out of touch [C]

Birdchaser

It'd been hard for Birdchaser to get herself out of camp the last few sunrises. She'd been reluctant to wander too far from camp, worried something might happen to him while she was away. If something had happened to Rainkit, so quickly after being brought into SkyClan's care... the large she-cat shuddered. She didn't want to dwell on it too long, so she sent her mind to focusing on the patrol. She'd set out alone, destined for their border with RiverClan. It had been a while since she'd come to the river-- the patrols she accompanied to that edge of the territory had been sparse since the days of her apprenticeship. The swirl of dismay and anger that the river brought her had gradually lessened; that, or had been muted by the slew of other problems she accrued since becoming a warrior. Either way, she let herself be at peace as she approached the border, focusing on the scenery around her.

It was her first leaf-fall, and she had to admit, it was beautiful to look at. She had only seen those colors in the sky at the extreme's of the day. If she'd been a little more kittish, she might have batted at the few that had already dropped from their branches. Instead, she relished in the soft crunch they made as she padded over then, and turned her ears to listen to the growing babble of the river. It wasn't long before the stream came into view, and Birdchaser stood still, simply staring across the cut of water. The trees across RiverClan's territory were colored in the same vibrant hues SkyClan's were, and she found herself so caught up in admiring them that she almost didn't notice the sound of approaching pawsteps on the opposite of the border. There was a rustling, and in an instant Birdchaser's hackles were raised, ears lowered and lip starting to curl, though it wasn't her territory to defend. But-- "Oh. Poppyshine." Just as quickly as she'd tensed, Birdchaser let herself relax, bowing her head in a respectful nod to her fellow deputy. "I wasn't expecting you. Our Clans don't cross often."

Poppyshine

Poppyshine had gone out with another warrior to do a patrol of the borders. Her companion got distracted with the scent of a mouse and had gone off to search while Poppyshine finished the path to the river. Her eyes lit up at the sight of the familiar SkyClan deputy across the river. Her heart beat a little faster in her chest, as the comparison of a RiverClan cat and SkyClan cat meeting at the river flashed Cloverheart into her mind—but the thought was quickly pushed away. Birdchaser had been kind to Poppyshine at Gatherings. She did not feel unsafe in the slightest in her presence.

“Birdchaser,” Poppyshine called, offering her signature smile. She sat down at the edge of the river and her tail swished happily over the sand. “They don’t. I think our patrols are usually at different times. But it’s great to see you now!” And she meant that, too. She wished that she had more to say to Birdchaser at Gatherings, but the Gatherings were always a source of tension no matter what was going on around the territories.

Continuing on, Poppyshine meowed, “How has SkyClan been? I bet it’s beautiful over there, with the orange trees. We can see the color change from our camp, though we don’t have many trees of our own until we get closer to the river here.”

Birdchaser

Poppyshine was, as always, beaming when she settled on the sand. There'd been what looked like a moment of hesitation before she'd sat down, and Birdchaser dully felt a little bad. Maybe her autonomous hostility had caused the cheery deputy some pause. Or maybe it'd been something else entirely-- the recent tensions between their Clans were familiar to both of them. Or maybe the light had just caught Poppyshine weird, and Birdchaser was thinking too hard about things. Either way, the calico had wasted no time in making herself comfortable and chattering eagerly away. The larger she-cat gave a reserved smile.

"Good to see you too. Interesting that your cheeriness isn't reserved only for Gatherings." She'd meant it as a compliment; she couldn't imagine being so... bubbly all the time. It might have sounded rude, though, or insincere. Hopefully neither. Continuing on, "SkyClan is doing well. Green-leaf and leaf-fall have, thankfully, been kind to us. The leaves, uhm, certainly do help, though." Birdchaser's smile lifted at the edges of her maw, though it remained tight-lipped. It made her feel a little better she'd been considering playing in the leaves, or simply stopping to admire them on her walk, that a more experienced cat could take the time to appreciate them, too.

"We have new kits recently, and new apprentices. Growing as always." Again, her thoughts drifted to the one she'd left it camp. It wasn't like he was exactly hers to claim, and yet she couldn't help but feel protective and anxious over him. It was then that a thought hit her: hadn't Poppyshine been with kits recently? Maybe she was wrong... but she could swear Poppyshine had looked just like Briarstar and Dandelionflight had at some of the Gatherings during her youth, and that she'd seen the calico fussing over some of RiverClan's younger cats like they were her own. It was quite the conclusion to draw, especially if she ended up being painfully wrong about it, but logic had never stopped her before.

No sooner than the thought had come, Birdchaser hurriedly spilled out, "Well, actually, I found one of the kits in a bush and brought him back to SkyClan camp because he was stuck in the middle of a storm with his--" she coughed and paused for breath, "siblings, who didn't make it, and now he follows me around and I visit him in the medicine cat's den and the nursery often and I think that makes him mine." She breathed in again, and cleared her throat as loud as she could. Sheepishly, Birdchaser ducked her head, scuffing the earth with a broad paw. "Deputy to deputy, would you have any advice for... that? I never considered myself the motherly type. All things considered, I might not have learned from the best." It only pained her a little to say. Beechfang had been the best, and always would be to her, but... Birdchaser only shrugged, glancing at Poppyshine out of the corner of her eye.

Poppyshine

Surprisingly, the reserved smile that Birdchaser offered to Poppyshine only made her happier. It reminded her of the gentle smiles that Perchstar always gave her when she was younger. They were still reserved for the most part, but they were warmer around Poppyshine. She hoped that one day, she and Birdchaser could be good enough friends that the same could be reflected in Birdchaser’s smile. The good news of SkyClan also warmed Poppyshine’s heart. A good season in neighboring clans were good omens for RiverClan, and if there was plenty to go around, then the clans could live in peaceful harmony. It almost sounded like something out of a dream.

The turn in the conversation caught Poppyshine off guard. She tilted her head, ears turning forward toward Birdchaser as though she were mishearing the conversation. New kits…one of them in a bush…siblings lost? Poppyshine’s stomach turned at the thought. What mother would abandon her kits, she could not imagine, and she felt awful that so many of them had passed away. As thankful as it was that at least one survived, Poppyshine could not imagine the turmoil the poor kit was in over losing their entire family. And now…As awful as the subject matter was, Birdchaser’s continued rambling was quite amusing to Poppyshine. She sounded just like Poppyshine did when she was gearing up to have her kits—all of the worry, the mumbling, the unease. Birdchaser sounded like a brand new mother, so uncertain of how to be one at all.

“Deputy to deputy?” Poppyshine repeated with a bemused purr. “Well, being a mother is certainly a new kind of responsibility. It’s best that you try to get to know him first. It sounds like he’s several months old, and he’s really attached to you. Find out what sort of cat he is and that can make parenting easier…for example, one of my kits, Sprucebark, he was—well, still is—a very rules-oriented cat. He likes a lot of order. So it was very easy to explain to him how warrior life worked and what things he was or wasn’t allowed to do. He was a very easy kit to manage. Another one of my kits though, Rowanpaw, he’s a bit more of a handful. He’s lagged behind his siblings because he doesn’t like to listen to his mentor, he tries to fight against the rules—but he does listen to me, be it because I’m on the one authority he respects implicitly or because I treat him as kindly as possible and explain things to him on his own terms.” She laughed gently at the idea. From what Stormdance had told her, he had to fight tooth and nail to get him to start listening. She’d never had that problem, and she marked that up to simply luck that he was such a mama’s boy.

Poppyshine meowed, “Ultimately, being a mother is trial and error. It’s important to treat your kits kindly and try to think of things from their perspective. They’re young and naïve and are often wrong about a lot of things—but you’re also not always right either. From the sounds of things, he’s quite attached to you, and so he probably won’t be a problematic kit. It would be good to encourage him to socialize and get to know other cats in the clan. Make sure that he has more cats he knows he can rely on than just you. That will help him grow into a strong warrior for SkyClan.”

She hoped that her advice would be helpful. She’d never had to give mothering advice before. She and Forestfire were the only mothers in RiverClan, and Forestfire was a far more experienced queen than Poppyshine was. This was new territory, and she only hoped that her advice would be fruitful to Birdchaser.

“When he becomes an apprentice, I would love to meet him at a Gathering,” she added. “I’m certain that you’ll raise a wonderful young warrior, Birdchaser. I think it’s quite admirable that you would take him in.”

Birdchaser

Birdchaser had almost retracted the question as soon as she’d asked it, feeling a little odd about asking Poppyshine for such advice when they’d only really spoken at Gatherings. She liked Poppyshine well enough, and she respected the other deputy quite a bit, but they weren’t particularly close. Maybe it’d been a weird question to ask a near stranger… but the question was out. But the little calico was steadily purring, making a sound like Birdchaser had said or done something funny, before chirping right away. The advice came from her like she was giving it easily to a close friend, not the stiff deputy across the river. That made Birdchaser happy.

”I wouldn’t say I’m his mother–” she started to protest, but arguments were swiftly drowned out. She decided to just listen then, nodding periodically to show she was actually listening. Sprucebark sounded like a good cat– those that respected the rules always were. Hopefully, Rainkit wouldn’t turn out like that other one, Rowanpaw. Not that she would voice such thoughts outloud, and especially not to the mother of Rowanpaw herself, but Birdchaser couldn’t imagine Rainkit being so reckless. He was still young, though, and that left him plenty of time to develop into just that sort of cat. The idea of him getting himself in trouble, purposefully or not, sent a little shudder through her. He’d been a good kit so far, though, kind and curious and attentive. He’d turn out good and strong and smart, she was sure of it.

Another, firmer nod came at the idea to introduce him to more of his Clanmates. Rainkit had been meeting them, slowly but surely. Birdchaser doubted he knew all of their names yet, and was certain there had been cats whose faces he’d yet to see, but he was smart. He’d made fast friends with Crookedkit, she’d noticed, though that made sense seeing as they shared a den part-time since he’d been moved out of the medicine den as a resident. She’d also thought he’d seen him hanging around Crimsonflame, as well as Wolfblossom, and a few other warriors. By the time she conducted his apprentice ceremony, he’d be well on his way to knowing the most important things any other kit born into SkyClan did. Still, even though he’d done a good enough job meeting a pawful of his Clanmates independently, Birdchaser made the mental note to take him on more frequent walks when more cats were about and try to introduce him to some of the cats he may have missed.

The little bit of praise from the calico made Birdchaser’s ears warm, and she shuffled her paws through the sand nervously. ”It’s not that admirable, I don’t think. It's… what a warrior’s supposed to do, right? Take care of those that need it.” She tried to add a gruff edge to her voice, push some degree of stoicism, but she’d been born with the inability to really hide her emotions. She’d certainly gotten better at it, but her open bleeding heart still crept into her words now and again. ”I’ll make sure to introduce you, once he gets his name. He’s Rainkit now, but I’m sure his ceremony will only be in a moon or so. We’ll keep an eye out for him.” Birdchaser bowed her head, and when it rose, the smile that rested there was no longer so tight. It was simple, small, but genuine. ”And thank you, Poppyshine. I do appreciate the advice. I’m not really sure if I count as his mother, or if he would even see me as such, but it sounds very helpful. He is certainly attached to me. I can only hope he stays as easy as you predict.” A rumbling laugh left her. With goodwill from StarClan he would cause no trouble once he was loosed unto the forest as an apprentice. ”Thank you, Poppyshine. You’re a good deputy, to schedule a patrol at just this time.”

Poppyshine

Birdchaser may say that she was not a mother or that it was nothing admirable or special—but Poppyshine knew better. It would have been easy for her to deposit the kit with some twolegs if they truly did not want to keep him. It also would have been easy to pass him onto one of the SkyClan queens and been done with it. She was holding onto him and caring for him, worrying about him. There was more than Birdchaser would like to admit, and so Poppyshine would not press the issue. She did hope that Birdchaser would come around to come around to recognizing it herself.

Out loud, she meowed, “I’m happy to help, Birdchaser. And it’s always nice speaking with you. It’s a shame that we can really only see one another at the Gatherings. As deputies, it would be nice if we were able to catch up more.” Especially with Birdchaser needing kit advice now. With a warm smile, Poppyshine added, “I’ll patrol around this time again. Maybe we’ll cross paths and you can tell me how things go with Rainkit.”