Curious Minds. [thornkit/private]

[Marshpaw]

[ Thornkit ]

The sun was drifting towards its' highest position when Marshpaw lumbered out of the apprentices' den. As soon as the black and white apprentice was a few tail lengths from the den's entrance, his legs shot forward and he stretched out his shoulders. Marshpaw had slept in for a decent chunk of time, mostly because the first few days of apprenticehood had been disorganized and awfully tiring. The whole thing almost made him miss being a kit in the nursery and all the simple enjoyment filled days he had. His yellow eyes quickly looked himself over, seeing a few messy patches of fur. He sighed quietly, and sat down to began working on cleaning his messy pelt before he continued with his day. He cleaned his pelt quickly, and gave it one more look to make sure that no clumps of fur remained messy. The apprentice nodded to himself once he saw his pelt was cleaned. "There we go, now I just need something to do." Marshpaw mumbled, mostly to himself.

It was difficult to find something to do, mostly because he shared his mentor with two other apprentices. Marshpaw could easily guess how busy that was, especially since she was a new warrior, but he shoved that back to think of later. His yellow eyes scanned the camp, drifting pass every den, and even the fresh-kill pile. Eventually they landed on the exit out of camp, and lingered there for a while. He sighed as his mind reminded him that he needed to be accompanied by a warrior in order to leave the camp, which meant he was most likely stuck in camp until there. With that in mind, Marshpaw settled down into a laying position only a few tail lengths from the apprentices' den, his eyes still searching for something to do.

[Thornkit]

Feeling bored once more, the snow colored she-cat was now bristling with annoyance. When boredom took over Thornkit had a tendency to become angry because of the want to do anything. Pacing back and forth at the entrance of the nursery, she was now wanting more than ever to be an apprentice, at least they had something to do. Stifling a low sigh, her piercing golden eyes scanned over each den looking for any signs of movement or activity. Suddenly a black, gray and white cat caught the kits attention. Tail perking up slightly, Thornkit made her way towards the apprentice den, making it seem as if she had some purpose to be heading there. Staring at the den intently, her gaze did not leave the target as her paws padded across the camp lightly.

Reaching the apprentice den where the tom rested yet still glanced around as if looking for something, she shuffled her dark brown soft paws impatiently. Feeling slightly awkward, the she-cat took a few seconds to catch her words, mind going completely blank. Shaking her head harshly, Thornkit once more regained her purpose and stated simply,

"Um, are you looking for something? If so I'd be more than happy to help you..."

Thornkit was so desperate for an activity that she had most likely made the most ridiculous request. Although this was normal kit behavior right? This must seem silly to him, an apprentice would never need a kits help with anything... Although perhaps he could teach me some things he learned... The kit then shook her head once more at the idea simply brushing it off as meaningless.

[Marshpaw]

Somehow, Marshpaw's eyes didn't catch the snow white kitten who was wandering towards him. Perhaps it was because the idea of the territory was lingering in his mind yet, pulling his eyes towards the camp's entrance. His black ears didn't even pick up the sounds of an approaching cat. As usual when Marshpaw began thinking, his tail began to quietly sway back and forth as he thought. It was a bad habit of his, and would probably take a lot of practice to stop himself from doing it. His claws gently slid out, scratching at the ground in anticipation of the idea of the outside world. That was when his ear twitched to the sound of a voice, which stated a very simply question. "Huh?" Marshpaw meowed quietly before snapping out of his trance. His eyes drifted to beside him, easily finding the kit who had approached him. Marshpaw had luckily caught what the kitten had said, causing his mind to quickly gather itself and focus on the conversation at hand. "Oh, no I am not really looking for anything, just something to do. That's all," Marshpaw explained simply.

That was when Marshpaw's yellow eyes took a look over the kit, mostly noticing the golden eyes and brown paws the kit had. This was one of the first kits he had met since becoming an apprentice, so this kit before him was the first. That was when an idea popped into his mind, kits always liked to play games. "You know, I don't have any training. So if you need someone to play with, I am free." Marshpaw offered, deciding that it would be nice to play a few games. He would have to be careful of course, but that wasn't a big bother for the young apprentice. Besides, Marshpaw was a little small for an apprentice, which would very well help even a small bit in being gentle. He smiled at the kit, hoping that she at least wanted to do something, that was when he picked up on his rudeness. "Oh, I am Marshpaw by the way, and you are?" He asked, trying to be polite.

[Thornkit]

Thornkit felt amused at the apprentice's response, it seemed they had the same case. Letting out a light laugh, the she-cat gazed at the tom with admiring eyes. He was already being trained by a warrior to become the clans most fearful resources. Becoming a warrior was what being born was about. All cats were meant to become the best they could be which lead to many moons of training, but it would all be worth it. Snapping out her thoughts as reality caught back up with the she-cat, Thornkit nodded,

"What a small world, it seems we have the same problem-We have too much time on our paws."

At the mention of a game, her tail shot up at once in excitement. Smiling with pleasure, Thornkit shook her head vigorously at once believing perhaps now she would be able to see an apprentice in action. The white kit already had one game in mind which always seemed to cheer her up: play fighting. A smirk now crossing her face, she asked the male,

"You up for a game of cat and mouse?"

Quickly hearing the introduction, Thornkit bowed her head in acknowledgement, replying by giving her own name politely,

"Nice to meet yah, I'm Thornkit."

[Marshpaw]

The idea of going into the territory left Marshpaw's mind as he began talking to the young kit before him. Fortune had heard his plea for an activity, and had granted it by bringing along a bored kit. The kit laughed lightly, perhaps at the way he had sudden noticed her or because of the way he had spoken. Marshpaw wouldn't doubt if she was even laughing at the idea of being able to sneak up on an apprentice. Afterwards, she said that she was bored as well and had way too much time on their paws. "It seems so," Marshpaw meowed. The black and white tom had already figured out a while ago that he would probably get a lot of extra time since his mentor had an abundance of apprentices. Once he mentioned the idea of a game, he watched with surprised eyes as the kit's tail shot up and the smile that forged onto her face. Marshpaw simply watched calmly as the kit thought up a game she wanted to play with him, letting her have the choice over the matter. He watched as a smirk appeared on her face, which suggested she had some sort of sly idea of a game.

It luckily just turned out to be cat and mouse, which was another one of the basic games played by kits. Marshpaw nodded, "Sure, sounds like fun." With that, the apprentice hauled himself onto his white paws, his tail ceasing in its' casual movement. The kit also gave a polite introduction of her name, and even bowed her head in acknowledgement. This, naturally, gave Marshpaw the feeling to give that politeness back. "Nice to meet you as well, Thornkit," he meowed politely. Slowly, Marshpaw looked around camp, making sure that nobody else required his assistance, and was satisfied to see that nobody did. Marshpaw wanted to help his Clan the best he could, which was a natural instinct for most cats that belonged to a Clan. His eyes then snapped back onto the kit who wished to play a game. "So, what do you wanna be? The cat or the mouse?" Marshpaw asked, giving Thornkit the option to choose first. He thought it was only fair since she thought up the game they were going to play, and it was also out of kindness.

[Thornkit]

Cat of the mouse... This choice was pretty clear to Thornkit, given the fact she was quite smaller than the apprentice and was quick and sharp. It had been kind of the tom to allow a kit to choose which spot she desired, most cats his age might have looked down on her instead. Tilting her white head to face the sky in thought, she narrowed her golden eyes before making a final decision. Smiling, the she-cat beamed with excitement,

"I'd like to be the mouse! But I must warn you, I am pretty fast for a small little kit."

Preparing herself mentally for the game, Thornkit's eyes became full of determination. She liked to think of the game as more than just a simple pass time, but a real situation. For now she would look at Marshpaw as a enemy, but of course still have fun. Tail now moving back and forth slowly, she crouched down, belly touching the icy ground. Normally the cat would make the first move, but in this case the she-cat liked to be the game starter.

"On your mark, get set, go!"

With that beginning, Thornkit seemed to be heading to the right, but quickly ran the opposite direction, paws scrapping the camp grounds. Hoping to throw Marshpaw off guard, her eyes began to search for a new direction to move to. Finding an open area, she took a sharp turn at a small bush, glancing back for only a split second. A grin crept onto her face as she hoped to be wining at the game.

[Marshpaw]

Some cats who were of apprentice age may have found they were too busy or too "grown up" for kit games, but Marshpaw was different. Games to him were wondrous marvels of creativity and fun that were meant for cats of all ages. Unless he was extremely busy, he wouldn't pass up a game, even if it was with a kit. If his duty was to help his Clan, then surely he was helping by entertaining the kits. He watched as Thornkit tilted her head upwards, as though the sky may just come up with the answer she needed. When her head lowered, her eyes were beams of excitement and a smile was upon her face. This all made Marshpaw curious about her decision on what role she wished to play in the game. He shot her a small smile as she told him she wished to be the mouse in this game, and even warned him about her speed. "Then this is probably going to be interesting." Marshpaw meowed quietly, and mostly to himself. He found it a strange coincidence that Thornkit was small, and if she was correct, fast. It would almost be like he was hunting an actually mouse, and that was when his smile broadened. This was maybe just a game, and even if he had to be gentle, he would get some hunting practice out of this.

However, Marshpaw should've been paying more attention to the she-kit whose eyes were burning with determination. His mind had gone into space for a mere moment, and slowly began returning as Thornkit began her "count down" to begin the game. Once the word go rang into his ears, he realized what was going on. After a slight hesitation, his registered what was going on, and immediately glanced about until seeing the snow-white ball of fur running to the right. Marshpaw leaped into action, giving chance after the speedy she-kit. When Thornkit had said she was fast, she wasn't kidding, and Marshpaw soon learned that. His longer legs did help him keep up, but as soon as he began to gain distance, the she-kit smartly made a sharp turn at a bush. Rather then turning, Marshpaw was forced into a sudden halt, and almost sent tumbling into the sharp branches of the bush. This was the moment when Marshpaw realized, this wasn't going to be easy, the kit he was playing against was smart and fast, two rather lethal combinations. That was when a smile came onto his face, these two lethal combinations meant the game wasn't going to get boring any time soon. With that, he got back into position, giving chase after the she-kit in hopes of catching her.