Posts by acery75

Jadekit heard another kitten crying in distress and walked over to investigate. Seeing the little tom wailing, she trotted over and nuzzled it's face, trying to comfort it. Then, trying to distract it while getting some information, she smiled and pleasantly mewed, "Hi, I'm Jadekit. What's your name?"

Rustlekit beamed at the praise of the older cat and tried to sit up taller. Then he tilted his head with a puzzled expression on his face and asked, "Can't do what no more, Miss Icepaw?"

The tabby tom, like his sister, wasn't interested or even took much notice of clan rankings. In his mind, all cats were distinguished only by age and gender, of course. So, totally ignoring the apprentice's comment about being leader, the kit replied, "Oh, I'm sorry things went wrong. But I'm glad you weren't hurt or..." He glanced at the snarling cat in the tunnel and then turned his red head outward and continued "...or captured like this cat!" He purred as he mused aloud to himself, "Yea... so glad you're here now to be with me... and teach me fun stuff!" The rumble in his throat trailed off, as the kit thought of his mother... and father... and why he never knew them and would never have a true family.

[[You're welcome to tell Icepaw's story; it's just not in my kit's character to ask about it. :) He'd listen politely, though.]]

"Ah, okay, that makes sense," Dandyglide replied while smiling. He nodded his blue head towards the noise of a stream he could hear over the next hill top. "Battle moves later; first, let me show you a few things I just learned." The young tom winked and loped towards the next hill, inhaling the great smell of fresh, spring water.

Looking over at his friend as they ran, he said, "The things are a bit slimy and certainly take an acquired taste, but they're fun as all get out to hunt! Have you ever hunt fish, Slitherfang?"

[[No joke, Dandyglide is teaching himself to fish in another thread, so I'll say that the time period of that thread has recently finished and he now knows how to fish.]]

Rustlekit mewed gently, "Would you like Directionkit and I to fetch you something to eat? Or would you like to go lay outside the den in the warm sun?" The little tom purred softly as he added, "We're not allowed outside of camp yet, but I bet we can find a nice patch of sun to ourselves if you'd like."

The little red tabby led the way out of the apprentice's den, but not before looking around, inhaling deep, and dreaming of the day when he would be sleeping in here, away from all the mewling newborns in the nursery. Rustlekit padded out of the den into the crisp, warm, breezy air, not waiting for Sweetpaw or his den-mate.

"Over there looks nice... and sunny" the tom meowed awkwardly while nodding towards an empty corner of camp. Trying to keep polite conversation going, Rustlekit asked, "So, have you been to any gathering yet, Sweetpaw?"

Bender trotted proudly into camp, tail waving wildly withe excitement, and mouth full with 1 medium rabbit and one small bird. He dropped the fresh-kill and barked to announce his return, "Hey everybody, I've got some good eatin's here and I'm ready to share!" He continued in a softer, more playful voice, "But you have to tell me a juicy secret, first!" Bender scanned the area with his red and white head, playfully looking for any takers on his offer of food and games.

Jadekit turned around and playfully attempted to swat the ball with her tail, but missed by a long shot. She laughed and picked the ball up with her tiny claw. The grey and black kitten was actively trying to avoid subjects that might make her or her new friend sad, or worse, today, but she still wanted to enjoy some conversation.

So as she hooked the ball back towards Freedomkit, she asked politely, "So, have you gotten to go to the any of the grand Gatherings or see any other cool ceremonies? I'm not that eager to BE an apprentice yet..." She raised her eyebrows in mock alarm at the idea of becoming an apprentice, "...but I'd sure like to see how awesome the ceremony is!"

The two cats came upon a wide stream, and the smell of fish hit the blue tom's nose. He slowly padded over to the gently sloping bank and said to Slitherfang, "The first thing I've learned is you have to move slowly to avoid spooking the fish, up until the moment you strike, when you move with as much speed and agility of LionClan!"

He sat down 2 paw lenghts away from the bank and explained, "Also, some fish are used to being chased... So you should take care to keep your shadow from falling over the fish." He scooted a bit to the side so that the shadow fell diagonly along the bank instead of on the water in front of him.

"Finally, you wait... and wait... and wait, for one to slow down, and for your mind to be entirely focused on the task," he continued as he leaned a bit forward and looked down at the clear, blue stream.

Then, in the moment of a blink, his white paw struck out in a sweeping motion and came up with a small guppy. He grinned as he chased the flopping sea life down and bit it near the head to deal a killing blow.

He nosed the prey to his friend and asked, "Would you like a first taste to wet your appetite and get your mind all excited and focused before you try?" He knew from experience that a lot of failures came before a successful catch, and he also guessed there weren't many non-Riverclan cats with the patience to fish, so he wanted to get his friend pumped before hand.

His blue eyes appeared concerned for a minute as he listened to Icepaw, but after tilting his head to the side and considering the lack of activity, he said, "Oh, well, I've always liked talking and eating better than running and fighting and stuff, so I guess that wouldn't be too bad... if it were me." His mouth turned down slightly as he continued, "But then, I don't get to do much since all the kits and all the queens seem to ignore me." Rustlekit blew a puff of annoyed air, "For mouse's sake, my own FAMILY apparently ignored me!" He shook his head to clear the conversation and asked, "Icepaw, do you have any family? Do they ignore you? I never don't mind being called wrong... or stupid... or bad... but I hate," a small hiss escaped his tiny mouth here, "...being ignored."

He scraped the ground with one tiny claw, making a small ditch beneath his paw. Then, suddenly, he remembered the apprentice's question. The tabby kitten's face returned to normal as he answered, "Ummm... uhhh... I... hmmm... I don't really know. But it can't be long!" To show how "big" he was he bounced up and lightly bumped Icepaw's chin with his head and purred. "Like I said, the queens in the nursery are too busy with their kittens and tons of other orphans like me, so they haven't tried to age me... But..." he paused to sit down and began to knead the floor in deep thought and some excitement. "I was talking well when I found Windclan and I've been here two moons, so..." He waved his white paw in the air to help calculate an answer. "So I must be just over five moons!"

As he grinned, you could see another thought cross his blue eyes. He turned to Icepaw and voiced it, "Hey Icepaw, once you turn into a big warrior, would you want to... ya know... do my mentor thing?" The kit wasn't bashful, but he also wasn't one to force things on other cats.

Suddenly remembering the growling cat behind them, he mumbled, "I wonder who his mentor was... and if they're sad..."

[[I don't care if you say yes or no... or change your mind later on. It's just where Rustlekit thought the conversation was going.]]

Jadekit nodded politely, but without any hint of flirting this time, to Barleykit as he sat down and the replied to him, "Hmmm... I guess that's one of the silver linings of not being Thunderclan born: not being pestered by the queens." She smiled, then quickly straightened her face as she remembered how that might sound to sensitive Freedomkit. But... she couldn't apologize or mince words over every thing, could she? We're friends now, me and Freedomkit, so she should know I'm not pointing at or against her when I speak.

As the young she-cat flicked the moss ball to Barleykit, she pondered aloud, "I wonder why you never see apprentices or warriors, or even elders...!" she smiled at this thought and continued, "...playing moss toss... Surely it's good for... for... something!" She laughed at herself and then added, "Reflexes or bird hunting practice or something. ... Do warriors get to have any fun or do they have to work all the time?! Bleh!"

"Unless you want to watch me hungrily, for a while," the blue tom winked and flicked his tail along Slitherfang's back encouragingly. "Because I sure do enjoy the sport!" he squeaked like a happy cat before splashing a paw into the water, but returning empty.

Rustlekit laid down facing Sweetpaw with his paws tucked underneath him. "Hmmm... I don't like arguing, but I guess it's better than fighting." Twitching his red ear, he asked, "Have you ever fought anyone, Sweetpaw? What's it like?"

The kitten never realized such a question might bring up bad memories of the apprentice's recent loss; he was just a conversational cat.

The young tom absently nodded at his friend's effort and mumbled, "That was good... Try again," as he turned his head to watch the noise that was coming through the tall grass near further down the bank.

Then he meowed in exclamation when he saw the cat fall limp into the water! The blue furred, naive cat might not be t he most experienced, but he still had instincts that kicked in when others were in trouble. He raced towards the body, and halfway there, he thought, This is Slitherfang's area of expertise: comforting sick cats and getting help. But I can't just stand there this time! Perhaps he was starting to get over his fear of death, rather watching cats die, or perhaps his mind was just ready for something more exciting than fishing...

Either way, he arrived at the location of the cat, paused to decide what to do, then quickly found a long, thin stick, although he did not check to see how sharp it was... who knew! Picking the stick up, which contrasted nicely with his blazing white muzzle, he stumbled awkwardly to the edge of the river and aimed to gently poke the cat to see if he was alive.

Having been rejected by most Hawkclan members, Dandyglide's first instinct was NOT to HELP the cat, unfortunately, but to ascertain whether his help was needed... or not.

Would the drenched cat wake up and respond? Or would Dandyglide have on-the-job learning experience of rescuing drowning cats?

"Good, good..." The tabby kit purred before asking another question to keep the conversation going. "What's your favorite or least favorite part of living in a clan?" He drew tiny circles on the ground with a white forepaw in a bit of embarressment as he added more quietly, "Since I'm rather new here, there's still so much of the clan ways that I have to learn..."

Rustlekit instinctivly leaned towards Icepaw's larger, protective body as the angry cat hissed at them. But then the red tabby became curious and leaned around to look through the cage and ask the cat directly, "Why were you put in there, anyway? Did you do something bad?" Too young to understand the rivalry between clans, and too naive to understand much other conflict, the kitten was genuinely curious.

Jadekit was running out of conversation ideas, and her mind was wandering away from the discussion at hand, for no reason, more and more... It wasn't her conversation partners fault, certainly, she was just a thinker, a dreamer, a scatter-brain -- whatever you want to call it in kits.

So she caught the moss ball, stopped it, stood up and smiled, and asked, "I feel like a stretch. Do you all want to go for a stroll around camp?" She smiled, but in the back of Jadekit's mind, she hoped she didn't sound too bossy.

(#18)

The blue tom enjoyed another lap around the pool and then *carefully* crawled out to the same spot near the fish. As he sat there, drying in the cool air, he briefly wondered how fish had gotten into this secluded waterfall area. He looked around; his brown eyes didn't see any entrance or exit water ways... And there was only a handful of fish. It was almost like some external power had dumped them in here, on purpose!

.:Icestorm:. wrote:

Icestorm stopped washing and looked at the cat watching the fish.She could tell he was puzzling over a thought she herself had had when she came here.

Dandyglide noticed the cat noticing him. Wow! One cat who can actually SEE the other cats here! he thought. Amazing!

"Hello," he purred to the cat, but remained sitting where he was. "Did I take your spot? I was just trying to teach myself to fish."

(#19)

☁Hawkwing☁ wrote:

Eclipsestar swam to Dandyglide 9

The blue tom's eyes widened with wonder as another cat acknowledged his presence by swimming over. Dandyglide chuckled and said to the cat treading water, "Friend, I think you'll catch more fish by not swimming straight through them."

(#20)

.:Icestorm:. wrote:

Icestorm offered the other cats a share of her prey and took a mouse for herself.

Dandyglide walked away from his fishing spot and purred at the other cat as he took a mouse from the pile gently. As he sat it down and began to eat besides the cool spray of the water, he said, "Thank you. That was very kind... I have to admit I was getting kinda hungry with all my fishing practice and nothing to show... or eat!... from it." The blue warrior continued to eat, his eyes closing in near euphoria with fresh food in his belly, the cool mist of the waterfall spraying him, and quiet, polite company.

(#21)