Walking on Sunshine [c]

There were many new faces in the nursery, and yet, given how early in the morning it was, Sunkit found himself playing alone. He hadn’t been able to sleep the night prior, and had been restlessly playing by himself for a few hours now. He jumped in a pile of snow, smiling at the way the fluffy flakes poofed around his face and got stuck in his fur, a soft giggle escaping him.

His ears twitched as he looked up, noting the return of the dawn patrol. He watched them with curiosity, messing around in the snow idly as he did so. Most of them moved on to do other things, but one stayed still just long enough for Sunkit to decide he would go bother her. It was too early to go bother Twistpool (he’d get an earful) and all the kits were still sleeping as far as he knew, and he was good and tired of being alone.

So Sunkit shook the snow from his fur and trotted on over. “Hi!” He said cheerfully when he was close enough to be heard. “My name’s Sunkit! What’s yours? Are you busy?” He really really hoped she wasn’t busy. He trotted in excited circles around her, tail held high and a goofy grin on his face.

Sunkit puffed out his chest at the compliment on his name, a proud grin stretching across his face. He did in fact open his mouth to ask why he was in fact a little fishy-- he was not a fish, he was a cat!--before his question was answered. He tilted his head, curious, but did his best not to interrupt.

“Brookstone the Mighty?” Sunkit asked with a small gasp, pulling to a stop in front of Brookstone and looking at her with sparkles practically visible in his big green eyes. “Woooah, what makes you the mighty? What kind of mighty deeds have you done?”He pounced on another pile of snow, causing it to poof into both of their fur, as if to demonstrate as he spoke. “Have you single-pawed won a tough battle? Caught the biggest fish in the river? Something like that??”

Then he remembered he was asked a question, and he paused in his wriggling to look up at Brookstone with another big grin. “I do! Do you wanna play? Maybe you can show me some of your mighty skills!” He asked with hope. “I’m really cool!” He promised, puffing out his chest again.

Remembering the earlier compliment, Sunkit added, “Thanks, by the way! About my name! I like my name too. My mom named me that because she said I’m her bright side! Because she liked--er, likes to look on the bright side of things. And I was her bright side.” He giggled. “So I wanna be the bright side for other people too. I like your name too! Brookstone. Sounds tough and cool!”

Sunkit’s eyes were getting bigger by the minute. As he ducked his head under the paw that ruffled the fur atop his head, letting out a delighted giggle, he quickly decided that Brookstone was one of his favorite adults, next to, of course, Twistpool. She fought predators in her spare time, was called ‘Brookstone the Mighty’ and best of all, didn’t seem annoyed by him!

His eyes were fixed on her face as she delivered her sage advice. It sounded suspiciously close to the dreaded ‘be patient’ platitude he received so often, but she didn’t say the dreaded ‘P’ word, so Sunkit nodded eagerly. “I can be super hardworking!” He promised, bouncing on the tip of his toes. “And rest super good!”

He tilted his head as Brookstone talked about her mom. He thought it was a little sad she never got to meet her mom. He missed his mom a lot, but at least he knew her. But Brookstone moved on quickly, and Sunkit didn’t have the vocabulary to voice the thoughts brought on by that.

Sunkit brightened again as Brookstone wrapped her tail around him, warmth filling him at the affection. He wiggled, wobbling from one side to the other as he thought, then he brightened. He looked up at Brookstone for a moment, then bolted away from her, jumped in a pile of snow, and tossed a pawful at her. “Snowball fight!” He declared with a delighted cackle, grinning toothily.

Sunkit let out a positive shriek of delight as the shower of snow rained down on him, bouncing away as best he could. The joy of play exploded in Sunkit’s chest, and he felt so full of energy and delight that he could run across the whole entire forest and then back again without ever getting tired.

Shaking out the snow from his fur, Sunkit wiggled down beneath a snowdrift with a giggle, gathering up more snow in his paws. “Sunkit the Daring never ever backs down from a challenge!” He declared, darting out once more to throw another pawful of snow at Brookstone. He threw it with ferocity, but given he’s significantly smaller, he manages to throw significantly less snow. Still, that hardly deterred the energetic tom.

“I will defeat you, Brookstone the Mighty, whatever it takes!” He cheered with another cackle of delight, bounding around in the snow and preparing for his next move.