hazy afternoons [o]

Greenleaf’s typical afternoon thunderstorms had led Hickorykit to stay in her nest for much of the recent few moons. Despite only being a moon off from apprenticeship, the young she-kit knew few people in the Clan barring her siblings, parents, and other kits in the nursery. Already, she’d decided she didn’t like getting up during the early morning hours, but wanted to beat the heat and storms of midday to explore camp and meet some new cats. The apprentice den would be a good place to start, the kit decided - perhaps she could plan out where her nest would be and make friends with some of the older cats as well.

A sudden force hit Hickorykit’s side - light, but enough to make her stumble a little. The she-kit narrowed her eyes at the culprit, relaxing as she saw it was a kit she knew. Marigoldkit, someone around her age. She’d never really interacted with him, but it would be nice to make some non-apprentice friends as well. “I guess you were going fast, but you ran into me.” She didn’t say it with much malice; Hickorykit prided herself on being one of the more mature kits in the nursery, and she was sure Marigoldkit was just having some fun. Although she didn’t say it out loud, she still thought he should’ve been more careful. I mean, I could’ve been a warrior, or even deputy or leader! And he could’ve gotten in trouble.

Hickorykit flicked an ear at Marigoldkit’s question. “I’m exploring the apprentice’s den. Six moons is coming up, you know. And I wanted to make some friends with older cats, but… you work too, I guess.” Her voice was edged with humor at the end of the sentence, and she hoped the other kit understood that it was a joke - humor wasn’t one of Hickorykit’s strong suits.