WHAT IS A [p]ROOP? & more interesting inquiries

[Hey so me and nighttime are changing that adoption thread so that it's a stillborn litter for some character development on the mother's end
but do you think Rook could adopt Hyssop anyways?]

Rookfeather had just returned from a hunting trip, but he still wasn't tired. The black tom was often gripped with a manic energy that caused him to want to get a lot of stuff done at a time, though right now it was a bit toned down since he had just completed a task. He scanned the area for something to do, and his gaze fell upon the idle Hyssopkit. The tom bounded over to her, a grin on his face. He liked kits a lot, though Morality as a cub he'd have to make any exception for. In any case, he liked Hyssopkit a lot, and thought she was adorable. "Hey there, Hyssop! What are you doing?" He asked, tilting his head to one side as he asked the question.

[no problemo! :)]

Rookfeather chuckled at her response. At the risk of being a sentimental old fool, he had to say he could remember being a kit and being entertained by the same thing. "I actually do know what clouds are made of, if you want to know." The tom replied cheerily. He had picked up a fair bit of knowledge during his lifetime, though he wasn't exactly sure where he got all of it. "Also, there's something I've been meaning to talk to you about." He added tentatively. It was something that had been nagging at him for a little while now, and he figured that he might as well talk to Hyssopkit now, while she was here.

Rookfeather would sometimes get a bit nervous when saying something important, though it only seemed to happen in one on one situations. It happened a lot, and he really needed to calm himself down. "Well...I happened to notice...I just..." He took a deep breath, trying to regain his composition. "I'm sorry if this is too forward or something, but I just happened to notice that I've never seen your parents. Is there a reason for that?" He asked, figuring that was a good place to begin. "Again, I'm sorry if I'm dredging up anything unpleasant. What I'm going to say next kind of depends on your response." The tom meowed, hoping he hadn't messed up and said anything incredibly rude on accident. Back when he was deputy, he had been pretty good at not offending anyone with his orders and speeches, but he had fallen out of practice.

Rookfeather listened to the story, nodding sympathetically. He thought that Hyssopkit's parents must have been crazy to leave a defenseless kit. Hyssopkit was lucky Shadowclan had been nearby, as otherwise she would have had to survive all alone. Anyways, aside from that, it certainly cleared up his question and left him home free to ask the second, more important one. "I see." The tom replied, unsure of where to begin. "Well, seeing as your parents aren't around anymore, I was wondering...I mean, it's okay if you don't want to..." He took a deep breath, trying to put the words together as best he could. "I was wondering if I could maybe adopt you." As soon as he finally got the sentence out, Rookfeather felt the need to say more. "I understand if you don't want to, and I know I might not be the best dad, and you wouldn't really have a mother, but I was hoping you'd consider it." His self doubt was evident, but all things aside, he did want to be Hyssopkit's adopted father, if she would let him.

[Gotcha! I was a bit confused there for a moment before I saw it. Thanks!]

She had actually accepted his offer? Rookfeather purred back at Hyssopkit, his smile growing wider. "I'm glad to hear it. I hope I can be a good father to you." He replied, yellow eyes twinkling. She was so sweet and friendly, and he was proud to be her father, adopted or not. "So if you ever need anything, don't hesitate to ask. I'll do my best to be there for you." The general promised. Rookfeather knew that it wouldn't be as easy as having a regular mom and dad, especially since it was just him, so he'd have to make up for it by trying twice as hard to be the best dad ever. After all, she deserved it.

Ah, yes. The clouds. He'd almost forgotten about that question. Turning his gaze to the sky, he tried to remember his knowledge of science. He had picked up a lot of knowledge in his life, and he had been a pretty inquisitive kit himself, so he had asked a lot of questions and tried to remember the answers. "Clouds are actually water. Water can either be ice, liquid, or gas, which is what clouds are. Except clouds are actually sort of different, I think." Gosh, this was more complicated than he remembered. The tom couldn't help but be reminded of when he had to explain ice to one of his other daughters, Rainkit. "You see, there are all these invisible dust particles floating in the air all around us, and clouds are when water attaches to those particles and clump together, so it makes that fluffy shape. When it rains, that's too much water gathering and getting too heavy, so it falls to the ground." The general finished, tilting his head to one side. "I think that's it, I think." He added with a sheepish grin.

Rookfeather was glad that he was able to answer her question. Science was interesting, if complicated. He offered Hyssopkit another friendly smile, still overjoyed that she had agreed to be his adopted daughter. The tom knew that kits didn't stay kits forever, but hoped that her thirst for knowledge and kindness would remain as she grew older, since both were great traits to have, in his opinion, despite what some of the grumps in Shadowclan would be inclined to say. "Yeah. When shapeshifting didn't exist and you could only possess bodies, I once knew an owl who would let me borrow his body for a while, and he told me a lot of stuff about the sky." Rookfeather recalled. Now that he had shapeshifting, he didn't need Qrow anymore, but the great gray certainly had been helpful. [b]"He also helped me out during one of the Nightclan takeovers, too, so yeah--probably a good friend to have."

Rookfeather nodded. "Yeah, shapeshifting. It's a lot handier than possession, I'll admit." The tom replied. Before, you had to find some sort of animal willing to house you, and he knew that it had been possible to be overpowered by a particularly strong-willed beast. "Say, you want to go get a closer look at the clouds?" Rookfeather asked, a mischievous glint in his eye. He hadn't shown anyone his newest form yet, meaning to save it for battle and not exactly wanting to show off, but this wasn't a showing off sort of thing. He just thought that flying was a very fun experience and wished to share it with Hyssopkit, if she wanted.

Rookfeather didn't like overusing his shapeshifting powers--he feared that he would get stuck in a specific body and be trapped there until he could shift back, and while his feline body was scarred and battered, he still preferred it above everything else. During battle, he usually stuck to an owl or a grizzly bear--he was familiar with being an owl, after all, and it gave him aerial coverage. The tom was less familiar wtih bears, but they were bulky, large, and powerful, just like his cat body, so that helped. However, this last body was something he enjoyed very much, though he hadn't had much of a chance to practice.

He took a deep breath and closed his eyes. His body grew much larger, and a lot longer. The fur receded from his face and was replaced with shimmering emerald scales. A mane of rainbow feathers erupted from just behind where his cat ears would have been, framing his reptilian face. The general sprouted large wings with the same rainbow feathers, and the tip of his tail gained a feathered plume as well. The dragon still had his front legs, though now they were dragonesque, though he had lost his hind ones, giving his body a more serpentlike appearance. Once finished with his transformation, the dragon resembled his namesake--the deity quetzalcoatl. Rookfeather opened his eyes and smiled at Hyssopkit. His body had the same amount of mass as an elephant, but his thin, serpentlike figure meant that he was a little longer than a school bus. "You want to do some flying?" He rumbled, tone still cheery. [b]"You can hop on my back, or I can carry you."