Sapling or Starling? (OPEN)

Birchkit was never known for being the most confident tom. Despite having two very loving parents and a third caretaker, he was always very cowardly and shy, paranoid someone wouldn’t like him or he would say the wrong thing. At this age there wasn’t a lot he knew anyways, but he still didn’t want to look stupid to the cats he respected and called clanmates.

One morning, while the sun was just barely peeking from the sky and warming the cats in the camp, Birchkit had gathered the strength to waddle out of the nursery to stand at the edge of the opening. The gorse leaves brushed gently against his short, fuzz-like coat, making him arch his back in discomfort. He shuffled slightly and sighed, watching his clan and trying to understand them better…

Birchkit had gotten to the point that Mapplespring could spend moments away from camp without constantly having to fret over him. Each day that passed, she could certainly tell the resemblance in personality that he had to his father. A reserved outlook on life, one that saw him taking to the sidelines and opting to observe instead of interact. She truly didn't mind, if anything it meant he would get up to less trouble than typical kits. A smile momentarily graced on her maw as she thought of herself in her own kithood, rambunctious and boundless energy that never seemed to go away.

The mother settled down next to her son, and a gentle touch of her nose to his head signaled she was there. Of course, her scent likely would have caught his attention first, but she always gave the gesture. "See anything interesting?" She purred, the warmth in her voice being that of a true, loving mother as she settled down onto her paws.

The tom could faintly smell his mother but didn’t really focus on it. He was too busy watching his clanmates snuggle and share tongues while laying in the sun. With a jump, he braced himself against the ground as if a massive bird swooped overhead. This only lasted a second before he recognized his mother’s smile while looking above him.

“Oh, mom.. I didn’t see you there..” he mumbled, shuffling back up to his paws and licking his fur back down. It didn’t take much considering he had fairly short fur, but his spine made the tiny hairs look like porcupine quills. He let out a small puff of air to loosen himself up.

He turned to stare back out at his camp again. ”No, nothing weird or anything. Just the clan doing it’s own thing.” he mewed gently, his tail curling around his side as he sat down.

A warm chuckle came from the golden molly at how her son seemed to puff up much more like a porcupine than a cat. Without hesitation, she helped groom down his startled fur. Satisfied that his own golden fur was in order, she looked out into the same camp that he had been. "And what would that be?" She pressed on. Observance was something she had never been the best at, but as she got older, she had brought herself to become better at it. To know what the Clan was doing. "Hmm... How many cats can you spot eating prey?" Maplespring prompted, and she tucked her paws under her chest as she settled beside the young kit. It'd be a fun little game, to see who all he'd point out.

ooc; feel free to simply make up a number o/

The little tom felt a purr rumble in his throat as his mother licked the fur down his body. It felt like soft waves of love washing all the fear away. “It seems like… two- no, three cats eating. Batsong, Ashfall and um… his name. Small-something.” Birchkit mumbled, then looked to his mother to confirm. His tail flicked nervously behind him, but he tried his best to have it press against his mothers warm fluff to comfort himself.

An encouraging nod came from the golden tabby as the young kit rambled off names of his Clanmates. Her tail curled around her body so as to embrace Birchkit as well, allowing him to be hugged to her side and into the comfort of her fur. "Yes! Batsong, Ashfall, and Smallbean." Maplespring confirmed. Her nose pressed gently to the top of Birchkit's head, giving him a kind nuzzle. "You know, one day, you'll have your warrior name. You'll be one of the cats out there." She purred with pride.

"You've got a gift, you know. Being able to settle down and just look? That's special. I had to learn how to do that. But being able to take everything in, and notice everyone? You'll always keep your clan safe that way." His shyness was certainly something that greatly reminded Maplespring of his father, Lavenderdrop. But it wasn't a bad thing. In fact, it was Lavenderdrop himself who had helped her realize just how useful it could be to simply stop for a moment. She seemed like an ongoing energizer bunny most days, practically hopping around camp. Always with a spring in her step. Especially since having the young kit tucked beside her, Maplespring had begun stopping. Watching the camp as the two closest toms in her life did, and she noticed so much more about the world because of it.

Birchkit felt his mother’s tail hold him close. The warmth of her fur made his nerves melt softly and he was able to relax a little bit more. The touch of a mother’s love could calm any nerve, he thought. He was lucky to have such an understanding mother.

The tom smiled warmly as his mother complimented him. Maybe being shy wasn’t so awful.. although it was still difficult to make friends, what Maplespring said was true - he could protect his clan more by his observations. “Maybe you’re right, Mom.. I want to be useful to the clan.” He mewed gently.

He wondered if one day he could get over his nerves. They stopped him from doing what he wanted to do, but that wasn’t always a bad thing. Still, he didn’t quite act like the other bounding kits in the nursery, swatting and playing with each other. “I am still useful to my clan, even if I don’t make friends with them.” He thought. Although, he didn’t truly believe he was the best he could be, this would help ease his delicate self-esteem.