Littlekit Explores

Littlekit carefully put her paws in the right places as she padded through the ShadowClan camp. Nobody really noticed the small, brown kit -- after all, she wasn't doing anything wrong. She was just exploring a bit.

Mudfoot sat near the edge of camp, his tail swished back and forth. He loved the gentle breeze that swayed the trees, the birds that sang. A lot had been going on lately with the clans, and it was nice to just sit. He spotted a small kit wandering around and gave a purr. Kits. The future generations. He thought to himself, watching the small cat.

Feeling his gaze on her back, she turned to look. "Hello! I don't think I've seen you before," she greeted, padding over to him. "My name is Littlekit!"

Mudfoot gave a smile looking down at the kit. "I'm Mudfoot. I bet you haven't seen many cats around here." He meowed with a smile.

"Not really. My name's Littlekit. Nice to meet you, Mudfoot!"

Mudfoot sat there, a warm smile across his face. "Nice to meet you too." The tom adored kits and their spunk. Even when they got in trouble, the small bundles of fur would always be loved.

Her little kit tail waggled, almost like a puppy's. "We look alike! Except you're redder," she pointed out. "And you don't have white paws."

In that same moment, Thrushstar made his way out of his den. He looked exhausted... well, more than normal. He had hardly spoken to anyone since his little episode just after the gathering and tried to avoid cats as much as he could. However, food was still a necessity. Padding across the clearing with his gaze locked on the ground, he went to the fresh-kill pile and picked up a large lizard, carrying it back close to his den but not going inside, still in clear view of whoever was in camp. He wanted to see the stars as he ate.

She looked up, having heard the leader pad out. Momentarily forgetting about Mudfoot and simply seeing the opportunity to make a new friend, she padded over to the tom. "Hello! My name is Littlekit! What's yours?" she asked, not recognizing him.

Mudfoot gave a purr of amusement. Yes, indeed they did look very similar. He was proud, for a kit of that age to start making observations like that, it could be useful when she grew older. He was about to reply but before anything, Littlekit got distracted by Thrushstar's appearance. He was almost worried that the leader would snap at the kit, with everything going on but didn't want to look like he didn't trust Thrushstar. The fluffy tom got up, grabbed a small frog, and trotted over to the leader and kit. "Hello Thrushstar, mind if I eat with you?" He asked respectfully through a mouthful of food.

"Wait, Thrushstar?! Aren't you the leader?!" she asked in a shrieky voice, eyes going wide.

Thrushstar suddenly looked up from his food as the small kit made her way over to him, asking him who he was. It was obvious this was her first time out of the nursery. Usually this kind of thing would be amusing. He'd laugh it off and play with the kit a little bit. Now, however, he glowered at Littlekit for a moment before his face turned right back to stone. "I am," he responded with a monotonous tone until Mudfoot's voice caught his attention. It took him what felt like forever to respond. "If you insist." It wasn't quite a yes, but it certainly wasn't a no. He wasn't particular about company at the moment, but Thrushstar couldn't just say no to his clanmate, especially after he seemed to thoroughly show his respect to the leader the other night.

"You seem upset. Are you okay? Did something sad happen?"

Mudfoot gave a nod and sat down a few pawsteps from the leader. He placed the prey down, about to take a bite when Littlekit started asking questions. He gave a purr of amusement although he could tell Thrushstar was in no mood to talk. "Come here little one." He motioned with his tail for her to come over next to him. "A lot has been going on lately and Thrushstar just needs a break." The tom said softly. He tore off a soft piece of the frog's leg and gently nudged it to the kit with his fluffy paw. "Here, try this." He knew the kit was still young, so he made sure to grab a piece with no bones or tough muscle.

Accepting the answer, she obeyed the warrior and padded closer to him. She glanced at the chunk of meat distrustingly, but tried it anyway. "It's squishy."