Does anybody want to play? {open}

[Dapplepaw]

Dapplekit sat down in her nest, peering around the shadowy recesses of the nursery.  She'd spent the morning playing with a moss ball in the camp, but the toy had rolled away past the boundary and she couldn't find a warrior or apprentice who could go and fetch it for her.  It was only just past sunhigh, far too early in the day to have nothing to do.  The tortoiseshell sighed, laying down and resting her chin on her white paws.  She scanned the nursery again, just in case she'd missed someone.  She hoped someone would come talk to her; she wasn't particularly fond of approaching other cats on her own.  Even other kits could be a bit intimidating!

[Deleted]

Swallowkit was sitting not too far from Dapplekit. He was watching her, examining her. She looked bored, therefore nothing interesting was happening. What a shame. He wasn't the best on approaching cats, but due to the fact that there was no one around, he would either sit here all day watching a boring cat or go up and talk to her. 

Summoning a huge breath, the tiny kit padded forward, shyly looking at his paws as he began speaking to the fellow kit. "I-...um, are- are you alright?"He half-mumbled out, hoping she'd heard him. The tabby studied his paws as he awaited a response. What would he see in the she-cat's eyes? Happiness? Fear? Or anger because she wanted to be left alone? Swallowkit didn't know, but he continued to scan the ground with orange eyes, hoping he'd get a response soon.

[Dapplepaw]

Dapplekit jumped. How had she missed seeing the little tabby when she was looking for someone in the nursery? And he seemed just as shy as she was, which gave her a boost of courage. "Oh! Yes, I'm fine," she said, stretching. "I was just looking for someone to play with." She inspected the kit before her, noting how he kept his eyes on the ground. "What about you? You seem bored too."

[Deleted]

Swallowkit looked up as he noticed how Dapplekit's mew was on the friendlier side. He cracked a very tiny smile before returning to the ground underpaw. This cat seemed shy at first... Or, maybe she was just bored. She doesn't seem that... Shy now. But nice. Maybe my first friend? He thought with a little bit of nervousness. What if Dapplekit was just playing a prank on him and she really wasn't this nice?

The tom hardly even noticed when she asked him a question because he was off thinking too much. The light colored tabby blinked up at her, returning the smile that he had on previously. "Yeah um... I-... I was kind of bored." He mewed, head tilted up but eyes focused more on the kit's shoulder. He was still a little timid to make eye contact, even though she seemed nice. "Did.....Did you want to do something?"

[Dapplepaw]

Dapplekit purred when she saw the other kit's smile.  Good, she'd been starting to worry that he wanted her to leave!  "Well, I definitely want to do something," she mewed, blinking slowly as she thought.  The other kit seemed so shy! Maybe if she talked about nothing much he'd get more comfortable with her.   "What do you like to play?  We could play mossball.  Or we could practice our hunting and fighting moves.  I-I'm going to be an apprentice soon," she added with a hint of hesitant pride in her voice.

[Deleted]

Swallowkit let out a short and small nervous giggle. What he said was dumb. Of course they were to do something. Twitching his whiskers, the tabby gave a little shrug. "I've never played an, um... A game before. So, um.... It-it's up to you." He stuttered weakly. It was true, he had never played a game before. Probably because of the lack of friends. Even so, he considered the tortoiseshell a possible friend, even though he didn't even know her name yet.

"An apprentice? Mmm." Swallowkit meowed, though he noticed how the other cat looked about his size. Maybe she wasn't the same age as him; maybe she was small. Swallowkit cleared his throat a tad in an attempt to get his following meows louder and he waited once more.

[Dapplepaw]

"I do have a few moons to go before I get my mentor, I guess," Dapplekit admitted, ears going a bit flat.  "But it's never too soon to start practicing right?"  She stood up and stretched, flexing tiny claws.  She didn't usually play with other kits, usually finding them too boisterous and loud for her tastes.  But this little tom seemed much easier to get along with.  She didn't have much (or any!) experience making friends, but this could be a start!

Suddenly realizing that she hadn't introduced herself, she dropped her tail and ears in embarrassment.  "By the way, I'm Dapplekit," she mewed, "What's your name?"

[Deleted]

The IceClanner gave a small giggle. "Yea...Yeah. Never to early to start practicing." He almost repeated, warming up to the she-cat. She wasn't as hyper and bouncy as most of the other kits, but she wasn't too shy either. A perfect fit for a friend. 

Swallowkit finally got the courage to look up at the tortoiseshell, and when he did, he let out a small and muffled purr as he watched her ears and tail droop. "Oh, no no-it's fine. I didn't introduce myself either." He paused for a moment, taking pride at how little he stuttered in that sentence. "Nice to meet you Dapplekit. My name....My name is Swallowkit."

[Dapplepaw]

The little she-cat perked back up again at learning the name of her new playmate. She also didn't miss that he hadn't stuttered as much this time. She struggled with a stutter herself, though hers was only a problem when she spoke to adult cats. "Swallowkit! I like that name," she said. "And I like your eyes! I haven't met any cats with orange eyes before."

[Deleted]

Swallowkit cracked a little smile of embarrassment. "Thanks.... Dapplekit is a great name, too." He replied, noticing how it matched her "dappled" pelt. He dug his tiny claws into the ground below, half confused and half flustered as she complimented his eyes. "They're orange? I guess I've never.... Never looked closely into a puddle before." He meowed, at least thinking that was how you saw reflections. He looked at Dapplekit's eyes. They were really pretty, the green popping out with her splash colored pelt. "I like your eyes too. Nice match with your, um, pelt." Swallowkit meowed with a nod.

He glanced out of the nursery entrance just for a moment, half wondering what type of game they were going to play. A jumping game? Running? Battle? Doesnt really matter as long as it's fun.

[Dapplepaw]

Dapplekit let out a purr at the compliments. "Thank you!" she said happily, flipping her tail. "Now," she dropped into a playful crouch, shuffling her hind paws in the soft moss. "What do you like to do to play, Swallowkit? Are you a good jumper? Or a fast runner? Or are you good at climbing?" she finished, glancing through the nursery entrance. This kit looked to be about the same age as she was, so maybe he was better at different things than she was and they could teach each other!

[Deleted]

Swallowkit copied Dapplekit with wide eyes, dropping down into a crouch. "Um, I don't know. Maybe j-jumping? Haven't really t-tried." He mumbled, deciding to return the question. "What about you?" He asked, wondering if they were to have a competition of some sort. Id be jumping, Hm? He thought, wiggling his haunches. He finally leapt, getting halfway through the nursery entrance. The tabby giggled and turned around to face Dapplekit again. Not a very far leap, but it was still fun. He wondered what the kit was going to say she's good at. Maybe running? Swallowkit gave a shrug to answer himself and waited for his new friend to follow to the entrance.

[Dapplepaw]

Dapplekit dug her claws in and leapt as far as she could, landing a bit behind her friend and almost treading on his tail. "Oops," she mewed, stepping backwards quickly. "I think you're probably better at jumping than I am!"
She hopped forward again, out of the nursery entrance and into the main part of the camp. She paused, cocking her head to the side in thought. Maybe they could have a competition? Swallowkit seemed to like jumping, so she smiled back at him. "I think you're better at jumping than I am, but I bet I'm better at climbing! Do you want to see who can jump farthest?"

[Deleted]

Swallowkit twitched his whiskers along with a small shake of the head. "No, no. I think I was j-just um, lucky that time." He meowed, glancing back. It wasn't that far, was it? He ducked his head a little as Dapplekit bounded out, and the tabby slowly followed behind, head down and concentrated on the she-kit's paws in front of him. Noticing she was halting, Swallowkit stopped and half-way looked up at the tortoiseshell. A good climber? That sounds fun. But what would she climb? Rocks? Trees? He thought, not really knowing what a 'tree' was. The tom nodded at her suggestion, re-focusing on the ground. "S-Sure. You start."

[Dapplepaw]

Dapplekit kneaded her paws on the hard ground, testing it. "What if we start from…beside that pebble over there. We'll each jump as far as we can, and whoever makes it farthest wins!" She glanced down at her companion, aware that his eyes were once again fixed on the ground and not looking up at her. "Are you sure you want me to go first?" she asked lightly, sitting down and curling her tail around her paws. "I don't mind either way."