Cold nights (open)

The mangled ginger lump wriggled around in his nest uncomfortably, pricking his ears for any noises. A cocktail of dread, anger, excitement and confusion was brewing in his stomach. He would be 8 moons tomorrow. Would this mean that he would become an apprentice tomorrow, too? Or would he be ignored again? He sighed, lifting himself out of his nest and creeping out of the medicine den. It was silent, apart from the sounds of the forest. He settled onto the dusty floor, resting his head on his paws. Aspenkit was easily bigger than any of the kits in the nursery, yet he still was waiting to get a mentor. Was being blind such a big deal? He sat quietly, pondering about the approaching day.

Blackpaw couldn't sleep.

Nightmares of her mentor—strange, since she had so much faith in him—ravaged her dreams and she woke in between heartbeats, her nest messy and green eyes wide. She was taken out early nearly every night to train with him, and instinctively she shook her head and forced her limbs to move, to walk out of the den. Hawkstrike, as might have been expected, was no where in sight.

Something kept her moving, and the young she-cat kneaded her claws into the ground with each step…suddenly, she froze, and her heart nearly stopped. There was a shape, near the medicine den, moving—

With a jolt of relief, she noticed the shape was another cat. Moving closer toward them, the kit-sized apprentice breathed a small sigh and tilted her head silently, watching him. She was quiet, and had never made any friends in camp before, everyone else seemed to avoid her—but maybe he won't. Stepping around, she shyly mewed: "Hey." Nearly the entire clan knew who Aspenkit was: the blind cat.

Somehow not fazed by the chilly air and strange happening of two cats sitting together in the middle of the night, Blackpaw settled down beside the tom, her black and white fur billowing softly in the cool breeze.

Aspenkit was a bit startled after hearing a she-cat's shy mew - he had thought everyone was asleep. He lifted his head slightly, before raising himself into a sitting position and staring at the she-cat as if he could see her. "Hello..?" he mewed politely, ending the word as if it was a question, "Who.. are you?" He hoped he hadn't sounded rude - he only really knew his family and a few other cats, and even then he could only vaguely recognise their scents due to his lack of interaction with them. His head lowered, sightless eyes staring at the ground, he listened to the night air and awkwardly scuffled his paws in the dirt.