A Wolf in the Cats Den (Open)

Being at the nursery was a hard thing for Wolfkit but in a few moons he would be well on his way out. The young kit was excited to get out in the world but at the same time he was filled with nervousness. What if he made mistakes? What if he wasn’t able to meet any friends outside of the nursery? These were things that flooded his mind day in and out but he had to look past them!

One of the worst parts about being in the nursery was the food. Wolfkit was a rather large, fluffy tom for his age and his appetite surely reflected that. He almost felt guilty when he needed to eat because he would scarf down his share in a matter of seconds while a lot of the other kits took their time. Nevertheless he was more than excited to get out there and meet some new friends which would surely come soon.

Daypaw was just coming in from a patrol, tail raised high and a plump squirrel in her jaws. She trotted into the clearing, nodding a salutation to her mentor, Palestripe, and tossing the squirrel into the fresh-kill pile.

She was stopped when a movement caught the corner of her eye. It was a gray kit- almost blue -poking from the nursery. She'd never seen him before. She'd probably missed another kitting. Daypaw always enjoyed introducing herself to the new ThunderClan arrivals. Plus, the tomkit seemed to be lost and lonely. "Hi there," she purred sweetly, stopping in front of the nursery. She glanced around, noticing the kit's eager expression. "Oh, are you expecting someone?"

Wolfkit had been pacing the nursery, his thoughts had been flowing through his mind. Once the she-cat spoke aloud to him he had visibly jumped. Seems the kit was so caught up in his thoughts that he hadn’t even realized someone was watching him. He had opened his mouth to speak but coming up with words was a bit hard. After a moment had passed the tomkit finally gathered up enough courage to speak back to her. “H-hi.” His voice was slightly lower than the average kit but, with a gulp he continued. “N-no I’m not expecting anyone just thinking to myself.”

Daypaw stifled a giggle at the kit snapping from his thoughts. He seemed very disconnected from the world. After a few silent moments, Wolfkit finally spoke. She had to strain her ears to hear his tiny voice. He was a large contrast to her loud, bubbly attitude that usually attracted a lot of attention. She smiled warmly. Not asking Wolfkit about his personal space, she invited herself into his schedule, settling herself before him and neatly placing her paws in front of her. "Well, I'm Daypaw," she introduced, puffing her chest out. She'd only been an apprentice for a moon now. It felt like only yesterday she had gotten her ceremony. "Have you ever seen camp? Maybe I could give you a tour," the sleek, tan she-cat offered.

The tomkit listened to Daypaw closely his eyes widening a bit as she approached him. Wolfkit tried to puff out his chest fluff like the she-cat had done, taking in a deep breath, he expanded his lungs the best be could before exhaling and catching his breath. Her confidence pushed him back a bit but he just shook his head. “M-my names Wolfkit." He stopped for a second before continuing. "N-no I’ve never seen camp before.” His voice had a touch of sadness to it but, once Wolfkit heard the rest of her statement he jumped up with excitement. His tail instantly swaying left and right behind his bluish tint. “That would be amazing! Beats sitting around here all day.”

Daypaw hopped onto her paws at his enthusiasm. "Come on!" she mewed, flicking her tail behind her.

Nearest to the nursery was the warriors' den, sheltered by a bush. "This is the warriors' den." She pushed her nose past the bush to glance inside. No warrior was tucked away; they were all out doing their warrior duties. Continuing the tour, Daypaw lead Wolfkit to their next destination.

She lead him toward the apprentices' den- a tree stump and ferns that tucked away a den beneath it. "I sleep in here!" she purred. She could ever pick apart her own scent though covered by the scents of other apprentices.

There weren't many elders, but Daypaw stopped next at the elders' den. A fallen tree was their den, a branch marking the entrance. They slept underneath, among soft bedding and with tangled branches above their head. "The elders nest here."

Daypaw glanced back at Wolfkit to see if he was still engaged. They had two more stops left. She was excited to show him the medicine den, where she could taste the many scents of mysterious herbs.

Wolfkit stood on his paws before Daypaw could even speak. He then followed behind her closely a bit nervous to leave the nursery for the first time since he was born.

Once they approached the warriors den the scent of all the cats started to hit the young kits nose. It was a bit overwhelming and the true size of the clan started to come into perspective for Wolfkit. “Oh boy. I hope I can be a warrior someday! Though it seems like it’s hard.”

When Daypaw showed him the apprentices’ den he quickly peered inside to look around his eyes stiffening up slightly as well as his nose moving about. “Oh gosh the smell of all the cats. There is so many different scents for my nose to pick up. I can barely make out your scent in the mix.” Wolfkit rubbed over his nose with a paw before sneezing. “Excuse me.” He said quietly.

After the stop at the elders den Wolfkit looked up to Daypaw with wide curious eyes. “It must be exciting being an apprentice huh?” His tail flicked from side to side as he listened closely. “You get to leave camp, talk to the other apprentices, and be sent on special quests for the clan right?!” His voice was filled with enthusiasm as he awaited her response. He seemed very interested in how things could play out for the future. “Are you close to being a warrior? I bet that would be even more fun than being an apprentice.”

Daypaw couldn't help but purr at the kit's excitement. "It's great being an apprentice," she murmured, thinking about her duties. "You get to defend your territory against intruders." She quickly added, "but I haven't done anything like that yet!" She hoped he wouldn't be too impatient to be an apprentice. "You'll be an apprentice soon enough!" she promised, touching her nose to his forehead.

The she-cat lead him to the leader's den. It resided in the Highrock, split long ago by an ancient stream. Lichen dangled over the entrance of the den, blocking her view of what was inside. She didn't dare to peek. "Leopardstar sleeps here," she told him, disappointment suddenly clouding her vision. "My sister is her apprentice." Daypaw had been made an apprentice a few days before her sister, but Dawnpaw had received Leopardstar as a mentor instead. Not that she didn't like Palestripe, but what did Dawnpaw do to deserve ThunderClan's own leader as mentor?

Daypaw shook her head, returning to her old buoyant self. "Just one stop left." She padded to another rock, cracked with age and weathering. Ferns surrounded the outside of the den, making a path to the inside. "Mapleleaf and Rainpaw sleep here. I think they're out right now." Surely there was no rule saying they couldn't look inside. The apprentice glanced behind her shoulder at Wolfkit and gave him a stern look. "Don't touch anything," she warned him calmly. Mapleleaf would have her head! Daypaw crept carefully near the entrance to peek inside the den. It was much more spacious than she thought- there was even a small pool at one of the edges. The inside was filled with an assortment of herbs. The smell was hard to pinpoint; it was sweet-smelling on the first sniff, then minty, then pungently sour. She couldn't stifle a sneeze as she backed from the den.

Wolfkit listened with excitement, his tail swayed from side to side as the she-cat spoke to him. “Wow, that sounds great. I can’t wait to be an apprentice it sounds like it would be so much fun!” He kept behind her once they reached the leader’s den. The kit’s ears lowering slightly out of fear as he tucked his tail. “I’ve never met Leopardstar, I hope they are a nice leader.”

The tomkit then followed Daypaw close behind on their journey to the medicine den. A wide smile appeared on his face as the thoughts of his apprenticeship flooded his mind. He was so distracted in his own world that he didn’t even hear what Daypaw had said to him, the kit just nodded and then stepped inside. The kit looked around fascinated by all of the things that were inside of the den. The aroma of smells inside of the den flooded Wolfkit’s nose and caused him to tear up. He shook his head to try and clear his head but it didn’t work all that well.

As he looked around a low growl emitted from the tom’s midsection. He groaned slightly had it been that long since he ate? Right at that moment he spotted something, a seed of some sort. He moved up to it and sniffed, seeing if his nose could detect anything. But, he got no information about it. Wolfkit’s stomach then gave off another low growl the seeds just stirred at his hunger. Unable to help himself he moved his head down and chewed on three of the seeds. There earthy flavor filled his muzzle before he turned back to Daypaw. His middle quieted down a bit but that was after his legs started to get a bit wobbly and his blurred slightly. “Uh Daypaw, I don’t feel so….” Before Wolfkit could even complete his statement he fell over onto his side completely unconscious.

Daypaw had already backed out by the time Wolfkit was exploring inside. "Come on, let's go back to the nursery," she called over her shoulder. No response. Her ear twitched in annoyance, but she still remained bubbly. She opened her maw to speak again, but noticed the kit appear in the entrance. Good. She started toward the nursery before she heard his small voice once more. "I don't feel so-" Thump!

Spinning around, Daypaw saw the kit in a collapsed heap. "Hey! Wolfkit! Get up!" She could feel her blood run cold. No, surely he didn't touch or eat anything. She'd only left him alone for a minute. "Don't play around like this," she whimpered, desperately hoping that he was faking. However, the kitten did not stir. He only lie before her, a bundle of gray-blue fur. "Oh, StarClan, he's dead!" Daypaw cried aloud to herself, glancing around for any immediate help. All of the warriors seemed to be on patrol. Leopardstar was nowhere in sight either! Oh, what had Daypaw done?

Rainpaw pushed into the den, looking at the younger apprentice with a quizzical look before noticing the kit and rushing to the tom's side. He nosed his side and lifted his head again. "He's not dead but, he is unconscious. What happened, Daypaw?" He asked, not looking up from the kit. The tom placed his tail tip onto the kit's side to keep track of his breathing. Daykit couldn't stay out of trouble and that seemed to rub off onto this new kit following the apprentice's lead.

Ehh, mobile]

Daypaw felt a surge of relief as Rainpaw hurried next to Wolfkit's side. Thank StarClan he's all right, she thought to herself as Rainpaw explained that Wolfkit would live. Her relief was suddenly replaced with the heat of embarrassment that rushed to her face as he inquired about the kit. How was she supposed to know? She wasn't watching him! She wasn't a kit-mother, and she especially wasn't his kit-mother. "I don't know," Daypaw admitted quietly. "I-I was just showing him around the camp. I showed him the medicine den, and the next moment I saw him, he was laying on the ground like a piece of crow-food!" She shuffled her paws nervously, tail swishing as she eyed the kit. "What's going to happen to him?" the tan cat asked finally, her eyes scanning Rainpaw's steady gaze.

"Well, that depends on what he got into. Why would you turn a blind eye on a kit in this den? It's the only one with poisons in it! I-" He let out a tired sigh, the firey snap he inherited from his mother fizzling out as he shook his head. Could he just make him throw it up? No, he'd have to swallow herbs to do that... Well, he had to just look around and see what the kit couldn've gotten his paws on. The tom pressed his nose to the floor of the den, tracking Wolfkit's scent to the now somewhat messy store of poppy seeds. Ah. Of course. "He got into the poppy seeds, he'll be fine. Maybe a stomach ache, probably either grossly tired or unable to sleep later on. Both he and you are lucky it wasn't foxglove seeds. He'd certainly die. Now, what were the two of you doing in here, anyway?"

Daypaw swallowed her tongue as Rainpaw chewed her out. Her heart dropped at his words, staring at her paws silently. "I didn't know," she murmured quietly. Her voice was barely a whisper as Rainpaw stormed back to his den for a moment before reappearing with his conclusion. The news made Daypaw exhale in relief. However, she still felt her fur prickled at Rainpaw's snappy attitude. He was right to be upset at her. She would never make a good mentor, would she? "Like I said, I was just giving him a tour! I was just looking around," she explained defensively. The tan she-cat then lowered her gaze to the ground. "I'm sorry. I didn't know he was going to touch anything..."

After a moment's silence, Daypaw's thoughts began to race. What if her warrior ceremony was posponed due to this? What if Wolfkit's ceremony was postponed? "Please don't tell Leopardstar," she begged. Now, she only wanted mercy from her Clan's medicine cat. "I won't snoop again, honest." She had to summon the cutest kitten-eyed look she could muster. Her head was down, her yellow eyes gazing up at Rainpaw. Daypaw hoped he would find compassion in his heart to forgive them.

The tom fixed her with a hard look before sighing and shaking his head. Curse his feelings. He couldn't stay made at her. "Fine, fine... I won't say anything about this just... stop looking at me like that. There's nothing wrong with showing a kit around camp. Mentors give their apprentices tours of the territory, after all. You just need to be a bit more careful. Next time, just try to either have one of us here or never take your eye off of a kit you bring." The tom mumbled. He hated himself for being so soft. How could he every be stern enough to break news StarClan gave him? Cross-clan relations would run rampant if the couples discovered his weakness was this. "Buuuut, you have to stay here at least until he wakes up. You can help me with the herb storage. I can teach you some things if you like. It may save your life. It's especially relevant for the current event. Come on, I'll show you how I tell poppy seeds and foxglove seeds from each other." His voice seemed to have a bit of excitement in it now at the idea of showing a fellow apprentice what he did. His tail flicked her ear and he tilted his head towards the herbs neatly sorted.