When she entered, Skyblossom immediately placed the mice next to the elders, any awkwardness she might have had around them washed away by excitement. Turning around, she spotted the two kits, watching them slightly and wondering how she should go about introducing herself.

Walking slowly and quietly so as not to startle the kits, she sat down close to where they were, her green gaze following the kits' movements. "Hello, Skunkkit, Weaselkit. I'm Skyblossom. I've been waiting for a while now to meet you." She said, wondering how much they would understand.

Ignoring her own thoughts, she placed the flowers down a few paw steps in front of her, their vivid blue colors matching the kits' pelts. "I brought you some flowers. You may play with them however you wish."  She continued, smiling slightly.

Maybe if she made a good enough impression, the kits would start warming up to her. Of course, kits were normally quite easy to be friends with, so she'd probably be able to interact with them as though she'd known them for a very long time in a couple days. Or not. Probably depended upon the kit's personality...

Lying down in the small pile of leaves that she had gathered into a small nest and looking up at the clouds, Skyblossom felt a small leap of pleasure burst through her. If she were to ever have kits, maybe she'd ask her leader to name one Cloudkit. It was a name that she had always liked, even when she was a young kit. Looking back, she seemed to remember having an imaginary friend that she called Cloudkit. Maybe that was why the name was so precious to her?

Coming back to the current time, she listened to the contented and tired mewls coming from the nursery. She hoped she hadn't woken the kits, especially since she tended to say her thoughts aloud. Thinking they had only awakened half-way, she grew as silent as she could.

Suddenly feeling cold, both inside and out, she shifted in her temporary make-shift nest, trying to remember the last time she had felt another cat's pelt against her own. Trying to distract herself from any negative thoughts, she brushed the thought off, crushing it with the assumption that it had only been a few sunrises and that she just had a terrible memory. Of course, that failed, so she began thinking much more deeply about it. It was probably between the time she became an apprentice and the time she received her warrior name...

Before she could stop herself, she began to drift off, and soon, she found herself in a misty and dark clearing, the scent of water close by. Looking around, she was suddenly plunged into a blurry dream.

"Mama? Why are you so tired all the time?" The young Skykit asked, looking up at her mother's tired and blurred face in confusion. Touching her nose to her mother's shoulder, she shook her, trying to get her to answer her question.

"Oh." She thought, her throat tightening.

"Huh?" Her mother said, pausing for a moment and staring down at her with confusion. "Wh-who are you?" She finally asked, her voice but a raspy whisper.

"I'm your daughter, Skykit! D-don't you remember me, Mama?" She asked, shaking her mother with her forepaws in desperation, her mewing going unanswered.

Suddenly, a flash of recognition showed in her mother's hazy eyes. "Skykit! Oh yes, I remember now. Ah, silly me! How could I forget my one and only daughter?" She let out a mrrow of laughter, but it seemed quite half-hearted, as though she knew something that she didn't.

"Why don't you go out to play, dear?" She said, her voice cheerful. Tilting her head and narrowing her eyes with concern, worry filled her.

"But Mama! Can't you see? It's too late for me to be out right now!" She mewed, causing her mother to give her another look of confusion.

"O-Oh. W-well I say! It seems that I've lost track of time! Why don't I tell you a story instead?" She meowed, only causing her concern to deepen.

After a long time, her mother's story ended, and the two curled up next to each other, the warmth so comforting... and yet, a split of pain went through her. Why did this night seem so much more... cold? Scary? Lonely?

As she closed her eyes, she suddenly felt her mother's warmth fading, and her breathing became shallow. Leaping to her feet in fear, she shook her mother over and over, hoping that she was simply falling into a deep slumber, but no matter what she did, her mother wouldn't open her eyes. As her mother's breathing faded, she heard a small whisper, one that felt so, so very heart-chilling. "I love you, Skykit... I love you so, so, so much..."

Opening her eyes, an odd heaviness weighing on her chest, she wondered if that was really just a dream. It felt so real, so painful. Just watching made her want to wait out in anguish, but she hadn't been able to. Shivering, she stood, wanting to go on a hunt to distract her from the weight in her chest.

Sitting down and looking upward, she took in the blue of the sky she was named after, wondering if her mother had found such pleasure in looking up at the sky, just as she did now. Ignoring the strange emptiness she felt, she let her head drop to its normal position, enjoying the soothing breeze.

After spacing out briefly, she stood, taking a small stroll to the almost empty fresh-kill pile and looking down at the mouse from the previous night. Oh well. She'd leave it for some other cat. Besides, squirrels were much better.

Walking away from the fresh-kill pile and trying to ignore the constant and nagging thoughts of prey, she wandered closer to the medicine den than she would have liked. Sure, it had been a long time since she'd been scolded, but things like that always tended to stick with her. Shuddering at the memory, she quickly walked away, finding herself a nice spot to get away from the rest of camp.

She loved the small gap in-between the elders' den and the apprentices' den, finding it quite calming in the early morning when the elders were still asleep and the apprentices were either out tending to their chores and duties or sleeping themselves. It was a great place to take a nap, enjoy the sun, or listen to one's own thoughts.

Closing her eyes and imagining a kithood where she had her mother there beside her, she felt the emptiness within her swallowing all of the calm that had been given to her when she had sprawled out on the ground. No. She was fine. She was happy. No cat could take that away from her, especially not one that she didn't even know.

"I'm fine. Not everycat needs to have parents by their side. I'm sure that, no matter what, Windrustle was still there by my side in her heart. Besides, I have a Clan. I don't need a mother or a father when I have them."  She thought, not realizing she said it out loud. 

"Greenleaf is just about over. Soon, we will start to see the leaves turning brown and falling from the trees," he announced. "It's the perfect time to focus our efforts on hunting. Mistyleaf, Shadefrost, and Sunstrike, go ahead and focus on the Northforest for now. Greypebbles, Oaktall, and Smallbird can take the south, including Sunningrocks." He had to make sure that Riverclan knew that part of the territory was still theirs.

"Leopardrose, you may lead a border patrol with Stormfall and Dovethorn. Coyotebloom will lead the Moonhigh patrol with Brindlespice and Larchsong. As for myself, I will be focusing on working with my apprentice, and I expect Wrentalon to do the same. That is all."

The sun had just begun to rise above the clouds that coated the horizon and Gingerthrash, against his usual disposition, was already awake and chewing on a woodchuck as he rested his body on a branch that gave the camp an overhang and gave the lilac caramel elder a perfect view of the happenings in the camp. His amber eyes narrowed at the apprentice den. The only cat in their worth their weight was Rimepaw... maybe Finchpaw, but he wasn't bothered to try and convince himself of that.

Evidently, his thoughts carried to Cherrytree, recently lost to her own age. He was the oldest in the elders' den now and was faced with thoughts of his own mortality, what he left behind, what ThunderClan would do without him, how his kin would cope. The wondering was silent, strangely enough, but the scent of the half-ravaged woodchuck temporarily broke him out of his dreary thoughts for another bite.

It had been Robinpaw, his great granddaughter, that really found Cherrytree, himself second, after being woken by the calico's depressing whines. Gingerthrash was above making such noises, even if it was the cat that brought his bloodline to a continuation. Well, if he did die, he'd be fine with knowing that his blood still flows strong through ThunderClan, if not in Robinpaw or Finchpaw, then in Rimepaw. Perhaps he could make it to her warrior ceremony? StarClan knows, but he had time left, he was here, that's what mattered.