stepping out of the nest

Reedkit padded out of the nursery. he stopped at the entranced and tried looking at everything around him. everything was so white! and so many shades of grey and brown. he took in every detail. the small birds chattering in the trees. the swish of the grass by the gentle breeze. so much to explore. suddenly, the tom's eyes snapped to a cat by the fresh-kill pile. their pelt seemed to have taken all the color from the snow around them and changed it into fur. padding over to them, Reedkit smiled and greeted, "Hello! My name is Reedkit! What's yours?"


any cat can be the one reedkit talks to. Reedkit is free for interactions.

Minkstar's gaze wandered over to a little bundle of fur from where he lay at the entrance to the medicine cat den, his curiosity piqued as the kit wandered up to the prey pile, its chirpy greeting carrying clearly on the cold air. On impulse, he gathered himself onto his paws, the throbbing on the back of his neck briefly making him wince as he padded over. Seeing how he was stuck here, maybe he could at least entertain a kit or two while recovering.

Recovering... from death. A thought he quickly shoved into the back of his mind. At least the wound wasn't visible from a little kit's perspective, unless he asked for a badger ride. One small blessing - he really didn't want to freak out the little guy.

He came to a stop nearby, blinking in greeting down to the kit. What had he said his name was? 'R'- Redkit? No, Reedkit. Maybe. "Hey there, kit; I'm Minkstar. Your mama's letting you out to play, huh?" A lopsided smile turned the corner of his maw up, green eyes gaining a sparkle of life for the first time in a few days. "Or are you just exploring?"

"Yeah, I'm exploring! It's my first time out of the nursery. what clan is this again? I never seem to remember the names of all those clans in the forest! One was called nightclan, i think, and another waterclan? such odd names. my name is odd, too. Calico has nothing to do with reeds, and why does my name end with -kit? It's so plain, like all the other kits! does it go by litter?" reedkit rambled on, every question in his head flying through his mouth. he wasn't too interested in the answers, though. he would forget them anyway.

(sorry for late reply, i didn't see this :(

Minkstar blinked at the slew of questions pouring out of the kit's mouth, an amused smile tugging at the corners of his mouth. "Whoa whoa! How do I answer all that?" He could barely track through what the little guy had just said, apart from the first question, and why the end of his name had -kit. With a grin, he sat and tilted his head, contemplating the sky dramatically for a moment. "Let's see... hm, last time I checked this was ThunderClan - pretty great place to be, huh?"

"And you," He purred, bopping the kit's head gently with a white paw, "are called Reedkit because you're a kit, kit. Any place in particular you're looking to explore? I know all the little nooks and crannies."

His eyes twinkled with mischief as he smiled lopsidedly. It'd be good to do something other than mope and talk hunting strategy for once. A pang of wistfulness for when his own kits were young rose to the surface, memories of playing and high, excited voices dancing through his mind. It wouldn't hurt to recapture a little bit of that.

"Hmm..." Reedkit kit pondered a while about his answer. the larger ginger tom was friendly enough to be trusted, he decided. "Tell me about Thunderclan. Is it as bleak as camp, full of nothing but white and the many shades of brown and grey? are there other things that are as bright as your pelt, or green like your eyes?" he enquired, almost demanding. but he needed to know. what was the point of living in a world with no variety?

Minkstar once again found himself caught off-guard, looking curiously down at this strangely poetic, excitable little ball of fluff with its sincere eyes and intrigued nature. By 'ThunderClan', he assumed Reedkit meant the territory. Though the comment on his pelt and eyes was... uh, not expected. An amused smile quirked at the corner of his mouth. Kits would never cease to surprise him. "Bleak? No. No, the territory isn't bleak at all. Not in Greenleaf, at least. Everything's bleak in Leaf-bare."

With grey skies and bare, leafless branches... battles with RiverClan... assassination.... The sensation of the back of his neck snuck quietly back to mind, and he resisted the urge to rub at the sticky, itchy, painful mess. "You should see it when the leaves come out, and the flowers start to poke up through the snow. Everything's green and pink and fresh colours - big difference to what you see now, and greener than my eyes. Even camp gets a bit of colour." He gestured towards the ravine's walls, imagining it at the end of New-leaf with the delicate greenery that would poke out of the ground. Funny how he'd never really paid much attention to it, but now that he thought about it, he missed it. Maybe he was just getting old and nostalgic. "You see these rocky walls? In New-leaf little creepers start growing up all over them, and they get these little flowers."

Quirking a brow at the kit, he added, "And if you think my pelt's bright, you haven't seen anything. In Leaf-fall, all the leaves turn bright orange and yellow and red. They cover the ravine's floor, the forest - everything. You'll never see anything more colourful than that." He tipped his head, smiling down at the little tom-kit. "Then again, you'll get to see it when you get older, eh?"

Reedkit's eyes stretched wide in awe as the ginger tom illustrated a world of colors. he could almost see the world in his mind's eye: lush, green covers made from the leaves of a thousand trees, blocking out the endless blue sky. soft green blades under his paw pads and tickling his belly.

"Is there really a world like that? When will this season of coldness and white end? Must it be fought? Or must the season of colors and life come by its own free will?" He asked softly, his eyes never leaving the camp entrance. how he wanted to run out and see it all for himself!