[ti]Open[/ti]Foolish Jealousy

[KingHarry]

Stupid kits. The entire clan seemed to be obsessed with Owlstar's new litter of dumb, hairy balls of fluff. What was so special about them, huh? Just because they were the leader's kits didn't mean that they were anything amazing. They were Rainfur's kits too, and he was just a massive mousebrain. Those irritating puffballs were probably going to take after him when they grew up.

Then if the clan wasn't swarming Owlstar's kits, they were cooing over Olivenose's kits instead - and they were just as dumb! Cricketpaw didn't like any of them. With all the cats busy looking at them, there was no one left to pay attention to him. Not even Nightface, his mentor, had time for him seeing as Olivenose was his daughter. Hrumph!

Sitting by the creek, Cricketpaw lashed out in irritation and swatted the water - sending droplets of it flying through the air. How come nobody loved him like those kits, huh? Even his own parents hadn't been like that - they thought that he was a disappointment and didn't want anything to do with him. It wasn't fair! He was just as deserving of love as they were! Perhaps even more so actually, considering that he was nearly a warrior now.

The apprentice hit the water again and began muttering to himself. "Stupid, horrible kits. I hate them." He muttered under his breath. "All they do is make noise and take up space. I wish they could all just go away."

[Deleted]

The warmth of the sun rays that managed to filter through the thicket of the tree canopies reached the thick fluff of fur of the lounging she-cat; her left front leg hanging off the tree branch while she used her right one as a pillow for her head. Her tail slowly swung back and forth as she relaxed and enjoyed the silence around her in this new region of territory she crossed into the night before and decided to take refuge here until the first falls of winter came. She had scented felines within this area but decided to stay back and keep her distance as she wanted nothing to do with them unless she had to face an encounter. But with a belly full of mouse and bird eggs, she was too content from her full belly and last bits of sun light of the season to move and engage anyone. However it seemed faith wasn't as courteous to her as she heard movement down below and cracked open a single hazel eye to look down below and see what all this damned noise was. A kitten? Hm, curious. I wonder where it's parents are. She mused in her head, watching now with a full gaze as his body language gave away to his mood before clear annoyance radiated off the small tom when he smacked the water. Chuckling quietly at this sight, she mused again what could've pissed off a young tom like that. Maybe his flirtations failed to find a little.. companion? Or he lost his lunch to a grown tom. Feeling some odd urge to engage the kit, she stretched out her long body before gracefully leaping down from her hiding spot up high to the cool grounds below in perfect silence of a prized hunter. Her gaze settling warmly upon the young tom from behind before she approached with ease; long and regal strides bringing her to his right side but separating them by a foot for comfort before she opened her maw to speak. "Hello little one. You seem awfully pissed off for someone so young. Get your mouse taken from you?"

[KingHarry]

Cricketpaw continued mumbling away to himself, utterly oblivious to the stranger sneaking up on him. To be honest, even if he weren't distracted by his feelings he probably wouldn't have noticed her anyway. He was, ah... Well, he was far from the best warrior ever. When it came down to it, Cricketpaw didn't have the best sense of his surroundings. He was always too busy being distracted by something or daydreaming.

At the sound of the other's voice, he jumped - flinging himself into the air and landing in the middle of the stream. Fox-dung! Cricketpaw splashed about in shock for a moment before dragging himself back to dry land. "Don't- Don't do that!" He squeaked as he stood there, water dripping from his fur. "You could kill a cat like that!"

And then the surprise wore off and the scowl quickly returned to Cricketpaw's face as he remembered just what he had been put out about. "I didn't get my mouse taken from me. I'm nearly a warrior now; nobody would dare do such a thing." The apprentice complained. "There's just a load of new kits in the clan and everybody loves them. I don't understand why, though. They're useless and boring, and they can't even hunt. I can hunt! Why don't I deserve attention too? I hate it. It isn't fair."

[Deleted]

Amused at how the kitten had reacted to her presence, Vixen watched the young tom with curiosity as he dragged himself from the water and practically yelled at her but she dismissed his tone and watched his facial features turn to a scowl. Her furry brow raising slightly in question to his grievances in question as she told him about how he found new kittens useless and boring- that they weren't.. as cool and useful as him. Oh how this kitten had so much t learn. Even if he weren't a full warrior yet, a term she still found odd today by these stray felines standards, she gave a nod in understanding to his problem. So he was upset because the adults found the new additions more attention wise than him? Well that was practical. They were new born kittens. Adorable and needy. They needed that much attention. "To be fair little one, they are much smaller and weaker than you making them need everyone attention. You can feed and protect yourself, they cannot. You could get the adults attention by bringing the mothers some food. The toms would give you a pet to your head if you help out."

[KingHarry]

"Nobody would care if I helped. They don't like me." Cricketpaw grumbled, pawing at the ground in frustration now. Other warriors... They just didn't like him. They called him annoying and told him to go away. Why? Cricketpaw didn't understand. He was never anything but nice, but no - the clan was still cold to him. That, or they treated him like a child. He wasn't a kit anymore! He was nearly a warrior!

In another moon they'd have to start treating him properly. He'd be a real warrior then, and that meant they had to treat him like one, right? Yeah, that sounded right. And once he was a warrior, Cricketpaw would impress them all. They'd all see then. They'd know that he deserved their respect just as much as anybody else did.

"And I understand that they need help because they're useless. I just don't see why they deserve all the attention. Why can't I have attention too, huh?"

[technicallytimur]

Blazeheart remembered when she was young and thought she could take on the world. The naivety of not knowing how complex and harsh the world actually was. Though she was happy with her world view now, focusing on the positive but knowing in the back of her mind what evils did exist. Hearing an angry voice, the female went over, her usual smile on her face. She came to a stop near them, taking a moment to admire the fresh air that being near the stream brought. Blazeheart managed to catch the last little bit of conversation that Cricketpaw said, and was a bit confused, not knowing that he was complaining about the new kits. "Everyone in the clan has a purpose, Cricketpaw. Even if it's not obvious to you know, you'll figure out that everyone from the tiniest kit to the oldest elder has their role to serve, even if the role doesn't seem to be immediately beneficial to the clan. Everyone contributes in their own way." she said, rambling a bit. She liked just letting words flow, it was quite relaxing. "Everyone deserves attention, you're completely right, but now that you're almost a warrior you do need to be learning how to do things on your own. You'll still get attention, just maybe not in the ways you're used to." she added, trying to address everything she had heard.