Help Me Help You {open}

Rays of sunlight beamed through the tree cover, painting sun dapples on the leaf littered clearing Pinekit found himself in. It was the hottest part of the day, with the queens and elders opting to trade their daily sunbathing for a nice nap in the shade instead. Most of ThunderClan's warriors were out of camp, hunting or patrolling. Partaking in lots of useful things Pinekit could only dream of. He wrinkled his nose at the thought, a little irked at his status of "kit", yet not daring to challenge the rules. He'd certainly grown fast, and was already the size of a small apprentice! But his paws itched for something to do. He didn't want to look back on his kithood and imagine it as boring. Pinekit didn't have any siblings to play with. Ferretnose had gently explained to him that his two sisters had died very young. He didn't remember them at all; too small to even have opened his eyes. Of course his mum had earlier litters; but Beecloud and Cedarheart had warrior things to worry about. Pinekit frowned and scuffed his russet paw at a stray leaf on the ground. Even Batbite's kits had all become apprentices. Pinekit wanted to be important; but not like this. He felt like the most useless member of camp. At least the elders could go out and hunt once and awhile.

Somehow he felt as if he was underachieving even at this age, and his pelt prickled with the desire to do something amazing. But speaking with the lone apprentice across the clearing would have to do for now. "'Ey Hickorypaw." Pinekit mewed with an over-dramatic forlornness. The russet tom came to stand next to the tabby she-cat, already at her height. "What are you up to?"

Burningkit was sitting right outside the nursery, grooming her pelt furiously. It was already clean, but she wanted to make sure there weren't any flecks of dirt that she had missed.

She looked up briefly to see Pinekit talking to Hickorypaw. She didn't know Pinekit very well, but she wished they could be better friends. His littermates had also died early on, just like hers. Perhaps more importantly, he was big for his age. Burningkit was taller than many of the other kits, and she hated it. She liked standing next to Pinekit because he was taller than her and made her feel less like a giant.

Hoping to make friends, Burningkit snuck over behind Pinekit. She launched herself into the air and landed right on top of him. "I'm a ShadowClan invader! You better watch out!" She yowled playfully.

Hickorypaw looked up from the idle patterns she was scratching into the dirt when a voice called her name, and she raised her gaze up to see Pinekit approaching her. She put on a smile and dipped her head in greeting to the large kit, eyes twinkling. "Hi Pinekit. I'm not doing much, just waiting for someone to give me something to do. I was just scratching stuff in the dirt, actually." The small apprentice inspected the brown kit with a calculating gaze surprising for such a sweet-looking cat, her smile fading a little as she caught the rather bored and upset look on his face. "Somethin' wrong? You look sad..." Before she could say anything more, movement behind Pinekit caught her eye and she looked over to see Burningkit sneaking up behind him. Eyes widening, she blinked and watched as the other kit launched herself into Pinekit, nearly barreling both of them over.

With the two kits scuffling in the dirt now, Hickorypaw drooped as her funny little markings and scratches were brushed away. "Aw...I kinda liked those...Hey, uh, Burningkit? We were kinda in the middle of a conversation..."

Pinekit let his lazy gaze drift across Hickorypaw's face as she spoke. He tilted his head a little as his field of view found her drawings in the sand. The kit stepped forward carefully to give them a sniff, wondering if they were some form of apprentice code he should know about. Pinekit didn't dare ask; not wanting Hickorypaw to think of him as daft. Surely when he became an apprentice, his mentor would teach him about the secret codes too. A heat different than the sun fell across his face, and Pinekit looked up to see Hickorypaw staring. She asked if anything was wrong. "No, I'm okay." Pinekit mewed nonchalantly, but the wind was knocked out of his lungs as a large lump of fur tackled him from behind.

"Oof!" He gasped, receiving a mouthful of dirt that had formerly been Hickorypaw's drawings. Pinekit stood up and shook out his pelt, unsure as to whether be annoyed or enthralled. A flicker of amusement played at his green eyes, and it took every ounce of willpower in his body not to tackle Burningkit back and start a playfight. It sure would be a good time. "Someday we'll have to fight real ShadowClan invaders!" Pinekit coughed, wiping sand from his mouth with a russet paw. As the anger faded, an idea formed in his head as he turned back to the orange tabby she-cat. "Can you teach us some moves Hickorypaw?" The tom winced as he gazed toward the ground. "Oh, and... sorry about your codes."

Burningkit shook the dust out of her fur, trying not to shake so vigorously that she got dust all over the other cats. That didn't get as much dust off as she would like, so she started vigorously licking her paws while she looked at the other cats. She noticed Pinekit and Hickorypaw looking at the ground where the two kits had landed. She could still see a couple deliberate lines, and she realized suddenly that she'd totally wiped out whatever Hickorypaw had been drawing.

"Oh no!" She squeaked. "I'm so sorry Hickorypaw. I didn't mean to erase your... oh, wait... codes? Can you teach us your cool apprentice codes?"

She remembered Pinekit had asked about moves as well. "Oh yeah, and apprentice moves! If ShadowClan invades, we'll have to know the codes AND the moves!"

"Codes?" she purred with amusement, tail waving as she looked between her scratchings and the two kits. For a second she considered telling the truth, that the "codes" didn't mean anything at all. Honestly, they were just lines she had made to cure her boredom and keep herself occupied. But she was her mother's daughter, and she couldn't resist having a little fun when the opportunity arose.

"Oh, these're secret codes...! I heard they were codes rogues an' loners use to communicate with each other," she mewed, a mischievous sparkle in her eye. "My mom and dad used t'be loners, so I picked it up from them. But shhh, don't tell them I told ya about these...! No Clan cat is supposed to know what these are. And..." she paused, unsheathing her claws. Hickorypaw grinned, playful, her fluffy tail cutting a swathe through the air as she took a false swipe at Pinekit. "Well...I'm not that trained yet, I'm not too far along in my training...But I guess I can show ya a few things."

The russet tom jumped back at Hickorypaw's mock swipe, a large grin on his face. Suddenly he wasn't so miffed at being tackled into the ground. First he'd gotten the older she-cat to tell him about her secret codes, and now he was going to learn battle moves! Pinekit felt rather special for being able to worm some information out of Hickorypaw, his paws itching to finally start doing something useful. "That'd be great!" Pinekit squeaked, a little surprised at the excitement in his own voice. He licked his chest fur and lowered his voice. "I mean, erm, that'd be cool, yeah."

The kit's gaze fell to Burningkit, wondering if she looked as excited as he felt. He'd certainly have something neat to show Ferretnose tonight.

Rosekit did not like to be alone. She needed some fun time. So, yet again, she slipped out of the nursery. The little rosy-brown-and-white tabby she-kit spotted two other kits from the nursery and an apprentice, and curious, she hurried over. “What are you guys up to? Can I join?” Eyes alight with excitement, Rosekit sat down before shielding her eyes from the bright sunlight of greenleaf. Huh...I wonder what newleaf, leaf fall and bareleaf feel like if this is how greenleaf feels like. I hope they’re not as warm as this. Shaking her long fur in annoyance as the warmth pricked at her, Rosekit waited for someone to respond to her question.