[ti]Open[/ti]Finding Our Way

[summerrain]

They'd spent long enough in the nursery. They were going to be apprentices just like the rest of the clan had been, like those other kits had become, and Dapplekit needed to learn her way around the camp. Stripekit went with her, of course, and would until she felt that Dapplekit knew her way around well enough. They were, at the moment, slowly making their way around the camp itself. Stripekit would occasionally tap Dapplekit's shoulder with her nose to steer her away from the rock, or a bush, or something.

Some of the cats, Dapplekit was already learning to differentiate by scent. Only the ones that came into the nursery on a regular basis, though she was starting to want to recognize more. If they were going to be living their lives here, they should get to know everyone, right? Even if it was a little frightening, how many cats there were around the camp. But, she told herself, she'd have to meet them all eventually. As she walked, her steps were small and slow, so she would be able to step over something on the ground instead of tripping on it.

"Everything smells different covered in snow," Dapplekit muttered. "It's all... muted. Harder to tell them all apart."

"Didn't you say before that the rain does the same thing?" Stripekit asked.

"Yeah," Dapplekit said with a nod. "You ever notice that the twolegs would do stuff that made the nest smell different?"

"Ugh, those things that made that funny-smelling mist," Stripekit remembered with disgust. "And the things in the see-through things that they would light with their fire-sticks that made the whole nest smell wrong. At least we got away from that."

"Yeah," Dapplekit said with a laugh. "The camp smells different from our old nest, but it's a better smell." She stopped and scented the air, turning to the approaching feline. "Oh... Hello," she said softly.

[Broadwaykat]

It was not appropriate, for the most part, for a warrior as old as Dustytuft to envy the life of a kittypet. She knew she was far, far superior - but even she had to wonder if they knew how good they had it when the snow started to fall. Oh yes, they could both frolic in the snow all they wanted, but at the end of the day she knew they could be snug about rolling around in the stuff, heading back to their twoleg dens that - for all their strange smells and pure alienness, did look rather cozy when the weather turned foul. She was reminded of an adventurous time in her youth when she and her foster brothers had dared themselves to approach a den; how the kittpets inside looked out at them as their fur was flattened by a sudden downpour. How smug they looked.

Silly cats. They didn't know what they were missing - the good with the bad. How snow could be light and fluffy one moment, clinging to your fur, and then soaking you through and through. How it could come down in hard pellets. How, if you were vertically impaired as she was, a snowdrift could suddenly turn into a good three-tail-length drop that chilled you through the bone and stuck in all sorts of uncomfortable places. How - usually the younger toms - had no sense of personal space or proper grooming techniques and ended up smelling like weird moss let out in the dirtplace if they didn't properly dry their fur.

But ugh...why was she complaining? So far the snow was nice and light and she had a rare day to herself. Left behind to guard the camp and enjoying the light tickle as a few flakes clung to her fur. As it wasn't exactly an exciting day, she had taken her guard duty as an excuse to nap, curling up so that her tail nearly brushed her nose and just about ready to drift off despite the chill in the air when a few small, sharp voices caught her attention.

"And where are we going, you two?" She purred - not in a challenging way. These were kits, after all; hardly scraps of fur in her book. She didn't have to guard them getting into mischief as much as keep an eye on them until a designated Queen came and gathered them back into the Nursery. Surely one would come along sooner than later, worried out of their mind that a charge had gotten away and gobbled up in the falling snow, certainly. She gently unfurled her tail from around her own body to block their path, but didn't seem all that bothered to do much else. "More importantly, does someone know where you're going, hmm?"

summerrain

[summerrain]

Dapplekit kept her gaze directed somewhat downward, as if at the feet of the other cat. Even in the snow, the sightless sheen on her eyes would be pretty obvious. Even if she was on the taller end of average, Stripekit, who put herself between the stranger and her sister, was bigger still. Not by a whole lot, but enough.

"We're old enough we don't need some cat hovering over us all the time," Stripekit countered. "It's not like we're leaving camp or nothing." They'd already gotten lost once, that's how they ended up in Ivyclan in the first place, and they weren't too keen to repeat that. It was far too cold for them to wander Ivyclan's territory without knowing where they were going, especially when they had one working pair of eyes between the two of them. She opened her mouth to speak again, but stopped when Dapplekit nosed her shoulder.

"They took us in, not the other way around," Dapplekit said softly. She lifted her head, turning it roughly in the direction of the voice she'd heard. "I'm Do... Wait, no. I'm Dapplekit now. My sister Tab... Stripekit was helping me learn my way around camp before we get made apprentices."

[Broadwaykat]

Kits came in all sort of sizes - but for the most part, they all seemed to think they were at least a hundred times bigger than they actually were. Dustytuft found it almost endearing, and she knew that if the younger cats were to become strong members of the clan, they needed to have a little spunk in them. So she wasn't all that offended by the one cat's pushy denfensiveness. She tried her best and mostly failed, to keep a little purr of laughter from escaping. 

"Whoa, now...just doing my job!" She placated. "You'll know soon enough when you're on guard duty yourself. Keep an eye on the comings and goings in camp, and all that. No matter the clan, no matter the threat." And no matter the size, but she kept that to herself, of course.

The second kit seemed much more agreeable, but it was curious the way she talked. Having the other cat show her around the...oh. It took her a moment to understand the odd expression of the cat's eyes - their way of looking past things and not directly at them - for comprehension to dawn on her. She'd seen a few Elder's with that look when their vision clouded and they couldn't quite see the things they were supposed to. Shame to see it strike someone so young.

Not that she commented on it out loud. Kit probably didn't need anyone else reminding her, or being pitied for it. 

"Well, that's certainly nice of her, isn't it?!" She kept her tone light and cheery enough as she continued. "I'm Dustytuft. I'd say you've seen me around, but I tend to get chased away from the nursery as of late. Some rot about being a bad influence or something." Still, she remembered that these two didn't exactly have a parent around with them; she remembered something about them being adopted in; and the little one, Dapplekit, had all but confirmed that with her 'taken in' comment. "But no worries - I don't bite or anything. Just got to be on a lookout is all. But so long as you're not actually leaving camp, then far be it from me to stop you!"