Rustlepaw encourages kits to stay in school (open)

The newly apprenticed orange tabby ducked his head as he went into the nursery. His sky-blue eyes adjusted to the lack of light nearly instantly. He opened his mouth and out dropped two large, fluffy, but slightly slimey from saliva moss balls.

"Hey-oh, everybody!" The boisterous apprentice meowed at a moderate level, so as to not disturb any sleeping queens, as he bounced on his white paws. He turned his head back and forth, scanning for any scampering young kittens, and his usual room-brightning smile appeared on his face.

"I brought you a gift," he said warmly to any kitten who would listen as he sat down to tell his encouraging story.

"Well, the gift is these two brand new moss balls," Rustlepaw began with a pur. Then he lowered his voice in a mock-whisper: "I know moss balls can get frazzled and fall apart pretty quickly, so new ones are always better." He winked a blue eye at the two kits who had padded over.

"But now," the orange apprentice began with a commanding flick of his ear. "You have to listen when I say to be good kits and try not to annoy your liter mates or your mothers." His rust-colored tail gestured around the nursery at the sleeping she-cats. "You *will* be apprentices soon enough -- I know it seems like forever away... I felt that way every day!" Rustlepaw smiled at the kits wiggling around him.

"And then you'll find out that you need to *depend* on those den-mates you pestered to no end..." Here, the larger than average apprentice paused to let what he'd said so far sink into. Rustlepaw remembered how short his own attention span was not long ago.

The orange tom chuckled gently at the kittens' defiant... statement. He couldn't be sure they were lying, but it was likely. "Well, good on you then," he said while licking his chest fur. "Because I sure did when I was kit!"

"So, how long until you two *are* apprenticed?" Rustlepaw asked while wiggling his eyebrows playfully. "Show me what the other apprentices have taught you about the hunting crouch," he encouraged them because he knew life in the nursery could be so boring, and plus, the tom figured the queens would be appreciative of any relief.

"Hmmm..." Rustlepaw tilted his head to appear to be considering their comments. "Hmmm..." he added to the illusion, as if there was any doubt that he would play with and teach these kits whatever they wanted.

"Three moons is awful young to start learning stuff... I'm not sure you can handle it," the rust-colored tom said with a hint of a playfull purr in his voice. He was assuming the kits would get more excited about the training if he pretended to withhold it from them.

"Well, okay... we'll see," the orange tom cat purred playfully at the kittens' insistence and eagerness. He fondly remembered being just that eager when he was that age, except... he had been much more trouble and annoyance to any apprentice or elder that wandered through the door of the den.

"Okay, kiddos," Rustlepaw began his "lesson" by turning to the tiny faces before him. "Watch me closely," the tom started with an inviting twitch of his ear. Then he turned around on his paws once to make sure there was enough room in this corner of the round, dark nursery so that he wouldn't step on anybody, figuratively or literrally. Then, with an unreadable, static expression on his face, he dropped to his forepaws and hiked his hind end up so that he was nearly standing on tip-toes in the back.

His rust-colored tail wanted to wave happily in the air above them, but the apprentice was able to reign it in and put it just above his hocks, so as to not brush the nursery floor. Then he remembered to drop his back down into a natural curve, instead of letting it arch slightly due to the tension of wanting to perform the pose correctly. Because of the extension of his spine, he had to reposition his back paws a bit.

Once settled, he softly ordered the two kits, "Now, see if you can do this Hunter's Crouch, just like me." Rustlepaw nodded his head towards them to indicate that they should try. Anticipating their protests, since he had protested exactly this, he added quickly, "I know it's hard to practice standing still, but that's a large part of hunting. Once you can do it standing still, then you can try moving, okay kiddos," he ended with a warm purr like an elder.

OOC: PM sent to blueclaw with affirmative confirmation

Rustlepaw looked over and saw a blurry shape approaching. Must be another eager student, the orange tom thought proudly. The apprentice called to the kitten in the shadows, "Come on over; we're just getting started with some boredom relief."

Rustlepaw flinched slightly as the playful kit leaped at him and clung to the orange fur on his side, as the kit couldn't jump high enough to get on top of his back.

He smiled, but was rather annoyed at the interruption. Bending his neck to look at the kit hanging from his back, he forced a smile and said "Hello. You're quite fast and will make a fine hunter...." Looking back to the other two kits that had been patiently and attentively waiting, he explained to the new-comer, "I'm showing your den mates some hunting moves. Would you like to climb down and join us?"

As the large tom finished his question, he gently pushed the kit down off of his side.