Friendly Conversation [Smallbean]

Brackenwing dropped the rabbit onto the fresh-kill pile with a sigh. Her patrol had gone out to hunt early and had returned a little bit before sunhigh, but the greenleaf heat was still sweltering. Clouds above held a promise of rain, though with how humid it was Brackenwing had trouble believing that it would help much. The marbled tabby turned toward the edge of camp, eager to take shelter in what little shade there was along the camp walls. More cats would be returning to camp soon enough before it got too hot to do much, so she was grateful to find an unoccupied spot to stretch out, green eyes surveying the quiet camp around her.

A large yawn separated Smallbean's jaws as he lazily shook out his thick pelt. Deputy duties had proved to be more taxing than he'd expected- it certainly made him appreciate the work of previous deputies far more. Some days it felt like he could hardly catch a break, but today he had quite a bit of leisure time. Originally, his plan was to run the moor in an attempt to simulate the feeling of wind in his fur [a feeling he couldn't get enough of now that every day had his fur fluffed out from humidity], but he noticed Brackenwing resting in the shade. It had been a while since the two had caught up, he figured he would take some of his free time to spend with her. Besides, he could use the shade.

"Hey, Brackenwing. Is it okay if I join you?" He trotted over to meet her, stepping into the shade only once she responded. It was nice to not feel the sun beating down on his pelt. He flopped over next to the warrior, sitting silent for a moment before speaking up. "So, how have you been, recently?" The question was disgustingly vague, he hated it. So he elaborated. "And y'know, your head? How's your head, since uh..." Brackenwing had been out of the medicine den for a while, and he was certain that the injury was almost fully head, if not all the way, but he hadn't taken the time to check in on her since then. "You know, the gathering." He finished his sentence, fixing his mismatched eyes on his busy clanmates.

"Hi, Smallbean," Brackenwing greeted her former mentor with a smile and nod, invitation enougo for him to sit in the shade. "Can't say I envy you right now." She smirked, noting the way his longer fur had poofed up because of the humidity. It made Brackenwing very grateful to have inherited her mother's short fur, she couldn't imagine how unbearable the heat must've been to her longer-furred clanmates.

"They come and go." Brackenwing shrugged, green eyes sliding pointedly in the direction of the elder's den. "They're not as frequent though, I think I'm fine mostly." The headaches still brought bouts of nausea with them, but compared to what they had been while she was cooped up in the medicine den, Brackenwing was grateful they weren't worse.

"How's being deputy? You must be busy," In a way it was a source of pride that her mentor had been made Windclan's deputy. Brackenwing hoped she would be as good of a warrior, one day.

Smallbean nodded to her as she spoke, only looking back over once she had finished. "It's good they're not bothering you as much anymore, the headaches should stop any day now, though. Must still be an inconvenience anyways, having them at all." He sympathized. One thing he could be thankful for was never having experienced a concussion before. He'd been through his fair share of injuries, but a concussion was more than just a surface level injury- he wasn't sure how well he'd handle one.

"Oh, deputy- it's... a lot more than I realized." He admitted, looking down at his paws as he fidgeted with the sandy floor. "But I'm handling it... okay. It's just weird.. being in charge at all, you know? I've had to teach myself how to tell someone what to do... and I'm still learning." The burden was slowly becoming lighter as each day passed, but it still laid heavy on his shoulders. Something that came so naturally to others was a struggle for him. Still, he found appreciation in the position. "I do get pretty busy, I'm lucky today, though. I have more free time than I thought."

Brackenwing nodded at Smallbean's words. "I hope so. I wouldn't wish them on my worst enemy." How miserable it had been, to be cooped up in the medicine den for that. She liked Batsong, but that had been rather much. She was healing, though, and she was grateful for it.

"You mentored Blazefang and me. Though I guess telling the rest of the clan what to do is a wider scale than just one or two apprentices." And she and Blazefang had behaved themselves, or Brackenwing would like to think so. "And you have Shrikestar to share the load with." He'd done well as a leader and was someone to respect, as far as Brackenwing was concerned.

"Yeah, it really is a lot different. Apprentices sort of need your orders, to be guided, at least in the beginning. Most of the cats I give orders to were just my equals a few moons ago. It's just... a strange feeling." Just like every other aspect of being deputy, he was getting used to it. He sighed. "And it is reassuring to know Shrikestar has my back, should I need him." 'and i have his too.' Shrikestar has his own responsibilities, though. Smallbean wouldn't let his own feasible incompetence become Shrikestar's problem. It wasn't as if he needed to worry about that though, he was able to handle the workload fine.

"Speaking of apprentices, though, there's been a lot of new ones lately. You might end up being a mentor yourself, soon." Smallbean said this as if he wasn't the one who assigned mentors. He supposed it wouldn't be a bad idea to find out Brackenwing's confidence when it came to training an apprentice, just to see if she felt ready for one. It seemed just a few moons ago Brackenwing herself was still his apprentice. Stars, it made him feel old.

"That's true," Brackenwing nodded, rolling to her side and slowly stretching out her paws. "I can imagine it's a little awkward suddenly having that authority, even if you did already have seniority over others." Her tail flicked as Smallbean spoke again. "Mentoring?" She tipped her head thoughtfully, The idea of passing on her knowledge and helping train Windclan's future warriors was appealing, but she couldn't deny it made her a little apprehensive too. "It's not something I've given much thought to," the marbled tabby admitted. "You can only give so many apprentices to warriors before you run out of warriors that don't have one. I'll do my best if I'm given one, of course. I'd like to think you taught me well enough that I would be able to do the same for another cat."

Smallbean lifted his head. Brackenwing did have a point, he already had a sort of seniority over other warriors. If he recalled correctly, he was currently the oldest able-bodied Windclan warrior, and had been a member of the clan's council since it was created. He supposed most of the pressure he felt just came from the simple title.

"Yeah, you'll probably have to start mentoring an apprentice soon, considering how little warriors we have right now. Eventually, the apprentices might outnumber us!" He joked, although it was a real possibility. If all went well, the current apprentices would soon become warriors and Windclan's ranks would return to its previous numbers.

Smallbean felt a hint of pride at Brackenwing's words, though. He was glad she felt confident in the training he had given her. "I'm sure you'd train an apprentice wonderfully, you're a capable warrior." He had no doubts that Brackenwing would be a great mentor. She'd be able to prove herself, soon enough, her beocming a mentor was inevitable. "It's good to know you're confident, though."

"At least the clan's growing." Her whiskers twitched. Smallbean was right, though. Windclan had precious few warriors, most of which already had apprentices. Smallbean would probably have to double-up mentor sooner rather than later. "Confident? I'm not sure, but the new apprentices will need to be trained regardless won't they? I'd feel bad if someone wound up with multiple apprentices just because I wasn't sure I'd be a good mentor myself."

"Oh, right- I shouldn't have assumed." Confident or not, Brackenwing was willing to mentor an apprentice, and that was enough for him.

"Thanks for talking to me, Brackenwing." After a quick stretch of his legs, he stood up. "I should be getting back to my duties now, though. It was nice, we should talk more often!" Smallbean didn't really have a buddy to talk to casually like this, so the thought made him feel all warm inside. It would probably do him to make some more friends, though.

Walking off, he called a farewell over his shoulder. "I'll see you later!"