{ reign down } private

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rain was a strange thing. it fell to the ground bit by bit, creating an inconsistent rhythm that seemed to have no purpose other than to disrupt turtlekit's slumber. the dilute tortoiseshell pawed at his muzzle and face groggily, eyes only slits of pale grey. why couldn't it go away, already? he was awake now. it had done its job. 

reluctantly, turtlekit rose, legs unsteady with sleep - and promptly fell back down again. growling at his own uncoordination, he wriggled away from his siblings and squeaked as he found himself dangling precariously on the nest's edge. he looked around suspiciously, and, satisfied that no one had heard, slid onto the floor in a furry heap. 
"oof," he complained to no one in particular. 

@lebony

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((on mobile.))

In Ebonykit's opinion, rain was much more enjoyable than snow. Snow meant frigid tempatures, frostbite, and harsh times to come. Rain, on the other paw, felt fresh and cleansing, a pleasant sign of the end of leaf-bare. 

Not that Ebonykit wanted to be in the rain. The dark tabby preferred not to get cold and wet, and have to waste hours shaking off the shivers, looking like a drowned rat. She happily watched the downpour from her nest, until something more interesting caught her pale gaze.

"Watch your step." Ebonykit murmured, her eyes narrowed in amusement."You wouldn't want to hurt yourself."

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turtlekit's head whipped up. at first, he had thought that the cautionary words had come from a queen, so he was quite surprised when he saw a fellow kit. an older kit, but still a kit. he started to bristle at her patronizing tone, before thinking better of it and swallowing his words. 
"thank you." he tried to sound grateful, at least, and blinked at the dark she-kit, feeling his aggression fade to curiosity.

"what're you doing up so early?" at least, he thought it was early. turtlekit had never been a good judge of time, and this morning - he wasn't even sure if it was morning - was no exception. "i'm turtlekit," he hastened to add, in a misguided attempt to be amiable. "umm... who're you?" even as he rose on his toes to meet her green-eyed gaze, he was painfully aware that he was talking too much. 

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"I wanted to watch the rain." Ebonykit had been woken up by the sound, and then decided not to go back to sleep, and to instead enjoy the view and ponder.

She waved her plumed tail, taking a few pawsteps closer to get a better look at the odd tom-kit. "My name is Ebonykit." The striped she-cat introduced herself, looking at the tom with narrowed eyes, her pale green irises glowing in the dim light.

"Who are you?"

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watch... the rain? the statement made no sense to turtlekit. who would want to watch water fall from the sky? it sounded very tedious, especially when you could be doing so many other better things. like sleeping. and exploring. and... sleeping. he didn't voice these thoughts, hoping yet to make a friend. 
"that's nice," he mewed artfully, raising a dust-coloured paw to his face as if to lick it, then thinking better of it and slowly lowering it, looking very awkward the whole time. if he was completely honest, he wasn't exactly sure if this conversation was going well or not, but if she felt as uncomfortable as he did, it probably wasn't. 

"ebonykit?" he echoed uncertainly. he didn't know much about names, or anything, for that matter, but the name sounded strange on his tongue. it sounded like some plant from a distant land, or some kind of exotic animal. a very exotic animal, he mused, scanning the she-cat's dark tabby fur and pale green eyes. he didn't know of any animal that matched her description. 
"turtlekit," he replied. "but i think turtles are green, so cloudclan knows how rowansky got that name, seeing as my eyes were closed. out of the air, maybe?" his face remained neutral, though it had been an attempt at a joke. 

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"Yes, Ebonykit." She repeated her name, Turtlekit's reaction amusing her. The dark tabby didn't find her name to be any more odd than other cats' names, but it did seem to be more uncommon. "It's a color, a very dark grey." Ebonykit knew that it was the color of charred wood, but she had never seen such a thing in person before.

"Perhaps your mother had an obsession with turtles, so much that she had to name her kit after one." Ebonykit teased gently, her eyes glimmering with interest.

"Are you clan-born?" Ebonykit herself was adopted into Iceclan.

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turtlekit nodded slowly, as if he had known all along. "it's an unusual name," he said sagely, before seating himself, plumy tail curling neatly over his paws. if ebony meant what she said it meant, it suited her well, very well indeed. 

"oh, yes," he responded, the corners of his mouth lifting in what might have been a faint smirk. "because rowansky just had a burning desire to name me turtlekit."
he blinked at the question. "well, no. i was adopted. actually, i think my name might have been turtle before."

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"I was adopted as well." Ebonykit nodded her head, looking at him with her pale eyes still glimmering in interest. She didn't mind that she wasn't clan-born, though it seemed as if other cats did. How important could one's birth possibly be? It all seemed so arbitrary to the dark she-cat, but she was willing to listen to other cat's opinions on the subject.

She narrowed her eyes, her tail wavering. "I think it's a perfectly nice name." Ebonykit commented smoothly, enjoying the wit Turtlekit was bringing to the conversation. 

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her response surprised him slightly, though he couldn't think of any reason why it should. 
"where you were born doesn't matter," he said aloud, more to himself than to his dark-furred companion. he blinked moss-green eyes, suddenly uncomfortable, and was glad when she changed the subject. "yes, i suppose it is," he admitted, letting his paper-thin ears flop over his eyes. he pricked them again, peering at her. "i think ebonykit is a nicer one, though."

he started fumbling with a piece of moss, his paws surer than he was, and quickly formed a sort of ball. his mouth twisted into an 'o' shape, certain that ebonykit was far too mature for those kind of games. he himself had never played mossball, but he supposed it was fairly simple. throw a ball and catch it. far too childish for the she-kit. quickly, he discarded the ball, cringing as a draught caught it, and it rolled towards ebonykit. 

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Turtlekit seemed quite flustered, and Ebony did not want to make things worse for him, however amusing his stumbling might be. She indulged in his game, catching the moss-ball in her claws, and took a moment to examine the green bumps and ridges before casually flicking it back at him.

"I'm glad you think so." The dark tabby mewed in response to his compliment, her eyes seeming to say much more than her words. "A name is only so important, though." Ebonykit commented, tilting her head to one side.

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turtlekit had been hoping, by some miracle, that ebonykit wouldn't notice the ball. no such luck. he flushed as she inspected it, as if looking for some fault in it, before rolling it towards him, he shoved it away with a hasty hind paw, watching it move, slow but steady, towards one of the nests. several other mossballs lay there, and he wouldn't be surprised if they had been discarded several moons ago. not by kits as stupid as i am, he thought brusquely. 

"hmm," he responded, mulling over her words. she seemed so wise, and here he was making mossballs. "yeah, i guess." turtlekit's tone was non-commital, as he tried to save himself from embarassment. "i think the name you get as a warrior has most meaning," he mused. "isn't it based on personality... or something?" turtlefoot, maybe. he wasn't very fast. silently, he thanked cloudclan that he wasn't a fireclanner. 

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"Yes, I believe so." Ebonykit nodded, not watching the moss-ball as it rolled away, as there wasn't any point in trying to play with it when there were more interesting things to speak about, like names. Names were quite fascinating to her, and Ebonykit liked how the same name could mean different things, depending on the cat. "For example, a passionate cat might gain the suffix '-fire'."

She looked at him deeply, trying to see what he was thinking about by his expression. "What do you think my warrior name would be?" The dark tabby asked, curious to know what his answer would be, and what it meant of his impression of her.

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turtlekit nodded as she spoke. that makes sense, he thought, wondering why he hadn't known sooner. "your warrior name? your warrior name?" he stalled, fumbling for time. "uh, um... ebonyfire?" he said in a panic. "sorry. that's... that's a stupid name." he stared at his paws, deep in thought, finally settling on "ebonyfrost." worried that the name wasn't up to her standards, he thought of a few more, just off the top of his head. "ebonyheart, ebonyclaw, ebonyleaf. for your green eyes," he added, trying to rationalize his choice. "but it's not my decision, which is a good thing, for you and for me. what do you think mine will be?" he studied her face, gauging her expression.