We Face The Dawn [c]

Rainkit

Rainkit was getting a lot better than he had been upon his first arrival. He was grateful for that. He didn't like the feeling of being sick, he discovered. And the herbs the medicine cats had him take and rubbed on his chest tasted awful and made his nose sting. Still, he handled treatments without complaint, often offering soft murmurs of thanks. Birdchaser had said they were doing that to help him, so Rainkit was thankful. He didn't understand a lot about this Skyclan, but he didn't want to appear ungrateful for their help and shelter. Despite that, he was looking forward to his stint in the medicine cat den to be done. The queen that had been taking care of him and giving him milk had told him that he'd come live with her in the nursery once he was given a clean bill of health by the medicine cats and he was no longer at risk for infecting the other kits.

Rainkit yawned and stretched tiny paws out, kneading the nest he was curled up in. The moss was comfortable, different from the fluffy beds the housefolk (or, twolegs he's been told) had given him and his family, but nice nonetheless. He was planning on curling up and getting a nap, when his ears pricked up at the sound of familiar pawsteps.

Birdchaser had been visiting him regularly, another thing Rainkit was grateful for. He had latched onto the older cat even more than the queen actively taking care of him. He knew something real bad would've happened to him if she hadn't shown up and he got scared just thinking about it. Birdchaser, more than any of the other still-unfamiliar faces and parts of the camp, made Rainkit feel safe.

He lifted his head to confirm his suspicions, and then quickly hopped up completely, smoothing out his puffy fur with a few quick licks and stiffening up so he wouldn't continue his kneading. "Hi, Birdchaser." He greeted, giving her a small, respectful dip of his head. As he started to get better, Rainkit was determined to show he belonged with these strange forest cats, and to do so he'd been trying to be as polite and as cool as he possibly could be. He really wasn't sure how successful he was being, but he sure was trying.

Birdchaser

It was hard to keep herself away from the medicine den as Rainkit recovered. Birdchaser knew that there plenty of pressing and important things she could be devoting her time to, but the little thing had trumped all responsibility in her mind. When she wasn't doing the necessary thing-- organizing patrols, attending her own, conducting ceremonies --she was poking her nose into the medicine den, or lurking just outside of it. A part of her thought if she looked away for too long, he would be joining his siblings in StarClan. Or... wherever loners and kittypets went. The thought made her feeling surprisingly cold, and a little cross with herself she'd gotten attached to him so quickly. When he was an apprentice, she would be sure to allow him more independence.

But he was still a kit, and he was still under her siblings' care. When the deputy padded in, Rainkit had already turned his attention towards her, scrambling to sit upright and make himself look presentable. Chuffing, Birdchaser dipped her head in a returned greeting, lingering briefly in the mouth of the den before moving closer. She settled beside his tiny frame (and became distinctly aware of how little and fragile he-- and all kits his age --were compared to her), giving his shoulder a quick, gentle knock with a heavy paw. "Hello, Rainkit. You look like you're doing better." And that he did. He was still a little small, even just for his young age, and looked a little frail, but he didn't look quite so much like the miserable scrap she'd found buried beneath the rain. "It's good to see you're looking healthy. I told you you would be taken care of." The infamiliar edge to her voice had yet to vanish completely, but it had softened considerably, nearing the casual, friendly tone reserved normally for Wolfblossom and Lichensun.

Slowly, Birdchaser lowered herself, carefully tucking her forelegs under her chest as she settled completely at Rainkit's side. "Has anyone else come to see you? Are you learning your new Clanmates names?" Birdchaser's ears swiveled forward as she spoke, offering what genuine interest her otherwise mild expression wouldn't convey for her. "I'm sure you at least recognize Fogfeather and Plumpaw now, right?"

Rainkit

Rainkit wobbled in place when she put her paw on his shoulder, shrinking down from the weight before popping back up. Despite his best attempts to remain serious, a tiny smile appeared on his face, and he could not rid himself of it. Still, he focused on Birdchaser's face and her now-comforting soft green eyes. He attempted to tuck his tail over his paws, but it was just a little bit too short.

"I'm starting to..." Rainkit said hesitantly. "It's sometimes hard to keep track of." He admitted with an embarrassed duck of his head. "But I do know Fogfeather and Plumpaw!" He said, brightening up a little then. Fogfeather was intimidating at first, what with his size and his grumpy nature, but Rainkit relaxed around him. He still helped Rainkit, and that's what mattered. Okay, his size still intimidated the tiny kit from time to time, but it wasn't as bad. "They've helped me a lot. The herbs they use don't smell or taste very good, but they make me feel a lot better. Like the pol...poul... poultice!" He stumbled a little over the word. "That they made whenever it got hard to breathe or my chest hurt a lot." He said with a small nod. "It stank, but it made it easier to breathe."

With his head now clear, questions came rolling in and curiosity overwhelmed the young tom. "What decides the name you have?" Rainkit asked. "I know you named me, but what about... warrior names? Right? Who decides those? Why are so many of them different? Fogfeather is awfully different from Birdchaser. Are you really good at catching birds? Is that why you're named that? And what about Skyclan? Why are you named that? Are there other clans?"

Rainkit actually took a breath then, and then he ducked his head with an embarrassed twitch of his tail. "Sorry, I didn't mean to ramble. This is all just so... new. I want to understand." And it was easy to ask Birdchaser these questions. He felt comfortable with her.

Birdchaser

Rainkit popped to life quickly, prattling on about the good work Fogfeather and Plumpaw had done to keep him safe and healthy during his stay. Birdchaser let out a consistent purr as he spoke (which grew briefly louder when he managed out “poultices”), pale eyes warming with affection. Admittedly, she was surprised he’d seemed to take such a liking to her brother– Birdchaser herself certainly hadn’t, at least not in recent moons. Suppose that meant Fogfeather was good at his work, if he could put aside his intolerable personality long enough to befriend Rainkit, and even Blackbear when she’d still been a kitten.

No sooner than he’d finished talking about the medicine cats, questions startled rolling out of him with hardly an end in sight. A soft chuckle left Birdchaser, and she waited patiently until Rainkit had finished speaking to address him. ”No need to apologize,” she mewed gently, large tail sweeping forward to curl around the kit. ”It’s a lot to understand, even for Clanborn kits. It’ll take you some time to learn everything; you’ll probably be asking questions your whole life. Let’s start with names, then… the first part of your name– Rain- for you, Bird- for me, and so on… is given to a kit by its mother when they’re born.” That felt a little awkward leaving her mouth. She’d been the one to name Rainkit after all, so for all intents and purposes… Birdchaser rolled her shoulders. ”I don’t really know how most queens decide to name their kits. Maybe it’s just the color of their fur, or perhaps they cry particularly loud when they’re born, or maybe it’s the name of an old friend. It could be anything, really.

“The second part, like -chaser and -feather, is special. It’s chosen for you by the Clan leader. Sometimes an apprentice’s mentor will help decide the name, or other cats close to them, but it’s ultimately the leader’s choice. It represents who you are. It could be determined by your skills, your personality, or something more… esoteric than that. Every warrior’s name is different, as every warrior is different.” Another thin chuckle left her as she thought on her own name. ”When I was an apprentice– my first outing as an apprentice, actually –I picked a fight with an owl because it swooped down on a mouse I’d been tracking. Perhaps that’s why Briarstar gave me my name. Though I’d say I am fairly good at chasing things, yes. SkyClan in particular specializes in catching birds and other tree-bound prey, so I suppose I have a good name to represent us with.

As for SkyClan… well, we’re the closest Clan to the sky. We spend our lives in the trees. SkyClan cats are built with powerful haunches made for long, high leaps, and sharp claws meant for digging into the bark of trees to better scale them with. Though many of us are large, we are nimble, and experts at navigating the boughs. It is our namesake, our home. The sky is everything we have, everything we are.” Birdchaser paused, thoughtful. Then, lowering her voice to a whisper, ”You’re going to be a fine climber, too. I’ll make sure of it, and don’t let anyone tell you otherwise. You belong in those trees, as much as any of us.” She hoped Rainkit hadn’t had too much anxiety about being an outsider to the Clan. Maybe he was too young to really take note of it, or of the differences between him and the other cats that surrounded him. Whether he had or hadn’t, she would make sure he felt like he had a home here, now and until he took his final breath– or his leave from the Clan.

Continuing on, ”Yes, there are other Clans. Four of them. Two of them share our borders: ShadowClan and ThunderClan. We also share a border with RiverClan, but we don’t patrol it as strictly, as it’s out of both Clans’ way. The other Clan is WindClan; they’re far from us, and spend their lives on the open moors. I can’t imagine living in a territory with no trees protecting you.” A slight shiver went through her. After spending so many moons under the sheltered canopy, Birdchaser thought even a single night spent on WindClan’s territory would scare her back into the nursery. ”You won’t need to worry about them until you’re an apprentice, though. Once you become a ‘paw, you’ll learn the scents of ThunderClan and ShadowClan, and where our borders lie. You’ll also attend your first Gathering– a peaceful meeting between all five Clans held every full moon –where you’ll get to see and talk to cats from every Clan.”

Sighing, Birdchaser realized she’d talked… quite a bit. A little rush of embarrassment hit her, even though she had no audience besides Rainkit. She bent her head to give him a small nudge with her nose, almost to assure him she was done talking. ”Sorry if I bored you, or if I spoke too much. I hope that all makes sense to you, little one.”

Rainkit

Far from being put off by the dump of information, Rainkit just leaned closer with each explanation, yellow and blue eyes practically sparkling. He started letting out a purr to match Birdchaser's, leaning against the warm, fluffy tail wrapped around his form as he ate up each new piece of information to examine and digest. His purr was softer, a little scratchy, and made his tiny form wobble a little with the force of it. He appreciated the amount of information being given to him, that Birdchaser was taking the time to explain things so thoroughly.

Rainkit took the time to muse over his name. The name given to him by Birdchaser no longer felt foreign, becoming a part of him as much as his fur or eye color. He wondered what he would've been named outside of the clans customs, but decided he liked it better this way. The Rain- part of his name showed where he started, where he came from. Maybe one day he'd grow big and strong enough to have a good, strong name, like Birdchaser. He didn't know what his name would be, but he wanted to earn it and show his growth. His mind also drifted to the idea of mentors, wondering who his mentor would be and what they would be like.

He refocused on Birdchaser's words and his eyes went wide and dramatic at the mention of fighting a owl. He didn't know what an owl was, exactly, but it sounded big and scary from how Birdchaser talked about it. Birdchaser was so cool and brave! Following along with Birdchaser's explanation of the clan's name, Rainkit instinctively looked up, though no trees were visible past the ceiling of the medicine den. Turning his attention back towards Birdchaser, he studied her, tilting his head as he took in the features she described- powerful haunches and strong claws. He tried to picture Birdchaser leaping around through the trees, and then he tried to picture that for himself, but it was such a strange and foreign idea it was hard to conceptualize.

Rainkit refocused at Birdchaser's whisper, and then he was ducking his head shyly, a huge smile breaking out across his face and his purr getting louder. He nudged the ground bashfully and gave a soft, "I hope so." As he became more aware and came out of his sickness, so too did his awareness that he was for all intents and purposes an outsider coming into this clan. Everyone had been kind and accepting of him, but he was scared that if he messed up somehow, he wouldn't be wanted anymore. It was nice to hear that Birdchaser had faith in him. It was hard to imagine himself as big and strong as Birdchaser, he'd always been the smallest of his siblings, but maybe one day.

Rainkit's fascination was drawn once again by the discussion of the different clans. His eyes went wide once more at the names, as he tried to picture the other clans in his head but was unable to conjure up the images for it. And the gathering! "All those cats?" He whispered in awe. "All in one place?" He's already overwhelmed by the idea of all the cats in this clan wandering about, he can't imagine that number five times over! 

Rainkit blinked as he was nudged, and his smile came out again. Something in him felt particularly warm at being called 'little one' by Birdchaser. "No, I liked it! Thank you."He rushed to assure. "I wanna know all that I can. And not all of it makes sense, at least not yet, but it's starting to, I think. It helps." He leaned on her again.