A Mossy Corner - June

Graykit purred, comforted by Mosspaw's words. When she mentioned stories from the mountains, Graykit's ears immediately perked up and her blue optics grew wide. "Story? I would love love LOVE to hear a story!" The she-kit squealed. She was becoming a little ball of energy, but she was a lot more open than when she was a young kit.

"Ferretpaw threw a cave beetle at you?" Graykit couldn't help but laugh. "What did you do to provoke that? What even is a cave beetle?" She was out of breath at this point. She could only imagine what had happened in that very moment, and what she pictured was hilarious. "Anyway, I want to learn what hunting was like? Did you learn any new moves? What kind of things did you hunt up there?"

Mosspaw smiled as she listened to Batbite and Graykit talk to one another, taking a closer look at the scratches that stretched across the warriors flank. Her eyes raised to look at the dark warrior as she told her story, a look of concern growing until the final statement fell from her mouth. Blinking for a heartbeat or two, Mosspaw's smile returned. "A thornbush, huh? Well, did you win?" She purred, waiting momentarily for a response before disappearing into the medicine cat den and returning with a pawful of cob nuts. She cracked the outer shell of the nut and began to grind the smooth nut inside. Once a paste had been made, she methodically spread it over the scratches that lined Batbite's sides and back, paws soft and gentle in their movements. Once all of the scratches had been covered, she cleared up the remnants of the cob nuts and sat to listen to Batbite's stories of the mountains, chuckling at the news that Ferretpaw had thrown a cave beetle at her face.

"A thornbush, huh? Well, did you win?"

Batbite sighed. "I wish. The valiant warrior Thornbush is still standing, unfortunately." Her attention shifted back to Graykit, though, and her eyes twinkled as she recalled her adventures in the mountains. "We hunted birds," she told the kit. "Well. Once, at least. You see, there was this Tribe cat who was snapping at a ShadowClan cat... So I felt I had to step in. Once I did, the Tribe cat challenged the both of us; asking if we even knew how to catch a bird. I couldn't let him win," she scoffed. "So we hunted... An eagle," she revealed, pleased with herself.

"Wow! You hunted an eagle! What was it like! Did it try to carry you away? What about the ShadowClan cat, did they make it out ok? Was your hunt successful?" Graykit had so many questions. The she kit was talking so quickly, she even forgot to breathe, and was left gasping for breath by the end. Batbite was surely going to have fun answering all of her questions, that was for sure. And those were only a few questions. Most likely whatever Batbite responded would bring up many, many more.

"Well, it certainly tried!" Batbite exclaimed. "But we fought it, and I'd certainly call that a successful hunt! Oh, but that was far from the most interesting thing that happened - when it came time to leave the mountains, we had to fight our way out! Not against the Tribe cats, no, they fought with us-- there were dogs there, they ambushed us as we ran! I even fought one," she added, puffing up her fur a little bit. The rest of that story was far from heroic, but, well... A little embellishment never hurt anyone, right? She wasn't lying, just making the story more interesting for her audience; and besides, the ending would remain the same.

Mosspaw held back her laughter as she finished clearing the last of the cob nuts, and settled in to listen to the stories that Batbite had to share. They hunted eagles in the mountains? That was odd, they just tried to avoid them here... Batbite continued on to when they had left the mountains, and her ears perked up. She had only heard what Pricklebush had reported when they had returned, and her concern for him had not given her much room to think about what all he had reported. There was something else he had said... "Did you see the Sharptooth too? How many dogs were there? We ran into two on the shore, a big black one and a smaller light brown one. I'm glad you're alright!" She finished, her ears growing a little hot. She was asking as many questions as Graykit she realized with a bit of amusement and embarrassment.

Graykit grew on a look of concern. Batbite was there when it all happened. The Sharptooth, the dogs. All that death she had heard about, Batbite had seen first hand. A shudder ran down her spine at the thought of that. She didn't say anything, she didn't have the heart to. She just lied down, staring blankly. Even if she wasn't there, if she didn't know any of the cats that were lost, it hurt knowing she couldn't help the cats who were affected by it. She was absolutely helpless.

Unfortunately for Graykit, Batbite didn't seem to notice the kit's discomfort, instead focusing on Mosspaw's questions. "Yes, the Sharptooth was... Terrifying, really. Everything about it was kind of terrifying. But the dogs... I think there were... Six? I tried to take one on, but I didn't last very long on my own..." After all, she'd been an apprentice. An old one, yes, but still an apprentice; blinded by grief and anger on behalf of a family she hadn't seen in ages. "Oh, but you should've seen my RiverClan friend, Wasppaw! She took one of them down on her own! I'd never even seen a cat so furious in my life, but given what happened to set her off... I can't say I wouldn't do the same." Those memories were slightly fuzzy, even now; but she remembered most of what she'd witnessed. The cat that bore a resemblance to Wasppaw leaping to her defense, falling in battle, and Wasppaw's swift and brutal defeat of the dog. But it was true, she thought, that if she saw something like that happen to her own kin... Then she would do whatever it took to avenge them, no matter the cost. "They were huge, though, those awful things... You ran into dogs where you were, too? What happened?"

Noticing Graypaw's concerned look, Mosspaw moved over to beside her, letting her pelt gently brush against the kits. Her ears remained perked, listening to Batbite intently. "Wow, six huh? That's incredible... I'm glad you're alright! Yes, we did. We were preparing to leave to follow the sign Amberdawn received, and a twoleg with his two dogs happened upon us. The one attacked Flintfang, and I ran to help. We were able to chase the one and his twoleg off, but the other one died..." at my paws, she finished silently. Leaning over to lick the top of Graykit's head, Mosspaw continued. "I learned a lot on the shores, someday, Graykit, you will learn as well! Do you have a warrior in mind that you would like to be your mentor?" She turned the conversation in a different direction, hoping to soothe the kit's worries. Looking up at Batbite, she gave her a smile. She'd have to ask more about the mountains later, when small ears weren't listening in.

Graykit thought for a moment. Did she really get to choose her own mentor? That was awesome! Only problem was, she liked every cat there! Who would she possibly choose? "Um,I mean, there are a lot of great warriors out there...." She was really jumping around the bush on this one. Mainly because Batbite was right in front of her and there was no way she was choosing her as a mentor. She was scary! "Can I have you as a mentor Mosspaw?"

Batbite laughed at the kit's answer to Mosspaw's question. "I don't think apprentices can have their own apprentices, Graykit... That would get really confusing, wouldn't it?" Privately, she was glad Graykit hadn't gone with her own name as an answer. Sure, she was a warrior, and her brothers had both been warriors for some time already, but the idea of being responsible to teach another cat how to be a warrior when she'd only been one for a short time herself... It made her nervous. And then there was the thought of having to teach them things she didn't like or believe herself... It seemed like a disaster waiting to happen.

Still, maybe the kit would be lucky and get Marshstorm or Leopardstar as a mentor, or even one of her brothers as a mentor... Or one of the senior warriors. Graykit was right, there really were a lot of great warriors in ThunderClan. Loyal to their Clan and Clanmates and their Warrior Code, experienced with teaching... She was neither of those things, and had little interest in trying to be.

Mosspaw chuckled along with Batbite, touching her nose to Graykit's head. "As much as I would love to be your mentor Graykit, if I were you would have to follow the path of a medicine cat, and I think Pricklebush and I have that pretty well tied down for now. I'm sure Marshstorm will pick a wonderful mentor for you, don't you worry." She smiled down at her, then back up to Batbite. "Goodness knows we've got a lot of warriors, after all." She purred at the thought, wrapping her tail around her paws when a ray of sunshine split through the foliage overhead. Looking up towards it, she was surprised to see how late it had gotten.

"Well you two, I suppose I must get back to work, before Pricklebush gets true to his name! Batbite, if those scratches start bugging you again, come back and I'll put some more herbs on them. And Graykit, don't hesitate to visit! I look forward to seeing you both again soon." She smiled at the two before standing and stretching, reaching her paws forward. She waved her tail in a farewell to the young warrior and kit before disappearing into the medicine cat den, prepared to start going through a section of herbs that hadn't been gone through in several sunrises. She'd have to go collect more soon, it seemed to be a neverending chore, but one she loved nonetheless.