Catching Daisies [Open]

Daisypaw was determined to interact with her clan. She had been shut off recently, and wants to talk to some others. She sat in the middle of camp, knowing someone would emerge to talk to. As Cedarpaw padded up beside her, she smiled. ”Hello Cedarpaw!” she smiled.

Cedarpaw saw Daisypaw sitting by herself and padded up to her, smiling. ”Hi Daisypaw!” she chirped, sitting down next to her. She waited for someone else to approach, she was happy to have the day off to spend with her clan mates.

Dacedream had spent the morning on a border patrol, but now the tortoiseshell she-cat was free of duties or obligations. Her kits were nearly full-grown and realized cats now, occupied with their own mentors; Jaypaw would likely accompany Dacedream on a hunting patrol or something later in the evening. Now, though, Dacedream trotted across camp looking for a place to groom some burrs out of her pelt. She spotted Cedarpaw and Daisypaw relaxing and strode over. "Hi, girls," she purred to them as she stopped before them. "Anything exciting happening in camp yet today?" she asked with a smile.

Daisypaw smiled. ”Hi Dacedream!” she purred. She had always liked the she-cat, yet hadn’t interacted with her much.

Cedarpaw shook her head. ”Not much.” She mewed, answering the tortoiseshell warrior’s question.

Dacedream's eyes sparkled with happiness as the apprentices greeted her kindly, and she looked to Cedarpaw as she answered the warrior's question. Dacedream nodded twice and sat heavily, flinging her thick tail and one of her hind legs out as she sat before stooping over to begin grooming her thigh. "I think it's better that way; let's keep the excitement outside of camp," Dacedream giggled between licks. Thoughts of the snake scare where Oakstar lost a life flickered in her head for a moment. She quickly dismissed the concern, asking cheerily, "How's your training going? Are you excited for new-leaf?"

Daisypaw smiled as she conversed with the warrior. ”Training is pretty cool. I was a little nervous at first, but it’s more fun now!”. Daisypaw knew she had grown so much from the shy little kit, although she still had a long way to go to have her anxiety completely disappear. ”And I can’t wait for new-leaf!”

Cedarpaw nodded as Daisypaw spoke. ”Training is great! I wanna be a great warrior!” she grinned. As Daisypaw continued, Cedarpaw found herself nodding again. ”Yeah! It’ll be a lot easier to hunt.”

Dacedream let out a small trill of delight as Daisypaw expressed how nervous she'd been at first. She was relieved, but not at all surprised, to learn that the pretty tan apprentice had blossomed underneath her mentor's gentle guidance. "Harefoot is a delightful tom," Dacedream meowed, working her tongue down to give her foot a thorough lick. Cedarpaw chimed in with equal enthusiasm, and Dacedream purred, pausing her grooming to look up at them both. Rainstrike was certainly the right mentor for Cedarpaw's desire to be a warrior; Rainstrike was one of the strongest, most loyal ThunderClan cats Dacedream knew. "You know, Rainstrike and I had our vigil together," Dacedream told them both with a grin. "It was in leaf-fall - much warmer than it is right now."

Jaypaw had been napping in the sunshine when he was roused from his slumber by multiple voices nearby. He pulled a paw up over his face, grumbling loudly, and pressed into it, trying to block out the interruptions. But it became clear that they weren't going to go away, and so he forced himself up with a dramatic sigh, squinting against the sunlight to see who it was that had woken him so rudely.

Cedarpaw, Daisypaw, and... oh... "Hi, mother!" His entire demeanor changed when Dacedream was in the picture, and he pranced up to her to touch noses with a purr of greeting. His glance flickered to the other two apprentices, and he offered them a nod in greeting as well.

Daisypaw nodded as Dacedream commented on her mentor. She smiled as the tom approached. She nodded back to him, greeting him.

Cedarpaw had been listening intently to the warrior’s stories. ”Really? I can’t wait until it gets warmer!” Rainstrike hadn’t shared any personal stories before. It was interesting to learn about her clanmates’ experiences.

Dacedream's ear flicked as Cedarpaw expressed her interest in the vigil and the weather of leaf-fall, and she nodding vigorously. "I was so lucky to share my ceremony with Rainstrike," Dacedream praised. She broke off as she heard her son Jaypaw's voice, head swinging to look at him. She dropped the hind leg she'd been grooming and purred in greeting, "Hello, my sunshine!" She happily pressed her nose back into his before she twisted around to start grooming her side. She carried on to Cedarpaw, "Ferretnose - you know, Beepaw's mom - was her mentor. A good mentor for a good cat!"

Daisypaw smiled and listened silently, observing the cats.

Cedarpaw smiled. ”Oh! That’s a funny coincidence. My mom’s apprentice is my mentor.” The last sentence was more to herself than to Dacedream. She hadn’t known about Ferretnose mentoring Rainstrike. It must have been interesting for Rainstrike, so much of her duties had been connected to Cedarpaw’s family. She wondered what else she didn’t know about some of the cats she was really close to.

Dacedream chirped with a small sound of delight through a tongue full of fur, "It is funny, isn't it?" Finding one of the burrs in her fur that had been bothering her, Dacedream's tortoiseshell face furrowed with focus and she leaned into her fur, nibbling at the knot that had formed. As she broke through the tangle, she thought more about her time training with Dawngaze when Rainstrike was still Rainpaw. Ferretnose was a bit more of a socially graceful cat compared to Dawngaze; really, it was a bit amusing that the most sociable apprentice - Dacedream - had been assigned to the more serious mentor, and the opposite was true for Rainstrike. She pulled the burr out with a small chunk of fur and sat it down to move it out of the way later. "That's how you know your momma is a great warrior - when her own full-grown apprentice gets assigned to her whole full-grown kits!"

Daisypaw got up, wanting to stretch her legs. She wanted some alone time after going past her comfort zone to talk to some new cats. ”I’m gonna go for a little walk.” she said, walking out of camp.

Cedarpaw smiled. ”I wanna be someone’s mentor someday!” she announced proudly. As Daisypaw started to leave, she nodded to her, understanding. ”She gets really restless after talking for a while.” she explained after Daisypaw had left.

"You're going to be a wonderful mentor, Cedarpaw, just wait and see," Dacedream praised. She paused her grooming, looking up with bright curious eyes as Daisypaw stood. The warrior's ears flicked, and she hummed in acknowledgement. "Try not to wander too far without a warrior, little blossom," Dacedream called caringly after the pale she-cat as she disappeared. Dacedream looked at Cedarpaw as she provided an explanation. "Oh, I see," Dacedream answered, and then she nodded once and added, "Well, that's alright - it's good that she knows her limits."

Cedarpaw blushed lightly at warrior’s praise. ”I hope I will be. I haven’t been an apprentice for long though, I’ll probably have to wait a while. There’s a lot to learn! When I was a kit I just thought you knew how to hunt and fight, but it takes practice.” Cedarpaw saw a small burr in her paw, and licked it, relaxing a bit.

The tortoiseshell she-cat listened to Cedarpaw's words with a delighted, proud smile on her face. Dacedream nodded in agreement. "I thought the same!" Dacedream meowed, laughing a little. Her face softened a little with thoughtfulness. "I was first apprenticed in RiverClan, but I was only under their training for a pawful of sunrises... That's when my daddy left for ThunderClan, and I went with him. I didn't think there was any way I could learn everything I needed to learn about the forest and the Clan!" She innocently didn't consider what Cedarpaw might feel about Dacedream's heritage; in such a peaceful moment, it didn't cross her mind despite the looming threat posed by StarClan.