The Start of a Clan

Redstar walked into camp not a moment too late. The light of dawn had intensified with the blazing sun, and she had just managed to avoid its wrath. She glanced around the network of dens within the cave, but didn't see Foxstar around. Wait, he's not Foxstar anymore... she remembered, but it felt wrong just calling her friend and old leader by Foxtail like he had insisted.

She then turned toward the nursery to look for Mistkit. "Foxtail must be crazy to let a kit run amuck by himself," Redstar chuckled, knowing those words would probably lure the kit out.

Mistkit was napping when Redstar came back.  His ears perked up at the sound of her voice though.  He sprang up and ran to her.  "Redeyes!"  He said, but then stopped.  "Oh wait...It's Redstar now.  Right."  He said, smiling.  He jumped up and pulled himself up onto her head.  "So, can I be your deputy now?"  The little kit asked.

Redstar chuckled, "Yes, and maybe once you're old enough. You're not even an apprentice yet! Don't worry though, you'll be my first choice, and not just because you're the only one." She gave him a playful nudge.

"Yea!"  Mistkit said, jumping up and falling of Redstar's head.  "Ouch..."  The kit said, brushing dirt off of himself.  "Why can't I be your apprentice now.  I'm ready."  He said, putting his body low, ready to pounce on an invisible target.

Redstar chuckled, running her tail along Mistkit's side affectionately. "Tell you what," she said challengingly, "you'll still have to wait until you're six moons old to be an Apprentice, but I can show you a battle move if you want. Though don't go using it on Foxst- Foxtail, he won't like a strong kit like you beating him." She purred at the thought of her old leader being jumped by a kit.

"Yeah!"  Mistkit said, trying to puff himself up to look stronger.  "And if you say so, I'll be nice to Foxtail."  He said, flattening out again.  "So, what am I going to learn first?  How to do a neat back flip swipe, or maybe how to kill a mouse with one swing of my paw."

"I don't think you're quite ready for those," Redstar laughed, remembering her own kit enthusiasm, "let's do something a little simpler until you're older." She walked to the center of the cave where there would be plenty or room for demonstrating. "One of the things CreviceClan does in battle is ambush the enemy from higher cliffs, it takes a calculated spring to do it right. Watch closely..."

She bunched up her muscles, and suddenly pushed off her back legs, springing into the air. As she was falling back down, she unsheathed her claws and leaned forward so they would be the first thing to hit the imaginary foe below her. She landed on her front feet, just as she was meant to.

"Well, if there was an enemy there, they would have been very surprised! You want to get a good grip on them and give them a good clawing, they'll never see it coming. And keep it in mind, a cat tends to never look up, especially in a battle."

Mistkit took in the demonstration.  "Ok.  I can do it too."  He said, climbing up onto the rock.  He waggled his tail as he bunched himself up.  Then he jumped, keeping his claws sheathed in case he messed up.  He messed up.  He landed on one leg before the other and wound up rolling across the floor.  "Ouch..."  He said, sitting up and shaking his head.

"Nice try," Redstar said encouraging. "Sometimes it helps to use your tail as a balance, and be sure not to lean as you land, or else you'll land wrong and flip, like you did. You'll tend to lean on your dominant side, just use your tail to turn yourself perfectly straight. Try again," she instructed.

Mistkit nodded and quickly climbed back up onto the rock.  Waggling his tail as he prepared to jump, he leaped from the rock.  To him, he let out a terrifying roar, which was only as terrifying as a kit could muster. He used his tail sort of like a rutter and landed again.  He didn't roll head over heels this time, but his balance was a little off.

"Very good," Redstar praised, still amused from Mistkit's 'roar'. "I think that's enough training for you today. You don't want to hurt yourself by overdoing things. Once you're an apprentice, you'll have plenty of time to learn!" She glanced out at the blazing sun, and toward their fresh kill pile. It was a little lacking, she'd have to go out and hunt soon. There was still a plump quail available. "Do you want to share that quail?" she asked.

Mistkit heard his stomach rumble and nodded.  Besides, he liked quail.  "Yeah.  You can have the first bite.  You got made leader today, you deserve it."  The kit said, climbing up onto Redstar's head.

"Thanks," Redstar said, her own hunger gnawed at her stomach, receiving the lives had taken a toll. She carefully plucked most of the feathers off and set them aside, they could be used in bedding. She then took a generous portion of a bite out of the bird, and bowed her head so Mistkit could take a bit.

Mistkit pounced on the bird and began to eat.  He took one big bite.  It was large enough of a piece that it sort of off balanced his head and caused him to droop.  He managed to chew a piece off and swallowed.  "That was really good!"

"It is," Redstar agreed through a mouthful of meat, "we don't get quail very often." She suppressed laughter at the off-balance kit, and took one more bite before leaving the rest for the kit.

Mistkit dove into the quail and began to eat it.  It was really good.  However, the kit remembered something and crawled out of the quail, with bits of meat and blood on his pelt and he sat.  "A true warrior takes only what he needs.  You can have the rest Redstar."  It was an act of good intention, of course, there wasn't much meat left.

"Thanks," Redstar replied, unsure of the kit. He seemed to still want to eat it, but was sacrificing it for his clanmate. He truly will make a great Deputy one day, she thought, finishing off the bird in a few ravenous bites. 

Once the bones were buried, she looked up to Mistkit. "So," she smiled, "do you want to walk around the territory around the camp with me?"

Mistkit's eye lit up with the offer.  "I'd love too!" He said, his voice full of glee.  The kit caught himself and went back to sitting like a warrior on vigil.  "I mean...yes.  Thank you Redstar."  Despite his focus, the kit's tail was still twitching happily.

Redstar laughed at Mistkit's somber and serious appearance. "You're still a kit," she pointed out, "don't lose your energy just yet, don't rush things, you'll regret it," she grinned, remembering herself when she was a kit: small and weak, but with boundless energy and excitement. 

Redstar got to her feet and started out the camp's exit. "I'll walk you around the sandy drops, they're really fun to slide down!" She knew the thought of this would entice any kit.

Mistkit followed behind Redstar like a baby duck.  "How far away are these sand things?"  He asked, even though they'd just left camp.  He really was eager to see this place.  "Are we there yet?"

"Not yet," Redstar said, amused. "It's a little way up this slope, but be careful. There aren't any steep drops, but you could go tumbling down, and it isn't fun, trust me," she purred. They reached the slope just as she said that, and she motioned for Mistkit to go first. She would follow behind, so she could catch him if he fell.

Mistkit stood on the edge.  "That's a long way down Redstar..."  He said, looking worriedly at the leader, then back down.  The next second, the edge gave out and he was tumbling down the slope.  It was hard to tell whether or not he was laughing or crying.  He was just sliding.

Amberdrop was holding many various herbs and such for medicine as she walked back to camp. She had just been out on an expedition to get some and, as she got camp, dropped them off where they were to be. As she looked around, she noticed that Mistkit and Redeyes were not there. She decided to go look for them, following their scent to a slope.

"Oh no you don't!" Redstar exclaimed, sliding down a bit and grabbing Mistkit by the scruff. "You aren't going to be crowfood on my watch," she laughed, getting a better grip on the slope and carrying the kit the rest of the way up. Once they reached the top, there was a flat ground that lead to the safer sandy slope she told him about. She let go of the kit's scruff and made a running start. Laughing, she slid down the sand, like a person sledding down the snow.

"Hey!" Mistkit shouted as he was dragged back up the hill. He shook his fur when he was dropped. "I can do that too!" The kit ran and jumped and began to roll down the hill.