Catching Daisies [Open]

Cedarpaw nodded. ”That’s pretty cool! What’s it like in Riverclan?” she asked, innocently unaware of all of the concern about “impure” heritage. She didn’t understand why it was a big deal that Oakstar was from Shadowclan, or if some kits were born from two different clans. A cat was a cat to this young one. She held no grudges. In fact, her friend Daisypaw was half Shadowclan her self, being Oakstar’s daughter. It didn't affect her personality though. Daisypaw was like any other apprentice. The thought to judge Dacedream didn’t cross her mind for even a split second.

Dacedream's ears perked up, and she felt excited when Cedarpaw asked her about RiverClan. She hadn't been able to talk much about the place she'd grown up since she was a young apprentice, since she had been homesick for a while and then afraid that they'd think she wanted to return even after Torrentstar's anger. "It's so sandy!" Dacedream answered cheerfully. When she'd first arrived in ThunderClan she'd been shocked at how stable and solid the ground was. "My momma told me that moons ago - long long before any of our ancestors had settled - RiverClan's camp used to be part of the river, and that StarClan dried up an island to keep RiverClan cats safe! That's why it's all sandy, and there are lots of reeds everywhere!"

Cedarpaw grinned. ”Wow! What do fish taste like?” she asked. She had heard from an apprentice at a gathering that they ate fish in Riverclan. She knew they smelled bad. It was fish that made Riverclan smell so weird to her, and she wondered if they tasted as bad as they smelled.

Dacedream sighed wistfully and answered in a voice that was almost sad, "Oh, goodness, I haven't had any fish since I... well, since I became a ThunderClan cat." Dacedream laid down, stretching out her long tortoiseshell body to bask in the late leaf-bare sun. "My mate - you know Houndheart, he was the deputy before he got hurt - really didn't like the smell. He said it's... What is it he said?" She paused for a second, then gasped and said, "Oh, he said it reeks." Dacedream laughed as she remembered their meeting. She looked at her son, Jaypaw, wondering what he thought of the story. He'd be interested in his dad's words too. "That's very true, fish is pungent. It sticks in one's fur for a long time. It's... well, it's nothing like squirrel at all. When I first tried squirrel, I thought it was really tough and sort of bland. Now I couldn't imagine not eating it!"

Cedarpaw laughed at Dacedream’s words. ”I can’t imagine not eating squirrel either! It’s one of my favorite prey!” she smiled.

Dacedream's tail flicked with happiness, and she beamed at Cedarpaw. "How do you like hunting them?" she asked with interest, happy to let the apprentice discuss herself for a while. She offered enthusiastically, "Don't you just love how their tails move in little waves?"

Cedarpaw grinned. ”I love hunting! And I do love squirrel tails, they are so cute!” she giggled, feeling right at home with this warrior. Before warriors had seemed so different from apprentices, but talking to one, they really were similar.

Dacedream purred at Cedarpaw's enthusiastic reply. Maybe the warrior's own excitement had influenced the apprentice, but she suspected Cedarpaw really was simply excited. Dacedream meowed, "I agree! Sometimes the squirrels talk to each other with their tails, I think. Have you ever seen them up in the tree scrabbling after each other? They smack their tails around like kits swatting bugs!" she trilled with laughter.

ooc; I'm gonna wait a day or two to reply in case anyone else wants to hop in!

Jaypaw settled down next to his mother, copying her in grooming his own fur while the two she-cats laid there and talked. He didn't chime in initially, but once Dacedream started talking about RiverClan, his attention was piqued. He knew, obviously, that his mother had not always been a ThunderClan cat, but she'd never really talked about it in detail, and he was interested. There was so much he didn't know - and he wanted to learn.

"Could you teach me how to fish?" he asked, head tilting to one side. He had existed on a diet of birds and mammals his entire life, so the thought that there was a whole new type of prey he'd never experienced was an intriguing one.

The sound of her son's voice made Dacedream's laughter go quiet as she reigned herself in to listen. She turned to look at him with amusement on her face. As she registered Jaypaw's question, the amusement quickly turned to awe and amazement. "You want to learn?" Dacedream asked. She felt honored that he would want to gain that skill. She turned her green-hazel eyes to Cedarpaw and meowed, "I wonder if any of our other Clanmates know how to fish. Do you think anyone else would want to learn?"

Cedarpaw smiled. ”That would be pretty cool!” She said brightly, looking at Dacedream and Jaypaw. She smiled. ”I dunno who else would want to, but someone, probably.” she said.

Dacedream beamed at the she-cat's encouragement. She hadn't gone fishing since she was in RiverClan, but she had always wanted to begin again. Houndheart wasn't too fond of the smell, but... they were in different dens for a while... The warrior nodded excitedly. "Alright. I think that'd be great. What about you, Cedarpaw? Would you want to learn too? I'm sure your mentor wouldn't mind." she asked curiously.