Adventuring out of the nursery! [Open]

A dark grey fluffy kit rolled around in the nursery next to the gorse. He swatted at a ball of grass, thoroughly enthralled with his new plaything.

It bounced out of his clutches, and rolled outside of the nursery.

He stumbled to his little tubby paws, and slunk down to stalk it like prey. He sprang forward and missed it by a mouselength. Skidding to a landing, he batted at the little ball and continued to chase it around.

Rainkit looked up, and realized he wasn't in the nursery anymore.

"Uh... hello?"

He noticed peering eyes around him, which unnerved him more. He shifted back and forth, wondering if an older cat could bring him back. In the center of camp, which felt so big to him, he didn't know where the nursery was.

Daypaw had been looking for any excuse she could to stay in the camp. There were plenty of jobs to do here, no matter how undesirable they would be, and today was no different. She had decided to help the elders clear out their nests, a job that most apprentices attempted to get out of, but she didn't mind it. The elders were nice to talk to, anyways. On her way to see the elders, she was surprised to hear a tiny voice coming from somewhere below. She glanced around before looking directly down to see one of the kits peering up at her and the other older cats with big, nervous eyes. She instantly forgot about anything else that she was supposed to do. Daypaw had an undeniable soft spot for kits, and talking to them every now and then was something that she found to be enjoyable. It was difficult to look at a kit and not remember the time that she had spent in the nursery, peeking out at the camp and wondering when it would be her turn to become one of the big cats.

"Hi, there," She said, softly, lowering herself a bit so that she wouldn't be looming over Rainkit, "What's going on? You look a bit lost."

His face lit up when he saw the apprentice. "Hi!"

Rainkit pushed his makeshift toy out of the way and sat by her. He loved other cats! His whole fuzzy dark grey body twitched with excitement.

"I was playing, and I was having so much fun, and then my ball went away, and then I chased it, and then I wound up here, and I don't know where I am in camp. Who're you? What're you doing? Are you having fun?"

Daypaw couldn't help but smile as the kit sat down to look at her. He was obviously more outgoing than she had been when she was a kit.
"I'm Daypaw, it's nice to meet you," The apprentice purred, tilting her head to the side, "I was going to help the elders with their bedding but I thought I would talk to you instead."
It honestly made her a bit sad how quickly life was moving. She was already an older apprentice, kithood seemed like it had been ages ago, and there were already new generations of kits being born. Her calm smile became wistful.
I'm acting like I'm an elder or something. I still have a lot of life left ahead of me, Daypaw thought, snapping out of her memories.

"What about you? What's your name?" She asked, holding back a slight giggle.

He cocked his head to the side like an over excited puppy as she spoke. When she asked him his name, he squeaked, “Rainkit! It’s good to meet you. Can I come with you? To the elder’s den?”

He wasn’t even sure if he was allowed to go with her. But maybe it wouldn’t hurt to ask? He was already in the middle of camp, after all. Rainkit just wanted to meet friends and enjoy the last of the sun’s rays before leafbare.

“If you can’t take me, I understand,” he meowed, a little crestfallen.

Daypaw let out a sigh as she tilted her head in thought. The elders probably wouldn't want a kit in their presence while their bedding was getting changed. Most of them enjoyed the solitude of the elders' den, and she didn't want to bring someone else in uninvited. She couldn't stand to look at the downhearted expression on Rainkit's face, though. There had to be some sort of way that she could distract him for a bit.
"Don't be too upset, working in the elders' den isn't that fun anyways. Why don't we play a game instead? Didn't you say you were playing with a ball earlier?"

Hopefully that would be able to flip Rainkit's mood around a bit. The elders were probably going to begin to wonder where she was considering the fact that she had told them she'd be back with new moss for their bedding, but she'd find a way to apologize. They were understanding, right? Nests could be fixed at any time of the day and Daypaw's schedule wasn't particularly busy anyways.

"Rainkit! Where do you think you're going w'thout me!" The boisterous voice of another kit piped up, interrupting the peaceful conversation of his denmate and an apprentice. Fawnkit had been distracted and picking at the fringes of the nest he shared with his sister. Their mother was still asleep; the young tom demanded entertainment. His blue gaze had finally peered out the front of the nursery. Rainkit seemed to have stumbled out and was having more fun than him, it was unacceptable! This was what had drawn the long-furred brown and white kit forward. Sticking his nose up near Daypaw's face, Fawnkit pressed curiously, "Who are you?"

Rainkit’s face lit up. “I was playing with this,” he chirped as he waddled over to the ball of grass. He bounced it off of the grass and lowered to a slinking position before jumping towards it. Triumphant, he grabbed it with his mouth and walked over to Daypaw. He placed the grass ball down by his paws and looked up at her, eyes beaming.

“You would do that? You would play with me?”

He turned over to Fawnkit and felt himself get a little embarrassed. “Thought you were asleep,” he meowed. “Do you want to play too?”

"Of course! You just have to teach me how to play." Daypaw told Rainkit after he was finished fetching the little grass ball that he had been occupied with.
She quickly lifted her head up as a brown and white bundle of fur came racing out of the nursery. Both of these kits seemed to have innocent rowdiness in common, but it barely bothered her. She only put on a smile when Fawnkit joined the conversation. The fact that she couldn't properly name any of the kits in the nursery was a bit embarrassing, but it was nice to know that the size of WindClan was increasing. Not to mention the fact that she liked asking them for their names. They always ended up getting so excited, and it warmed the apprentice's heart.
"I'm Daypaw," She introduced herself once again, "It's very nice to meet you, and what would your name be?"

"Okay, Daypaw," Rainkit meowed, very serious. "This is how you play!"

He batted at the ball of grass in the air, and swatted at it several times before it hit the ground.

"You can hit it any way you'd like, but it can't touch the dirt. Ready?"

He flung the ball of grass in the air, and swatted it towards the apprentice, giggling and smiling all the way.

Can I join? It’s fine if I can’t))

WindclanBestClan wrote:

Can I join? It’s fine if I can’t))

((Sure! It’s open to anyone. Good to meet you!))

Ok! Nice to meet you :3))Fernkit padded out of the nursery after a fine nap. She blinked the sunlight away and yawned. She felt like playing with someone today...but who? She spotted a few cats nearby and padded over, “Hey, whatcha playing?”

"I'm Fawnkit! When I'm a warrior, all the cats will know my name." He proclaimed boldly in response to the apprentice. Daypaw was still bigger than him but he was certain it wouldn't be for long. Fawnkit was determined to be the biggest and strongest warrior the forest had ever seen. Or, rather, what little of the forest his tiny, kit brain could comprehend at this point and time. The little tom shrugged off his denmate's response. It was time to play now. That moss ball would be his.

Wait.

His ear flicked as Rainkit told day the rules. Supposedly they weren't playing keep away but rather trying to keep it from touching the ground. He paused to think of the best way to throw it all the way up into the sun so he could show them how truly strong he was. There wasn't much time for contemplation before another kit had joined him. As much as he longed to be part of things, it agitated him slightly and unexplainably so to have so many of his denmates dancing about and fighting for the attention of another cat. Fawnkit's eyes darted to Fernkit and he meowed matter-of-factly, "You gotta keep the moss ball off the ground."

With that, the bicolored tom turned to race in the direction Rainkit had batted the ball. His long legs left him with an awkward gait but he managed to find it right before it hit the earth and a forepaw reached it, to strike it into the air, with a satisfied laugh, "I win!"

Daypaw attempted to hide a small laugh as Fawnkit introduced himself. The kit certainly had confidence, that was undeniable. Had kits always been this bold? From the shelter that they had in the warm nursery, the world probably seemed small and easy to conquer to them. She hoped that both Fawnkit and Rainkit would keep the spirit that they had right now and carry it on through their apprenticeship. It was a strength that she unfortunately did not possess.
"You're right, I bet you'll be strongest warrior in the entire forest one day." Daypaw purred, nodding her head in confirmation.

She then turned her attention towards Rainkit as the little gray kit began to teach her how to play. The game itself seemed easy enough, but she figured that she'd let the kits take the lead on this one. She began to outstretch a forepaw before Fawnkit hastily cut in and managed to slap the ball of moss directly into the air. A few seconds later, she heard the faintest of noises as the ball landed on the ground beside her paws.
"Gosh, you're both so good at this game. I guess I lost!" She shrugged, lightheartedly.

When a third kit approached the group, Daypaw felt her smile grow a bit bigger. She felt touched at the fact that the kits felt comfortable around her.
"Hi! Do you wanna join us? You can start this time if you want." She addressed the kit, whose name she still did not know, as she used a paw to gingerly push the moss ball towards her.