Celebration

Badgerpaw looked around for a moment until he thought of an idea. "How about we play a game?" He asked as he walked over to a dead tree and broke off two branches. He tossed one to Cloudykit. "We have to see who can throw their branch the farthest!" He already knew who would win.

She smiled and did her best to bite the stick in what she thought might be the best place. "Like 'is?" she asked with her mouth full.

Badgerpaw nodded and laughed at the same time. "Yes, like that. Now, you throw it!" He threw his stick and it landed about five tail-lengths away. "You try!"

Cloudykit struggled to move her head back, and tossed the stick that landed only perhaps two tail-lengths away, if you went from the far end of the stick. But she giggled nonetheless. "You win!"

Badgerpaw laughed and collected the sticks, then brought them back to Cloudykit. "Lets do it again, but this time you go first!" He said

Cloudykit smiled and took up the stick again. She tried another method, but it didn't go very far and she had to spit a twig out of her mouth afterward. "I think you've got this one too! But it's your turn! I'm rooting for you!"

Badgerpaw focused and threw his stick as light as he could. It landed just a bit behind Cloudykit's. "What? You won this time!" He exclaimed. He knew that he had done this on purpose, but he hoped that Cloudykit didn't.

She gasped. "How'd I do that? Maybe it's father than I thought!" Cloudykit giggled and bounded in a small circle. "We're tied now, Badgerpaw! Wanna play some more?"

Badgerpaw nodded. "Sure, how about one more try?" He asked as he fetched the sticks. He padded back over and didn't wait for an answer from his friend. He lunged his stick as far as he could. It ended up in a tree, far away. "Ha ha! Beat that!"

Cloudykit gave it another measly try, leaving Badgerpaw as the obvious winner, then pounced on the apprentice, laughing as she did. "You're so much better than me!" she said happily. "But maybe I can pin you down!"

Badgerpaw laughed as the kit tackled him. He let her pin him down. "Ah yes, the element of surprise! You got me!"

She laughed. "Let's hope I'm as good in real battles. I have to protect everyone I love!"

Badgerpaw sighed. "Yah," he said as he rolled over onto his side, making the kit fall off. He stood up and shook the dust and mud off his fur. "I think I'm done celebrating," He said as he started to walk away sadly.

Cloudykit rushed to Badgerpaw. "What's wrong? You know I love you all. Did I say something wrong?"

Badgerpaw looked at Cloudykit and rubbed her head with his paw. "Aww, no, it's nothing that you said...it's just...someone." He started to walk again.