Kitten Adventures! {Open!~}

Stormkit could hardly contain her excitement. She'd been up all night, dreaming of a game she could play with the other kits, maybe even the apprentices! The other kits never wanted to play with her, so she made a game that just had to tempt them into playing with her. Scrambling out of the nursery, she ran up to the apprentices den. "Rainpaw! Hailpaw! Dacepaw! Duskpaw! Come out and play!" She yowled, not even knowing if anyone was in there.

It had taken her to almost sun-high to prepare this game. It was... A scavenger hunt! She hid a red feather, a shiny pebble, a sharp thistle, a bundle of moss, an ivy tendril, and a tuft of squirrel fur around the camp. It was going to be so fun! Stormkit could hardly remember where she even hid half the items, she was that excited.

Sitting down outside the apprentices den, she waited for one of them to come out. Maybe a warrior would play with her! Did warriors play games? They must! It would be boring sitting in camp all day! Stormkit thought. She stared longingly at the entrance. She absolutely could not wait to be an apprentice! For now, though, she'd have to settle to playing games with the kits, apprentices, and, sometimes, warriors. She shifted her attention to the apprentices den and waited, rather impatiently.

Dacepaw was not in the apprentices den when she heard a voice calling for her; the apprentice was just exiting the medicine cat's den, having fetched some fresh dry moss for Mossbloom while she was out hunting in the sun-up patrol. She let out a small chirp of acknowledgement, her tufted ears perking up, as she sought the source of the cry. Why, it was Stormkit! Full of vim and vigor, Dacepaw felt her whiskers twitching with amusement as she swiftly made her way towards the small fuzzy tabby kit who was gazing intently into the shadowy entrance of the apprentices den still. "Hi, Stormkit! Did I hear you call for me and the other apprentices?" she asked cheerily, her thick pale-mottled tail flicking contentedly as she waited for an answer.

Stormkit jumped, her tabby pelt ruffling in surprise. When she turned around and saw Dacepaw, her blue eyes lit up with joy and her ears pricked up hapiliy.
"Dacepaw!" Her mew came out in a squeaky purr. Finally! She'd have someone to play with! "Do you wanna play a game? I spent all morning hiding things for us to find!" She scuffed her paws in the sand nervously, "Unless you have something better to do.." Stormkit mumbled, her fluffy tail drooping at the thought of having to wait for another apprentice to show up.

Dacepaw ducked her head ever so slightly with sheepishness as she realized she'd startled the young she-cat, but Stormkit got over it swiftly and so she did as well. Her tail rose immediately upon being greeted. Stormkit asked about a game, proclaiming proudly that she'd spent all morning thinking of it. Dacepaw broke out into her characteristically loud purr; it thundered through the space around her, her pale whiskers quivering with delight. "Oh, Stormkit, I'd love to play your game with you!" Dacepaw declared, giving her small tabby friend no time to consider any other possibility. The tortoiseshell apprentice's face was friendly as she added, "I was on a hunting patrol this morning, and Dawngaze probably won't need me again until the sun is nearing the trees."

Stormkit had been preparing for rejection; her lowered ears a sign of this. When Dacepaw said she'd love to play a game with her, Stormkit was surprised. Delighted, but surprised. Her blue eye stretched wide and she looked at Dacepaw with enough happiness to melt the coldest of hearts. A loud purr escaped her before she even realized it, and she twitched her tail happily. "Really? You mean it? You'll play with me? Oh, thank you!" She purred and rubbed her cheek to Dacepaw's before looking at her with a mischievous glint in her eyes, "I prepared a scavenger hunt for us! Won't that be amazing?" She boasted proudly, her chest fluffing up.

The apprentice was grateful to have relieved Stormkit's fears - the short-lived look of expectation for disappointment was heart-breaking! Dacepaw had no desire to break hearts, though, and Stormkit's purring only served to strengthen her own. "I love playing!" she trilled, nodding enhtusiastically. She eagerly brushed her pale apricot nose along the she-kit's white-patched muzzle, and then she perked up to listen with interest to what Stormkit had to say. "Oh, that sounds amazing! Duskpaw would love that!" Dacepaw said, immediately peering into the den to see if Duskpaw - with her eyes recently healed from the fox attack - was present and interested in joining. She backed out again and said to Stormkit, "It'll be lots more fun with more cats, we can wait a little, right?"

At first, Stormkit thought Dacepaw was about to change her mind, but the second she heard Duskpaw might join, the clouded look in her eyes disappeared as quickly as it came and she perked up once more. "Oh yes," Stormkit said agreeably, "More people would be much more fun than just the two of us." Almost as soon as she said it, she worried she had said the wrong thing, "I-I don't mean you're boring or anything! It's just it's more fun with more people. Since you want to wait for Duskpaw, I'll happily wait for Duskpaw, but if you want to play now, we can. I'll do whatever you want, I promise!" Stormkit rambled on, worried about upsetting Dacepaw. This was one of her biggest faults: she worried about everything.

Great white-tipped paws dragged a bit as Oakstar padded through the bramble tunnel that lead into the camp. His amber eyes half closed as he padded in with his jaws full of squirrel. He laid the creature down on the freshkill pile, then looked around the camp. Just in time to see Stormkit as she began to fuss at Dacepaw. His tired head tilted a little in bewilderment, gaze looking at Dacepaw before it dropped back to his young kit.

He forced exhaustion away as he padded over to the pair, sitting down on weary limbs next to them.
"...and what are we waiting on Duskpaw for?" Oakstar asked, his tone lighthearted. He could afford this time. The night patrol had not found anything suspicious at the border despite constant nightly patrols. Though he found his own energy quite drained by having to run both day and night… sleep prickled the back of his mind, but he ignored it steadily. Even as his head dipped a bit.

Stormkit spun around to see who had asked the question. So focused on waiting for Duskpaw, she hadn't even heard a cat approach. Her worry that had previously clouded her eyes vanished in an instant and Stormkit launched herself at her father. "Oakstar!" She cheered, a purr rising in her little throat.

She was about to tell the big tom all about her new game, but she hesitated, looking at Dacepaw. Was it okay for him to join their game as well?

Dacepaw thought nothing at all of Stormkit's rambling as the she-kit began to fuss; the fact that the kitten was concerned about having offended her didn't occur to the apprentice whatsoever, and she simply continued searching for Duskpaw. She was about to open her mouth and suggest that Duskpaw was in the medicine den for a checkup with Mossbloom when she heard the pawsteps of a large cat approaching. Dacepaw turned with bright green-hazel eyes to see Oakstar, their leader, looking a bit exhausted yet alert. As Stormkit charged at her father, squeaking with delight, Dacepaw answered, "Stormkit came up with a game! We thought Duskpaw would like it. Go on, Stormkit, tell Oakstar, he'll think it's a great idea!"

After Dacepaw said it was alright, the little kit squealed with delight, rambling on about her game.
"I created a scavenger hunt! I hid a bunch of things around the camp, and the cat who finds the most items wins! If Duskpaw joins us, we could even do teams! Would you like to join us, da- Oakstar?" The silver tabby asked, bounding around him, purring with pure happiness.