From Shadow [Open]

Mistykit was lazily stretched out near the nursery, absently batting at a stray leaf. The sun was starting to go down, leaving the dark-furred tom in shadows, eyes bright in the gloom. While the kit was nearly the age to become an apprentice, his eyes hadn't changed much from kit-blue, becoming slightly darker in shade as he matured. Combined with his slender form, he looked a bit younger than he really was.

It was, in all honesty, frustrating. He was nearly old enough to be an apprentice, why couldn't they just hold the ceremony a bit earlier? Staying in camp was boring, and Mistykit wanted to learn to hunt and fight like all of the apprentices.

Leaf now shredded, Mistykit rolled to his paws, blue eyes watching the clearing curiously. There had to be something to do that wasn't just playing with leaves, right?

Brightpaw was busy finishing up some apprentice duties in the evening when she noticed an older kit lounging outside the nursery. He looked frustrated, a threaded leaf lying at his paws and eyes curiously surveying camp. The way he sat there silent and alone reminded her of her kit-hood, which wasn't that long ago. Once the elder's bedding was replaced, she carefully approached him. Maybe he wanted an older cat to occupy him, as he, like her, seemed to not enjoy the company of the other kits. "Hi, I'm Brightpaw," she said shortly, "Are you bored of being stuck in nursery?" What was she supposed to say? She began to regret putting herself in the position she was in, but tried to push back the doubts to carry a conversation.

((Font colors aren't working I apologise))

Ebonysong padded into the nursery once again, surveying the den. For some reason, she had a numb feeling in her heart that needed to be taken care of. Clearing her thoughts, Ebonysong nodded a greeting a Brightpaw, who was talking to dark-pelted kit. His eyes were the only bright features he had. Somehow, that reminded Ebonysong of herself.

"Hey, Brightpaw. Hi, little kit! You seem like you're bored, do you want to explore camp with us? I'm Ebonysong, by the way."

Nudging the other apprentice forward, Ebonysong gave an encouraging nod at her, trying to get Brightpaw out of her awkwardness.

Mistykit's ears pricked as a white she-cat approached him, introducing herself as Brightpaw and sounding just as awkward as he now felt at the sudden interaction. Was he bored of being stuck in the nursery? Oh, the apprentice had no idea how bored he was. He was about to reply when another she-cat stepped forward, dark-furred and introducing herself as Ebonysong. She was older than Brightpaw, and her name didn't end in -paw, so Mistykit figured that meant she was a warrior. Did that mean she could come and go from camp as she pleased? Was she able to hunt and fight?

"I'm Mistykit," he responded. She asked if he wanted to explore camp, and Mistykit stifled a twinge of mild disappointment that she hadn't offered to take him outside of the camp. He was nearly the age to be apprenticed! But still, she'd offered him something, even if it was only to explore their camp. It distracted the kit from his own awkwardness at being approached by the larger cats, at least.

"Please," Mistykit mewed, "I feel like I've been in the nursery for ages." Slightly exaggerated, and he really meant stuck in camp for ages, but he figured if he said camp he'd just get told the same thing his parents told him. And that was no fun. And exploring the camp sounded better than shredding leaves, at least.

Brightpaw acknowledged Ebonysong's sudden appearance with a flick of her ear, thankful that her friend had saved herself and the kit from the awkwardness. She would know what to do. The little grey tom introduced himself as Mistykit and seemed eager to have a tour of the camp. I know kits can't leave camp for 'safety' reasons, thought Brightpaw, but surely an apprentice and a warrior would be enough to protect him. It's not unusual for kits to be bored with being confined to camp. I guess rules are rules, even if he seems like he could start his training before six moons: he's small, but eager and smart.

Smiling slightly at the kit's complaining, she crossed camp to the apprentice's den to start their tour of camp. "Uhm, this is the apprentices den, I sleep over there," she motion to her nest in the corner of the den, "the other nests belong to the other apprentices, you'll probably be sleeping in here soon."

The lanky kit followed the apprentice with a flick of his tail. The den was mostly empty, and didn't seem quite as crowded as the nursery was now. Of course that would probably change once all the kits were apprenticed. On the other hand, the apprentices were often kept busy doing things, they weren't confined completely to camp without much to do like the kits were.

"I'm guessing most of the others are out training?" Brightpaw excluded for the moment, at least.

Crowpaw had been sitting near to the apprentices den, his daily duties have reached their end, when he noticed Brightpaw guiding a kit towards the den.

"Hey, Brightpaw! How's it going?" the dark pelted tom called, trotting over to her. Though they were both apprentices, Brightpaw was one of the oldest in the den and he himself was one of the youngest, so they hadn't had much chance to interact yet. But Crowpaw wanted to get to know everyone around him as much as possible. So he figured he'd take the opportunity to speak with her and introduce himself to this kit while he was at it, who though he looked young seemed not to be that far off from joining them in the apprentice den as well. He shifted his gaze to the kit. "Hi there! I don't think we've met yet. I'm Crowpaw,"

Brightpaw acknowledged Crowpaw's sudden appearance with a flick of her ear. "Hi Crowpaw, I'm good thanks." She may not have shown it clearly, but she liked the tom a lot more than some of the other apprentices - he wasn't overly loud or excitable, but still seemed to show signs of being a good warrior. He was young, yet he seemed quite mature, so Brightpaw (who tended to be better friends with older cat) still enjoyed his rare company. Sometimes she made judgments on other cats very quickly, but they were usually right and it wasn't something she'd ever consider stopping. Crowpaw introduced himself to Mistykit without hesitation. They probably fairly close in age, even if the grey kit didn't look it. "So, that's our den I guess."

OOC: I'm not big on the problem with posting order but just a reminder. I was just writing my post I gotta do it all over again.

Ebonysong followed Brightpaw into the apprentice's den and nodded at Mistykit. "Yes, apprentices train very hard with their mentors. You'll get one someday." Another voice floated out of nowhere and Ebonysong turned her head to see Crowpaw, one of Flintstar and Freckleface's kits.

"Hi, Crowpaw! I heard that Smokespirit was your mentor! Have you been able to train with him yet?"

As Ebonysong asked Crowpaw that question, she flicked her tail, signalling for the younger cats to follow her. They stopped at the warriors' den, where most of the nests were empty. "This is the warriors' den. Most of the warriors are out training their apprentices, hunting or just doing patrols. You'll be sleeping in one of these nests someday."

Another cat had decided to join them, and Mistykit's whiskers twitched. Crowpaw, who wasn't much older than he was now. That meant that Mistykit would surely be an apprentice sooner rather than later, right?

"Mistykit." He nodded at the dark tom. New cats, and that had the shy awkwardness he'd felt earlier returning.

Thankfully Ebonysong was already asking Crowpaw how training had been going, and then beckoning Mistykit toward another den, saving him from needing to speak. Yes, he thought, I'll be sleeping there eventually.

((I'm sorry kit posts are just so awkward to write.))

((OOC: aaaaa so sorry about the mess-up with the posting order!))

"Hopefully I'll be sleeping in there soon." she commented as Ebonysong showed Mistykit the warrior's den. It wasn't a surprise that she hadn't been made a warrior yet, but with all of Freckleface and Flintstar's kits being apprenticed, the apprentice den was suddenly full of cats a fair bit younger than her. She had been putting in extra work since Emberspark disappeared. He had been assumed dead now, but she could still make him proud.


"Who knows, Crowpaw might get there before me," she said with a smile. Her awkwardness was starting to evaporate as she settled in to the conversation, but she still remained a little uncomfortable.