Morning Surprise [For Kitty]

[Heathclaw]

Today was the day. Today was a very special day. A most exciting, delightful, wondrous day. Well, for someone, at least. Still, getting to see the look of joy and surprise on her face was enough incentive to get Lightheart out of his nest on time.

"Well, look who's finally getting up for dawn patrol, huh?" grunted the cat that shared the nest beside him as they headed out of the warriors den. "Who are you and what'd you do with Lightheart?"

"Well, actually, Ivytooth's given me a special mission for the next few days. So, I'll have to catch you later, Crankynose!"

And he veered off into the nursery with the cat shouting after him about cranking his nose or something along those lines.

***

He crept into the nursery as quietly as a shadow, glancing around at all the sleeping kits with their mothers. Nope. Nope. Nope. Aha... aww... There she was, curled up in a nest at the back of the den, the first cat that the sun would shine on. Even asleep, she looked so hopeful, so full of energy, so innocent and peaceful... so Lightheart poked her. And continued to poke her until she woke up.

"Sshh. Come with me, I've got a surprise for ya."

[kitty]

Ashkit was having a wonderful dream.

She was an apprentice and was learning everything there was to know alongside her denmates. It was wonderful! She had no idea what being an apprentice was really like, but she sure dreamed about it a lot. Patrolling, hunting, fighting. Everything that normal Clan cats did that she would never get to do. It was great, the feeling she felt in those dreams. The feeling of being able to be a benefit to her Clan.

In this particular dream, she was practicing new battle moves with her Clanmates, trying to master the complicated moves. She had just successfully managed to bowl over her mentor in a sneak attack and pin him to the ground when she felt something. A sharp prodding, in her side.

"Hey, you aren't supposed to use your claws!" she protested, backing off of her mentor in irritation. But the annoying poking continued, and Ashkit woke up flailing, bopping Lightheart right on his goofy muzzle. Her gray eyes opened and then she was staring right into the warrior's face, and he was whispering, "Sshh. Come with me, I've got a surprise for ya."

A surprise? For her? A look of confusion flashed temporarily across her features, to be replaced speedily with excitement. "Oh, yay, a surprise? What is it, what is it?" In a flash, the seven-moon-old kit was popping up out of her nest and bouncing eagerly around the warrior. She didn't know Lightheart especially well, but they'd spent many days sharing a meal or two by the fresh-kill pile, and she'd come to like the tom. He didn't seem to treat her as differently as some of the other cats did. She liked him for that. Plus, he was just interesting to be around.

Now what in the name of StarClan was the surprise he promised?

[Heathclaw]

In hindsight, Lightheart should've probably expected Ashkit to wake up flailing. And so, he probably deserved the bop to the face that he got when he woke her up, although it did elicit an, "Ow. By dose." He then watched in amusement as Ashkit did the happy dance around him. Huh. She's not doing bad on those three legs. Hrm... just one problem. "Hey, keep it down, will ya? We don't want everyone and their mother jumping us for interrupting their beauty sleep. Okay, now follow me. We're gonna bust outta this place."

And with that, he lowered his belly until it was touching the floor and slithered out of the nursery like a snake. He turned around briefly to check that Ashkit was still behind him, and then he darted off, hissing, "To the forest! Chaaarge!"

***

Once they were a bit of a distance away from camp, Lightheart turned around, eyes gleaming. "Well, I bet you're wondering why I brought you out here. Weeeell, you're what, seven moons now? And Rainstar hasn't seen fit to make you an apprentice for some reason. However, I personally don't see any reason why you shouldn't be given a shot. So, whadaya say? A couple of training sessions in the morning for the next few days? Starting today?"

[kitty]

A giggle tore itself from Ashkit's mouth before she remembered that was supposed to be quiet. Her forepaw - not the one that had to support her whole left side - flew up to her mouth and she was balancing on two legs. This was something that was natural and easy; it had only taken her about a quarter moon to be able to balance with one back leg and one front leg, each on opposite sides, as long as she wasn't moving. Walking, or hopping, more like, like that had taken much more practice and patience, but that was just something else to entertain her boring days of still-kithood.

"Yes, yes, let's go!" she meowed enthusiastically, although much more quietly. Ashkit dropped into a crouch, her right forepaw meeting the ground again as she did so. Lightheart speedily stalked away and the gray she-cat followed behind him, having to rush a bit since she hadn't quite yet mastered the act of quick-stalking. But she was working on it, and was absolutely, positively sure that one day, no matter how many moons it took, she'd be able to get it down.

As soon as they stepped outside of the ShadowClan camp, Ashkit was looking around, wide-eyed. She'd only ever left the safety of the camp a measly three times, much to some cats' extreme surprise. She loved looking at the pine trees and the feel of the springy needles under her paws. She was so lost in the wonder and excitement that she almost forgot that she was out here on a mission. Lightheart had a surprise for her.

What could the surprise be? Ashkit tried to think over all the options. Well, since it wasn't her mother or Rainstar that had come on the pretense of surprising her, she obviously wasn't going to be made an apprentice (which was all right, she just must have not proved herself yet. There was still plenty of time), so what could Lightheart want to give her? Maybe it was just this, getting out of camp. Yes, that had to be it. That was nice of him; camp could get so terribly stifling and boring sometimes. It was nice for a change of scenery.

But the the tom actually spoke, breaking her out of her reverie. His eyes were gleaming, and Ashkit cocked her head to the side. He began by mentioning her age, then how he couldn't imagine why Rainstar hadn't made her an apprentice now (he had to be lying on that one - her condition was obvious and everyone in the Clan knew why Rainstar was so hesitant to make her an apprentice.) But then he went on to explain that he thought she should give it a shot, and Ashkit's hopes soared. Maybe this was it, maybe this was just what she needed to prove herself. Because Lightheart offered to train her every morning for the next few days.

Letting out a loud squee of excitement, the she-cat began to prance in happy little circles around the warrior. "Do you mean it, Lightheart? Will you really, truly let me try?" Her gray eyes were so hopeful and full of glee just at the offer. Maybe if Lightheart believed she should try, other cats would too!

[Heathclaw]

"Yeowch! Yeah, yeah, I do. Oy, my ears," Lightheart groaned, clapping a paw to one ear, and then bringing up the other paw and promptly falling flat on his face. Still, regardless of all the ear-breaking squees, Lightheart was glad that he took this job up. Not just because it got him off of the dreaded dawn patrol, but because Ashkit was such an amazing little cat. Despite being born with a major disability, she was full of so much hope and energy; it was utterly refreshing to be around. And, maybe, just maybe, they could pull it off. Trying to train a three-legged cat would be a challenge, but it was just the kind of mental exercise that Lightheart yearned for.

"Alright, alright. Let's get started," said Lightheart, getting up off the floor and shaking pine needles off of his muzzle. "First off, could you do the happy dance for me one more time? I just wanna see it again," he said, whiskers twitching. Partially true. It was really amusing to watch.

[kitty]

Ashkit had to giggle again when Lightheart fell flat on his face into the pine-needle-covered ground. She stopped her apparently ear breaking squeeing, though, so that he could get up. It wasn't her fault; she hadn't been this excited since her sixth moon - before they informed her that she couldn't be an apprentice, that is. So when Lightheart picked himself up and announced that they would get started, she was all business. However, his first instruction made her mouth drop open in surprise.

"My happy dance? You like it?" she meowed in a bit of confusion. But then she perked up. She'd better keep on good terms with her sort-of mentor. And besides, he liked her little happy dance! And she'd made it up all by herself! "Well, okay. If that'll help!" She began to prance in her happy circles again. It wasn't as believable this time - usually when she danced it wasn't of her own accord. But she knew how to do it - after all, she was the one who made it up. It just lacked the verve it had earlier. "When do you want me to stop?"

[Heathclaw]

"Trust me, I know what I'm doing with this," said Lightheart, in response to Ashkit's confused look. There were few cats that managed to look sagely and dignified while covered in pine needles. Lightheart was not one of them.

Either way, he watched as Ashkit danced around him for the third time. True, it wasn't as energetic and lively as the first two times, but that wasn't the point. The point was that she was able to dart around nimbly on her three legs, without even thinking about it. "Okay. Now, stop," said Lightheart, raising a paw. "I've seen enough. Now, as the next step in my super secret training... I'm going to try it," he announced, looking absolutely dead serious.

And, without further ado, he lifted up his back left leg, and attempted to go through the motions that he'd seen, to the letter. He didn't get very far before he lost his balance, and wound up crashing into the ground. He immediately picked himself up and tried again, and once more, failing spectacularly each time. "Well," he said, shaking his head after the third time. "That was very enlightening. I learned something from that."

[kitty]

Ashkit wasn't really sure what Lightheart hoped to achieve by mimicking her dance and, consequently, falling, but it certainly amused her. She let out a giggle when he popped back up each time to try it again, just picking up more and more pine needles in his pelt. Well, he obviously was unable to do it. But he had four perfectly capable legs. If he'd been hopping around on three like the gray she-cat since birth then he'd probably be able to do it. Although she'd assumed that all cats could do it. Maybe that was why she never saw any other cats in camp dancing that way?

"What'd you learn from that?" Ashkit asked, intrigued. Would this help with her training? She hoped so. This stood out very obviously in her amber eyes. But she couldn't help but tease her sort-of mentor about his needle-speckled pelt. "An easier way to collect pine needles?" She had to stifle a chuckle at his appearance. Any cat would think he'd been rolling on the ground for hours.

Hopefully he didn't learn what she suggested. Then he'd put her on pine needle duty or something. But if it would be something for her to do and it would help the Clan, hey, who was she to complain? Besides, pine needles were actually pretty comfy. They made you smell good, too.

[Heathclaw]

"No, I- hey... actually..." said Lightheart, trailing off and taking a good look at his needle-speckled pelt. "Y'know... that's not quite a bad idea. I'm going to have to remember that one. Pine needles are useful. Y'know... for bedding. And... other things," he said, letting the sentence drift off, as he began to think of all the mischievous uses for pine needles. They were only second to pine cones for catapulting material, not to mention their poking potential, and the way they could be used to dress up a cat's face...

"Oh! Hey I was about to say something, wasn't I?" murmered Lightheart, snapping out of his reverie. "Right. Right. So... I'm sure that you noticed how terribly I performed that last bit. Okay... I want to drive the point home a little bit more before I tell you what I'm going on about," said Lightheart, getting back to business. Shaking the pine needles out of his fur, he started pushing them around with his paw, until he made a circle that was roughly one-and-a-half Ashkits in diameter.

"Okay. I want you to try and jump into this circle. Exactly like I do," said Lightheart bunching up his back paws and bounding into the circle. However, as the circle was a bit too small for him, his legs bunched together and he tumbled over once again. "Okay... not exactly like I do. You should get the picture. Go ahead and try!" he said, grinning.

[kitty]

Ashkit listened intently to Lightheart as he blabbered a bit, chuckling at the appropriate times, and then snapping back into focus. What was he doing, pushing around pine needles like that? He formed them around into a circle, leaving a bare circle on the ground that was now free of pine needles, revealing the hard brown dirt underneath. The circle was a bit larger than Ashkit was across the middle. Eying in the circle in caution and confusion, she wondered what Lightheart was making her do. Its Lightheart. He's not gonna make you do anything that could hurt you. she comforted herself.

Her worry evaporated once the tom explained what she was supposed to do. He then gave an example, landing in the circle. However, either the circle was too small or the force of his jump continued to carry him on, because next thing Ashkit knew, Lightheart was toppling over through the pine needles once again. She laughed again. "You're a professional pine needle collect now! Its official!" she purred, but then was all serious. She judged the distance to the circle - it honestly wasn't that far, she knew she could jump much farther if she had to. Then she bunched up the muscles in her sole hind leg and, with a bit of help from her forelegs, leapt to the circle, landing neatly inside the edges and digging in her claws as best she could into the hard ground so as not to fall like Lightheart. She'd actually almost overshot and landed outside of the circle, but she'd made it and stuck the landing, which was more than the warrior could say.

[Heathclaw]

"Huh. Well, alrighty then!" said Lightheart, visibly impressed by Ashkit's performance. "Now, tell me the honest truth. Why isnt' Rainstar making you an apprentice?" She'd already figured out a way to jump on her own three legs, without being taught a single thing. True... her precision needed a little work... but that was what training was for, right?

"Erm... Huh. Well... that kind of blew my point right out of the lake. That was... that was really good, Ashkit! Okay. Well... I sorta lied then, because I didn't actually expect you to make that jump. Hrm. Alright... while I think of some other lessons to do, why don't you just show me everything else you've been practicing? Just, make sure not to hurt yourself, or Ivytooth will have my tail. And ears. And whiskers too," he said, shuddering.

[kitty]

Oh, yay! Lightheart was impressed by her! Ashkit could tell by his reaction. All that practicing had really paid off! Some cat finally believed that she might be able to be a warrior! She'd proven them wrong! Giving another little squee of happiness, Ashkit performed her little happy dance again, bouncing in circles on her three legs easily through moons of practice. Lightheart was impressed by her jumping! And jumping was the easy part! Imagine what he'd think when he could see what she'd been practicing for moons! He was gonna be so pleased with her!

Ashkit calmed down enough to answer the tom's question, but her gray eyes continued to shine in a mixture of excitement and pride, still marveling over how surprised Lightheart had seemed by a simple jump made by a three-legged cat. "Well, Rainstar says its because I've got only three legs. I'm gonna prove him wrong, though." She gave a little eager bounce. Lightheart was really impressed, she could tell! He could barely think of anything to say! So after floundering for a few heartbeats he finally instructed her to show her whatever else she'd been practicing. Nodding agreeably, she launched into what she knew. Now he'd get a chance to be really impressed by her!

Ashkit started with something fairly simple, an easy clawing at the air with one forepaw. From there she went into a move that she'd taught herself; she flipped onto her back and rolled smoothly back up to her three paws. That one had taken some work to get down without flailing her one good back leg around like a mousebrain. She thought about demonstrating her badly off-balance hunting crouch, and decided against it. He was just now getting impressed with her; she didn't want to ruin her chances by messing it up! So instead she demonstrated a couple more simple moves and stopped, glanced over at the tom. "That's about it," she admitted sheepishly.

[Heathclaw]

"Hrm... okay. I see..." mused Lightheart, quietly attempting to repeat her motions. He had to cheat on most of them, and even when he succeeded, the balance was quite weird. It was like having to learn a whole new set of moves entirely. Which, of course, was absolutely the point.

"Okay, Ashkit. Here's what I've noticed. You are unlike any other ShadowClan cat, obviously. None of our techniques, none of our training methods are going to work on you, because they're all designed for four-legged cats. In other words... if you ever want to be a warrior, you're going to need to make up the whole gamut of warrior moves from scratch, or at least adapt the regular moves to suit your purposes."

"Now, don't look down now!" Lightheart said quickly. "You're not going to be alone. You've got the cleverestest cat in ShadowClan on your side, on top of all the stuff that you've learned already. I think... I think that you're going to be a warrior in no time!" he said, popping back onto his feet with all of his old energy.

"Alright. Let's actually get started training, huh? Let's start... with the hunting crouch. You go, and I'll watch."

[kitty]

Ashkit watched in silence as he tried to mimic her moves, picking up his back leg. He had to cheat on most of them, and seemed off balance the majority of the time. It might be quite amusing - hilarious, even - if didn't know that it meant she was even more different from the rest of her Clanmates than she'd originally presumed. The fact that was pretty much exactly what Lightheart went on to say confirmed her suspicions, and as he spoke, uncharacteristically serious, she felt the gradual sense of sadness build up until she must have looked rather downcast. It all sounded kind of hard and complicated.

But she immediately perked up again when he quickly went on, back to his light, goofy self. He was right, he could help her come with with moves all of her own or adapt some of the normal cat's moves. It was going to be hard, but she could do it. It would make her a stronger cat, a better warrior, in the end, after she goes through it all. It would be tough, no doubt about it. But she had help. She wouldn't be going through the challenges alone.

It sounded like a great idea to Ashkit.

"Oh, will you really help me, Lightheart?" she asked, excited and happy. She might actually get to be a warrior after all! "Thank you so much! Thank you thank you thank you!" She was now just about bouncing in circles around the warrior, she was so happy.

Until he suggested they start training.

Ordinarily, this would be a great thing to Ashkit.

Hunting, though? Yeah, not so much.

She visibly wilted a bit, but managed to keep a half-hearted smile in place on her face. "A...hunting crouch?" she asked, trying to make her unhappy voice sound at least mildly okay with that. As she dropped uncertainly into her lopsided crouch, most of her weight very obviously on her forepaws. She began pulling herself forward, her hind leg hopping in the process. It made quite a racket - she certainly do it silently. Embarrassed, she sat up quickly and stared down at her forepaws. "My hunting crouch...um...needs work."

[Heathclaw]

And there was that happy dance again. Lightheart was probably never going to get tired of seeing the sight of little Ashkit twirling around him in her happy circles. And then, she deflated visibly at the mention of the hunting crouch. In fact, she quickly gave up on it after just a few moments.

"Now, now. Giving up isn't going to help with anything. Do you think I'd be where I am now if I spent my time giving up? Now, slacking off, on the other hand... that's going to get you far in life. Trust me- I'm an expert when it comes to that."

And with that, he flopped down onto the ground, completely flat, looking for all the world like a cat that was worn out and didn't want to move anymore. He motioned for Ashkit to do the same, and waited for the thump that showed that she'd hit the ground.

"Alright. Let's just lay here for a while now. Feel the heat from the sun, the wind in your fur, the pine needles tickling under your paws, and just relax. Okay. Good? Good. Now, get up. Stop! Right there," said Lightheart, tapping Ashkit's back with his tail. "How does that feel? Crouching should just be a balance between standing and lying down, right? How's your balance?"

While he spoke, he got back up and circled around the kit, facing her from her left side. Come on... You can do it, Ashkit, he thought, gazing intently at her eyes.