don't be a stranger (open!)

Batbite was stretched out not far from the fresh-kill pile; ever so often shifting slightly to chase the fleeting sun's rays. Leaf-bare was cold, nothing would change that, but still some sunlight managed to reach her. It was still early in the afternoon, but she'd managed to catch an early hunting patrol, so now she wasn't doing anything of much importance. Her head rested on her paws, and she simply observed the clan that surrounded her - this place that was full of strangers, even now. She still had trouble naming some of the new warriors and apprentices on sight, and it bothered her. She wanted to know these cats that lived in her home, with whom she shared space and prey, but she also wasn't going to walk up to them and ask for their names and life stories.

So she watched them instead, curiously observing as her tail curled loosely around her side. There was less cover than she would have liked, with her shadow-black fur standing out against the white-coated ground, but she didn't particularly want to try hiding in bushes and in trees just to see what the rest of ThunderClan was doing.

Wolfkit watched the other kits playing and rolled his eyes. He would never understand why playing was something other kits did, to him it seemed like a waste. Wolfkit’s black and brown pelt clung to his side as the snow made it all wet. He enjoyed his fluffy fur in the winter for the warmth but it was no handy when it was wet. Wolfkit saw an older warrior cat laying by the prey pile and decided to talk to them since he had nothing to do. Wolfkit padded towards the black cat and spoke. “Hello, I am Wolfkit.” He said sitting down on the white snow.

The kit that approached her Batbite did recognize, mostly as 'one of Oakstar's kits' but she considered that better than nothing. It was easier to keep track of kits, anyway; they were always somewhere close by. "I know, Wolfkit," she said lightly, though with a small smile. "Why aren't you playing with the rest of them?"

Wolfkit rolled his eyes. “Games are stupid, they are just wasting precious time when they could be training to be an apprentice.” he mewed with a bored expression. He had been invited to play many times but would always hiss at them or just ignore them. He hated others that never understood the saying “life or death”.

Daisypaw watched her brother talking to the warrior. She sighed and went back into the apprentice den, resting.

Cedarpaw padded up to the little tom and the warrior. “Hello Batbite. Hi Wolfkit.” she greeted her clanmates. She had met Batbite a bit, and she as seen the young Wolfkit around camp recently. She had picked up his name in a few conversations that she had heard.

Games are stupid, Wolfkit said with confidence. Batbite simply blinked, somewhat shocked by the statement; but she was saved from having to respond to that by Cedarpaw's presence. "Hey, Cedarpaw," she returned the greeting. Then, unable to resist saying something on the subject, "Games aren't stupid, they're important."

“Yes, games take away from training.” he said then looked at the apprentice, he has seen her a lot around his sister so knew her name pretty well. “Hello cedarpaw.” he said knowing she was probably still sad about smudgepaw’s death.

(I’m so happy that you made my art into ur profile pic deer ^_^, I might draw another smudge x cedar moment wishing I didn’t kill him so I will send it to you when it done)

Strom wandered over to the prey pile, his wide paws crunching against the lightly frosted ground. From the looks of it, Batbite was chatting with a couple of kits, one of which looked looked almost comically like a little, fluffy and serious version of Oakstar - just without his colours, or eyes. Strom felt a smile start to play about his maw as he listened in, ear twitching at Wolfkit's attitude. I'll bet he's fun to be around in the nursery....

Grabbing a scrawny bird from the pile, he stood at the edge of their little group, nodding in greeting to both Batbite and Cedarpaw before turning his attention to the kit. "Games take away from training, huh? I've never heard that one before."

Cedarpaw smiled. “They can actually prepare you for your training. I played games and it helped me be a better apprentice. Plus, they’re fun!” She laughed. She had never met such a serious kit before. When she had been a kit, she and Smudge...Smudgepaw. She was still getting over the shock. She sighed. “Well, Smudgepaw, when he was a kit...” she started, “he wasn’t too sure about games but once I taught him we had a lot of fun!” She looked down at her paws ,took a deep breath in, and looked back at the kit.

"If you look at it that way, everything takes away from training, Wolfkit. Even this conversation. That aside, it's not all there is to life," Batbite shrugged, offering a small apologetic smile to Strom. "If all you do is train, what will you do once you're a warrior? You can't be out on patrol or fighting all the time. I play games a lot. But I don't think I'd want to live a life without games, anyway."

Then again, there were a great many things Batbite wouldn't want to live without, now that she'd experienced them. She erred on the playful and lighthearted side of life, enjoying the small comforts she could find; games among them. But she wasn't about to ramble about the beautiful things in the world to a pair of young cats who would just think her stranger than she was. Instead, she continued, "The games we teach you kits to play teach you skills you'll need for training, like pouncing techniques. And they're fun! But you know what? If you want to learn something really useful... I know how to swim. I learned after the great flood, once we came back from the mountains."

Moonkit's ears perked when she heard the word games. She was bored, and games would surely entertain her. She bounded toward Batbite, who probably was talking about the games.

She heard Batbite talking about swimming. "Ooh, I wanna learn swimming!" Moonkit mewed enthusiastically.