This Strange Place [open~]

It was dark when all of the cats were up and moving around. Redkit couldn't help but lie in the nursery as all of the excitement moved around him. Stifling a yawn that he could feel in his toes, his droopy eyes scanned the clearing. It had been only a single night since his brother was taken away, and Redkit couldn't find it within himself to do anything other than mope quietly where they had placed him. The big cat named Flamestrike tried hard to fight with... Leopardstar? That was his name. Flamestrike tried hard to argue with the big tom to bring Barkkit back but the leader refused, saying that he made sure the kit was safe elsewhere. But where was elsewhere? Would Redkit be able to see Barkkit again?

What a stupid question, of course he was! He was determined to make sure that they saw each other again and soon, but the heavy feeling in his chest simply wouldn't go away. It didn't help that he knew no one here. They called this place camp-- Shadowclan camp to be more precise. The small red tom still wasn't sure what a Shadowclan was or why they lived in a camp when there was a perfectly great barn out there somewhere, but he wasn't going to argue. They took him in, gave him food and the few he had met seemed really nice. Maybe this was going to be a good place to live after all.

With a sigh, Redkit tried to stay positive. He wasn't so sure about this night life; in fact, he had no clue why these cats seemed to want to be most active in the middle of the night, but if they were doing it, he could too. Finally pushing himself onto his paws, the tom-kit padded out of the nursery and into the muddy clearing, his eyes transfixed on almost everything, especially the starry sky above the camp. A gasp escaped his tiny form as he stared. Maybe this was why they moved around at night.

Honeydrop had slept for the first time in moons tonight, but it had been far from peaceful. Despite Flamestrike's presence and comfort, her nightmares had returned, driving rest far away from the medicine cat den and beyond her reach, into the quiet ShadowClan night. In them, Bear and Wolffang would return, arriving in the dead of night and killing Flamestrike, who tried to protect her. Though she yowled for help, no one would come. She would be kidnapped again and then killed after her desperation drove her to try to escape. Then she died and wasn't allowed into StarClan, sitting on the border while Puddlepaw glared at her accusingly. Every time she woke up in tears, pelt sticking to her sides with sweat, eyes wild and desperate. She didn't want to awaken Flamestrike again with her petty fears, so the honey-gold she-cat had padded wearily outside to gaze at Silverpelt.

As she went out, the medicine cat spotted a small red-brown form sitting on the marshy grass, gazing up at the heavens in awe. Her half-brother, Redkit. The unfortunate offspring of her father and the psychotic Wolffang. Especially since he had lost his brother, she knew transferring his mind from the barn with Bear to Clan life would be hard, and she wondered whether anyone had taken the time to properly explain it to him. The poor, innocent kit was probably so confused. Smiling slightly and forgetting her own troubles, Honeydrop walked up to the kit and sat beside him. "Hello, R-Redkit," she purred softly. "D-do you need a-anything? If you d-do, I'm r-r-right here."

The sound of Honeydrop's voice coming from behind him momentarily startled Redkit. Whirling around to face the medicine cat, he immediately calmed down at the sight of a mostly-familiar face. This older cat had been nice to him since she picked him from the barn. He was sure at this point that everyone else was just as nice as she was. At first, however, he was quiet, his yellow eyes taking in Honeydrop as she sat next to him, offering her support. After a few moments, though, the tom finally spoke up. "So... I've heard some cats talking, but I'm really confused... What is this place?" He asked. He didn't mean to be so blunt, but he had no information. This was a strange encampment and apparently they weren't taking him back to the barn. "Is this my new home?"

Honeydrop blinked in slight surprise, and then nodded. Flamestrike had been busy lately, training Rushpaw, and she doubted Leopardstar would take the time to properly explain the basics of a Clan to but the small, half-rogue kit. "Th-the place you're l-living now is the f-f-forest, Redkit. The forest is d-divided into five g-groups of cats, c-c-called Clans. Th-this Clan is called Sh-ShhadowClan. We l-live in the m-marshes. There are f-four other Clans- W-WindClan, RiverClan, ThunderClan a-and S-SkyClan. Each Cl-Clan has a l-leader like Leopardstar, a deputy l-like Magpiewing, and a m-m-medicine cat like... like m-me." Honeydrop flushed slightly. All the other medicine cats are better, more skilled, less weak. But Redkit wouldn't understand that. "The leaders a-are in charge of e-each Clan, like B-B-B-Bear was in charge o-of the barn. The d-deputies are second-in-command- they t-take over w-when the leaders d-d-die. M-Medicine cats, like me, don't f-fight like w-warriors do. They use h-herbs to heal a-and help other c-cats. Anything else y-you'd like to kn-know?" The ShadowClan she-cat smiled down at her half-brother.

Echopaw padded out of the apprentice den and yawned loudly trying to wake up. She sat down to clean herself when she saw a red kit walk out of the nursery and stare at the night sky. Wanting to say hi but she didn`t know this kit well, she knew something happened with this kit and maybe another one. But that was before she was born and nobody would tell her what happened so she just watched what the kit did. She did noted that the kit looked....lost, like he didn`t know what he was doing there. Suddenly Honeydrop sat down next to him and talked to him, she could hear her faintly explaining something to the kit.

She padded up silently to them and purred, "Hello, Honeydrop and...what`s your name? Sorry I don`t know it." She looked to the tiny kit.

OC:Hope you don`t mind Echopaw butting in!!

The forest? Leaders, deputies, and medicine cats? His little brain started buzzing like bees as he tried to think about everything Honeydrop just told him. That was a lot of stuff. No wonder everyone looked up to the cat they called Leopardstar. He was the boss. Suddenly, he felt a lot more intimidated by the older tom. However, as the medicine cat mentioned Bear, the small kit's ears drooped. It wasn't like he missed the rogue tom, but the name did have some kind of comfort to it. Bear was the only one that really took notice to the kits aside from Wolffang. However, Redkit already found himself forgetting bits and pieces of him. 

Suddenly there was a new voice. Pulling himself out of his tiny slump, Redkit turned so that he saw Echopaw padding towards them. She looked nice, but the kit couldn't help but shrink away for a moment at the unfamiliar face. Honeydrop just told him that this was his new home. What did she call it? Shadowclan? That sounded somewhat familiar. He needed to get to know those who he was going to be living with. "Redkit," he stated simply, his voice quivering slightly. "Who are you?"

OC: Hope I'm not too late to join in!
IC: Rowanpaw padded up to the small group, nodding to Honeydrop and Echopaw. "Redkit?" He mewed curiously, "You must be new." He sized up the young tom. He was a rouge kit, probably. The apprentice couldn't help but feel pity for the kit- he, Rowanpaw, had been found in Shadowclan territory and taken in as a kit. He hadn't been given a queen as a mother, though. Instead he had become the clan's kit, belonging to everyone and nobody. He had played with all the other kits, listened to all the elders' stories, asked all the apprentices questions, took milk from all the queens and slept in a different nest each night.

(uh, don't mind me if I'm too late to pop into this.)

Morningkit had been restless all night, squirming around in her den, messing up her nest, and disturbing the queens and kits who had been beside her. Telling her to be quiet and sleep wasn't going to be of any assistance to her falling asleep quicker. Making sure to be silent, the small tortoiseshell kit rose from her nest and padded out of the nursery and into the camp, taking a breathe of the open air. She had expected to have nobody else around but her, as she thought that everyone had been sleeping. Apparently and obviously, she had been mistaken. Her small paws lead her towards the group that had recently formed, and she greeted them with a small squeaking noise, which also sufficed for making her presence known. The ShadowClan kit was familiar with Honeydrop, Echopaw, and Rowanpaw. They were all older than her, and she looked up to each of them as most kits did to their elders and to ranks above them. However, her curious gaze was pointed directly at Redkit.

If this cat was any older than she was, Morningkit may have assumed that it was some sort of trespasser and she would've let out the loudest shriek that the forest had ever heard, but considering that it was just a kit, she kept calm and quiet.
"Maybe I'm blind," Morningkit began, with a tone that gave off a hint of amusement but also exposed her curiosity and wariness towards Redkit, "But I don't know you at all, and I'm pretty sure I know everybody. I'm Morningkit."
She had to stop talking for a few heartbeats to stop herself from dragging on about who she was, because she could go on for as long as a sunrise talking about herself, but that wasn't the case here.

Echopaw saw him shrink away from her as she purred sitting next to him, she smiled at him, "There`s no reason to be frighted little one. I am Echopaw. Your name-" She was cut off as another apprentice walked up to them, Rowanpaw she never really speaks to him. Not really knowing much about the other apprentice either. She nodded at towards him opening her mouth to finish her sentence as a small bundle of fur popped up behind them, that must be a kit. Echopaw smirked at the little ones amusement not picking up on the others wariness of the kit. It seems like everyone was up on this beautiful night. It occurred to her that she dosen`t remember a queen for the small red kit. Why is that she wonders? Maybe he came from outside the clan? That could be why everyone does not know him. Poor little thing. She was curious on what happened but she does not what to get under others noses.

Suddenly there were all kinds of cats surrounding him. Sure, everyone was active during the night around here, but he didn't realize he was going to attract this much attention. Was that okay? The small tom glanced up at Honeydrop who looked about as uncomfortable as the kit felt. However, each cat who approached looked kind enough, but Redkit couldn't help but feel a little wary. They were all complete strangers. "Morningkit..." he repeated, trying to make sure he remembered the name. Then suddenly, the first apprentice began to speak again, saying her name. "Echopaw?" That was a new one. He hadn't heard any names with -paw at the end before. He wondered what that meant. Before he could ask, though, he turned his attention to Rowanpaw and nodded at the tom's statement. "I'm new, yes," he squeaked simply. "This is my new home." It felt strange to say, but Honeydrop said this was home, so he was going to make sure that everyone knew it.

Honeydrop blinked in slight surprise as two apprentices and a kit suddenly appeared, swarming the pair and filling the quiet night with innocent chatter. It reminded her of her days as Honeykit, the quietest, shyest kit in the nursery, who preferred watching Alderheart organize herbs and listening to Dawnflower's stories rather than play mossball and pretend to be warriors with Foxkit, Waspkit and Nutkit. She remembered the pride on her mother's face as she would watch her other three kits play with their father, her urging Honeykit to go have fun with the others. The memories were both bittersweet and slightly painful, reminding her of a life that used to be and would never be again. Smiling faintly as Redkit socialized with the three, the ShadowClan medicine cat winced slightly as the pain in her belly returned stronger than ever. She was tempted to go back to her den and try and sleep some more, but she doubted she'd be able to do so with her stomach pain. So she sat instead next to Redkit, silently listening to the cats' eager conversation.

The apprentice's gruff voice was replaced with a new kinder one. "What do you know about the clans?" He asked the kit. "Have you heard of apprentices and warriors?"

The soothing voice of the apprentice made Redkit calm down as his big yellow eyes focused on Rowanpaw. "I have heard of them," he stated. "What are you? Are you a warrior?" the small tom asked, looking at him curiously.