ripples [open]

A small, pale ball of fluff was curled in the back of the nursery, moving softly as it breathed. It was Ripplekit. She yawned and lazily reached out a paw, still half asleep. The little she-kit was torn between wanting to get up and explore the camp, or wanting to lay there forever in the soft moss. Making up her mind, she climbed up onto her paws, her jaws parting in a huge yawn. She poked her head outside of the nursery. A small snowflake drifted onto her little button nose, making her sneeze and shake her head wildly to get it off. She took a deep breath and sprang our of the safety and warmth of the den, landing straight in a snowdrift. She let out a little mew of surprise, before leaping around in the cold, powdery stuff. After she had finished playing around, she scrambled up onto a rock and sat down, looking intently about the camp for some trouble she could cause, or in her eyes, some fun to be had.

Foxhunter was returning from a successful hunting patrol. He placed down in the fresh-kill pile two mouses and one sparrow, proud of his catches. When he was about to go the den, something distracted him. A small kit falling into the snow while she was trying to leave the camp. The spotted tom immediately recognized her from his mate's last litter and he made his way to her. "It seems that you're strong to leave the nursery on your own, Ripplekit. It's cold out here, don't you think?" He mewed crouching down a bit so he would be at the same height as hers. "What do you want to do on your first day out?"

Ripplekit grinned at the sight of the warrior. "No, it's not that cold!" She responded, sticking her little nose into the air while trying hard not to shiver. Her eyes lit up with excitement. "Aw, I don't know! Everything! I want to go hunting with the warriors and apprentices! I wanna explore the entire camp! I wanna do it all!" She replied, shaking out her fluffy fur to get the snow off.

The former prey-hunter smiled gladly when the kit showed up her interest in hunting. Giving her a short lick on her head, the tom stood tom stood up straight. "You're still too young to leave the camp and hunt but... we can play a hunting game that I used to play when I was a kit. What do you say? And then we can explore the camp together." Flicking his tail eagerly, the Skyclan warrior did the hunting crouch in front of his daughter, trying to encourage her to play. She was still too young to be trained but Foxhunter was sure that he could at least teach her the basics of hunting with the tribe game he had in mind.

Ripplekit nodded. "Yeah...I just wish I could be an apprentice now!" The fluffy she-kit replied, staring straight at the ground. Her attention was caught when her father said they could do a hunting game. And then explore the camp! That was amazing! She grinned and nodded enthusiastically, dropping down into a pretty awful crouch. She tried her very best to imitate Foxhunter, determined to get it right. But, of course, she was just a kit, and no one gets it right first try. Her tail waved slowly in the air behind her. "Now what? " She squeaked, trying hard to look like a dignified warrior and not the overexcited kit that she was.