Feeling young again (closed)

Spottedstar entered camp in higher spirits than he had left it. It was hot out and terribly dry, but the exercise and the view from the Great Ridge was a good reward after a day of hunting. On top of that, he was planning his next training session with Adderpaw, whom he quite enjoyed training. As long as the leader could keep his mind occupied, everything was fine. He carried a goldfinch and a squirrel in his mouth. Spottedstar surveyed the camp, considering taking his meal up to the Tallbranch to catch a bit of wind, but he halted when he saw Mistpaw settling down from her daily camp duties. She was in Bloodstrike and Adderpaw's litter and close to earning her own warrior ceremony. The tomcat wondered if Mistpaw snuck out from camp and got into scraps like her brother had confessed to doing, but if he didn't know about it, then he wasn't terribly concerned. Perhaps she secretly reviled Spottedstar's way of leading, too. He wouldn't know unless he talked to her. He also felt some guilt over never spending time with his own grandkits. "Hello, Mistpaw." He meowed to the cream and gray apprentice after setting his two pieces of prey before her. "Do you want one of these?" In truth, Spottedstar wasn't sure how to approach her. Bloodstrike had called her shy. Hopefully she wouldn't withdraw.

Mistpaw was doing her daily camp duties, when suddenly a voice floated out from behind her. Curious and a little nervous, the gray and cream tabby apprentice saw that it was Spottedstar. Immediately, the curious part of her hid inside the hole of shyness. “Uh—uhm...yeah, thanks.” Mistpaw took the squirrel gladly, before finishing it up in small, quick bites. Greenleaf is so hot...I need to get a drink of water soon... She then padded towards Spottedstar, tilting her head in question. “Was there...something you needed to ask me grand—uh, I mean, Spottedstar?”

He settled down and started on his own meal, the goldfinch, but ate more slowly. Spottedstar plucked several of the delicate yellow feathers and set them aside to line his nest with later. He glanced up at Mistpaw and tilted his head to the side. "No, not in particular. Here, sit with me. Tell me about your training. Are you getting along with your mentor?" He asked, realizing he didn't know who Wolfcall had assigned to mentor her. Well, hopefully she would mention a name and then he could ask better questions from there. He took another bite from his bird, still picking some meat from the bones.

Mistpaw nodded at Spottedstar’s inquiry. “Foxfire’s great! I can talk to him and he taught me how to hunt in trees...something Da—uh, Wolfcall, had never learned before.” Flinching slightly at her sudden outburst of words, Mistpaw’s mouth immediately clamped up automatically and her face flushed in embarrassment. Where was your respect to your leader? Mistpaw scolded herself, tail twitching in exasperation. Now you’re going to just embarrass yourself...great. Forcing a smile onto her face even though she was panicking inside, she shuffled her paws around on the dirt.

"Ah, yes, Foxfire. A bright young tom, that one. I trained him myself." Spottedstar beamed proudly, thinking warmly of his former apprentice. His expression shifted quickly to one of surprise when Mistpaw mentioned that Wolfcall had never learned how to hunt in trees, too caught up in his own shock to catch her embarrassment. "Oh? I didn't know..." How could he not know his own son hadn't learned how to hunt in trees? And however did Wolfcall get trained in everything but that? It was SkyClan's ancestral skill, after all. Maybe... 'Should I... take him out and teach him? Would things be awkward?' He had forgotten his meal entirely, staring blankly at the wall of the camp. When he remembered where he was, he glanced back at the apprentice with an apologetic look. "Ah, well, I'm glad you've learned how to hunt in trees even if your dad can't. Maybe it's something you can teach him, hmm?" He meowed with a smirk, holding back a chuckle at the thought of his son being taught how to hunt by his own kit. "Or maybe I'll have Foxfire teach him if he's such a good mentor. Do you think that's a better idea?"