interest him all that much, and he hadn't exactly been invited, so he was content with watching all the others chase after it as though it were a plump rabbit they were to catch for the Clan. It was a little funny to watch them really. It even made Sunkit feel like he just might want to join in. Just maybe.

Suddenly, the ball seemed to go rogue, shooting straight by him. His greenish gaze whipped around, following the tumbling motion of the ball of moss. He was half way through standing, mouth parting to say he'd go and fetch it when another voice beat him to it, followed by a sudden darting figure. Eyes blinking wide with surprise, the kit shook out his fur and began to sit back down. After a moment's realization, however, he noted that it had been Hazekit who had gone to get the moss ball. His gaze narrowed slightly as he waited, doing his best to imagine the trip Hazekit was taking. It couldn't have gone too far... Surely he should be back by now. Sunkit knew of Hazekit's frequent dozing, and found it fascinating more than anything else. Anything that could not be explained was something great in his mind.

With a flick of his tail he rose, heading towards the entrance. He cast a glance over his shoulder, speaking to the other kits. "I'll follow him out, give you a shout and let you all know once I've searched high and low, for our friend who left with a leap, as he very well could be asleep." With that, the ginger kit pushed on through the entrance.

Green eyes blinking away the light, he glanced around, soon spotting the other kit in question. Just as he suspected, the energetic bundle had been turned into a sleeping figure, still standing and everything. He padded up, unsure of what to do. He'd never had to wake Hazekit up before. With a mental shrug, the ginger kit used his tail to prod the other tom in the side.

"Must you be shaken for you to awaken? I am unfamiliar with this process, I really must confess... If you wouldn't mind being so kind as to open your eyes so that I can advise that we both return to the nursery of fern. Now what do you say we go back and play?" With a gentle touch, he gave the other tom a headbutt, hoping to rouse him out of this sleep that appeared to have taken over.

[Deleted]

DARK-KIT
send me a dream, mister

Dark-kit lounged outside the nursery, watching the warriors pad in and out, going about their daily duties. One cat in particular caught his eye, a muscular black tom. The black and white kit watched this one cat with interest, longing for the courage, the ability to go up and speak with the much, much older warrior. He knew the NightClan warrior was his very own half-brother, though he was forbidden to tell. He didn't even think the tom himself knew. The cat, the notorious posse leader of NightClan, the one and only Blackwolf, was a source of intrigue and mystery to the tuxedoed tom-kit, but, for now, he settled to watching him from afar.

Before Dark-kit, with his unusually bent ear, could ponder more about the dark warrior, a bundle of fur bolted from the nursery. From where he sat a couple of pawsteps away, he could see it was his very own brother, Hazekit. The slightly older tom didn't move, but watched Hazekit closely as he chased after a stray moss ball.

For the first leg of his journey, all seemed well. Hazekit raced out, picked up the moss ball, and was on his way back to the safety of the nursery. Halfway home, though, the tortoiseshell tom slowed, drifting off into sleep. Dark-kit stood and began making his way toward his snoozing brother, taking a little more care than his overeager brother not to trip any warriors. As such, when he reached his brother's mottled form, an orange kit had beat him.

The kit, whom he knew as Sunkit, nudged Hazekit with his head, but to no avail. Dark-kit padded up to the pair, moving closer to Hazekit. "It's little use, Sunkit. He never takes well to being woken, so I try not to, unless he's missing something important." Dark-kit sat, curling his tail over his paws and allowing his pelt to brush Hazekit's, his shoulder aligned with his brother's, in case the sleeping tom fell over. "Give him a few minutes, and he'll be back to his hyper self." Dark-kit offered Sunkit a smile and fell silent, gaze sharply aware as he kept tabs on both his surroundings and his brother, watching for danger and awaiting his brother's return from the land of dreams.

and i'll try not to interfere

[Fawn]

HAZEKIT

Oh Mr. Sandman,
Won't You Bring Me A Dream?

The melodious string of words fell upon sleep-deafened ears, the following prod and light headbutt from the ginger kitten did nothing more than push him a little more to the left, where he was likely to keep leaning over until the plush tortoiseshell tom had fallen if Sunkit hadn't ceased. Blues and greens and sights and sounds swirled and blended and stretched and pulled into a dreamscape, Hazekit's unconscious thoughts seeming to focus, for this particular power nap, upon birds in funny colors. A turquoise crow wasn't quite so intimidating, now was it?

Despite the downsides of having to stop whatever he was in the midst of doing or planning to do so that sleep might once again pull down his eyelids and quiet his movements, Hazekit would be the first to admit he did at least enjoy the dreams. They were entertaining, if not a bit bizarre, and when he did speak of them to either one of his parents or a nearby adult he was fond of, they looked at him as if he'd grown a second head... Buuut that was not so disconcerting.

The dreams never hurt him, and never were they something called 'nightmares' that kits sometimes get. Even hearing the tall tale of the Slender Cat could not turn those positive whirling dreamscapes into something straight from a horror story. It was no wonder he always woke up feeling refreshed and happy - though a bit unsure of his surroundings and what was happening. A light shake of the head, a twitch of the whiskers, and Hazekit opened his eyes, yawning, the mottled kitten sitting instinctively, the mossball falling from his jaws as he yawned enough to shake his small, plush form.

He blinked in surprise, smiling from Sunkit to Dark-kit with some bemusement, but not enough to make it so he was somehow unhappy to see them. "Dark-kit! Sunkit - I did it again, huh?" It was rhetorical more than anything, Hazekit's gaze swiveling around to study the camp, as though half-expecting it to have changed without him noticing while he had slept on. As always, Dark-kit had been there to keep sentry. Nudging his brother's shoulder with the top of his head in an affectionate gesture, he addressed the rhyming kit with a twitch of his ginger and black-splashed ears.
"I had a dream about a bird who rhymed like you do! I think you were better though. He couldn't figure out what to rhyme with haze - I couldn't either, but I told him I knew someone who could."

[BlooRey DVD]

[smear:ff0000]Sunkit[/smear:ffff00]
~~~~~~~

Sunkit blinked at Dark-kit as the other kit spoke to him. His gaze shifted back to Hazekit, whom he regarded with interest, but he did offer Dark-kit, who he recalled as being the sleeping kit's brother, a polite nod and a smile. Taking a seat on Hazekit's other side, just in case the kitten toppled over the other way, Sunkit settled down, prepared to wait. Honestly, the ginger kit had expected a much longer wait, however, Hazekit suddenly gave himself a shake and, just as his brother had said, seemed to jump right back into having a huge amount of energy.

Light colored ears pricked forward as the kit spoke. Sunkit gave a dip of his head, acknowledging that Hazekit had indeed fallen asleep once again. As the other kit continued however, he felt the faintest twitch of a smile cross his features. Subconsciously, he straightened slightly, gaze flicking to Hazekit's brother for a moment. He hesitated, wondering if he should go on. In the end, he let the flood gates of his mind open. He wasn't good at very many things, but this. This he was good at. And it was rude not to answer when spoken to, was it not?

"Nothing at all to rhyme with haze? This is an interesting point to raise. Perhaps he needed to narrow his gaze, glance up towards the sun and it's rays, and shake himself out of his silly old daze. It really should, like a fire, blaze, for all the possibilities do amaze. Even when your eyes do glaze, with loss of energy at the end of the days, you can always find something to add to your phrase. Do not submit to any dismays, and look passed the dull shade of grays, up to the blues of countless jays. I assure you'll find a rhyme for haze."

He flashed Hazekit a grin, before breaking off into a chuckling purr. He flicked his tail, giving himself a stretch, before returning his attention to the other kit. With a curious tip of his head, the young tom couldn't help but asked. "I do apologize if this brings you offence, but this question, I could not dispense. Are you aware of your state as you meet your sleeping fate? Or do you remain unaware, asleep without a care?"

[Deleted]

DARK-KIT
send me a dream, mister

Dark-kit smiled at Hazekit as he woke, questioning whether he'd dozed off again. "Yea, you did." Dark-kit stood, clicking his tailtip against his brother's shoulder. It was a small sign of affection, likely to go unnoticed by most, but a sign of affection nonetheless. He didn't care that his brother had odd sleep attacks. He just cared that he was safe and taken care of, no matter what.

Black face turned toward Sunkit as Hazekit spoke of a rhyming bird. When the other kit began to rattle off a long string of rhymes, Dark-kit rolled his eyes playfully but listened though it, a smile growing on his face. When the lighter-furred cat had finished, Dark-lit gave a nod toward him. "You are the master of rhyme, Sunkit."

Once a short silence had settled over the trio, Sunkit spoke up again, addressing Hazekit. Dark-kit shuffled his paws a little, lowering himself back into a sitting position. Yellow-gold eyes fixed on the ground as he listened to Sunkit speak, feeling he was no longer needed know that Hazekit was awake and talking, if not completely alert. The dark kit let out a small, silent sigh, watching a beetle crawl across the barren stone.

and i'll try not to interfere

[Deleted]

[smear:FFC0CB]We Are[/smear:6B8E23] [smear:6B8E23]The Future[/smear:FFA500]
feat. Whitekit, Moonkit, and Stumpkit

Having only swatted the moss toy away earlier because it practically landed at her paws and all the other kits chased after it far too close to her, Whitekit resumed sitting removed from the action. Like her other littermate, the white she-kit was much more interested in watching Blackwolf. Their older half-brother, her father explained to them, although Shadowpelt also said it was a secret. How such a thing was secret, the kit hadn’t figured out: after all, the warrior had the same eyes she did.

Said unmatching eyes were not surprised to see a little tortoiseshell kit stumble and fall asleep suddenly. Hazekit always seemed to do that for some reason. The she-kit knew it wasn’t on purpose, but it was still sort of annoying when he just fell asleep during something. Calmly, the white kit watched as her brother and an orange tabby named Sunkit walked over to him. Unlike her awake brother, Whitekit was far from motivated to get up under the guise of “protecting” the sleeping kit. First of all, there was not much any kit her size could do in the face of a full-grown warrior, and second, they were still in camp. What could happen?

---

Moonkit initially refused to play with the other kits during their little game, on the basis that too many tomkits were playing. Instead, she remained off to the sidelines, grooming her coat for once and trying not to look too envious. She wanted to play with the moss ball, or anything really, but Whitekit and Sunkit were off to the sides being boring as they always did, and Stumpkit and Pheasantkit were in the fray. Impatient, the white and black kit started to creep towards the imaginary boundaries of the makeshift nursery, intent on exploring more of this open aired place. The air smelled better than in the tunnels, and the ground felt much more interesting that just dirt. Dappleshade had told her about the smell of pine, but nothing beat the scent itself; even the fresh-kill tasted better out here. Speaking of… I want to catch a mouse. True, technically kits weren’t supposed to hunt, but they weren’t supposed to be outside of camp either, and since that rule was clearly broken why not break the other one as well?

Before she could get too far, bicolored ears caught a very familiar voice and word pattern. Sunkit. Of course her littermate was still doing that rhyming thing. Still, the bored kit was intrigued about what or who her brother was monologuing at, and so she headed back to investigate. Apparently, the tortoiseshell tomkit had fallen asleep. Again. Moonkit had no idea why all the other cats made such a fuss over him, and she occasionally thought Hazekit faked it for the attention other cats gave him. Yellow-green eyes spotted an opportunity, however, and the mighty hunter crouched down, creeping slowly towards her prey…

---

Stumpkit would have chased after Hazekit when he claimed to retrieve the moss toy, but with the others distracted, Pheasantkit decided to pounce on her shorter sister. The littermates play-fought harder than one might expect two she-kits to, but Briarfur didn’t break them up. Eventually, the two stopped when they noticed most of the other kits left, but while Pheasantkit stayed back with Whitekit Stumpkit finally set off after Hazekit. Unable to find him at first, the short-legged kit stood up on her hind legs. This made it far easier for her to spot the other kits (and indeed, they were just over there), but unfortunately if she didn’t get down quick eno-

The tabby and white kit slammed into the ground. She hissed at the attacker and tried to twist onto her feet, but Pheasantkit had her pinned. When her sister went in for the mock-kill and whispered “Twoleg”, Stumpkit’s namesakes were finally within reach, and the kit pushed and clawed her sister off of her. Unfortuantely, now Briarfur seemed to notice how rough her kits were playing, and of course the mother scolded Stumpkit and sent her away while licking Pheasantkit’s “wounds”. Whatever. She wanted to see what the other kits were doing anyway.

Sunkit’s voice carried far, and so the she-kit simply headed off in his direction. By the sound of it, Hazekit had fallen asleep again. The short-legged cat wasn’t quite sure what to make of his condition, but she did know that his family didn’t seem to hate him for it. Still, when awake, Hazekit was usually more fun than either of his littermates, so Stumpkit tried not to be too jealous. She walked up to the group in time to have reason to agree with Dark-kit about Sunkit’s word-speaking abilities. Personally, she leaned more towards Moonkit’s opinion about the orange tabby’s skills, but she mostly tolerated his long speeches. Mostly. Between Dark-kit’s compliment and Sunkit’s question, the she-kit managed to say “Hey runts,” but not much else. During his rhyming question to Hazekit, olive eyes managed to spot a white kit creeping closer…

But before she could warn the others, Moonkit sprinted into the group, snatched up the moss ball that had been ignored when Hazekit fell asleep, and dashed off. Eager for a game that she had a shot of winning, Stumpkit playfully called out “Stop, thief!” and sprinted after her. Despite having shorter legs, the tabby and white she-kit was just as fast as the other kits and was always eager to prove so.

[Fawn]

HAZEKIT

Oh Mr. Sandman,
Won't You Bring Me A Dream?

The tortoiseshell kitten tilted his head slightly to the right at a 45 degree angle, eyes wide and ears pricked forward as he contemplated the question cloaked in rhyme that Sunkit proposed. Was he aware that he fell asleep for no reason at ridiculous moments? Hazekit shuffled a paw against the wet dirt, feeling a little sheepish, the mossball forgotten. "I know I keep falling asleep - no one knows why - " a pang of frustration showed a little in the unusually quite cheery tom's voice just then " - and even when I do fall asleep, I don't hear anyone calling my name or feel it when they try to nudge me awake. Sometimes I do, and...sometimes I don't."

I know I'm strange, compared to everyone else.

Before he could dwell too much on that which set him apart from the other kittens, the sudden appearance of Stumpkit as well as her somewhat ironic greeting, in accompaniment with the thievery of Moonkit shook those thoughts from his head like a windstorm shook the leaves from the tree. "Hey! Give it back Moonkit!" He yowled with renewed enthusiasm, putting on a burst of speed to brush past Dark-kit - shouting with a grin for his siblings and friends to follow.
"C'mon! We can't let her escape!"

Moonkit's always initiating games like this. I think she just wants us to chase her. What did she call it? Prey and Hunter? Hazekit couldn't really explain it, but whenever Moonkit suggested a new game for them to play, the overwhelming urge to agree and participate was a lot stronger then when his siblings or anyone else suggested it... With no time to mull over these puzzling thoughts, Hazekit ducked and wove his way through the moving legs of the adult cats, for the most part doing a decent job of not getting trampled on or toppling over anyone in their efforts not to step on him or his companions. Able to see the white tip of Moonkit's tail, Hazekit put on another burst of speed, flanks heaving with the effort - he wasn't the most athletic of cats, what with his frequent sleep-attacks, but he usually made up for it with enthusiasm - but he still couldn't quite get it.