Month 8 - Leaffall
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Russetfrond carried a pair of birds in his jaws as he strolled beside Goldenstar who led the way back to camp, carrying her own catch, a particularly fat mouse she had snagged last minute. He looked idly over swaying grass, pressing his ears back as they walked against the chilly Leaffall breeze, and let her chatter. It was a familiar old feeling; her talking as if silence was her enemy, him responding here and there. It was nice.
As they got closer to camp, talk turned to Oddstripe’s litter.
“I’m still trying to figure out exactly who I want to mentor the kits,” she said. “It’ll be my first apprentice ceremony as leader and I wanna make sure I do it right.”
“Mm,” he grunted in response.
“Yarrowshade said you knew exactly who you would pick,” she continued, meeting his gaze. “Is that true?”
“Mhm,” he tried for, hoping she’d leave it at that but knowing she wouldn’t.
“So, what are they?” she asked predictably. “If you care about the choices I make, you gotta say something, man.”
He sighed, disliking that he had to make his mouth form actual words again, and then grunted to clear his throat. “Floodkit I’d give to Nightfrost, Sparrow to Pantherhaze, and Barley to Ospreymask.”
“Huh,” she mused and he twitched an ear indignantly.
“What d’you mean, ‘huh’? You don’t like my placements?”
“No, no, I just wouldn’t have picked them myself,” she shrugged. “I feel like Ospreymask is too much of a kitsitter to them to be a good mentor. Y’know, same reason we don’t usually let cats mentor their own kits.”
“Fair point,” he conceded.
Her next question surprised him. “Would you like to mentor any of them?”
“Me?” he blinked, tail unfurling upward.
“Yeah, you, fish face,” she rolled her eyes. “You’re a good warrior and you deserve another apprentice.”
“I know that,” he said, unable to resist a little jab. “I just figured you’d give them to Yarrowshade and Scorch instead.”
Goldenstar let out a little growl. “Ugh, you’re still on about that? Just because you disagree with some of my choices doesn’t mean I’m just blindly doing whatever they tell me to, y’know.”
“So who are you planning to give them to?” he asked, sidestepping her comment.
She sighed in frustration and said, “I don’t know. But you’re at the top of the list. Now do you wanna mentor one of them or not?”
“I wouldn’t say no,” he shrugged.
“Any preference?”
He thought it over for a second. “Floodkit I guess. He’s got a lot of passion and ferocity. I think he’d make a great apprentice.”
“Interesting,” she hummed. “I’ll take it under advisement. Let me know if you change your mind.”
“I will,” he agreed.
Shortly after, they arrived back at camp and she left him to head into the Healers’ den. In the dusty center of camp, the kits were playing. Floodkit and Sparrowkit wrestled and chased each other, shouting about borders and territories and such. Barleykit sat at the edge of camp, watching her brothers with a dejected look on her face. Russetfrond decided to see what was troubling her and took one of the birds he had caught, a bright red cardinal, over to where she was sitting.
“Mind if I join you?” he asked.
Barleykit squeaked in surprise and nearly jumped to her feet. Recognizing him, she settled down again and said, “um, sure.”
He sat down next to her and said, “You seem upset. What’s wrong?”
“Oh,” she blushed, massive ears folding back. “I’m just… thinking.”
“About what?” he pressed gently as he started to pull the flight feathers from the cardinal. While it was normal to eat a bird feathers and all, he didn’t feel inclined to deal with the larger ones today and there was a methodical kind of pleasure in plucking them. Barleykit shuffled anxiously and looked askance.
“I’m worried about becoming an apprentice,” she admitted softly. “I don’t think I’ll be very good at it.”
“No one is good at it at first,” he shrugged, “that's why you have a mentor to teach you.”
“I guess,” she shuffled again. “I just… I don’t like rough games. I don’t wanna fight anybody. But I don’t care about herbs either. I’m worried I’m just gonna be a scaredy mouse my whole life.” Russetfroned hummed thoughtfully. He wasn’t sure what to tell her.
“Well,” he said, “being brave isn’t about not being scared. It’s about doing the scary thing anyway.” Barleykit sighed and looked down. It seemed that hadn’t helped to calm her worries at all. He looked down at his paws as he tried to gather his thoughts, and he spotted the scattered feathers. Something about their bright coloring sparked an idea in his mind.
“Here,” he said, plucking one of them from the ground. “See these feathers?”
“Yeah,” she said cautiously, eyeing them.
“These feathers are magic,” he said.
“Really?” Her eyes widened and she looked them over.
“Yep,” he nodded. “If you wear them on your fur they make you very brave.”
“Really?” she asked again. “I want some!”
“I dunno,” he feigned reluctance, “I was going to save them for myself…”
“Please?” she begged, “Please, please, please? I wanna be brave just like Floodkit!”
“Well… Okay,” he chuckled. “Here, hold still and I’ll put them in.” Barleykit sat up straight and lifted her head eagerly, posing in what he imagined she thought was a very brave position. He leaned forward and started to place feathers into her fur around her neck and shoulders.
After he’d placed as many as he cared to, he sat back and said, “There.”
She looked down at them, craning her neck to try and examine his handiwork, and said, “Wow. Do they look alright?”
“Oh, yeah,” he nodded. “You wear them well.” He leaned down to start eating but she leaped forward and put her paws on his food causing him to frown.
Before he could complain, she declared, “I wanna do you now!”
He closed his mouth, biting back on whatever irritation had risen in him. Taking a deep breath he said, “Okay, but put them in my tail okay?” Maybe that way, he reasoned, he could ignore it for the most part and finish his meal.
“Okay,” she said, plucking several feathers and then passing his food back to him. Sighing, he twitched his tail out in front of her and hungrily began to devour the cardinal. Barleykit hummed to herself as she tucked the feathers into his fur and smoothed the fur back down with the utmost care. After she finished, she sat back and looked at him eagerly.
“Do you like it?” she asked.
He gave his tail a roll and glanced over it. “It’s perfect,” he said, “Thank you.”
“We can wear them together,” she nodded, “and we’ll both be brave.” “Sure,” he chuckled, and went back to eating. She was a sweet girl, he thought, but already his energy for kitsitting was nearly gone. Luckily, she settled down again, laying her head against his tail, and they quietly watched her brothers tumbling across the grass together. She probably isn’t the right apprentice for me, he thought, but I hope Goldenstar picks a good mentor for her.
UPDATES:
- Russetfrond and Barleykit start wearing cardinal feathers on their pelts.
