Dappled Crickets

Dappleleaf was now fairly set on her goal of repairing the destroyed bonds with her family. Well, her two surviving kits and their kits. Her grandkits had been born at the beginning of leaf-fall, and her relationship being so bad with Fernskip, they were barely on speaking terms at this point. But she wanted to make amends. Little Doekit was the only one who had survived from a litter of three, and the elderly she-cat felt very sorry for her daughter and her mate. A little cautiously, she padded over to the nursery. Looking around, she spotted Fernskip's tabby pelt, but also the bitterness in her piercing green eyes.

I'm not strong enough to do this yet, she thought, Will she ever even forgive me? Tears forming in the corners of her eyes, she quickly turned away and tried to hide them. She may've been standing there outside the nursery for moons, but her attention was finally caught by a large-eared ginger kit who couldn't seem to be able to keep still. He was fidgeting with a mossball, his tail-tip flicking from side to side. Carefully, she approached the young tom. Maybe he would know Doekit? She guessed so, as they were both in the nursery together, and they were probably around the same age. "Hello," she said sweetly, "I'm Dappleleaf, and elder. Who are you?"

Cricketkit, a fairly young kit, was perched comfortably outside the nursery with a mossball between his paws.
He'd only recently become old enough to leave the warm, milk-scented den, but he had already become familiar with the layout of the camp. He shifted from paw to paw and batted at the mossball. He'd not met many of his clanmates yet, much to his chagrin. Well, his luck seemed to be turning around. For just as he began wondering who he could make friends with, he heard a voice from his side. Ear swiveling, Cricketkit turned to the sound and accidentally let the mossball roll away, out of reach.

He peered up at the older she-cat, eyes wide with curiosity. His jaws fell open with surprise before he stood up, tail flicking with barely contained excitement. "Hi! My name's Cricketkit!" The ginger tom paused, a paw in the air as he examined the elder, amber eyes glittering. "You're an elder? Does that mean you've been into the forest?"
Cricketkit hardly waited two seconds before rattling off more questions.

"Have you fought a badger before? Ooh, you know a lot of stories, right? You probably know a looottt about everything!" He slipped to the ground to sit in front of Dappleleaf, head tilted curiously. his eyes narrowed suspiciously and he glanced around as if worried someone might be listening. "Did you notice a weird smell this morning? I did. I think it was an animal! Like, a little one!" He spoke in an excited yet hushed voice but didn't actually look too particularly concerned about the scent.

Dappleleaf was relieved that the young kit was willing to chat, so it could maybe take her mind off things, even if it was just for a few short moments. "Ye-" She began in response to his question, but before the words had left her mouth, the young tom cut her off and began listing questions. Badgers? Thank Starclan he hadn't asked her about dogs. She had told the story to a small group of apprentices a while ago, but after meeting Fernskip's eyes, she wasn't so sure about that tale anymore. Badgers, on the other hand, were a different story. She had only run into one once. It still carried a sad tale with it, but at least it wasn't one that greatly involved Doeskip.

"Woah..." she said as she was bombarded with even more queries. Taking a few steps away from the entrance of the nursery incase Fernskip came out, she sunk into a sitting position. "Where to start?" she exclaimed, mostly to herself. "Yes, I've fought a badger. in the forest, and yeah I think I know a fair amount of stories! A weird smell?" she questioned. She hadn't noticed anything out of the ordinary. "Are you sure you didn't just smell prey?" She asked, smiling.

Cricketkit grinned upon realizing Dappleleaf was willing to talk to him. He wasn't sure why, but most cats always tried to avoid full conversations with him? Maybe he was just too fierce for them!? Yeah, that had to be it. The young tom-kit practically bounced up and down as he listened closely to the elderly she-cat. He nodded thoughtfully, eyes narrowed in mock-seriousness. He didn't quite understand what a badge was, just that they sometimes tried to live on Thunderclan territory.

"Badgers don't stand a chance against Thunderclan! It probably never even thought about coming back!" he followed Dappleleaf's movement and pranced a good distance from the nursery along with her. He easily moved on, tail flicking happily. "Do you think you could tell me some stories?" Cricketkit almost glazed over the topic of the weird smell before he jolted, remembering Dappleleaf's response to it. "Oh, I guess that makes sense...it was probably a weird mouse or something!" He smiled brightly and glanced to the side, where he noticed the discarded mossball. It had only been a few moments since he last spoke, but his mind was already moving on to other topics.

One of the things his mother chastised him about was his 'short attention span'. He felt bad for upsetting her, but at this moment, he couldn't remember anything she'd told him on the matter. "Ooh, we should play a game!" He paused, flinching slightly eyes turning apologetic. "Erm...I mean. Can we? Do you wanna play a game?" He struggled to remember to be polite while also containing his endless energy. It was something that he suspected would end up getting him into trouble one day but nothing he needed to worry about now.

To be honest, Cricketkit was making Dappleleaf feel a little dizzy. He never stopped moving. Also, he seemed to not be able to focus on one topic for more than a few seconds, which was really tiring her. And making her feel her age, which she didn't like one bit. She had probably been insanely energetic when she was a kit, but she couldn't believe that she was ever this exhausting. "A game?" She said, still feeling stunned by his constant chatter and jarring subject changes. "What kind of game would you like to play?" Hopefully this would keep him occupied for some time, and give his mother a well-needed break. Raising and caring for kits was hard enough, but some kits in particular just drained all energy from you.

An idea in her head, she padded over to where the moss ball lay discarded. She picked it up in her jaws and returned to Cricketkit. It hadn't entertained him much earlier, but maybe now, with her playing as well, he could find the fun in it. "How about mossball?" She asked.

Cricketkit listened carefully to Dappleleaf, eyes widening at the possibility of having someone to play with. He didn't have any littermates and he'd surprisingly not gotten to know any of his denmates too well. Thus, he'd had very few chances to actually play with someone. He nodded enthusiastically when the elder repeated his words. "Yeah, a game!" He pondered for a moment over her question but didn't exactly know what game to play. He'd not played anything other than a few simple games, most of which he couldn't remember the names of. He peered curiously at Dappleleaf as she retrieved the mossball and wondered what she might have in mind.

His mother had given him a half-hearted response when he asked her what it was for. She'd been especially tired this morning and had sent him outside so she could rest. Cricketkit flicked his tail and sniffed at the little green ball. "...Okay. I don't know how to play though." He was a lot more subdued now that he was in unfamiliar waters. He shifted his paws, wondering what game could be played with this ball. Maybe it would be more fun with Dappleleaf playing? Cricketkit perked up at the thought.

Dappleleaf was surprised that Cricketkit didn't know how to play mossball. With a sad, barely audible sigh, she realised that probably meant he wasn't friends with Doekit - Fernskip had obsessively played with small balls of moss as a kit. No doubt that her daughter would be similar. "You've never played mossball before?" She said in surprise, trying to drag her mind back to the present. Don't get lost in the past, she told herself, because that's where Doeskip is. "It's not that difficult, really. I'll bat it to you," She rolled the little green ball towards the ginger tabby kit, "And you pounce on it like a hunter!"

He was far too young to bother with technique; they could leave that to his future mentor. Thunderclan was chock-full of apprentices at the moment, hopefully some that would be willing to be friends with this unusual kit. At least the youngin's would have enough energy to spend time with him. Maybe he would calm with age. For now, she hoped he was happy just playing with the mossball.

Cricketkit nodded in agreement with Dappleleaf's statement. Why was it a surprise to hear that? What mossball a popular game? Were all kits supposed to play mossball for some reason? He had so many questions, but not enough time to ask them! He tuned back in just in time to hear Dappleleaf's explanation of the game. "Okay! I can pounce!" He narrowed his eyes, determination settling on his features. He watched the moss ball leisurely roll his way and wiggled his haunches before jumping on the moss ball. Cricketkit squeaked as he landed smack dab on it and rolled onto his side, the ball clutched loosely between all four of his paws.

"Gotcha!" He laughed, though slightly confused, and tilted his head back to look at Dappleleaf. "Now what do I do with it?" He gripped the mossball with his forepaws and struggled into a more comfortable position, fur prickling with excitement. This was a lot more fun than playing on his own! Maybe he could ask some of the other kits to play with him? Heh, now that he actually knew the name of the game. Ooh! He could ask his mother to play! She'd always expressed her love for games...but she always seemed too tired to play. Cricketkit rolled the mossball underneath his paws, his mind already wandering. Maybe if he left his mother alone for a day, she could get enough rest?

The kit's silly antics made Dappleleaf crack a rare smile. It had been a while since she had been as relaxed as this, her worries involving Fernskip dissolved for now. "You just hit it back to me and I do the same, I pounce on it." She couldn't be too stiff and old for mossball, right? Stretching out her back slightly in preparation, she hoped fr the best. As long as no serious injury came out of it, what was the worse that could happen? She dropped into a hunting crouch, both eyes watching the little ball of moss that was between Cricketkit's paws. It's been a while since I've done this. Since elders had 'earned their rest', she wasn't (technically speaking) supposed to hunt. But her seasons of training and warrior duties still held strong, so there wasn't a single thing wrong with her position.

Cricketkit nodded and examined Dappleleaf's posture as she got into a crouch. "Okay! That sounds easy enough." With his focus now returned solely on the game, Cricketkit was a lot quieter. He got up with the mossball clamped underneath one of his paws and tried to mimic the elder's crouch. It was clumsy and very much incorrect, no doubt, but it was fun to learn new things! He released the mossball and swatted it in what was hopefully Dappleleaf's direction. The small kit watched the ball roll across the ground and bounced up and down in excitement as his gaze remained trained on the mossball. He wasn't sure if Dappleleaf would pounce and then hit it or do a pounce-hit combo thing! He paused, was that even possible? If it was he wanted to do that next time! Would that impress Dappleleaf? Maybe. Hopefully, it would. Cricketkit narrowed his eyes. Just don't fall and make a fool of yourself and you'll be fine.

(ooc: Is it alright if I start wrapping the topic up?)

Dappleleaf watched as Cricketkit rolled the mossball to her, and all of a sudden she found herself completely lost in the game. To her it was now a real hunt, one to provide food for her clan. It had been so long since she had hunted. She pounced, and she would've landed perfectly on target, but the changing season had left many golden and brown leaves scattered across camp, and she was unlucky enough to slip on one. Her paws disappeared form underneath her, and she found herself on her side, looking up at a worried Cricketkit. "Sorry, I'm alright, I promise." Was she really ok though? A tiny slip like that wouldn't have harmed her much in her prime, but now she felt as if all the energy had been drained out of her. She struggled for breath slightly after being a bit winded, so it was a little hard for her to get back on her feet.

Wow, I really am getting old, she thought as she straightened up. That's less and less time to fix things with Breezeheart and Fernskip. "Maybe I should have a break from playing for a bit," she said to Cricketkit, "Why don't you try that game with some of your denmates? I'm sure they'll enjoy it just as much as you do." After her little slip-up, she really didn't want to overexert herself and do any real damage.

(ooc: Sure! I was thinking about that too honestly.)

Cricketkit, just like Dappleleaf had become engrossed in the game of mossball. He was wholly focused on the game and, for once, he wasn't completely lost in his own mind. He batted the ball to the elder and observed her pouncing technique. The elder, while a bit too old to perform the duties of a warrior, still amazed him with her abilities. He was still covered in kitten fluff and was all soft, unlike Dappleleaf, who looked super strong still! Cricketkit prepared to receive the mossball and flinched as Dappleleaf's paw slid out from under her at the evil hands of some rude leaf. He pranced to Dappleleaf's side and peered down at her, pupils wide with concern. "That looked like it hurt...but okay."

Cricketkit felt a twinge of guilt as Dappleleaf regained her bearings. He should've been more careful. He had hit that ball a bit harder than usual. Fur prickling, Cricketkit tried to act normal as the she-cat got back up. "O-okay!" He backed up a bit but hesitated for a moment. Trotting forward, Cricketkit gently headbutted Dappleleaf's chest, a small purr vibrating in his throat. "Thanks for playing with me Dappleleaf! I had lots of fun!" He pulled away rather quickly, wondering if it would be better to ask Dappleleaf for a story next time.