A S H K I T it's a long way forward, so trust in me
Ashkit is so bored. So so bored. There is nothing to do today. Everyone keeps saying how nice it is to relax, how good this greenleaf has been to them, how StarClan has blessed them with "propserty" and lots of food. (And kittens, they say that about kittens too. Hearing them talk like that makes Ash's nose wrinkle. She's not a blessing from StarClan. She'd know if she was a blessing from StarClan, wouldn't she? Sometimes grown-ups are dumb.)
But the downside of "prosterpy" (or whatever it is) is that there is NOTHING TO DO and every day is the same, same, same. Warm sleepy sunshine and warm sleepy cats and a fresh-kill pile so full it might all go rotten. Ashkit doesn't even have anybody to play with. All the other kittens must be busy or something. Which is ridiculous because no one else is busy--
Hmm.
Now there's a thought.
The 'prentices sure aren't busy. They're all gossiping and sitting in the sun. Every time Ash asks a 'prentice to play with her they say they're busy and walk off with their mentors to do cool 'prentice things. Well, they can't say that now. No one's doing 'prentice things. Or even warrior things. No one seems to be doing anything today. So there!
With that logic in mind, Ash scampers into the empty nursery and grabs a moss-ball in her teeth. Then she scampers back out with it, so overwhelmed with excitement that she's not really looking where she's going.
Okay, she's not looking at all where she's going.
She crashes right into a clanmate, full-speed, a ball of orange fluff slamming into their side with a yelp!
The collision sends her flying backward, and she rolls to a dizzy stop in the dirt. "Hey!" the tiny kitten shouts, leaping back up to her feet, her tiny hackles raised. "You crazy person! Watch where you're going!"
well there's her intro! i'm excited for ash to meet some people. and, you know, crash headlong into them and call them crazy.
- three moons old
- orange tabby kitten
- will bite you
- will put nettles in your nest
- latches onto anyone who shows her affection
- she's trying her best, i swear
For a cat like Clay, it doesn’t take an especially empty day for boredom to set in. His mind is always moving, always turning and twisting around itself. No thought settles for long—much the same as Clay himself. He can’t stay still for long, always needing to have something to do with himself. But on days like today, where the prey pile is tall and needs no more filling, and where the river is still far too intimidating for him to seek out Buck for her swimming lessons? These are the days he hates the most.
The dingy little island doesn’t offer much room for mindless pacing, but Clay has busied himself with it anyway. He wants to get better at fighting, and what better way to do that than by training? Even if his training is something as pointless as walking back and forth like a lost child in search of his mother. And speaking of children-
"Oof!" He huffs, a noise of surprise and just a bit of pain, as something small but solid slams directly into his side. The impact is somewhere across his ribcage, and for a moment he worries that whatever’s hit him may have broken something in the process. Then the bright orange bundle of fuzz is shouting at him, all puffed up and angry. "Oh! Sorry," he wheezes out, hazel eyes going wide.
This isn’t the first time he’s been called crazy, but for some reason it stings a bit more coming from the mouth of this furious little kit who he’s never met before. "Did I hurt you? I should really pay more attention where I’m walking, you’re right." He gives her an abashed smile, tilting his head slightly to the side. He doesn’t think she looks too injured, but that was quite the collision.
YEAH, YOU COME TO RAISE ME UP WHEN IM BROKEN AND BEATEN UP
AND NOW IM BACK IN THE ARMS I LOVE
Semper can relate to needing to move, to do something. While he's certainly a cat who can make use of a warm sunny spot or a lazy afternoon, more often than not his paws and mind crave a little more stimulation than that. Maybe it was just a natural part of his disposition, or maybe he'd just spent so much time in the bustling city that now it was conditioned into him, but either way it wasn't an unfamiliar feeling to the tom. In fact, one could argue it was a large contributing factor to him joining Riverclan in the first place, lured from the concrete jungle to the raging river and her wetlends because he'd craved something beyond the typical monotony and pointless bid for survival that came from living as a stray on the streets.
And so while the lack of work had found him confined to camp as well -at least until the next patrol went out- Semper wasn't nearly as restless and anxious as he could have been. The camp and its cats were still just new enough that it was a whole thing in itself to just kind of hang out and observe whatever the hell was going on. Half the stuff they talked about -Starclan and all that- sounded more like a bedtime story a queen would tell her kits than anything else, and it was usually interesting to try and absorb information, even if that wasn't his strong suit most of the time.
Today his patience had paid off in the form of an epic wipeout. It was one of those thigns where you saw it coming but lacked the time to properly warn anyone, and so all Semper could do was watch the pair collide and then try -and fail- to contain his laughter as the kit lept up and yelled at the warrior, who then apologized to the child as if it were actually their fault. What a weird guy. What a hilarious kid.
"You guys okay?" he asked after getting to his paws and heading over. Semper had never met either of them personally, but he was hardly the kind of cat to care about that kind of thing. He was strong enough to get himself out of most problems, and if it turned out these two absolutely hated him for some reason, that sounded more like a them problem than a him problem. Still, he fixed the pair with a friendly grin, clearly not meaning any harm despite the humor he'd drawn from the situation. "And to be fair, I don't think it was entirely his fault, you knwo." he added, gesturing to Clayfur, who had clearly not been the only one at fault.[/I] [/size
male - 20 months - riverclan - homosexual - single - a large cream and white tabby cat with broad shoulders and powerful hindlegs. has amber eyes and splotches on his face that are reminiscent of freckles.
A S H K I T
- it's a long way forward, so trust in me
Ash blinks. Her puffed-up fur relaxes a little, and her brow furrows with confusion. She was expecting him to yell right back and she's not sure what to do now.
"Um," she says, shifting paw-to-paw, "no, I'm okay." Her head hurts a little (ow) and her tailbone's probably a little bruised (extra ow), but Ash is clumsy (or, as she prefers to think of it, the WORLD is CRUEL and ALWAYS IN HER WAY) so those ows are normal.
He also says she's right, and Ash stares in wonder. She is right, of course. She's right all the time. It's just that most grown-ups are dumb and silly and don't know that. She's always shouting and puffing up and insisting people listen, but she's never thought of how she might respond when someone does.
"Welllll," she finally responds, feeling a little bad 'cause he seems so worried. And bash-filled. (Or is it bash-fulled? She can never remember.) "I guess it's not that big a deal. After all there's not anymore people to knock over. Look! Everybody is already on the ground."
She gestures with her tail to the sleepy sunbathers. You'd think building up a whole clan would involve more working and less sunbathing. But sunbathing's all that seems to be happening today. Maybe everything is built already.
"Except me," she adds. "And you!" It occurs to her that he could be the playmate she's been looking for all day! Even though Clay is a grown-up, he's clearly a grown-up who's got sense, so she wouldn't mind playing with him. Ash bats her moss-ball over to him. "I like you. You're my friend now, okay? Let's play moss-ball!"
/ah! i was ninja'd! replying again to include semper's response
A S H K I T
- it's a long way forward, so trust in me
Before Clay could reply to her offer of a game, someone else came to say hi. It was one of the sunbathers, and he seemed to think something was funny. Ash cocked her head, curious. Maybe he wanted to play moss-ball too.
"And to be fair, I don't think it was entirely his fault, you know."
Ash frowned at him, eyes narrow, suspicious. "Perhaps," she conceded at last. "It was only eighty percent his fault. And the rest of it was StarClan."
That settled, she returned her attention to the moss-ball. This new guy didn't seem mean, so Ash extended the moss-ball offer to him, too. "I'm Ash and this is Clay and we're friends. You should play with us!" She was not entirely sure how this would go over, because grown-ups didn't seem to know very much about the world (with the exception of her new best friend Clay). For example, grown-ups never played moss-ball, despite how fun and awesome it was. "I don't know if you have heard of playing, but it's way more fun than sunbathing."
The tom relaxes, tension easing from his shoulders as the child responds with a negative—she’s not hurt, or at least not hurt enough to mention it to him. And she seems to have calmed down rather quickly, pointing to the boring sunbathing cats as proof that there’s nobody else to knock over. Clay has never understood how cats can just lie around and soak in the sun all day. He can’t go even a few moments without twitching or talking or fidgeting. He’s never been able to properly enjoy sunbathing.
Oh—she’s talking again. He tunes back into the conversation as a white-patched tabby wanders over to join them, asking them if they’re alright. "I’ve had a lot worse," he responds, shooting what he hopes is a reassuring smile to the other adult. He’s not hurt, really—the throbbing of his ribs has already subsided, replaced by a dull ache that’s easy to ignore. And he feels happy, momentarily forgetting about all his worries concerning the river.
The ginger kitten declares him as her friend, telling him they should play a game. It feels nice, actually, to be called someone’s friend, even if said someone is a child who has just slammed into his flank and shouted at him. He’ll gladly be her friend, he decides, and makes a mental note to search for her parents later on. Maybe tomorrow he’ll seek them out, compliment them on how friendly their kit is.
"Of course I wanna play! I’m the best moss-ball player there is—except for you, maybe!" He hasn’t really been given a choice, as the kit turns to their cream-furred clanmate and inviting him to play as well, but Clay is too excited to mind. He grins at Ash, nodding with overflowing excitement as he eagerly replies. He drops into a bow, paws splayed out as his striped tail lashes playfully behind him. His head turns to glance over at the other tom, hoping to help lure him into their game.
HEY BROTHER,
DO YOU STILL BELIEVE IN ONE ANOTHER?
He was a little surprised when he was suddenly invited to join in on thier game. It was the first time the Riverclan cats had ever invited him to do something outside of patrol or hunt, and the tomcat couldn't help but grin. So what if the offer was coming from a child and fidgetty tomcat he'd never even spoken to before? Semper had never been one to be picky about who he socialized with, and he didn't see the point in starting now.
Besides, this was why hed come to Riverclan, wasn't it? Because he missed the sense of companionship? All the friends he'd lost, he knew he would never be able to get them back or make new memories with them, but unlike his brother who'd chosen to remain in twoleg plae suffering in the shadows of what they'd once had, Semper had come to join the clans. He refused to live his life in some kind of self-imposed solitude just for the sake of being stubborn. There were more memories for him to make, even if they had to be with new people.
And so he grinned when Ash spoke, hazel eyes seeming to glint with something playful as Clay sunk into a teasing bow before him. "The name's Semper- and of course I've heard of playing!" the cream tabby replied,"The real question is if you two think you've got what it takes to beat me at mossball. Cuz i'm not so sure you do." he said, lowering broad shoulders to match Clays pose with a flick of his tail.
male - 20 months - riverclan - homosexual - single - a large cream and white tabby cat with broad shoulders and powerful hindlegs. has amber eyes and splotches on his face that are reminiscent of freckles.
This site uses cookies to help personalise content, tailor your experience and to keep you logged in if you register.
By continuing to use this site, you are consenting to our use of cookies.
