just playing [open]

Lightningkit was old enough to know that this clearing wasn't the one she had called home, but young enough to easily accept that this was home to her now- it wasn't the first time home had changed, after all. What she had a harder time accepting was the difficult-to-understand divides between the different groups of cats that called this place home- she recalled one fresh-kill pile, not four. How was she meant to keep track of which one was theirs, anyway?

She shrugged that thought off the way she shrugged off most things, focusing instead on playing around and having fun. For now she dashed from place to place, kicking a moss-ball to chase as she went. Borders and leaf-bare were just words she'd heard from older cats, and as it was she wasn't entirely sure those things were even real.

The thrill of chasing her favorite moss-ball around the clearing? That was real.

The SkyClan kit was so lost in her own little game that she barely even noticed that she'd crashed right into another cat.

With all of the clans gathered in Fourtrees for the foreseeable future, it seemed like a waste not to try making new friends. At a normal gathering there was just too much going on with too little time to really get to know someone. Here, she would have days, maybe even moons to get to know some of these cats, and Silverwing was eager for the chance to do so! She had been on her way to procure a piece of a prey from Windclan's pile as a conversation starter of sorts as something slammed into her leg. One glance and she was on her way again, unbothered by the kit that had- kit? Silverwing whipped around to find a small golden kit, alone, with no one to protect her. That was very bad news for the fluffy little thing, she was in danger! Lowering herself so that she was almost eye-level with the kit (they apparently loved that), Silverwing smiled. "Hi there, I'm Silverwing! What's your name cutie?" New friends could wait, kits were more important!

Lightningkit blinked, the larger- older?- cat leaning down to meet her eyes. That was unusual, wasn't it? Or had she just not experienced it before?

Still, she recovered from her confusion quickly, grinning up at the unfamiliar figure. "Name's Lightning! Er... Lightningkit, I guess. But Lightning. You don't have any wings," she observed. "Birds do, n' butterflies do... Never seen a cat with any. Did you used to have 'em? Is that why you're called that?"

She didn't stop to wonder if she was talking too much, or asking too many questions. Those were thoughts that had never once occurred to her.

"Do you live here too? I didn't used to, but I do now!"

Harrierpaw had been wandering Fourtrees, absolutely lost on what to do after finally getting the mud out of her fur. SHe passed groups sharing tongues already but couldn't find an opening to introduce herself in them. It would have been easier had cats approached her like those WindClan apprentices had, but sometimes you had to try things for yourself. And it wasn't going too well.

Soon she wandered upon a she-cat crouched alone, a piece of prey with her. It wouldn't be right to interrupt while she was eating...  

But on closer inspection, the she-cat was not alone or actively eating. A tiny, squeaking ball of fur was chattering nonstop questions. It made Harrierpaw laugh on hearing the golden kit ask whether or not the she-cat had ever had wings. It made her curious on how this question was going to be answered, so she plopped down behind the kit. "Well? Did you use to have wings?" She mused.

Silverwing listened intently to the kit's questions. Just before she spoke, another cat approached from behind Lightningkit, a very cute and fluffy looking apprentice. Why were all the other clans gifted with such fluffy cats? "Don't tell anyone," she mewed conspiratorially, "but I do have a wing! It's hidden under my fur, but I don't just bring it out for anyone. The only other cat that knows about it is Brackenwing, but she also has one!" Silverwing's eyes glowed mischievously as she continued, her smile spreading as she spoke about her other half. "On dark nights when no one can see us, we fly around the moors! Though, we've had to stop since we 'live' here now." Lifting her head slightly to address the newcomer, Silverwing purred her greeting. "I'm Silverwing by the way, and this cute little monster is Lightningkit!"

"Yeah, I'm Lightning!" Ice-blue eyes narrowed slightly as she observed the newcomer, whose fur was much darker than her own. "What's your name? Do you have wings? I don't, but it'd be cool if I did! I wanna fly all over the place. If you really know how to fly, can you teach me? But I guess I'd need wings for that, huh... Everyone says this is where we're staying 'cause of the ground shaking, but if I could fly I wouldn't have to worry about it! If you're not on the ground it can't bother you, right?"

She bounced up and down, hopping in place and relishing in the brief moment where she was completely airborne before crashing back down- she couldn't fly, she'd tried (with the result of a very memorable and very loud lecture from both her mother and her brother), but she could demonstrate her lack of abilities just fine. "So I can't fly. But I'm fast, though! I go zip-zip- like this!"

To demonstrate her skills, she ran in circles; only stopping when she got too dizzy to move properly and wobbled on her paws. "It's fun, n' I think it's cool! Still not as cool as flying, though..."

Harrierpaw giggled, her eyes squinting from the pure joy she felt at this moment. It was refreshing being in the presence of Lightningkit after all that's happened. "Oh, I'm jealous of you, Silverwing! Not only do you have a wing, but you're friends with the fastest kit alive!" She exclaimed.

"Unfortunately, I don't have wings. If I did, I'd be in the trees all the time and away from the mud." She stuck her tongue out, having spent the last few hours pulling clumps of mud from her previously dirtied coat. "I'm Harrierpaw, by the way. I came in with ShadowClan." Her green eyes scanned the two, taking in their appearance so she wouldn't forget. She enjoyed the company of these two already.

"Where do you two come from?"

The absolute torrent of words coming from the kit shocked Silverwing. She had met quite a few kits, but none of them had the same energy as Lightningkit, not even Russetpaw! The bouncing that followed was too cute for words, and the following zip-zip had Silverwing's heart melting. "Can I be jealous of myself too? Stars, you're just too adorable Lightningkit! I wish you were in Windclan!" Silverwing's voice trembled with barely restrained joy as she watched the the kit wobble around. Surely the kit's mother wouldn't mind if Silverwing helped out a little with her kit. With a short hop, Silverwing closed the distance between herself and Lightningkit, wrapping her paws gently around the fluffy beast. "Watch out, Lightningkit! You're gonna fall!" Any excuse to be able to touch the cute little kit was appreciated, and that wobbling looked far too dangerous! "Harrierpaw, a lovely name for a pretty cat! I'm from Windclan, you won't find a better hunter, or a faster runner than me!"

Lightningkit really only pretended to fight the steadying force of Silverwing, struggling as she was to keep herself upright. She might have pushed a little harder if not for that, but either way she settled after a moment, perking up at the warrior's next words. "WindClan's... Th' fast one?"

What she said to the other stranger- Harrierpaw, she had a name now too- confirmed that.

Fast runner, good hunter.

"Betcha I'll be even faster one day," she said, both her voice and expression filled with confidence. "Faster n' any cat- no one's gonna keep up with me! I'll be faster than the birds, too- they won't know what hit 'em! I'll race the wind and win, wait n' see!"

She thought over the names of the Clans, and what she knew about them, before coming to her own. "Well, before we lived here we lived in another clearing... There were a lotta trees! There's- four of 'em here? We had wayyy more than four," she nodded, unsure of a number she could say that would be impressive. "Uhhh... Trees... Right, SkyClan! 'M SkyClan, since Mama brought me home."

Then, more mumbled than spoken: "You'd think the sky cats could fly... We're sky cats!"

Harrierpaw's ears felt a bit hot. She'd never been complimented before... Not by her mentor, not by Leopardsun or even Nightstar. "Thank you, Silverwing. I was going to say the same about you! I hope my own warrior name can live up to yours." She tried her best to not show her embarrassment and decided to hold onto that little compliment in the back of her mind for a while. After all, if Harrierpaw could list one or two things that ShadowClan lacked, it would probably be the ability to give even the smallest compliment.

...Maybe she should start the trend?

She purred as she listened to Lightningkit prattle on. "Your home sounds pretty, Lightningkit! One day when you're bigger, you should teach me all you know about climbing trees! Maybe you'll even learn to fly for real." She mused. There was a chance they'd only meet again during gatherings like this. But on the off chance they do meet outside of that, Harrierpaw wouldn't mind at all.

The warrior smiled warmly at Harrierpaw. Her name was very pretty, that was a fact by now with how many cats complimented her on it. "If your warrior name is even half as pretty as you are, then you'll be fine. I'm sure of it!" She made a little mental note to keep an ear out at gatherings for the apprentice's name to pop up. When Harrierpaw received her name, she wanted to be one of the first cats from another clan to congratulate her.

Silverwing giggled at Lightningkit's declaration, so that's how it was? "If you really want to be the fastest, then I guess that means we'll need to prove it. When you become a warrior, we can have a friendly race to see who's faster, all three of us!" The thought excited Silverwing, almost enough to let go of the kit. Almost. She wasn't budging from her spot until she had to. Now, why would anyone want to live in a place full of trees? Sure it sounded pretty enough, but they were just big things that you could potentially run into. Actually, Windclan had a few trees right? Maybe she could find a way to climb into one, the view must be nice from up there! "Not fair, if you teach Harrierpaw that stuff you have to teach me too! I'll even teach you how to fly!"

Silverwing was a pretty name, Lightningkit admitted. Harrierpaw, though, was something that she valued more: a cool name. So, she decided to voice that observation, as much as she hadn't really been part of the names part of the conversation: "Silverwing's name's real pretty- but yours is cool, Harrierpaw! Cool like mine!"

"SkyClan was pretty," she nodded. "So's this place, though! And this is home now, right? So it's good that I like it here, 'cause we live here!"

Then, as Silverwing offered a future race, her face lit up. "Okay!" Lightningkit agreed easily, nodding cheerily. "I'll teach you both how to climb stuff, and you'll teach me how to fly!"

This was a bold claim for a kit who hadn't yet reached any of the lowest-hanging branches (despite her best efforts, easily thwarted by nearby warriors), but there was a strong conviction behind it. In that moment, a deal was made.

The dark-furred apprentice couldn't help but purr and a secondary praise from the WindClan warrior. What a nice cat... But Lightningkit was right. Harrierpaw's name wasn't exactly the opitomy of cuteness or anything pretty at all, unlike Silverwing. But cool? She could get more behind that one. Though she enjoyed both the compliments equally.

Harrierpaw winced, having forgotten to include the cute little talkative kit in the name topic. "I thought it went without saying, but your name is the coolest name I've ever heard. Quick and bright, just like you." She purred, still basking in the praises she received.

"I don't think this is our new home now, unfortunately." She reminisced about all the icky mud and deep marshes that littered ShadowClan. Still, that soggy land was her home now and she'd like to return to it. "I'm not sure how long we'll be staying here, though... Do you have an idea, Silverwing?"

Fourtrees? Home? Those two words didn't belong in the same sentence. Even with all the friendly and inviting cats she had met, this place would never even come close to Windclan's camp, or its moors. This was not a home that she wanted to stay in any longer than necessary. "I don't, sorry. We've been here for a while though, I'm sure we'll all be going back to our respective territories soon enough, we just have to wait a little bit longer." Silverwing was sure that Shrikestar was already making preparations for the trip back to camp, adding provisions to the fresh-kill pile before the march, sending cats out to make sure the path home was fine, general leader stuff.

Lightningkit didn't really get it- why were they here, why did they live and sleep and eat here, if this place wasn't home now? But she didn't want to look less-than-smart in front of the cool older cats, so maybe she just shouldn't say anything...?

But she still wanted to know stuff. "Why wouldn't it be? Like, uh- why'd we come here if we're not gonna stay? I think it's nice. There's trees, even if there's not a lot, and there's cool cats to talk to, and all the cats I already knew are here too!" Then, more curiously, squinting at each of them: "What's your old homes like? Was it as pretty as the sky-trees were?"