Boulderkit meets Emberpaw, Kestrelkit, and Ebonypaw

It was a beautiful day in camp; the sun was shining upon the marsh which Shadowclan called home. Barely a cloud hung in the brilliant blue sky, the weather was not too warm nor too cold, and the air was fresh. As he had no litter mates to play with, Boulderkit often became bored spending his day in the nursery with his mother, so upon her urging the little blue tom was sent out into the camp to explore. Thus, the young fuzz ball could be seen lurking along the edge of camp, watching the activity going on around him, not quite sure what to do or who to talk to, as everyone appeared to be so busy. Besides, it wasn't like Boulderkit was in a rush to speak to anybody, anyway...he was perfectly fine sitting on his own and watching others. However, he couldn't help but feel a tinge of loneliness in his chest.

Inside the nursery

Kestrelkit's mother stares adoringly at her single kitten, the two of them settled comfortably in their nest bathed in rays of sunshine.  The kit wakes and instinctively searches for her mother, ready for breakfast.  Kneading Toadsteps' belly, the tiny calico feeds for the first time that day.  

However, all is not well.  The queen feels her chest fill with nervous pangs; Kestrelkit was her only kitten, and ate so much.  But in spite of this, and having all of her mothers milk to herself, Kestrelkit was still quite puny.  

Maneuvering around the nest on her wobbly legs, Kestrelkit sits back to speak to her mother.  "Toadstep?" "Yes, dear?" "Has the nursery gotten smaller?"  The kit blinked sleepily, glancing around the only world she knew.  The dark green brambles seemed closer than they were yesterday.  "Of course not.  You've just grown taller, silly.  The queen pauses.  Although slim, her daughter is tall for her age.  Perhaps today she should encourage her to go outside.  "Maybe you should explore outside the nursery today."  

Kestrelkit's bright green eyes gleamed at the idea.  Outside? the she-kit thought to herself.  That sounds great!  I wonder who I will meet.  Quickly as she could, Kestrelkit grabbed the nearest moss-ball with her mouth, and reached up to nuzzle her mother on her way out.  The clumsy young kit clambered over the side of her nest for the first time, anxious and excited for what the day may bring.

Outside the nursery

The bright light near blinded Kestrelkit, sunlight washing over the tiny cats sleek pelt.  She sat at the entrance, taking it all in.  Still holding the ball of moss, Kestrelkit scanned her home for the first time.  It was beautiful !  The sight of the Shadowclan camp on that day was to be remembered.  Then, the scent of her clanmates washed over her.  The kit had only ever known milk, her mother, and occasionally the smell of the marsh that her father brought in when he visited.  It was almost overwhelming.

A prick of curiosity stuck Kestrelkit as she spotted a handsome grey kit sitting by himself at the edge of camp.  I wonder if he would like to play...  Decision made, Kestrelkit began to pad towards the young tom.  Mossball in mouth, Kestrel is determined to make a friend today.

Emberpaw never really liked waking up. The tiredness always threatened to drag him down, and more often than not, he wanted to go back to sleep. It was no different than today, and Emberpaw flicked his tail and sighed. In the days following the battle, a jealous feeling had wormed it's way into his belly, and seemed to stay. Sure, the battle might've been terrifying, but now everyone had stories to tell, proud scars to display. Meanwhile, Emberpaw was withdrawing into his own shell, ignoring most cats, and only focusing on training. Today, something seemed different - perhaps the fresh newleaf smell, and the warm sun. Emberpaw wasn't quite sure, but he welcomed it all the same.

Now sitting up, Emberpaw began to groom himself, a shaft of sunlight warming his fur. He let the warmth sink in for a few moments, and stalked to the edge of the camp, starting in surprise as a kit was already there. Wait, no, that was two kits. A she-cat, surprisingly slim and tall, and a tom, handsome and dark-furred. There'd been quite a few kits born lately, and Emberpaw couldn't keep track of all their names. He relaxed the fur on his neck and blinked. "Well, hello there. You two surprised me." That was quite obvious, but he said it anyway. Shrugging it off, he continued. "I'm Emberpaw. I don't think we've met?"

Movement caught Boulderkit's green gaze, followed by the quiet sound of a fellow kit's paws approaching him. The tom focused on the she-kit padding toward him, mossball in mouth. She was much taller than he, though surely Boulderkit was twice as bulkier than his slender nursery mate. He didn't know her, other than seeing her around the nursery where he heard her name mentioned a few times. The solid grey kit watched Kestrelkit in silence as he sat, posture erect, discerning eyes taking in everything. He wasn't sure what to say; no, he didn't feel the need to speak, so he stayed silent.

Then, the sound of a voice startled Boulderkit, for it didn't come from the mouth of the kit before him. The blue tom turned and blinked at the larger cat, who seemed to be younger than the warriors but definitely not a kit. "Sorry," Boulderkit murmured to Emberpaw. "I'm Boulderkit." His voice, though steady and sure, was rather quiet.

Nearing the blue kit, Kestrelkit sat neatly and looked watchfully at him. She flicked an ear, showing that she was a tad nervous being around a new cat. This cat smells familiar, Kestrelkit thought, recognizing him as the kitten a few nests over in the nursery. Caught up in familiarizing herself with the small toms' scent and appearance, Kestrelkit flinched at the sound of a new voice. The older cat, who seemed to appear out of nowhere, sounded friendly; introducing himself first as Emberpaw. Kestrelkit heard the grey tom next to her reply in a faint voice. Boulderkit. Suits him; he looks like he could flatten me if he wanted, Kestrelkit thought to herself. Getting ahead of herself, the slim calico attempts to share her name with the others, forgetting entirely of the toy she had brought with her. "An I'mph-" she pauses to spit out the rest of the moss, "Kestrelkit!"

OOC: Hope this isn’t too late!

Ebonypaw wandered out of the apprentice’s den, raising her head to the sunlight. “Beautiful day today...but boring. Sigh...” She stretched slightly, dark grey pelt flashing slightly silver, until she spotted Emberpaw. Ebonypaw’s grin widened slightly. “Hey! Emberpaw! Over here!” Ebonypaw called. The familiar ShadowClan apprentice was talking to someone, and frowning slightly, she looked down. “Oh! Hello! You two must be new! I’m Ebonypaw, a ShadowClan apprentice.” She introduced herself. The two kits were a tomkit and a she-kit. The tomkit looked slightly blue and the she-kit was a pretty little calico. The tomkit looked slightly larger than the average kit, but she didn’t mind.

Emberpaw grinned at the kits. "So, want to play mos-" He was cut off as someone called his name. Flicking up his ears, he turned to Ebonypaw and smiled at her. As she introduced herself, he nodded. "As I was saying," he said, with a playful nudge to Ebonypaw, "want to play moss-ball?" He nodded to the packed moss on the floor that Kestrelkit had spat out and lifted it up in his teeth gingerly. "We can play teams: she-cats against toms," he suggested. He loved games. You didn't have to be a kit to play them. Some of the apprentices would act high and mighty, turning their noses up at moss-ball, but not only was it fun, it helped improve your reflexes!

Boulderkit's attention was caught by another apprentice, who had called out to the kits' newly met friend, Emberpaw. The tom's grassy eyes scanned over this stranger, a dark she-cat, as he processed her name, Ebonyoaw. Boulderkit nodded his head in greeting, not bothering to say his name again. The solid blue-grey kit quietly observed his new comrades with a small tinge of pride at his accomplishment of making friends; Kestrelkit, the tall she-kit, Emberpaw, the dark brown tabby, and now the molly Ebonypaw. At the elder tom's suggestion of splitting up into teams for mossball, Boulderkit bounded over to Emberpaw, his heavy paws leaving pawprints in the soft soil as he went. Once beside the apprentice, Boulderkit crouched down, rear end in the air, as his tail swooshed back and forth while he snarled playfully at the females. "Try to beat us if you can."

Ebonypaw shoved Emberpaw back, and when Emberpaw proposed to play mossball tom-cats versus she-cats, Ebonypaw’s eyes widened. “Oh, no! Great, powerful tom-cats! PLEAAAASE don’t let us loseeee.” Ebonypaw pretended to be very frightened, while inside she was actually up for the challenge. “You’re on, Emberpaw. If...uh...this kit and I lose...we can still have a competition another time.” Ebonypaw grinned at her “ally”. “Ready?” She asked.

((so so sorry for my late response))

Kestrelkit pounced over to Ebonypaw's side, and joined her teammate in mocking their opponents: crouching low down to the ground the she-kit bared her three tiny fangs and playfully swiped a paw at Boulderkit. "You may be bigger than me, but I'm cleverer than you!" she announced to the toms. Glancing at her new friend, Kestrelkit responds "Yep, ready !", then returning her gaze to the mossball in Emberpaws' teeth, her thin tail lashing to and fro.

Emberpaw flashed a playful grin at Boulderkit. He dropped the moss-ball onto a paw. Hooking the paw upwards, the moss-ball flew in an arc to Kestrelkit and Ebonypaw. Emberpaw crouched down and waited for the moss-ball to return to their side. The moss-ball seemed to plunge down in slow-motion, and Emberpaw's eyes were fixed on it, trying to judge who would get it and where they'd hit it.

As the mossball fell through the air in an arc, Ebonypaw dashed forward, and leaped onto the air as high as she could, before smashing the mossball towards the ground in high speed. That was a move she had learned as a kit and she watched intently if any of the toms could know how to catch it. “Alright, Kestrelkit. I think that you should take one side and I could take another, if that’s okay with you?” Ebonypaw suggested.

Boulderkit watched with a playful glint in his eye as his teammate batted the ball to the she-cats, then as Ebonypaw dashed to return the mossball. Before he knew what was happening, the green ball smashed onto the ground beside Boulderkit. He blinked down at it in confusion; Ebonypaw had hit the ball so fast that the tom kit couldn't react in time. With a frown, Boulderkit ducked his head in embarrassment. "I'm sorry, Emberpaw," he mumbled under his breath.

Dashing to the other side at Ebonypaw's suggestion, Kestrelkit crouched to prepare for Boulderkit to return the mossball. Eyes glinting and ears back, the small calico dashed towards her grey friend and leaped as high as she could in anticipation for his turn to return the ball. Instead, Boulderkit just ducked his head and murmured something too quiet for Kestrelkit to hear, causing the she-kit to come crashing down on Boulderkit. She scrambled off of him and meekly apologized: "Sorry Boulderkit.."

Emberpaw merely laughed as Kestrelkit landed on top of Boulderkit with a thump. "Kestrelkit, I think Ebonypaw meant staying on your side, just going beside her; like she takes the left and you take the right." But what do I know? The dark tabby retrieved the moss-ball from beside Boulderkit. "Amd it's fime, Mouldermit, you dom't cach everythimg." His voice was heavily muffled by the moss-ball, but his tone was friendly. Now that Ebonypaw was the only one on his opponent's side, it would be pretty easy to throw the ball out of her reach. With a surge of power, Emberpaw hooked the ball with a claw and threw it to Ebonypaw's side, where Kestrelkit might've been able to get it if she was over there, but she wasn't.