Passing the Baton [c]

Lynxkit hated being bored more than she hated anything, and Lynxkit hated a lot of things. Most notably snakes.

Her Ma had been spending a lot of time doing a whole lot of nothing recently, not bothering to play with her only daughter even when Lynxkit screamed and pulled at her ears. The little molly felt like she was dying! Dying a cruel, unjust death at the hands of boredom.

How unfair.

Luckily, Granny was never far behind when Lynxkit was starting to feel this way. Ma groaned and complained often about how similar they were, but Lynxkit couldn’t see why it was ever an issue; Ma always said that Lynxkit was her pride and joy, so Granny must be too!

”Hi Granny! I’m tryna hunt bugs! I wanna be an apprentice as fast as I can— I was thinkin’ that Shrikestar might make me an apprentice sooner if I show him how good ov’a hunter I am!” Lynxkit giggled happily, dismay and beetles alike long forgotten as she ambled over to her grandmother. ”Do ya wanna help? You used’ta be a big ol’ warrior like Ma, right?”

Lynxkit’s surprised, open-mouthed stare quickly twisted into an evil smile. ”Foxing fox dung rolling in the mud!” she parroted, clambering onto her laughing grandmother. ”I’ve already got it, Granny! Mama says I’ve gotta smart mouth and I need’a watchit ‘cause I called Sunkit badger-stinky, but I was jus’ sayin’ the truth!” While still young, Lynxkit was never one to mince words— as much as it irritated her mother and upset other kits, she was never afraid to say whatever she wanted whenever she felt like. Sunkit was badger-stinky, anyway. Mama just didn’t want to admit it.

Perking her little head up from where it rested on Mintheart’s back, Lynxkit watched the escapee beetle scuttle across the packed earth. It was getting away pretty fast, but Lynxkit knew she was faster— she jumped off of Mintheart and lowered herself towards the ground just as her grandmother had told her, bright blue eyes trained on the bug. ”I’ll catch it for ya! You’re too old anyway, Granny, you probably couldn’t catch anything!” Lynxkit giggled happily. ”I’m the best catcher-er in the nursery— I’m gonna be the best catcher-er in all of Windclan! No! The forest, Granny! Just you watch!”

Pressed to the dirt, Lynxkit wiggled into a clumsy hunting stance, blue eyes big and ears straight back. She wanted to look over her shoulder and see if her Granny was watching, but she couldn’t take an eye off of her prey, who continued to scuttle around, all victorious…

Lynxkit leaped, back legs untrained but not weak, managing to land on top of the shiny bug before it could get away. She batted at it's little head until it stopped moving, still alive but thoroughly frightened. Lynxkit held the poor thing up with her paws to show her Granny, triumphant squealing resonating throughout the camp. "Lookit!! I caught it! I caught it! I'm the bestest catcher-er!"