Tell me a story? (OPEN)

[Tawnypaw]

Tawnykit padded into the Elders' Den, hopng that somebody would be able to tell him a story or ssomething like that. He padded up to the first cat he saw and meowed, "Will you tell me a story?"

[Deleted]

Maplefrost narrowed his eyes (well, eye, since he was half-blind) slightly as a young white tom tottered into his den and walked right up to him. Another visitor? Wow, he felt popular now. Never before had the Clan showed such an interest in the elders' den.

"A story? I guess so. But first... you could tell me your name, y'know. I'm Maplefrost."

[Tawnypaw]

"I'm Tawnykit." The tom purred, his tongue hanging permanently out of his mouth. He got comfortable before continuing to look at Maplefrost, "Nice name, Maplefrost." ((i like the word frost at the end of names ;w;))

[Deleted]

"Tawnykit, hmm? Alright. What sort of story would you like to hear? A real one or a made-up one?" Having been born at the end of IceClan's civil war countless moons ago, Maplefrost had stockpiled a great number of stories from his past. Then again, it would be just as entertaining to create one on the spot.

[Tawnypaw]

"Either." Tawnykit purred.

[Deleted]

"How about the story of the eagle that attacked me while I was near TreeClan's border? Get comfortable, because this is a bit of a long one."

[Tawnypaw]

"OK" Tawnykit smiled, settling in.

[Deleted]

"This happened a while ago. Back when I was still a senior warrior with no thoughts of retiring, actually. I was walking near the edge of the forest, mostly minding my own business... then, out of nowhere, a shadow fell over me! The eagle grabbed my shoulders with its talons and then struggled to take off. I was caught off guard and could only thrash in an attempt to get free. In fact, I would've been chick-feed if someone hadn't shown up to help me. Who do you think that cat was?"

[Tawnypaw]

"Umm..." Tawnykit thought after the question... Who would save him...? "I don't know..."

[Deleted]

"Well, I actually have a half-sister in TreeClan. Her name is Koisplash; she used to be the deputy but now she's retired. We started out hating each other. Clan rivalries and all that. In fact, we actually fought once or twice before this incident."

For some reason, though, she saw me struggling with the eagle and rushed to help me. Koisplash distracted the bird and made it drop me; then we tried to fight it together. It was a long and difficult battle... the bird kept flapping away and then swooping back in to attack. In fact, if my half-sibling hadn't come up with a plan, we might have both gotten killed by that eagle."

Maplefrost paused to let Tawnykit react and ask questions, as well as to allow himself to gather his own thoughts. Koisplash's plan to defeat the bird had been a good one. The kitten would definitely want to hear it.

[Tawnypaw]

Tawnykit tilted his head, "Why would she help you if she didn't like you?"

[Deleted]

The elder chuckled softly before answering Tawnykit's question. "Koisplash always had a weakness for heroics. No matter the situation, she loved stepping in to help when there was trouble. Although to be honest, I like to think that she interfered because she'd rather kill me herself than let some random bird carry me off." He grinned, picturing how indignant his half-sister might be if she was listening to this.

"But back to the story. The plan was that Koisplash would keep the eagle busy while I looked for a particular tree nearby. It took me a little while to find it - it was an old oak, with several branches that were rotting. I climbed up and waited for her to lure the bird over, then I got the weakest branch to snap and fall on our enemy. The eagle was trapped under it; I stepped in to kill it after a few moments. The whole ordeal was rather tiring. I ended up spending about a moon in TreeClan to recover." He stifled a stray yawn; storytelling wasn't as easy as it was made out to be.

"You know what the moral of that tale is? Keep an eye on the sky! We live in the mountains, and it's not unheard of for the occasional hawk or other bird to hunt us. Always be careful when you're out there."

[Tawnypaw]

Tawnykit looked up, swishing his tassle as he listened interestedly. He laughed slightly at the moral of the story.

[Deleted]

Maplefrost raised a cat-brow when Tawnykit laughed. "What, you like the idea of getting carried off and turned into chickfeed?" he asked teasingly. "IceClanners have an interesting relationship with the big birds. You'll learn how to hunt them by luring them down from the skies - when you're a senior apprentice, that is. But it's just as easy for them to swoop down and make a meal of you if you aren't watching. Now..." The calico paused, leaning sideways to peer out into the camp. "You've been here a while, and I bet your mother's wondering where you are. Perhaps you'd better go find her? Come back and visit anytime though; I'm not going anywhere."