[ti]Private[/ti]A Kit, A Queen, and an Elder

[silverfang218]

Duskfeather needed a break every now and again; Night could understand that, having raised kits on her own. Usually a mate might babysit, but without a mate, other queens often picked up the slack. Nightfur didn’t know Duskfeather to often let Crowkit out of her sight, but the gentle ex-queen was quick to say yes upon being asked to kitsit.

So here lay Nightfur, her paws crossed in front of her while her fern green gaze followed Crowkit, a soft, motherly smile gracing her face; the large kitten was nearly an apprentice, though he already looked plenty big enough to be one. The little kit was shy though, perhaps in part caused by his mother’s tight grasp on him. In a way, Nightfur felt so much in common with Duskfeather. While Dusk had lost her beloved mate, Nightfur lost the cat who had fathered her kits along with all but one of her kits (she doesn’t know that Tansysong is alive). “Overprotective mother” could just as easily be used to describe the darkfurred warrior.

Even so, kits must grow up, become apprentices and hopefully become warriors. And this kit, Nightfur believes, will make a very interesting apprentice. Particularly if his mentor can break through that little shell of his.

[honeythree]

His mother rarely ever left his side, much less left the camp, so it was a bit of a surprise for Crowkit when his mother told him that an ex-queen was going to be watching him for her while she went hunting. He had wondered if that meant she was coming to terms with him becoming an apprentice, and that she was preparing herself to return to warrior duties.

Feathery tail flickering back and forth, the young tom held a ball of moss in his paws, absentmindedly pushing it around the small space in the nursery he'd made his own. Briefly he considers asking Nightfur _{(the kit-sitter)} to join him, but he quickly pushes down that idea and rejects it. She's too old to be playing kit games with him, and he shouldn't really be playing them either.

After all, he's nearly an apprentice.

As the thought crosses his mind, he bats the moss a little too hard, sending it flying out of the nursery and straight into the back of a grey furred and heavily scarred warrior.

He turns amber eyes from the back of the warrior to Nightfur. "Uh oh."

[Alex]

Bonefire was relaxing around camp. It was getting to be a bit challenging for him to be out hunting and patrolling, though he'd rather die than stop doing what he's been doing for so many moons. But for now, he's just lounging around camp, gathering some strength to maybe go hunting later.

All that was rudely interrupted when a ball of moss flew straight into his back, falling apart at the contact. With a grunt, he turned around, about to tell whoever off for wasting moss like that, when he realized it was a kit. His gaze flicked to Nightfur, who he guessed was watching the kit, before flicking back to Crowkit.

He watched him for a moment before reassembling the ball of moss as best he could and batted it back to the kit. While he seemed to hate everyone else and was, admittedly, rather hotheaded, he always found a little soft spot for kits. Now was no exception.

[silverfang218]

Nightfur blinks as Crowkit accidently whacks the mossball too hard, sending it out of the nursery and into a warrior. An older warrior, Nightfur recognizes the scarred pelt, Bonefire. She didn’t know the other warrior very well, other than the fact that his grumpiness can rival some of the elders at times. Even so, she gives Crowkit a reassuring smile as she stands with a stretch. She’s not gonna let Crow get grumped at just because of a little mossball. She was about to encourage Crow to come with her and apologize if necessary, when Bonefire tries to repair the toy and simply bats the mossball back. Well, isn’t that a sight.

Seeing that her intervention isn’t needed, she moves closer to the pair’s game, hoping to be invited in, before dropping back down into a laying position. Yes, the dark queen likes a good game of mossball, don’t judge her. She does flash Bonefire a grateful look, glad that the older warrior seems to be unable to express grump at the big kit in her care.

[honeythree]

Once the warrior turns, Crowkit can't help but feel a little bit more frightened-- Bonefire was a little bit notorious, for his temper and his scarred pelt. He prepares himself to be yelled at, or to escape back into the nursery, but he's pleasantly surprised when the ball is repaired and batted back at him.

The moss rolls back to his dark paws, and he looks from it to Nightfur, who had inched closer, seemingly to join in on the game. Flicking his ears a little, mild interest and excitement at getting to play, the young tom gives the ball a good whack towards the ex-queen.

"Your turn!" He turns his eyes towards Bonefire, glimmering with a barely contained glee. It's rather clear that Crowkit wants the senior warrior to be play the game with them.

[Alex]

Bonefire ignored Nightfur, instead focusing on just Crowkit. He didn't even pay attention when she moved closer and flashed a smile at him. All eyes were on the kit. He didn't really like other warriors. Many seemed to tell him he should retire to the elder's den already, but he refused. He's lived most of his life as a warrior, and he'd rather go out as a warrior instead of wasting away in the elder's den.

He watched as Crowkit batted the moss towards Nightfur, and his gaze flicked to her briefly before turning back to the kit as he spoke. At his words, a deep throated chuckle arose from him, and he shifted a little closer. "Alright, alright. Not like I'm doing anything better at the moment."

[silverfang218]

Nightfur grinned, looking much like a large kit herself, as the kit includes her in on the game and bats the mossball towards her. It was just like she was playing with Finchkit, Tansykit, and Rubblespots (or as they had called him “Biwg Nursery Cat”) again, back many moons before.

She lets out a small chuckle as well when Crowkit turns on Bonefire, trying to get the warrior to play with them. She isn’t overly surprised when the older tom accepts; his first reaction to the kit and the mossball wasn’t one of anger, as is often the case with grumpy cats, so she assumes that he’s just as easily melted by kits as she can be. After Bonefire moves closer to get in on the fun, she bats the mossball towards him, hitting it just hard enough that it rolls up to his paws.

[honeythree]

Crowkit watches the ball with wide eyes, waiting for it to get close enough to him so he could pounce. He's unspeakably glad he didn't need to say anything for them to play with him, as he's always been bad with words and surely a kit his age shouldn't be playing moss ball.

Yet now that they're all participating in the game, he can't help but let go of his wish to come across as more mature, because now he can play without being tossed out of the nursery for accidentally crushing one of the smaller kits, or fear that because he still likes playing he wont be allowed to become an apprentice.

He drops into a crouch, similar to the hunter's crouch he's seen the apprentices do, albeit a little off balance and unpracticed -- definitely unsuited for catching prey -- and turns to Bonefire, hoping that the senior warrior will pass it to him soon.

[Alex]

Bonefire watched as Nightfur batted the ball back to him. It stopped right in front of his paws, something he was grateful for as he didn't want to have to get up and get it, and placed a paw over it. After that, he continued to ignore the warrior, focusing all of his attention on the kit. He chuckled slightly as the kit dropped into a crouch, one that was off balanced. He would try and correct Crowkit, but at this moment, they were all just focused on playing with a moss ball. Once he became an apprentice, his mentor would surely fix his poor hunter's crouch.

With a grunt, he hit the ball hard as he could - which, with his weakening bones was admittedly not as hard as he would have liked - toward Crowkit.

[silverfang218]

Nightfur smiles at Crowkit’s hunting crouch. It’s certainly far from perfect and any warrior could have a field day with all the corrections that Crowkit would need to make before actually making a catch, but it is a start and he’s only a kit. The crouch will certainly suffice for a little game of mossball. The dark warrior doesn’t know about Crow’s little fear that his love for playing will stop him from becoming an apprentice, otherwise she would quickly correct that thought by just pointing him towards her mate, Ravenwing. That big oaf is just a very large kit, to be honest.

If she notices that Bonefire is completely ignoring her presence, then she doesn’t seem to care at all. So engaged is she with their little game, she doesn’t feel the need to speak, only watch and play.