Sharing Tongues (March 2020)

A moment after Dacedream had spoken her greeting to Cedarpaw, she was distracted by the sound of Beepaw's voice, ready to answer Oakstar's question of what to do to lighten the mood around camp. Dacedream lifted her head immediately to listen to her young friend's words, feeling a thrill at his suggestion of sprucing up camp. She gasped, rolled to her belly again, and whispered enthusiastically, "Beepaw yes!" Her tufted ears were perked and at attention while the young tabby tom continued explaining his thoughts, ending that Ferretnose had mentioned such an endeavor once that had helped. Dacedream nodded vigorously and purred, "I think so, too!"

Mossbloom spoke up then, offering ferns that were apparently growing around the medicine den. Dacedream swiveled her head to look, and sure enough there seemed to be plenty of healthy sprouts just in the small area she could see. Who knew what else might be back there? She looked back at Mossbloom and gave her medicine cat a grateful smile. Rustling near the camp entrance caught Dacedream's attention next, and she saw her Cherryblossom trot in towards the fresh-kill pile. "Hi little bloom!" Dacedream called, and not a few moments later her daughter was at her side, curiously observing the impromptu meeting. "We're trying to lighten the mood, and Beepaw thinks it would help for us to tidy up the camp and fix dens and stuff! I think it's a good idea, do you wanna help?" Dacedream explained, asking her question with a friendly expression.

Willowkit started up at the supportive she-cat. Mossbloom was sitting by her side like they already knew each other, and warmth radiated out of her like waves. Willowkit’s eyes sparkled with confidence. “Yeah...someday I’ll be a warrior, and when I’m older, I’m going to give support to other kits too.” She puffed her chest proudly, but was still slightly unsure. What if she didn’t turn out that way? What if Mossbloom’s trust in her would be wasted, and she would fail miserably?

Moonkit bounded up to her friend Willowkit's side. "Hey, Willowkit!" she purred. "But I'm gonna be a better warrior than you, Willow." Moonkit nudged Willowkit affectionately, then noticed a pretty she-cat by Willowkit's other side. Suddenly shy, Moonkit whispered, "Who's she? She's pretty." Curious, she sniffed. There was a musky scent of... leaves? "Wait," she muttered. "Are you the medicine cat?" she burst out. "You get to treat wounds and stuff, right? And you get to know plants and herbs and leaves and stuff, and they all treat different stuff, and umm, sorry," Moonkit mumbled, embarrassed by her outburst.

“Moonkit!” Willowkit screeched, slightly horrified, and embarrassed for her friend. Then, she lowered her voice. “Moonkit this is the medicine cat you’re talking to!” Willowkit allowed her eyes to widen for a second. Then, she purred at Moonkit. “I know you’re going to be a better warrior. I already saw that when you and Blizzardkit beat me up real bad! I’ll try my best to catch up on you, but I might not be the best at hunting, or fighting.” Willowkit deflated slightly.

Cherryblossom let out a purr as Dacedream brought her up to sleep on what the others were talking about, and nodded at the suggestion to help reinforce the dens and clean up the camp. She flicked her tail as the thought about how good it would be for the camp and her Clanmates, and piped up,
"I think that's a good idea! I'd love to help out with that."

Beepaw’s suggestion hit him like a falling squirrel. Of course. There was unity to be found in ensuring the security of the camp, as well as the actions that required proper den maintenance. He looked up at Mossbloom’s offer and nodded eagerly.
"That is a brilliant idea Beepaw." He meowed as he looked back to the apprentice. "Ferretnose must be very proud of you. You’re a clever tom to keep such observations in mind." His tail flicked behind him, marking his excitement at the idea. It would help the clan. As Cherryblossom came in, he flicked his tail in greeting, but a small squabble caught his attention and brought it down to the light and dark kits by Mossbloom’s paws.

"Now, now little ones." He rumbled, lowering his large bulk down to their level. His amber eyes bright but with a gentle smile. "How would you both like to help us? You’ll be apprentices soon." His head lifted to Mossbloom, "Perhaps they could help carry some moss or grass to the cat weaving the base." He suggested it calmly. Grass and moss were light and unlikely to injure the young kits… and if they got damaged by the kits deciding play was more fun, well, grass and moss were plentiful enough to find. He rose to his paws at Cherryblossom’s offer to help.

"Cherryblossom, perhaps you can rally some more volunteers. The nursery should be worked on first, then the apprentices and warrior’s den. We can do the elder’s den last, since no cat is currently using it."

Willowkit’s eyes widened as an offer came from Oakstar. “O-Oakstar...sure...I would be...happy...to...help...” Willowkit’s voice trailed off with a squeak of nervousness, and she wanted to screech at herself for being so embarrassed. She turned towards Moonkit. “Will you come please?”



OOC: Will this be a new topic?

"Umm, 'kay!" Moonkit mewed cheerfully, trying to hide the tremor in her voice. She was actually speaking to the clan leader! She hoped she didn't make a mistake in front of Oakstar. "Grass and moss... there's plenty of that lying around!" Moonkit purred, "I'm sure we can find more than enough." She was going to try her best, even though the task was simple, and show Oakstar how reliable she was!

"Hi Willowkit, hey Moonkit." Blizzardkit meowed, he thought he captured the words "happy to help" from Willowkit's tiny voice. Wait, that's strange... Willowkit never talked with a tiny voice. "Ummmm, Willowkit? Who's that large cat?" Suddenly, one thought occurred to him. "Oakstar?" He whispered to Willowkit, then looked at the massive cat , the clan leader one more time... "Emm, can I help?" Blizzardkit asked, a little concerned about his friends.

Blizzardkit, even Blizzardkit, the stubborn, thick-skinned (furred?) kit, was a bit nervous about Oakstar. Of course, every cat would be. “Sure, you can come.” Willowkit agreed. “The more the merrier.” Willowkit turned towards Mossbloom and Oakstar. “Can he come along with us?”

Moonkit leaped up in excitement and bounded after Mossbloom to the side of the medicine den. She saw lots of moss and grass growing there and raced right up to it before turning around and waiting for the others to catch up. "Now what?" she questioned, her head tilted to the side in a hopefully cute fashion.

As Willowkit padded after Moonkit, she reflected about Mossbloom’s words. There is more to being a warrior than being able to hunt and fight. Those words echoed around her head. She shook her head, this was not the time to think about her future. She needed to focus on the task: Foraging for grass and moss. “Yeah, how are we going to collect them?” She asked.

As expected, her daughter was more than willing to participate, and Dacedream smiled and nodded cheerfully along. "Perfect! We'll see if Oakstar has anything particular in mind for us," she replied. She turned back to her leader then as he was addressing a few kits - Willowkit and Moonkit, who were chattering loudly at Mossbloom's side. Dacedream's multicolored whiskers twitched with amusement. Oakstar was patiently offering them a way to help out, and after meekly accepting, the two turned to look at Mossbloom for guidance. Meanwhile, Dacedream looked back to Oakstar as the dark tabby approached Cherryblossom to suggest she find more volunteers. That's a good task for her, she's very convincing when she wants to be, Dacedream thought warmly.

Oakstar's thoughts given, Dacedream rolled to her paws again and nudged her daughter, purring, "Good luck - I'll be around when you're done, we should work together!" With that, she departed Cherryblossom's side and approached Beepaw. It was his brilliant idea, after all! "So, nursery first! Do you wanna figure out what we need to patch up first, or would you like to start collecting the ferns from around Mossbloom's den? I'll do whatever you don't wanna," Dacedream offered, waiting for his response - she hoped he would want to work with her, anyways!

"The best way to collect moss is to use your paws to clear it from the rock or wood it's growing on. Keep your claws sheathed though, it can catch on whatever is under the moss and pull or break it, which is very painful - and I can't do much to help other than give things to numb the pain until the nail fixes itself. I don't want anyone to get hurt, okay?" Keeping her claws sheathed, she slowly went through the motions of gingerly pulling the moss from a nearby rock, pulling a little at a time before resetting her paws and continuing until she had pulled a nice layer of moss off of the rock. Picking it up in her jaws, she shook it firmly, dirt falling from the under layer of the moss before laying it out on the ground. "Once you've pulled it, you want to shake the dirt off of it, as much as possible without ruining the moss. The first few times you collect won't be great, but don't be disheartened, you'll get it before long."