A snowy day for a kit:

Snowkit's soft pelt fluffed up in all directions as she stepped outside of the nursery and into the cold outside. Her eyes were wide with wonder and awe as the cold particles fell from the sky onto her face. She began to roll around and giggled softly. She was happy to be outside and rolling in snow. The kit then got up and began to bound towards the apprentice's den. That was her first stop. Before she could make it, however, she crashed into somebody and tumbled back onto her back.

Mumblefoot, very recently named a warrior, had set out to further learn how to be exactly that: a warrior. The title and the duties were simple enough for any cat, but it seemed challenging to the anxious young tom. In free time, he was to go out and hunt... alone. So many aspects of the role made him feel like a new and enormous weight had been placed upon him. But, several factors drove him from going back to his nest and cowering as he had once so desperately longed for. The first was a willingness to live up to the words Eagleheart had rather gruffly passed onto him at the moonstone. He needed bravery. The second was a growing desire to prove himself to his clanmates and those of other clans. That had always been there, yet it took many moons for that drive to overwhelm his ability to so easily succumb to worry.

Rippedsky's son pondered all of this as he walked across the clearing. His eyes were screwed slightly as he tried to concentrate every thought swarming through his head. The tail-less tom flicked an ear. It was a lot to process. Suddenly, something slammed into his side and the black and white tom seemed to jump a whole tail-length into the air. His heart pounded. Although, when he turned around, instead of an enemy warrior or a vicious predator, he found a kit. She was small and soft, and fluffy. Overall, nothing worthy of creating fear in his heart. Mumblefoot sucked in a deep breath and let it out slowly to calm himself.

"Where are you charging off to?" He pressed, finally. Around kits, any stumbling over words disappeared. It had become less common for the soft-spoken tom as he grew. But, with kits, there was less worry about what they would think of him involved. Sure, they might find his small stature and a lack of tail interesting, but it was usually in the most innocent way possible. His eyes lit up as he tried to push away his worries and force a soft smile onto his maw.

Snowkit looked up at Mumblepaw and returned the smile but only goofier. "I-I was just going on an adventure! S-Sorry I had to run into you. I was too e-excited to just walk!" she said as she ran circles around the warrior. She fell on her face and then resurfaced with a cute smile. "Let's go exploring together.....what's your name?" the she-kit asked with a tilt of her head

"O-okay." Mumblefoot managed to stumble out as he looked down at the little kit. He was still recovering from the initial shock. Despite spending plenty of time in the nursery, longer than normal, and in camp, the black and white tom had little experiences with kits. He felt awkward staring down at the smaller cat. Being bigger was unusual to him. For a moment, he said nothing in response as the thoughts shifted through his brain. What was he supposed to do with a kit? Take it back to the nursery? He'd seen Rippedsky show many of the clan's kits around camp. Maybe that was the right thing to do.

"Well, I'm Mumblefoot. I, uh, I guess I'm a warrior." The lack of self-confidence still shone through. He desperately hoped the kit would miss it and not say a word. Being pathetic as he was did not help, but getting scoffed at by a kit would only make matters worse, "What do I call you?" He'd never seen her around the camp before and genuinely had no idea what the she-cat's name was. Hopefully, she would remember to tell him before charging off somewhere. It was strange to see such energy in a kit, something he had never felt. Mumblefoot had been ridden with anxiety since birth and often thought too much to have any sort of reckless moments. Most kittens seemed vastly different from that.

"I-I suppose I can show you around. Just promise not to run, okay? The older warriors might not like me even more if I let that happen."

"M-My name's Snowkit!" she squeaked softly. "Is b-being a warrior fun?" she asked as she began to wait for Mumblefoot to show her around. "I-I promise I won't r-run around and why would a-anyone hate you? I-I think your cool!" she stated with shining eyes. They reflected innocence and a quirky spirit. Snowkit was parentless and was cared for by the other queens in the nursery. Her pretty pelt stood out among the white snow.

She had so much energy. The black and white tom hesitated. Standing there, feeling incredibly out of place, the warrior shifted his paws as she went on and on. However, when she praised him with eyes shone with admiration, he glanced up. Even though he wasn't a massive or impressive warrior and quite the contrary, this innocent little kit saw something in him. There was a member of the clan that accepted the tailless tom for who he was, even if it was a little kit. And for a moment, he didn't feel quite so useless.

Mumblefoot straightened up a little bit. He hoped she would forget the questions of why his denmates disliked him. With a flick of an ear, the warrior answered her first question as he padded a short ways away, "It's... not bad." There was a lie for sure. Never before had the tom felt so out of place. He had yet to find his footing in the new role. But, Snowkit did not need to know that. Once, he'd been an ignorant kit too. These higher thoughts would roll off in a matter of moments. As he walked slowly towards the medicine cat's den, he found himself wishing again that he had a tail to direct the younger cat. Rippedsky used his so often as a silent director, and Mumblefoot never could. After a short sigh, he explained, "This is the medicine cat's den. Mintpaw takes care of the sick and injured here."