How Am I Going to Be an Optimist about This?

Ebonykit poked her head out of the nursery, glancing around the camp, that was just starting to look like a livable place again. The Queens were starting to let them wander around away from the stuffy den and, since Mistflower and her siblings were sleeping, the small she-cat took it as a chance to get away and explore. The calico walked a few rabbit hops from the den, glancing around - thinking she was super sneaky - before shuffling away along the camp walls. She passed by the warriors den, poking her head in to see if anyone was awake in there before seeing a body shuffle. With a little jump, she quickly moved on and found the next closest den; which had the faint scent of old plants and flowers, and of Mallowroot too, she noticed. "Hello~?" she called, poking her head in.

"What are you doing over there, Ebonykit?" The pale brown tabby tom asked as he padded towards the small she-kit. "You should know better than to sneak into Mallowroot's business when he's working." Thrushstripe's face was just as stone-cold as ever, not showing emotion, not giving off any scolding manner at all. It was just... neutral. His entire attitude was strangely monotonous, but he just sat down not a few tail-lengths away from Ebonykit and watched her with what finally turned into a slightly quizzical look.

The small kit let out a little squeak, spinning around and looking up at the deputy with a slight look of guilt first, like she had done something wrong. Though she wasn't sure if she had done anything wrong, and he didn't seem like she had she had done anything wrong - he didn't seem angry that is. He didn't seem much like anything, really. It left her a bit clueless on how to act. "Uhm..." She paused, trying to think of what to say. "Nothing..." She gazed up at the elder with wide, innocent eyes, her gaze brightening a little when he mentioned the medicine cat. "Is Mallowroot there?" The she-cat was a bit shy about it, but she loved watching the old tom work.

The deputy rolled his eyes just a tiny bit before looking back at Ebonykit. Kits could be so pesky, and at the time of cleaning up, why should Ebonykit bother Mallowroot? Especially since his den seemed to be the most damage with absolutely no herbs left to help the injured cats, Thrushstripe was certain that he had no time to deal with small company. "If he is, I'm sure that he is extremely busy putting things back together. I don't think he needs you to get under his paws," he replied, his voice once again very monotonous. He wasn't poking fun or trying to scold her for being in the medicine cat's den, he was just pointing out the facts... or at least, what he considered were the facts. The poor old medicine cat already had so much to deal with, and without an apprentice, it just made it that much harder on him. "How about you go back and join your mother before she wakes up and finds out that you've been sneaking around?"

Ebonykit couldn't help but glance back at the medicine cat den curiously, feeling an urge to run back in there and see for herself if the old tabby was there, but she looked back up at the deputy instead with questioning eyes. "Then maybe I could help him? I could~." The she-kit mewed quickly, a bright look on her face as she imagined it, not that she knew very much; only what she had seen Mallowroot do with her own eyes. "Like when we were in the cave, he gave Mistflower rassi - rassib-ur- ... rasiburry leaves to help her." Nailed it. Help Mistflower with what exactly, she wasn't sure - something to do with feeding them - but she remembered what they looked and smelled like. She could find more? "Or, maybe I could help you? You could teach me how to hunt and fight!" The calico gave a "fierce" little growl and swiped at the air in front of her. That breeze didn't stand a chance.

It was only when the small kit said something about training did Thrushstripe show the slightest bit of interest finally. He wanted to keep his distance away from Mistflower and the kits. He barely even spoke to any of them much, but he didn't want them snooping around camp and sticking their noses where they shouldn't be. But fighting? He was a little bit surprised that Ebonykit had shown any kind of interesting in hunting or fighting being as young as she was. Yet, as his mind pondered over the idea, the more of an interest she had, the more he could teach him. He could start a little bit of training while they were still kits. Nothing harsh, just the simple stuff. That way, they had more experience when they became warriors. They could protect themselves and they could protect others. Making everything safer...

A teeny-tiny smile broke onto Thrushstripe's face. "You want to help me? I guess I could teach you a couple of things, but we won't overdo it. You're not old enough to be doing as much as the apprentices," he said, glancing towards the apprentices' den before turning back to Ebonykit. "So what do you want to learn first? Do you want to hunt, or do you want to fight?"

Of course she was interested! What did all the warriors practice? Fighting. What did all the apprentices learn? Fighting again. What did all the kits see and try to do? You could guess it easily at this point. There weren't near as many good hunters in the clan, other than Squirrelpaw, so it wasn't as exciting. "I wanna learn to fight! So I can protect the clan!" The adorable kit turned into a little fluff ball, spitting and trying her best to look fierce-some. She gazed up at Thrushstripe, looking eagerly for any signs of approval from her father.