Music to my Ears [OPEN]

OOC: posting on mobile, please excuse any typos ;;

A small bengal cat bounded out of the nursery, eager to stretch his legs after being cooped up in one place for too long. Spotlake and Crowspirit had been very generous to take him in. He didn't really remember his mother, only her warmth and presence, so Spotlake was a perfect substitute. He now had brothers and sisters to talk to and play with, which gave his energy a good outlet. When no one was around to play with him, however, he had to find other means of entertainment.

Starlingkit turned his green-gray gaze up at the sky as a bird feather fluttered down from somewhere across the moor. He laughed and leaped for it, batting it down to the ground. The way the feather flipped and turned in the breeze was so interesting, he wondered if he could do it too. The bengal kit stretched long legs and leapt into the air again, making what he hoped was a graceful turn in the air before landing sloppily on the ground once more. "Almost..." he mewed to himself, trying again. He didn't know what this was called, these movements, but they were fun and they were helping get his energy out. His tail lashed as he made a graceful leap-and-turn, his face brightened into a grin.

A flash of movement across camp caught his attention and he raised his head towards the other cat, yowling, "Hey, look what I can do!"

Ferretpaw stretched his long legs as he made his way out of the apprentice den. He was itching for a run, but he had a feeling he'd be put on a patrol. He'd probably still get to run, but it wouldn't be the same as the freedom of just sprinting off. As he glanced around camp, he was distracted by a kit who was jumping around, and as he continued doing so, was getting more and more fluid in his movements. Ferretpaw stood still, watching, although true to his nature his whiskers twitched as there was no way, it seemed, for the apprentice to stay completely still.

At Starlingkit's yowl, Ferretpaw broke into a smile and trotted over. "That's pretty cool. You improved a lot in just a couple of leaps!" Of course, now he felt the need to try it. The ruddy tom bounced forward, before leaping up and twisting in midair. As he landed, he laughed. This was fun!

Olivepaw followed Ferretpaw out of the den, and just like her brother, was itching to run.
Maybe I can ask him if we wanna go on a run later...
Her attention was also caught by Starlingkit making a leap into the air, and saw Ferretpaw do the same.
I have to get in on this! This looks fun!
She trotted across the clearing and chirped with a big smile, "Good job! You're doing great!"
Bunching her legs underneath her, she leaped into the air, executing a nice turn, and would have made a perfect landing if her paws hadn't slipped out from underneath her. She landed with an 'oof', but jumped back up onto her paws and shook any debris from her fur.
"This is fun!" she trilled, eyes sparkling.

Ferretpaw and Olivepaw approached and began jumping around with him. Starlingkit's whole being lit up as they all leapt-and-turned together. Bubbles of laughter left the kit's mouth as he finally tired himself out, plopping down into a sitting position. He panted, out-of-breath, but a grin still stuck to his face. He felt exhilarated. "That was...beautiful!" he wheezed, looking at the two apprentices. "Right? Beautiful? Beauteous...Fun! It made me feel good. We looked like this!" He swiped at the feather on the ground, sending it fluttering up and back down again. He was trying to put his thoughts into words, but it was kinda hard. He didn't really know the right words yet. Nonetheless, he enjoyed the older cats' company and he peered back up at them, large eyes shining happily.

Ferretpaw purred as Olivepaw also joined them. He loved getting to spend time with his sister, and it was definitely not as common as it had been when they were both in the nursery together. Turning his gaze back onto Starlingkit, Ferretpaw hoped he appreciated the time he got with the other kits in there. It was much simpler than trying to juggle relationships with the entire Clan, not that he minded the challenge. He loved building friendships.

The ruddy tom slipped into a crouch, his eyes getting level with the feather as it made it's graceful way back down to the ground. He twitched an ear, as though to say Watch this! and then blew air out in a forceful sigh to send the feather twirling back up.

"I think beautiful is a pretty decent descriptor."

Crowspirit padded back into camp, jaws empty of prey and a dejected look on his face after a failed hunt. It was rare that he missed a catch, but prey was scarce in this season, and he had been particularly unlucky with a rather fast rabbit and vigilant bird. Seeing his adopted son, and a couple of his younger friends, he bounded over, brightening up.

“Hey there! What are you all doing?”

Olivepaw leaped a few more times until she had to sit and catch her breath, exhilarated and filled with joy. The feather fluttered down onto her head and she flicked her ear, sending it floating towards the ground again. With a smile, she purred,
"Beautiful is a great word to describe this, graceful and light!"
When Crowspirit padded up, she gave a happy trill, and chirped,
"We were jumping and leaping, like the way a feather floats in the wind! Or at least, we tried to mimic that."
She swiped at the feather again, sending it into the air once more.

Crowspirit watched the feather intently, tail flicking with interest. “Mind if I join in?” Without waiting for a reply, he bounded into the air, trying to twist at the peak of the leap like the feather did. When he landed, he grinned, shaking out his fur. “That was fun! I wonder if it could be turned into a battle move? Y’know, leaping and twisting over your enemy’s back! All the movements the feather makes are really confusing, so I guess it could be a good evasion.”

"Dad!" the kit cried, rushing over to give his father a nuzzle. He purred softly into his fur, then burst into giggles as the warrior began hopping around with them. "You really think so? I made this up! I made a new battle move all by myself!" Getting a second wind, Starlingkit ran at Crowspirit and pounced onto his back, hooking in briefly with needle-like kitten claws before rolling and flipping off of his back, landing back on his paws on the ground. He looked very pleased with himself, beaming. "Wow, did you see that?! That was so cool!"

A battle move! Ferretpaw hadn't even thought of that, but he wished he had. "It would be a pretty good move, I think. I doubt the other Clans would be expecting it." Not that they would expect a lot of the tactics that WindClan used, using speed and the element of surprise was kind of their thing.

It was still weird to him to think of Spotlake and Crowspirit being parents. It felt like they had just been in the apprentice den with him! "How's it feel being a dad? Is it kind of weird?" Ferretpaw asked, whiskers twitching with amusement as he tried to picture himself as a father any time in the near future, and just couldn't.

Olivepaw let out a purr as the kit ran up to his father and hopped onto his back, before rolling off and landing on his paws. She let out a trill of approval and chirped, "That was great! That could easily be used as a battle move."

When Ferretpaw commented on Crowspirit already being a father, she nodded. While Sunpaw had been on her mind for a while, she couldn't imagine being a parent just yet. Maybe after becoming a warrior perhaps? That is, if Sunpaw likes me back...

Crowspirit laughed, turning around to ruffle his son’s fur. “I sure did, buddy. You’ll probably become the best battle planner we have when you’re older, if you’re coming up with moves like that already!” The dark warrior chuckled again, looking at Ferretpaw. “It’s pretty fun. Spotlake takes care of the messy work when they’re younger, and I get to hang out and play with the most awesome cats I know!” He flashed a winning smile towards Starlingkit, tail still twitching with excitement. “Makes your whole day better when you get back from a patrol and have your kits running to greet you.”

Eaglekit flashed out of the den. "Wait for me! I want to play too!" He yowled as he ran over to Crowspirit and jumped on him. "I want to play!"