A Joyous Occasion [Heathkit's ceremony]

[night]

((My oh my...so eager, little Beechkit...slow it down there girl. Cool the engines. xD))

Smudgeclaw had paid attention (or half-attention) to the ceremony, but having a pair of eyes on you the entire time was distracting. Very distracting. He forced himself to keep looking up at Fernstar, at least until the end of the ceremony, when he finally turned his gaze back on the kit beside him.

"You think I'm charming? You aren't so bad yourself, you are such a lovely piece of eye-candy..."

Smudgeclaw felt a tingle of pride shoot through him at that moment - she's only a kit, Smudgeclaw....but she's encouraging it.... - and he smiled down at Beechkit. "Well, I thank you that you think so highly of me," he said, flicking her with the end of his tail in a friendly guesture. "My mother always called me the best-looking tom she'd ever seen, but I thought it was only a mother's thoughts. Nice to know that someone else finds my appearance appealing."

He grinned, standing up at that moment. "You are a fascinating cat, Beechkit. Very fascinating indeed." Never met a kit with half your boldness, he noted lazily. "I do think getting to know each other will be just as interesting. After all, there is so much you can learn through talking...shall we?"

Smudgeclaw motioned towards the sunnier side of the clearing - the sun was just coming out, and it would be nice to bask in the warmth of the clearing. He found that he liked Beechkit's bold personality. She would make a great apprentice, no doubt. Maybe Fernstar would let me mentor her, he thought, hoping it would be so.

[Amber]

The little gray kit had the biggest grin she could manage on her face. Never had anything so exciting happen in her life. Never had she had the opportunity to come out of the nursery for such an amount of time without being distracted, or told to go back inside. She was close to apprenticeship, only two moons away, what was so wrong with her wanting to explore a little? Her brother and sister were too...cautious, she liked a little more action in her life. And what better way to get so much action than to go somewhere that didn't involve her mother fussing over her?

And his smooth voice began to speak again, the little kit was lost once again by his words. "Why wouldn't I think so highly of such a wonderful tom? You seem decent enough to know how everything works, and can teach me what I would love to know. Maybe you can help me learn how to become an apprentice quicker, so that I can train and..." she trailed off as she thought of what she could do while she was older. The grin came back on her face. Just give her a few moons.

"No, you definitely are very handsome. Your mother sure wasn't lying about that. Most mothers do think their kits are the cutest things ever, but I gotta say some cats just are plain ugly. I've seen fresh-kill that looks better." Beechkit retorted, not holding any of her thoughts back. "But I'm sure plenty believe you are one of a kind, they are just too mousebrained to admit it to you."

He thought she was fascinating? That was new. Usually she was called weird, but he didn't. This tom was growing on her more and more. "Of course, it would be my honor to talk with you." Ahh, there were the manners she had. They were ever so rare, but she would make an exception for Smudgeclaw. Beechkit padded toward the spot, and circled around a certain little patch a few times before deciding it was perfect. Sitting down, the kit curled her tail around her paws and awaited for her new friend.

[night]

Smudgeclaw grinned towards Beechkit. "You have a wit that puts many cats to shame," he complimented her. "Most cats barely form coherent thoughts, much less actually respond with meaning." Yep. She would make a most excellent apprentice, he was sure. Quick to learn, no doubt, and eager to learn, judging by her comments.

"I suppose I could give you a few pointers," he agreed. "No real training just yet, but I can at least show you a decent hunting crouch later, and maybe how to balance yourself properly." Smudgeclaw sat down beside Beechkit, stretching before he did so with his usual laziness. After doing so, he plopped down, his forelegs splayed out before him, his tail flicking just the tiniest bit. His green gaze was fixed on Beechkit, as they continued to speak.

[Eugh. Es muy crappy...lo siento....]

[Heathclaw]

A good father figure...

"Ah," grunted Redfang in response, swallowing the pain that Fernstar had unknowingly brought up. A good father figure. That's what a kit needed in life. Not for the first time, he asked himself how he could've been so blind.

"Is something bothering you? You look a bit off."

How had she spotted that? Fernstar shouldn't have picked up on that. He had a reputation to maintain. He was the deputy- he wasn't allowed to show weakness. "I'm fine, Fernstar. Just a bit pensive at the moment. We need to make plans for this leaf-bare, make sure that fox is off of our territory, keep our clan is in top form in the event of an enemy attack... today was a good day, but there's no time to relax. I just wish that I could hurry up and heal- I hate being crippled like this."

[Sporelett]

[/b] he asked, raising his head back up after the brief contact. "No better time to start training than right now. What do you say we go tour the territory? It's a bit nippy up there, but a nice run will warm you up."[/justify][/ul][/size]

[leafy]

Leafwhisker smiled at the new apprentice and mentor. Ratfoot would be a very good mentor for Heathpaw. Plus, it looked like Heathpaw was over joyed with Ratfoot being his mentor. She got to her paws and padded up to Ratfoot and Heathpaw. "Congratulations, Raftoot and Heathpaw." She purred approving Fernstar's choice. "Being a mentor is unlike anything you ever experience. I wish you both well." She meowed gently then backed away to let others in the camp congratulate them.

She sat down by the camp entrance and groomed her her pelt making it shinny. She kinda envied Ratfoot. Heathpaw was a really good kit and would make a great apprentice, while Tawnypaw seemed very distant from Leafwhisker. Leafwhisker trully loves and cares for Tawnypaw, but Tawnypaw was always nervous and tense when they were training. Maybe I should talk to Fernstar about it... She thought, then answered the answer herself. If Tawnypaw don't change her mood soon, I will tell Fernstar. She scanned the area from Tawnypaw. Today, she would make it a fun day for Tawnypaw.

[Amber]

((No need to apologize. Mine will not be any better. XD))

And now she was receiving compliments? It really was a good thing she decided to come out of the nursery today. If not she would have missed this wonderful opportunity. "You are only witnessing half of my wit. Wait until I really get into it." she purred. "I guess you have met my brother and sister. They are too quiet for their own good. My sister is better than my brother, but still they don't get out enough. It's gonna cost them." Beechkit grinned up at Smudgeclaw.

Talking to him was making her day better and better with each passing moment. Why hadn't she met him before? Who knew what it would have been like to know him for more than a few seconds. Maybe she could know him...really get to KNOW him.

Perfect. She was getting training from him aswell. Beechkit would be ahead of her siblings if HE taught her. She would give her mentor a good surprise knowing so much before training. Yes, this would be a benefit. He was so close to her now. He was right beside her. Her tail twitched anxiously. She didn't know what she was anxious about, but the close proximity was driving her crazy.

Calming herself down she blinked and looked back to Smudgeclaw. "That sounds wonderful. Thank you for the opportunity. My brother and sister will be so jealous. But that's okay, they aren't really too much fun anyway." Following his example, Beechkit layed down, though not quite as relaxed as the tom. She just simply laid down, putting her head on her paws.

[mystic]

Leopardkit
^{Everything has beauty, but not everyone sees it.}

Leopardkit poked her nose out of the nursery then padded out, looking about to make sure nocat jumped on her. She was always a bit nervous since she was only able to see clearly to the front of her. She never let anyone know this because she didn't want to be put in the elder's den. Like any cat she wanted to serve the clan as best she could. She looked over, Beechkit looked like she was causing trouble again.

"Beechkit!" she squeaked, slinking up to her denmate. "What are you doing?" She lowered her voice, but not enough. "My mother says that he's a cad and that you shouldn't be talking to him." She hissed at her denmate. "Come on, we should go back to the nursery, we're too young to be out. You know that, it's clan meeting and you're gonna get in trouble!"

[Yellowstar]

Fernstar nodded as Redfang denied her suspicion and went on to speak of the troubles they were facing already. Leafbare had only just begun and there were already things going wrong, making Fernstar worry- not that she didn't always feel concern for her Clan during leafbare- about how WindClan would fare the rest of the season. Prey hadn't gotten too scarce yet, and that horrible war with ThunderClan was seasons in the past, but there were still other things to be concerned about.

"Yes, we need to make sure that fox is gone; I think that's the first priority. You can still be deputy even with an injured leg," She assured him, fixing the ginger tom with her gaze. "You could organize a patrol to search the entire territory for any remaining fox scent. And make sure the hunting patrols are leaving frequently enough so that there is fresh-kill to go around." Giving orders helped the leader to relax a bit, knowing that she was making decisions that would help her Clan. Despite what Redfang had just said about not being able to relax; just sitting around doing nothing was what made her anxious, though making decisions helped to ease her nerves a bit.

Enemy attack worried her a bit. Palestar wasn't the type to order an attack on her Clan, she was fairly sure, and WindClan was always the worse off when it came to prey supplies in leafbare anyway. There wouldn't be much motive to spark an invasion. ThunderClan would be more her concern, though in the four moons that Whitestar had been leading, Fernstar had begun to think he wasn't the type to do such a thing. Of course she could always be wrong...

[/justify]

[Heathclaw]

So, it was Ratfoot, then? The newly named Heathpaw searched around the crowd for his mentor, spotting him as he stepped forward. He bounded up, reaching to his pawtips to touch noses with him, and then sat back and waited for what he had to say.

Training? Now? Patrolling the territory? Today? Could this day get any better? "Yes! Yes! I can't wait to start! This'll be amazing! When are we going? Where are we going?" He bounced around, barely able to contain his excitement.

----

"And there he goes..." said Redfang quietly, as he watched his grandkit run out of the camp with his new mentor. Redfang reminded himself that he wasn't out of the clear yet- Rustlekit had been every bit as excited when he'd become a new apprentice. But then he turned his attention back to the task at hand. "Right. Patrols. I'll start picking cats now," Redfang replied, heading back into the crowd of cats and tapping those selected on the shoulder with his tail. He gave them their marching orders, and watched them tramp off, and then turned around to head back into the medicine den. The quicker he was healed, the quicker he would be useful again.