Curious Little One

Inside the nursery, Torrentkit laid beside his sister, Tawnykit, his light green eyes narrowed. He had tried sleeping in that morning, but was beginning to grow restless. Fidgeting, the small tom-kit contemplated leaving his sister behind; she wouldn't mind that much anyway. She liked being alone, as far as he could remember. Giving her a little time by herself would probably be bliss, and she would surely thank him for it later. Besides, he was dying to go out and sniff all the scents worthy of his attention. Determined, he quietly pushed himself up to his paws and crept out of the nest, a small grin working its way onto his face.

Anticipation soon took a hold of him, and soon he was bolting out of the den like his tail was on fire. Torrentkit stopped short, however, biting back a hiss of pain at the sharpness of the sudden light. The kitten blinked a few times and smiled to himself as he observed the world in front of him. It was full of new smells, waiting patiently for a curious cat like him to investigate and explore. He purred to himself, flicking his tail as he padded a few steps farther from the nursery. The silver tabby glanced around, searching for a potential friend. Exploring would have to wait a little longer than suspected, though; it wouldn't be any fun without someone to do it with.

Hailpaw had been wandering around the camp not doing much. She already knew everything she needed to be a warrior so Otterleap wasn't actually ordering her to do stuff. The only problem was that she was still too young. Despite she fiercely defended her territory from a Windclan trespasser and a racoon... she had to stay as an apprentice.

The blue dilute calico she-cat sighed, bored and a bit frustrated. But her mind was distracted when she noticed the movement of a small cat next to the nursery. Her green eyes looked at him as she frowned. "What is he doing?" She mewed more to herself than to the tom-kit.

Torrentkit finally caught sight of a cat that, oddly enough, had landed eyes on him as well. Immediately, he bounded towards them, his eyes twinkling with admiration. Were they a warrior? What did cats do to show their respect? Would they even like him? Too caught up in his fantasy realm, the tabby hadn't bothered to watch where he was going. He tripped and fell into the sand, his legs sprawled across the ground.

Pelt hot with embarrassment, Torrentkit scrambled to his paws, spitting out the sand in his mouth. With a sheepish grin, he looked up at the older, larger cat, his excitement melting into panic and fear. Still, his own nervousness didn't stop him from beginning a ramble. "H-Hello! I'm Torrentkit. I've just left the nursery for the first time. Without my sister, I mean. Her name is Tawnykit. S-She doesn't like leaving her nest often, but wherever I go, she's bound to follow me. I dunno why. She likes being alone most of the time, but hates it when I leave her line of sight for some reason. Good thing she's asleep though. D-Do you have a sister like that? Or even a brother? I wish I still had a brother. Now I'm stuck with Tawnykit," He paused and tilted his head, a bunch of questions for the new cat starting to form in his head. 


Daringly, he took a few steps forward as he eyed the cat, quietly memorizing its appearance in case they crossed paths another day. He sniffed them and instantly regretted it; they smelled...strange. Nothing like anything he was used to. Wrinkling his muzzle, he took a few steps back and sat down, looking up at them as if they were alien. "You smell funny, no offense. Do all warriors smell like that? Hopefully not. That'd be terrible. I don't wanna smell like that when I grow up," He made a small noise of disapproval and shook his head, hoping that his natural scent would stay the same throughout his life.

Hailpaw blinked a bit surprised when the kit came running to her. She stepped back a bit not knowing what to do. She hardly spoke to the cats of her age and now she was supposed to talk to this kit. The apprentice looked at the tom-kit confused when he fell and stood up quickly with such an optimistic attitude. She always envied that happiness of younger cats. She never got the chance to be like that...

The apprentice listened to Torrentkit stunned by how he managed to speak that much to a cat he didn't know. "Woah, breath a little kit. And trust me when I say that I might the cat with most littermates in all the clans. I have three sisters and six brothers and sometimes my sisters follow me. After all, a family must stick together, that's what they say." She mewed lifting her shoulders briefly and rolling her eyes. Hailpaw liked her siblings... but she needed her time alone too.

When Torrentkit approached her to smell her scent, the calico she-cat felt uncomfortable but this time she didn't move. She did narrow her eyes a bit annoyed by the next questions of the tom. "Excuse me, kit, but this is Riverclan smell and is because of the fish we hunt to feed you and the rest of our clanmates. If your smell is so precious to you, then the warrior path isn't your thing. And by the way, I'm not a warrior. I'm an apprentice and my name is Hailpaw." She mewed with bitterness. The she-cat was a prideful cat and she hated when someone disrespected her and her clanmates. She did not give a whisker if he was a kit. He had to learn to respect the older members of the clan.

The she-cat sat down knowing that this conversation wouldn't end soon with all of the kit's questions. She sighed but she wasn't annoyed anymore. Hailpaw was just... not used to this stuff and she felt a bit uncomfortable with the idea of messing this up and making Torrentkit cry at some point. "Well... it feels a little crowded when we lived in the medicine cat den but you always feel accompanied. I never felt alone thanks to them. And thanks to Starclan they don't follow me everywhere I go! We respect each other's spaces now that we're apprentices. And of course, we have awkward family moments. I mean, Cinderpaw and Stormpaw always had a rivalry because they want to compete to be the best son of the deputy so it can a bit awkward sometimes with their childish arguing." She chuckle a bit at the memory of their fights. Sometimes, she missed those happy moments when she was a happy kit. Now... she struggled a lot thanks to not having a mother and being just the shadow of her father, Jaystream

She blushed when Torrentkit praised her and called her graceful. Her weak spot always were the compliments others made to her."I-I-I d-don't know. I-I m-mean, I'm pretty skilled at s-swimming and I-I have no p-problem with h-hunting so I guess... you c-can say I-I'm a bit g-graceful..." She mewed sheepishly before turning her gaze away from the tom-kit.

The tom listened carefully, beaming as he imagined what it was like, having such a big family. As long as they didn't escort him everywhere, he'd enjoy having so many littermates to play with. He would never have the need to search for explore buddies, then! But, he did like Hailpaw, and he would probably fancy anyone else he came across. As long as they were friendly, of course.

Torrentkit giggled at her sudden change in personality, happy that he could at least flatter her. She seemed to be having a rough time before he came over, so he was glad to change that! The tabby kitten offered a reassuring smile, "A bit graceful? More like a lot. I just got here and I've already tripped on something. Next thing I know I'll probably be stuck in a tree. I can't climb. Can you climb? I'm sure you can. Even if you can't, you're still graceful. And amazing. Did I say you were amazing? I'm sure anyone as graceful as you is surely amazing at the same time, without a doubt." 


According to him, everything he had just said was true. She could swim, hunt, and probably fight, and that checked out everything Torrentkit needed to deem someone amazing. Besides, it wasn't like he was going to stop trying to flatter her, since it seemed to make her so happy. He liked making cats happy, now! It caused a warm, fuzzy feeling to appear in his chest, and it made him happy, too! 

Even if the compliments came from a younger cat, the she-cat felt admire by someone else for the first time and it wasn't because she was Jaystream's daughter. Her nervousness became a spark of hope and happiness. She knew that a kit's words wouldn't mean much in the rest of the clan... but it still brightened her heart a bit. "You're praising me more than I deserve, Torrentkit. I'm just... an apprentice for now and even though I can climb, swim, hunt and fight, warriors should the ones that you should look after them. I want to be like my mentor, Otterleap, one day. Be my own self and make my clan proud. That's my goal. What's yours?" She purred calmer than before. Her shyness faded away as she spoke her honest thoughts with energetic kit who was eager to talk to her for some reason. Hailpaw actually started enjoying his company... he kept her away from her lonely and often depressed thoughts about herself and her purpose in this society that she called home and clan.

For the first time since their conversation started, Torrentkit seemed the slightest bit confused. "..Goals? My goals? Um.." He flicked his tail and pouted, tilting as his head as he tried to will his brain to think of an appropriate response. "Goals! Yeah! I have one! I'm gonna.." He lashed his tail as he trailed off, still unable to think of anything.


A goal? He didn't think he'd have to worry about that until he became an apprentice! Now heavily burdened by these thoughts, Torrentkit paced back and forth, trying to think of an objective to focus on right now, as a young kit. 


Finally, he smiled and looked up at Hailpaw, a playful growl rumbling from the back of his throat, "Ooh! I know! My goal is..to be a very very very strong fighter in Riverclan! The absolute best! And my first opponent..you!" With that said, he leaped towards her and nipped at her paws gently to not hurt her. He rolled away and sprang to his paws before running at her and headbutting her leg, making a small squeak of surprise at how hard it was. "She's strong..way to strong to beat! Retreat! Retreat!" Torrentkit darted away and hid in the nearby bushes, giggling to himself.


"She'll never find me here! Hehe.." 

Her green eyes looked at the young tom as he tried to answer her question. Maybe she asked him a difficult question... he was barely leaving the den and she was asking him for life goals. A kit like him shouldn't worry about that stuff... like she did in her kit-hood.

However, she didn't have the chance to remember her abnormal kit-hood because Torrentkit suddenly spoke and jumped to her paws. The serious she-cat glanced at him a bit confused and surprised. His "attack" didn't cause her any pain but it sure took her out of guard. Hailpaw watched how the tom stepped back and then ran to the bushes at the edge of the camp, probably playing hide-and-seek with her. She didn't play that game since she was named an apprentice and she wasn't completely sure if it okay to follow him but... the calico cat did it anyway. After all, she had to make sure that the kit wouldn't hurt himself why playing.

Following his paw prints and his scent, the she-cat soon found him hiding between the branches and leaves of a bush which was starting to flourish. The easiest solution was to enter her head in the plant and grab the kit. However... another idea showed up in her mind. With a small smile to herself, Hailpaw surrounded the bush making sure that the tom-kit would believe that she was leaving the place but, instead, she was actually trying to hide before jumping in and surprising Torrentkit. The apprentice crouched down hiding among the plants and she was behind the unaware kitten, her head entered quickly the bush where he was hiding. "Boo!" She mewed suddenly and chuckled light-heartedly. "Gotcha' kit!"

Torrentkit was sure his bush was impenetrable, so when he assumed Hailpaw padded right past him, he felt really wise for choosing such a great hiding spot. Him, outsmarting an apprentice! Tawnykit would be very proud when he woulf tell her! He giggled, feeling unstoppable.

That is, until he heard a rather familiar voice behind him.

The silver tabby tom squealed and jumped high, whipping around with wide eyes and an arched back. "W-Wow! You really are graceful! Graceful enough to not have me know you were there the whole time! Starclan, you scared the daylights out of me! I could've sworn I was safe here!" Torrentkit let out a little laugh as he relaxed again, bouncing on his paws excitedly, "That was great, Hailpaw! I'm sure your mentor is very good if he trained you to be like that! Ooh, I hope I get a mentor that good! So someday, I can be as great as.." He stepped forward and gave her nose a little 'boop' with his paw, "You!! Hehe!"

Torrentkit hopped out from the bush and gave his pelt a little shake to relieve it of anything that might've decided to get stuck, "That was really fun! I wanna play again! If that's ok with you, of course! I don't want to be a bother!"

With her head in the bush, the she-cat watched how the small kit moved around excitedly saying how amazing she was. It gave her a weird but nice feeling... maybe, after all, it wasn't so bad to meet this kit. Hailpaw chuckled when the tom touched her nose and she left the plant with him, shaking off the leaves of her head. With a smile, she put a paw on his forehead and messed his fur, sisterly. She never had a younger brother but if she could have one, Torrentkit was surely the closest one to be one. "I'm sure my father will give you a good mentor. I'll make sure of that." She mewed with a wink before standing up on her four paws. As his daughter, Hailpaw could easily ask him to choose a suitable mentor for such an enthusiastic kit like her new friend... was he a friend? She wondered, looking at the starry-eyed tomkit who admired her so much. Would he look up at her like that once he grows up?

Trying to eliminate her doubts and depressed thoughts, she nudged the kit with one paw on his shoulder. "We can play again another day, Torrentkit. It was fun talking with you. I hope that next time we talk, you can be an apprentice so we can hang out outside of the camp, don't you think it will be more entertaining that way?" She purred.

At first, Torrentkit was discouraged at the thought of having to say goodbye. But that tiny glimmer of sadness disappeared immediately, replaced with one of his biggest smiles. He hopped excitedly, giggling at the thought of being an apprentice alongside Hailpaw.

"Playing? Are you kidding me? When I'm an apprentice, we'll hunt and fight together, and be the greatest warriors Riverclan's ever seen! It'll be great! Oh, I can't wait!" The tabby paused and looked up at the apprentice, flicking his tail, I should probably go find Tawnykit now. I'm gonna tell her all about you! Hopefully she'll let me free to see you again some other time! If she doesn't let me, well, I'll try and sneak away, but I can't guarantee anything!"

Torrentkit turned and started heading back towards the nursery, glancing over his shoulder one last time to look thoughtfully at his friend. It wasn't like they weren't ever going to see eachother again, but he couldn't stop the pain of leaving from tearing a giant hole in his tiny heart. Sighing, he scampered back into the den without another word.