The Muddy Truth

Dark clouds covered the sky, the soft breeze caressing the kitten's cheek as the sprinkle of rain gently fell below her eyes, mimicking tears. Tears of utter, complete boredom, that is. Fallenkit wallowed miserably in the damper-than-usual rainy clearing, her tiny body paw-deep in a small puddle. The kit pouted, there was nothing to DO! A kit could only jump in mud puddles for so long, before the novelty (and the kit's attention span) wore off. Fallenkit was covered head to toe in mud, her light gray fur dyed dark brown from the amount of it caked onto her pelt. She splashed her paws in the shallow water she laid in, watching the ripples form before jumping into the mushy ground in frustration. She felt a tiny shiver rise up her spine, before she sneezed, rolling back and landing on her rump with a sniffle.

She took a few minutes to recover her dignity as future leader of ShadowClan, shaking her pelt, spraying invisible-like droplets into the pouring rain. The rain hit her tiny frame, almost dragging her down into the mud.

Her sea-foam eyes brightened as she caught sight of a den in the distance - a den she'd never explored! Ignoring the cold that soaked through her coat, she bounded off toward the mysterious den.

When the muddy kit reached the entrance, she carefully peeked inside. It was dark, and the kitten could barely make out the shape of the nest in the corner. She wondered who's den this was as the precocious (not to mention filthy) kit bounded into the mysteriously large den with only one nest.

"What're you doing in here?"
A squeaky voice echoed harshly from behind the young kit.
"You're not supposed to be in here!" it meowed again, getting closer, until the voice came right behind Fallenkit. Mallowpaw put his paw on Fallenkit's tail, his eyes crossed at the kit.
"This is Sagestar's den!"

Fallenkit squeaked in surprise as a paw slammed down on her tail, and she whipped around in fear, terrified when her yanking didn't free her pained tail. "I didn't do nothing!" she said hurriedly, hoping her assailant wouldn't rip her to shreds. As she said so, her tiny frame shook as another sneeze racked her body.

Mallowpaw let out a loud laugh, his bright eyes gleaming. "Aw, c'mon!" he meowed softly, still chuckling. "Ya' probably won't get in any trouble, Fallenkit," he reassured, starting to walk out of the den with a flick of his tail for the kit to follow.

The kitten looked at the Medicine Cat apprentice skeptically, before licking her tail and following Mallowpaw's lead. "Okays!"

"Mallowpaw?" Sagestar was just on his way back to his den when he saw the two cats padding out of it, "And Fallenkit? Just what do you two think you're up to?" He looked calmly at the both of them, not seeming to give off much emotion.

The kitten sputtered as she heard the familiar voice of Sagestar, fumbling with her paws as she searched for an excuse, while secretly (or not so secretly, it was hard for kits like her to hide their emotions) she was disappointed that she had not yet gotten to explore ALL of the large den. Instead of spouting out an excuse she sighed dramatically and decided to tell the truth. Fallenkit was one of those cats who thought honesty was the best policy.

"We're just 'splorin, Sagestar." She mewed innocently, if not a little meekly. She flushed as she felt intimidated by her leader, struggling to cover up her stuttering with some words of confidence - after all, she needed to make an impression if she was 'gonna be leader someday. "I just wanted to check out my future den! 'cause when I'm leader I don't 'wanna sleep in any strange nest!"

Mallowpaw turned his head and saw the leader. He bowed his head and started to speak. "I just found Fallenkit in your den... I was gonna just lead her back to the nursery, Sagestar," he meowed.

Fallenkit looked up at the apprentice, her sea-foam orbs widening before narrowing. "You said we could 'splore Mallowpaw!"

"Hey! No I didn't!" Mallowpaw retorted.

Fallenkit poked the apprentice with her tiny claw, "Did too! Stop making stuff up!" She whined, latching onto Mallowpaw's leg, more to annoy him than anything.