pafp on sunny days - mossball

[CROWSIGHT]

"You're going to play mossball with me. Now."

That's how it all started. You would think he would be irritated at being ordered to play with Cherrykit, but he didn't even think that she was ordering him, in fact he just took her mewl as an invitation to play. Her words pleased him because on one hand he was quite bored and was at a loss at what to do. Some of the kits had left the nursery after the recent meeting, so while he did gain more space to stretch his legs, he began to realize that the days were becoming quite dull. He never understood why the kits that became apprentices were so antsy, wishing for the day to come. He wouldn't say he was wishing for Blazestar to walk up to him and dub him Crowpaw and ship him off to some warrior to begin training this second, but he wished he could leave camp and see something new. Anyhow, the second reason he was pleased was because he quite liked and admired Cherrykit. He saw her as his friends and it was nice that his friend wanted to play a game of moss ball with him.

Cherrykit taught him many things. The first being what Skyclan is and who did what in the clan. Even though she may have talked a bit more about her mother and how amazing she was, which he would agree that he thought Orangeblossom was amazing and pretty (still not as pretty as his own mom though). Cherrykit also taught him not to stare too much at other cats because that was rude. In all she was a good friend! They would be apprentices together too so being an apprentice wasn't as scary as a thought knowing that they would be able to hang out when they weren't training with their mentors.

For now he was more than happy to bat a moss ball back and forth. "Cherry, who would you want as a mentor?" Maybe it was not wise to talk about mentors, considering this was supposed to be playtime. However he was curious to hear who she wanted and why if she told him. As for him... He didn't really know. He didn't think about who he would want. Blazestar would be the only cat in mind only because he was his mom's friend, so that meant he was a good cat. He also saved his mama so there was that too. Although he says this without considering the weight of being an apprentice to a leader.

// please wait for @Cherrykit first​

 

[Cherryblossom]

A few days later, Spiderpaw's absence doesn't hurt as bad. The weight isn't as heavy anymore. The first night, when she'd curled up on her hyacinth pillow and drifted off to the scent of her mother's pines mingling with floral keen, it'd been crushing. The apprentice herself had been laid to rest upon Cherrykit's shoulders that night, every lock and tangle of her smoky fur creeping into pale crevices, coiling around her like a smoldering python. Standing had been as unfathomable to her as flying, bones shackled by the gravity of grief. Simply breathing didn't provide much solace either. Each breath was just another reminder of icy eyes and reluctant smiles, but it'd felt sacriligeous to pull her nose out of the floral tomb.

Eventually, someone—Orangeblossom, or Eggkit, or Lupinekit, or Bobbie—had suggested she just put one in her fur. Carry it around so she doesn't stay rotting on the floor with the rest of Spiderpaw's flowers. One of them tucked it beneath her ear, tangled the fur around so it'd stay put, and reminded her to seek out new ones so she wouldn't be carrying around a shriveled tick-looking thing on her face for her whole life. I'll be an apprentice soon, she'd thought. I can go get them myself. The notion hadn't been the only thing to pull her out of her nest, but it'd been one of them.

Now she stands before her friend, one paw on a tightly-packed clump of moss, demanding he play with her. Crowkit simply rolled along with it. By now, the girl is well aware she could hardly order around the other kits; Lupinekit, maybe, but Drowsykit would just start snoring if hadn't been her idea too, and Doomkit would either blow a raspberry or attack her. Crowkit's silence is an affirmation strong as any squeal. She happily lobs the ball over to him, a low, slow arc more suited to accompany idle conversation than the start to a spirited match.

The taller smoke asks her a question, making mismatched brows raise briefly. "Figfeather," she meows, after a moment to think. "She's fun." Cherrykit tilts her head at him, suddenly curious. The recent exodus of kits left a much-appreciated blank space in the nursery, and she's probably just as happy as Crowkit to smell the absence of Falconkit and his sisters. As excited as she is to be an apprentice, she's a little put off by the thought of once again sharing a den with Plaguepaw and Falconpaw, even if his sewer-scent has mostly dissipated with frequent trips outside of camp now. At least she'll have Crowkit and his siblings, who are friendly faces if not friends. "Who do you want?" the girl returns the question. Maybe the question should've been, "Which warriors do you like the most?"​

 

[DROWSYNOSE]

I'VE LEARNED TO LOVE YOU, HONEY!​

---

drowsykit sat away from the other two kits, licking her paw and roughly making sure that the fur on top of her head stood up. the rest seemed rather... groomed due to her mother's help, but she insisted that she needed the fur on her head to stay the way it was before she woke. her gaze only shifted upwards at the sound of her brother and cherrykit. she... was still upset with cherrykit but she could hold her tongue. standing on her paws, she trotted over to crowkit, bumping against him with a purr before waving her tail at cherrykit.

"can i play, too?"

she asks, but she wasn't expecting the next question. mentors. had drowsykit even really wanted to be an apprentice? partially. but other parts of her worried... what if her brothers became too busy and they couldn't see each other? and what about her mama? who would look out for her if they had to move out of the nursery, and away from her? her tail swept with thought before she answered cherrykit's question.

"well, i don't know who crowkit would want but I'd want my mom. she's very smart."

and i'd miss her too much being away from her. i have to protect mama from those worm brained dogs... yeah.

​

 

[CROWSIGHT]

Whatever conflict his sister has with Cherrykit is something he has no paw in. Perhaps he should be more aware of the situation. Although, it must be awkward for his sister to bring up to him that hey Cherry is your friend but she is a meanie and did this to me. Even if Drowsykit told him he wouldn't know what to do because that was not his specialty. Lupine was the one out of the three of them who was more used to that types of matters. That's why when he is lobbed the mossball, he turns his head to his own sister. He faintly dips his head before lobbing the ball over to his sister before returning his attention to Cherrykit.

Figfeather is a strange but nice cat. He remembered that she would be watching him along with his siblings with an air of sadness. By no means is she a mean or scary cat, so when he thinks of Figfeather and Cherryki-paw... Is nice. He doesn't have much to go off to base that his friend being given Figfeather as a mentor would be nice. All he has is Figfeather's watchful gaze, which means that he hazards a guess that Figfeather would take care of Cherry as if she were her own daughter.

Drowsykit mentions that she has no idea who he would want as a mentor, which is fair. He isn't the most talkative out of his siblings, so he is not distraught that his sister has zero inkling of whom he fancies. When she brings up their mother he can't help be puzzled because his mother is no warrior. She wouldn't be able to have any of them as an apprentice, and if she could he wouldn't want her as his mentor. Not because he thinks so little of her. No, he loves his mother and it would be wonderful to train alongside with her. The thing is. His mother has always looked after him and he hopes he can repay that. That's why he wants someone else as his mentor.

The problem is that there are few he trusts. The kit scarcely interacts with the warriors of the clan and only a few come to mind. Orangeblossom is one of them, but he's seen her with an apprentice. The odds of him having Orangeblossom as a mentors are slim. His whiskers twitch before he glances at his paws, mindful of what Cherrykit has taught him. "Blazestar," he answers.

Blazestar being his preference is not because he thinks he is good enough or whatever other kits like to think to have the leader as their own mentor. The reason is simple. "Mommy likes him. He likes mommy." Perhaps he should have been more elaborate. What he has exposed makes it sound like both cats are interested in each other romantically. The truth of it is that he trusts his mothers judgment of character and from what he sees Blazestar is a nice tom. He also saved his mommy so if he were Blazestar's apprentice he would try his best to repay the favor.

However, he gets the sense that Cherrykit may not like that answer or huff at his bluntness. For that reason he tilts his head to imitate confusion. "Twitchbolt good. Think get along." Maybe his friend would say that Twitchbolt seemed more fitting. That may be true and from what he recalls Twitchbolt was one of the first cats he met when his mother had introduced the three of them to the clan. He couldn't say he conversed much with the other warrior. What he could sense was that they were similar, so Twitchbolt might understand him better. More so than a cat like Duskpool.​

 

[Cherryblossom]

Someone erects a warped mirror behind Crowkit, and his sister steps out of it. Dull anger accompanies Drowsykit's appearance, a washed-out sort of object she's reluctant to let go of, like a ratty feather she's played with too many times that Orangeblossom would nag her about throwing out. Drowsykit used to be fun, but then she did something bad, and Cherrykit never really feels inclined to play with her anymore. Cherrykit isn't angry with her like she's angry with Plaguepaw or Doomkit, who she'd loathed at first sight and never stopped. Drowsykit is just okay. She did a bad thing, but she had done good things, and she continues to do good things by asking to play. The smaller calico would take it as some sort of apology. "Fine," she answers, and that's that.

The other girl inserts her turn into the conversation, and Cherrykit tilts her head at her decision. "Bobbie?" Pale shadows curl over her brows as she thinks, unknowingly taking Crowkit's thoughts and placing them on her face. "What is she good at?" she muses aloud. Yellow eyes sweep the pair of kittens, and her red-braided tail swishes thoughtfully behind her. Figfeather is good at hunting, and her own mama is good at everything, but she's never seen Bobbie do anything except...lie there. And get hurt, she supposes. Lupinekit cried over keeping her safe. What would she have to teach Drowsykit? Or anyone? She likes Bobbie; she's nice, and she's always there for her kids and others'. Drowsykit says she's very smart, but Cherrykit has never seen her do anything aside from fight the dog, and if Duskpool's words were anything to go by, he'd protected her. So she easily meows, "She's nice, but I don't want her."

They both blink at Crowkit as he decides. Hazel eyes fall to his wide paws, but, surprisingly, only for a few seconds. It seems like he's already had the answer in his head. This, too, is mildly confusing, but not for the same reasons as Drowsykit's answer was. She'd expect something along the lines of his position as leader or his strength, but Crowkit thinks that him liking Bobbie is enough for him. She's not as well-attuned to Bobbie's antics as her own children are, but she has noticed an uptick in Blazestar's presence around the nursery. He still comes to consult his deputy while Cherrykit and her littermates keep her confined to the nursery, but he talks to Bobbie almost the same amount, even though she holds no power in the clan.

Cherrykit has long since accepted her only real friend is a strange one though, whose mannerisms are rarely predictable from social norms, so her acknowledgement is less disgruntled than he may have accepted. "Blazestar is good." Blazestar would be a fine choice of a mentor for anyone, and she'd be happy with Crowkit receiving mentorship from someone normal and good. (Although she wonders how weird he'd get if he were to mentored by Mallowlark instead.) "He's nice too," she says, after Crowkit makes an addition to his list. Twitchbolt is kind of weird, but he gets the kittens more than anyone else in SkyClan does, barring maybe the queens. Cherrykit gives herself a little shake as the sudden, slight thrill of being an apprentice is almost fully realized in her brain. "We're gonna be apprentices soon!" she exclaims, tail rising into the air. "Where do you guys wanna go after? I wanna go to the Twolegplace," she adds. Danger, mystique, fashion; the inspiration of the cryptic place glitters in her sunny gaze.​

 

[LUPINESONG]

( tags ) Not unlike a crow with its flock, the third of the dark triplets pads his way over to the chatting kittens. Lupinekit doesn't push to join in on the mossball-passing, instead sitting primly in a shady spot nearby to have one of his numerous self-grooming sessions of the day.

"Mommy's good at a lot of things," he chimes after Cherrykit. Just off the top of his head, he knew that she was smart, she was good at keeping them tidy, she was really good at talking to other cats, she was good at being pretty... he could go on. "But yeahh, she's not a warrior so uhm, I dunno if that's allowed, Drowsy." If he could, he would have loved to spend his apprenticeship under the loving paw of his mother like Drowsykit, but he didn't think Blazestar would let it happen.

Lupinekit hummed along at Crowkit's picks, Blazestar and Twitchbolt would be good mentors, his brother could be surprisingly astute on the rare occasions that he expressed what he was thinking. His reasoning was a little silly, though. Lupinekit, like his nestmates, hadn't missed the leader becoming a more frequent visitor of their mother. Blazestar was nice to her, Crowkit was right, and Lupinekit was glad that Bobbie had friends to talk to the way that her kits did with their denmates.

"I just hope my mentor's nice..." he mewed, wrinkling his nose a bit thinking about the rude lead warriors Slate and Silversmoke who got all worked up and snarly at his sister for something as silly as a few toys. He didn't know how he'd deal with a cat that wanted to push him around like that. Large ears pricked up with an idea, "Orangeblossom's nice! Do you think she can have two apprentices?" She was the deputy, surely she could have as many apprentices as she wanted, right? Plus, Lupinekit could be well-behaved, he was sure he would hardly be a bother to her, she'd hardly notice he was there!

Cherrykit's question made him pause. The fact was, he wasn't sure how excited he was to be leaving the shelter of camp so soon. He couldn't dissociate the vast forest surrounding them from the smell of blood and dog on his mother, or from a sleepless night waiting for enemy cats to descend upon them with shining claws, or from only a few days previous when Spiderpaw... He couldn't think about it. It was something dark and heavy and fathomless, and even brushing upon the thought of the subject made his stomach do flip-flops. So he tried not to. Even still, he'd kept a flower, or feather, or some accessory tucked in his fur somewhere these past few days. Cherrykit had said that she'd liked those, and he knew that she'd liked the pretty apprentice. A small daisy was wrapped around his tail-tip today, he avoided messing with it as he carefully groomed his tail. Fluff and smooth and fluff and smooth and...

He pulled his attention away from it for a second, glancing briefly at the carefully-placed flower by Cherrykit's ear, "I think, uhm... I'd like to see the river... it sounds pretty. I heard Riverclan is kind of stinky though."

"SPEECH"

​