Inspection

As the nights grew longer, the winds got colder. They still weren't freezing yet, but there had been a couple evenings that Murkystrike had woken shivering, curling closer to Mistyfalcon before falling back asleep. This was one of those evenings, yet she found herself unable to fall back to sleep. Carefully stepping away from her mate's side, she placed her chin on the top of his head gently before weaving her way through the slumbering forms of other warriors, stepping outside of the den and into the chilly evening air. The camp was painted with red and gold hues from the setting sun, and she sighed as she looked around. The fresh-kill pile was still stocked well enough, but it certainly wasn't as big as it had been in Greenleaf. Looking behind her to the warrior den, she noted some small holes in the woven barrier that surrounded it, and a somewhat larger one towards the back. The cold wind seemed to be blowing from that direction... It was probably what woke her. She frowned, ear flicking as she turned to investigate the other dens. Each one had some holes that needed to be fixed, so she would have to get groups together to work on it soon. As she looked over the nursery, movement near the entrance caught her eye. One of the few kits in the nursery seemed to be there, Duskkit she recalled. He was an older kit, as well, and would soon be receiving a mentor and his apprentice name. She couldn't tell if he had spotted her just yet, but she mewed a soft greeting. "Good morning, Duskkit. I hope you slept well?"

Hearing the she-cat's voice to him, Duskkit immediately turned around. "Oh!" He exclaimed, though quickly kept his voice down afterwards, not wanting to wake up the younger kits back inside the nursery."Good morning to you too, Murkystrike." Even though slightly startled, it didn't take long until he returned to his energetic and joyful attitude, as being greeted by another clanmate was quite pleasant for him. Although it wasn't just any other clanmate now, it was ShadowClan's deputy, Murkystrike, and it was a huge honor for him to be spoken to by her. Feeling the chilly breeze of the new season, he now felt glad for having a thicker and fluffier pelt than most. The cold wind travelled through his fur, leaving it flowing against the breezes for a brief second or so. "Indeed! How about you?" He questioned, smiling brightly to the she-cat.

Murkystrike purred at the kit's reaction, stepping a little bit closer as she answered. "I slept well enough. There are a couple holes in the warriors den, so I woke up because of the wind. How is it in the nursery? Are there any breezes getting through? If you would like, we can work together to get them closed up and you can surprise your mother with it when she wakes." She offered. There didn't seem to be any big holes, just a couple small cracks that they could easily patch up. She smiled back at the young tom, curious as to what his reaction would be. Perhaps this would be a good way to gauge his readiness to become an apprentice.

Duskkit nodded, though feeling displeased as he heard the chilling breezes has woken her up from her evening slumber. Then hearing her inquiration about the nursery, his eyes lit up with joy. "Well, there had been a few cold breezes coming in and out the nursery at times. And that would be wonderful! She would surely love that." He grinned cheerfully. He had noticed the smaller cracks, though wasn't sure on how to really patch them up himself yet, and so decided to leave them there until he had some cat else to help him with it.
Though with the help of a warrior now, he felt confident that he would be able to do well enough to help her patch it up, and he figured that his mother would enjoy it, too. Duskkit then rose to his paws, glancing to the cracks and padding towards them quickly. He took a look back to the deputy, hoping to maybe get instructions on how to do so correctly.

Murkystrike nodded as Duskpaw admitted the cool breeze that had been coming through the nursery occasionally, and smiled as he readily agreed to help. "Perfect! We'll go around camp and collect some sticks and grass, and then use mud to keep them closed up tight. Sound good?" She mewed, leading him over to an area towards the edge of camp that had some tall, thick grass, motioning to it with her tail. "Grab a mouthful and head back to the nursery. I'll grab some sticks from over there and meet you soon." She gestured with a paw to a nearby area with sticks scattered across the ground. Leaving the kit to his task, she padded over a collected a few sticks before heading back to the nursery, ready to patch the cracks.

"Alright!" He chirped, bouncing towards the grassy area. Just as he had been told to do, the tom-kit carefully grabbed a mouthful of the thick grass, then headed back to the nursery to meet up with her again. He had grabbed a bit too much than necessary, but it wasn't enough to mind him. After all, he was just happy he could help her patch the nursery up. He sat down beside Murkystrike, grasping the grass in his mouth secure enough to not make it fall all over the place. Both Murkystrike and him would find that unpleasant if he did. Now that he got prepared, he sat down, waiting for further instructions. He gave a small nod to Murystrike to show that he was ready.

When the kit nodded to her, she smiled in return and placed the sticks across the small holes before nodding to him. "Alright, go ahead and push the grass in the gaps left behind, and when you think you're done let me know and we can get the mud to hold it in place." Murkystrike purred, stepping back to give the kit space and scooping up a pawful of mud to be ready for when he was done.