Anotha' one (closed)

Sitting besides the freshkill pile with half of a rabbit at his blood stained paws, Smokepelt sat in silence as the sun rose behind him. Just recently, his mate had given birth to another kit who they named Kestrelkit, which was obviously her name choice. With three new kits, the tom had been kept busier than usual, so a morning alone like this was a luxury. Leaning down to take another bite, the tall, dark grey and white warrior perked his ears as he caught the sound of pawsteps approaching.

Kestrelkit was, at least trying to, hurrying over to her father. Smokepelt absolutely dwarfed the grey and white kit who looked questionable as to if she should even be outside of the nursery this young. "H-hey!" She squeaked, her paws clumsy on the unfamiliar ground. Finally she got right up next to him and plopped down in a bottom-heavy fashion. Kestrelkit looked nervous but determined by pure curiosity. She stared at the tom for a moment; her tail wiggling anxiously before she opened her mouth to speak again.
"Dad.. What is it like, to be a warrior?" Her voice was soft, and it slightly caught on the word 'Dad' as if she was unsure if this was the correct tom.

Turning to see his newest kit stumbling towards him, the warrior leaned down and took another bite of the rabbit instead of saying hello back. Realizing that she wasn't going to be leaving him alone when she plopped down next to him, he swallowed the sweet tasting prey and licked his lips with a rough tongue. "It's okay I guess. Much more busy than kithood," the tom mewed in reply, looking down to his daughter, hoping his reply was sufficient.

Kestrelkit's ears perked with curiosity at Smokepelt's response, her tiny body wiggling with excitement as ideas of what that might mean raced through her mind before she spoke again.  "Is it fun? Do you have any stories??" The kit mewed out, sounding more confident than before as she looked up at him.
Kestrelkit appeared to be trying to subtly scoot closer to her father, but to everyone but herself, it was obvious from her clumsy movements; her eyes darting between the rabbit and Smokepelt as she did so.

Was it fun? What a question. He assumed that to some cats, warriorhood was enjoyable, but to him, it wasn't the most exciting thing in the universe, and more of just a duty that had to be preformed for the sake of the clan. But, for her sake, he would simplify his reply. "Yes, it's fun," the tom mewed, but the next question the kit asked stumped him even more.

"I'm not the best story teller," he replied, watching as Kestrelkit inched closer and closer to the rabbit that sat at his paws. Leaning down, he ripped off a small, soft piece of the prey and placed in on the ground in front of the kit. Giving her a stoic nod of approval to try it, Smokepelt looked up and scanned the clearing. "If you want a story, go to Cedarfur," he mewed, turning his gaze to the elder's den where his uncle was most likely sleeping.

Hearing Smokepelt's response to her first question, Kestrelkit's expression brightened with wonder and excitement. Her ears were perked now, eyes glued to her father only for her expression to sour with disappointment- her respond was immediate.  "It!.. It doesn't have to be the best.." she huffed nervously, still trying to be respectful, tail lashing in a gentle way.
However, as Smokepelt dropped the piece of rabbit for Kestrelkit, her focus quickly shifted to it as she gave the meal a try after seeing the tom approve of such. Her enjoyment was clear, a purr rumbling from the little kitten as she ate up the meat, mouth full as she murmured a  ".. Thank you!" to him, momentarily distracted from her original track of thought.

OOC: apologies for the kinda late reply C':

IC: Watching as the kit chomped into the piece of rabbit, clearly enjoying the new type of food instead of just having her mother's milk, Smokepelt let out a sigh and thought about her comment. None of his stories were going to be very exciting, but he supposed he could tell her sometime, at least to subdue her curiosity for a little bit.

"Many moons ago, there was a tom and he was appointed to be the deputy of his c-clan," he began, almost choking on his own words, but he managed to swallow his emotions and continued to speak. "At first, things were fine and life was good, but hunger and yearning for more strength and control began to consume his soul, and so the tom ended up making some mistakes and causing turmoil between the clans. In the end, his recklessness and inability to see his mistakes was his downfall. The tom was demoted from his position, lost many of his previous friends and followers, and hasn't been the same ever since," he mewed. "Afterwords, part of him knew deep down that everything that had happened was his fault, but he chose to loathe in self pity instead, which didn't help his situation at all. It's said that the warrior was able to make up with his friends and family, but no one knows if his guilt still held him captive from really living life after that," the warrior finished with a soft sigh. Turning his gaze to the distance, Smokepelt stayed silent, consumed by his own thoughts.

OOC: Stuff happens, you're good.

IC: Kestrelkit's ears perked and her attention immediately shifted to Smokepelt once he began speaking, telling her the story. She chewed the piece of rabbit in her mouth, purring, as she listened to him. The kit looked concerned (albeit briefly) hearing her father choke for a moment, but her anxiety ebbed away as his voice steadied and focused to continue. Her dull green eyes reminaed focused for the remainder of Smokepelt's 'story', head tilting with wonder. A soft frown graced her face, and she sat in silence for a moment. There was no purring as she swallowed the now thoroughly chewed piece of meat. ".. That is a sad story, dad.." she mewed quietly, "But it sounds like.. He learned. I hope he wasn't captive from guilt.." Kestrelkit continued, voice soft and one of concern. "It seems like the warrior really tried to fix things when he saw what happened. Cats can change, right?" the kit couldn't help but ask. Her mother had told her they could, and she had faith in the thought that all cats had some sliver of good within them. So why couldn't such a warrior change and make things right? "B-but! It makes me happy he made up with all his friends and family! That is very good." she mewed more loudly, not wanting to seem like this story had saddened her entirely. If anything it just made her question how clans functioned; but those were big questions, ones she she'd hope to find out later in life. Carefully, Kestrelkit moved to place her  much smaller paw on Smokepelt's larger one to refocus his attention after noticing him staring past her, blinking up at him.

Somewhat glad that she didn't know or at least didn't show her knowledge of the background of the story he'd just told, Smokepelt let out a soft sigh, looking down to the kit with a very small, subtle smile sitting on his muzzle. "Yes, it's good, isn't it," he mewed somewhat ominously and turned his head to continue to look at nothing in particular off into the distance.