Forum - The Bold Arrow of Time (09RP09) - Open!

~*~*~ Beati mites ~*~*~

Something was poking her in the side, quite insistently.

Basilkit murmured drowsily, reluctant to leave sleep behind, but the thing, whatever it was, was digging into her patched pelt, and wasn't going away.

Eyes, now amber instead of newborn-blue, blinked open, still foggy from sleep, peered around to see what had awaken them so rudely.

It was a prickly twig, one whose leaves Basilkit had stripped to play with, and had since forgotten to toss out of her bedding.

Basilkit wrinkled her nose; she must have rolled over it in her sleep. Now that she was awake, there was no way to get back to sleep.

After a long, thorough grooming and a neatening up of her nest, Basilkit picked up the offending twig daintily between pearly teeth and padded outside the nursery. She dropped it off to the side of the entrance and was wondering whether she could try to go back to sleep when she saw the black warrior.

"...Nigh'saw?" Her mew was tiny and shy. It had been two moons since she'd first met the older she-cat, but she still remembered her name for her. That wasn't to say she was comfortable around her, though, not like she was with Crescentglow and his friends. Though Nightsong's name did seem to have the word "nice" in it, so maybe she would be a good playmate, now that Basilkit had decided to be braver.

~*~*~ quoniam ipsi possidebunt terram ~*~*~

She heard Basilkit before she saw her, turning her head to regard the small shape of the little cat beside the nursery entrance. The sun was rising and she could see that Basilkit was in fact not as small as before. Given where she had settled to eat, Nightsong could easily talk to the she-kit without having to get up and without raising her voice beyond a conversational volume.

"Basilkit!" It was hard to forget her name when her and her brother were the only kits in the nursery. She motioned with her tail, requesting that the torbie kit join her. "Look at you," her voice was nearly a purr, much gentler than the tone she would use with cats her age but not implying that she was babying the younger cat. "All grown up, aren't you? You'll be a warrior in no time," Nightsong mewed encouragingly. "Or, you know, a medicine cat. If that's what StarClan has planned for you an' all," she added awkwardly. The black-furred warrior had little in-depth interaction with younger cats and it showed, but she made a conscious effort to appear as welcoming and friendly as she could to the shy Basilkit.

Other than her scarce chats with Basilkit, Nightsong could not remember the last time she had sat down and made actual conversation with her young clanmates. She had never been a mentor, nor a mother. Nightsong knew that her appearance did not gain her any favour with the kits, at least not with the younger and quieter ones. Her mismatched eyes were icy and glowed in strange contrast with her midnight black fur, and the scars littering her stocky built combined with the split in her ear made for a less-than-inviting mien. She was by no means an old cat, but she thought she had surpassed a few moons ago the age at which most queens had decided to have their kits. Occasionally, it would cross her mind to have them

~*~*~ Beati mites ~*~*~

Basilkit dithered at the mouth of the nursery before edging closer rather uncertainly.

"Grown up? Me?" Basilkit stopped short in surprise, a fox-length away from the older she-cat. She looked down at herself critically. Why, yes, now that she thought about it, there did seem to be a lot more fur that she had to groom, compared to even just a moon ago. Was this what she meant by growing up?

"Wrenkit's bigger'n me," she retorted at length. " 'N, didja see? His eyes are diff'rent!" This was exciting news, and Basilkit's little chest puffed out in the importance of being able to tell it. Her brother's eyes had darkened from kit-blue to green, just around the same time hers had changed to amber.

Basilkit hesitated, her enthusiasm fading.

"But... I don't wanna grow up. Stay a kit," she mumbled. She didn't know how to articulate how terrifying the thought of leaving the nursery, the side of her dame, was, not to mention becoming an apprentice, much less a warrior or medicine cat.

If she stayed a kit, surely more cats would leave her be, to play, to hide. Surely no one would expect her to be too brave, not even Crescentglow, if she stayed like she was.

~*~*~ quoniam ipsi possidebunt terram ~*~*~

"Pay no mind to that," Nighstong said in response to Basilkit's comment about Wrenkit's greater size. "I'm smaller than most cats myself and that has never stopped me. Why should it be any different for you?"

By now the sparrow Nightsong had chosen to be her breakfast was long gone. She was grateful that prey was plentiful and that the weather was no longer deadly; the memory of that winter would remain in her mind for the rest of her moons. It had taken the lives of many cats and had in turn heightened the dark she-cat's survival skills and given her a sense of maturity. She was thankful for the fact that Wrenkit and Basilkit never had to feel the cold chill their little bones, never had to go to sleep with a belly as empty as the frozen marshlands were of prey.

The warrior took one moment to silently thank StarClan for the good hunting before replying.

"Why, your eyes have changed as well!" she informed the younger cat, approaching her. "They're amber now, just like your sire's. He's a great tom, Lionheart, you know? Your mother is a valiant warrior as well. Did you know she helped fight the heron? Those two have done more for this clan so far than four and a half cats do in their lifetime." Nightsong paused to affectionately flick the tip of her tail on Basilkit's shoulder. "And I have no doubt you and your brother will be just as great."

~*~*~ Beati mites ~*~*~

Her head tilted to the side in puzzlement. "Nigh'saw? Small?" Amber eyes studied Nightsong incredulously, but all Basilkit could see was a stoutly-built warrior huge in both size and power.

As Nightsong continued, Basilkit found herself nodding thoughtfully; her words echoed what Crescentglow had told her two moons ago: "[u]It's not the size of the cat that matters, Basillkit.[/u]"

The blue kit's spirits rose; Nightsong's confidence was catching. She was also pleased at the thought that part of her took after her sire, even if it was just the color of her eyes.

Basilkit remained still, listening, and when the black warrior told her about the greatness of her parents, her face lit up in awe.

"Really? Wow..." The kit now realized that she only knew Sunblossom as her mother, and almost nothing about Sunblossom the warrior. She knew even less about Lionheart, though she'd repeatedly heard that he was a good tom, not just from Nightsong, but from Crescentglow, too.

She wasn't sure what to make of Nightsong's assurances that she and Wrenkit would be "just as great". Maybe Wrenkit would be, but her? Unlikely.

Basilkit may have chosen to edge away from Nightsong when the older she-cat got close enough to flick her shoulder with her tail, but now the kit's curiosity was piqued, overcoming her wariness. She wanted to hear more about her parents, and the hunting of the Heron.

"How little was I when Sunblossom fought the Heron?" It hadn't yet occurred to Basilkit that she hadn't been born then. "Was Lionheart there, too? Were you?" A disturbing thought came to her. "ShadowClan won, right? It's dead?"

~*~*~ quoniam ipsi possidebunt terram ~*~*~

The dark she-warrior let out a good-natured purr of amusement at Basilkit's eager string of questions. That was probably the most talking Nightsong had ever heard the kit do. She wasn't complaining though; it was nice to see Basilkit emerging from her shell (if one could call it that), if slowly.

She chose first to assure the the young cat. "It's deader than crowfood," Nightsong nodded, "We won't be seeing any more of its ugly face. In fact, it was taken care of well before you and Wrenkit were born." She paused to let her words sink in. "Lionheart wasn't in the battle, but many other of our clanmates were. Your mother and I were among them. Elmstar was there, too. We were about 10 cats in total, and we were divided into two patrols: ambush and distraction. I was part of the ambush patrol, along with your mother. Our job was to remain in hiding while the other patrol distracted the heron. Then we attacked when its defenses were lowered." Nightsong supposed that all she had just said would take a while to register in Basilkit's young mind. For this, she decided to leave out the more gruesome details of the actual battle to avoid frightening the she-kit, unless of course she persisted.

The memory of the entire ordeal was fresh in the warrior's mind, and she was capable of giving quite an elaborate and bloody account should Basilkit request it.

~*~*~ Beati mites ~*~*~

Upon hearing that the Heron was dead, the torbie kit sighed in relief. "Oh, good." That was one less thing for Basilkit to worry about.

Ears pricked attentively forward, Basilkit hung onto every one of Nightsong's words about this ShadowClan victory over the Hunter. She was torn between fright and awe, and her little face showed it.

But soon, pride emerged to the forefront of the she-kit's emotions. Her mother was brave! Her mother was . . . what was the word Nightsong used? Valiant.

Basilkit's amber eyes lit in a subtle glow. In her head, she visualized two teams of cats: team distraction, and team ambush.

"What did Elmstar do?" Did he distract the Heron, or did he ambush? And what does a distraction look like, anyway?

Ambush, she decided, was sneaky at first, then an explosion of warriors fighting. (Like her and Crescentglow and Aspenbright and Hazewing jumping on each other and trying to tickle Hazewing's fluffy belly.)

Distraction, she figured, was ... was probably noisy.

Basilkit had more questions, mainly if Nightsong would be willing to show her how to ambush, like her and Sunblossom did. But, feeling a little shy once more, the kit tucked her query away. She'd wait for Nightsong to answer her first question. If the warrior wasn't busy, and was still acting so nice, then maybe Basilkit would ask.

~*~*~ quoniam ipsi possidebunt terram ~*~*~

I've reclaimed the use of my imagination

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Hazewing awoke with a jolt, a drop of morning dew landing right on his pink nose from the roof. A smile formed on the small tom's face, and he couldn't help but chuckle a bit at the surprise awakening. Might as well get up. There was no point in going back to sleep, he would just get up soon anyways. As he walked to the center of camp, he couldn't help but overhear two voices near the freshkill pile, and went to investigate. Finding the two she-cats, he sat down to join them. "Good morning Nightsong, Basilkit. What has you two up so early?"

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For better or for worse I've yet to know

"Elmstar was with the distraction patrol," Nightsong answered. She decided to leave out the messier details of the fight, especially the fact that Elmstar had lost a life, so as to avoid frightening the she-kit. Nightsong knew she could not shelter Basilkit from the realities of life as a warrior forever, but that would come later. For now, what mattered was helping the young torbie out of her shell, and so she continued to elaborate on the tale of the fight against the heron.

"Their fur was groomed and shiny so the heron would go after them and busy itself while we came in." She paused momentarily, figuring that this talk of battle strategy must be quite an earful for a kit to take in. "We in the ambush patrol camouflaged our pelts and hid in the nearby bushes, awaiting Elmstar's signal."

Next, Nightsong dropped into a long, low gait, legs bent, and took a few silent pawsteps forward one paw at a time, mismatched eyes trained on an imaginary target as she spoke to Basilkit. "See, birds are keen creatures, so when you're hunting one, whether it be a sparrow or a heron, you've got to--" The sentence was interrupted as Hazewing entered the picture, and the she-warrior, still in stalking position, turned to face him.

"Ah, Hazewing!" said the she-warrior, hastily (and clumsily) straightening herself up. "Basilkit and I were just discussing the heron fight and some stalking moves. Care to join?"