Elder Duty

Yawning, Driftkit swiped a lazy tongue across his chest fur. He had been lounging in a small spot of sunlight just outside the nursery, but now...he was bored. No one else was around to entertain him. As he stared out at camp, a bit of movement in the elders' den caught his eye. What was going on in there?

Heaving himself to heavy paws, he plodded over to the den, poking his head inside. There was the old molly, Smokey-whatever, and...a tom that looked much too young to be in there. Unabashedly, Driftkit padded over to him, tapping his shoulder with a paw to get his attention. "Hey...aren't you in the wrong den...? Well, I am too...but I'm jus' exploring. Whats yer name?"

Being stuck in camp, and worse, confined to the elder's den, had left Newtpaw with more restless energy than he know what to do with and a burning temper. He could only sunbathe for so long before the sight of his peers coming and going from patrols made him mad all over again, and he'd taken some solace in retiring to the corner of the den. It was dark, cool, and he could curl his tail over his nose and not be bothered.

Or he thought he could, but a paw at his shoulder and a little voice told him otherwise. Slowly lifting his head to look at the kit, Newtpaw blinked twice before just laughing. He couldn't have the heart to be mad at a kit, though if he'd been a few moons older the question might have gotten an ear snapped off.

"Yeah, well, sorta a mouse-brain. I wouldn't shut up if StarClan 'emselves asked." Newtpaw chuckled, twisting himself around to rest his chin on the ground in front of his new companion. "Yeah, I oughta be sleepin' with the warriors, but... well, ya know. Loose jaw. I'm Newtspring– Wolfstar might be callin' me a 'paw right now, but I'm one'a SkyClan's three best warriors," he purred easily. And soon, he'd actually get to act like one again, too. "What's your deal? You're way too young to be hangin' out here, eh?"

"Hmmm..." Driftkit hummed, plopping his rump down into a sitting position. He took a moment to gaze around at the interior of the den, lost in thought. He didn't have too many opinions on what Newtspring had said, but the warrior seemed sad, so Driftkit wanted to help out in some way. "You're a pretty good warrior, huh...? So...I dunno, maybe Wolfstar did what he had'ta do...but yer still a good warrior, I bet. Jus' messed up a little bit."

Driftkit shrugged at Newtspring's question, a small, lazy smile crossing his face. "Eh...I was bored, I guess. Got nothin' better to do..."

"Not 'pretty good'," the warrior rumbled, keeping his head low. "The best. Stars should be thankin' me. I'm keepin' this Clan together." Hardly. If anything, it felt like he'd caused more drama in the seasons he'd been alive than helped. But he was good. "Y'should talk to Bloodstrike about makin' me your mentor, if you really wanna be a good warrior."

Driftkit grinned, and Newtpaw smiled back, blinking lazily in return. "Well, how ya likin' the camp so far? Y'excited to be an apprentice sometime? I know how borin' this place gets," he hummed easily and rolled to flop onto his side, cheek pressed against the earth.

His first thought at Newtspring's prompt about being a good warrior was Eh, that seems like a lot of work... But he did want to be a good warrior, right? That's what the training was all about! ...At least, to his knowledge. The large warrior flopped to the ground and rolled over, and Driftkit found himself doing the same, plopping down onto his stomach to get face-to-face with Newtspring.

"Being yer apprentice sounds nice...Bloodstrike's kinda scary, though...Maybe I'll go ask 'im later." Driftkit's face screwed up, furrowing at the thought of having to talk directly to Bloodstrike. He was the deputy, but where did all those scars come from, anyway? It couldn't have been anything good. The gray and white kit sighed, his bushy tail swiping back and forth across the ground. "Camp's alright, I guess...I wanna be an apprentice already so I can explore outside. My mama said I gotta be an apprentice before I can leave camp...Makes sense, I s'ppose, but then it gets real boring layin' around all day."

Newtpaw let out a deep breath as Driftkit flopped down in front of him, snickering at the way it stirred his whiskers and the fur on his cheeks. The kit mumbled something about Bloodstrike, and Newtspring couldn't hold back the snorting laugh that came in response. "He ain't scary," he assured easily, feathery tail waving. "He's big an' ugly, but he ain't scary at all. Big ol' mouse-brain's what he is. And, well... he's m'dad, too, so maybe 'm biased." In truth, Bloodstrike was a little frightening. Just not enough to keep him from acting out.

Driftkit went on, and the large tom yawned in agreement, half-closing his eyes. "Real borin'," Newtpaw echoed blearily, stretching out his legs. "Makes ya feel better, I'm not 'llowed t'leave camp, either. Part'a bein' a loudmouth, I guess." He muttered. At least he had company now, he figured, but no amount of idle chatter would make him feel less restless and frustrated. "Hey, we're in this together, eh? If I'm yer mentor, it'll be like m'first time out all over 'gain. We'll be learnin' together, yeah?" Whether it was an attempt to make Driftkit smile or an attempt to cheer himself up, Newtpaw wasn't entirely sure. It didn't really matter, anyway– if it worked in any sense, he'd be happy.