Private Thread Lessons in the Leaves (28FF21)

Nature does not hurry, yet everything is accomplished
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Bravesong had just returned from a short, slow stroll around the camp's edge, his steps careful but unhurried. He liked to walk the perimeter when his joints allowed it and feel the sun on his back. The ache in his shoulder had been talking lately, but not enough to quiet his paws.

As he padded up toward the elders' den, the scent of fresh mouse reached his nose just before the voice did. Muffled, but familiar. He lifted his head, ears twitching at the sound. There Robinkit was. She’d grown, hadn’t she? Not quite a kit anymore, but not quite out of the nursery either. A hard place to sit still.

"That you, Robinkit?" Bravesong meowed with a low purr, his voice warm but amused as he stepped fully into view beside her. His tail flicked softly behind him as he gave her a once over. He bent his head slightly, gesturing her inside with the tip of his tail. "Come on in." With the invitation Bravesong went to his nest and waited for her.

I may be small, but I’m braver than I look.

✦･ﾟ: *✦･ﾟ:* 🐦 *:･ﾟ✦*:･ﾟ✦

Robinkit humbly took Bravesong's invitation without question, a fear of dropping the mouse while trying to speak with him. So she made her way in beside him and sat at his nest. The kit placed the mouse down and nudged it to Bravesong's paws, nothing forceful, nothing to make it seem like she was only here to give him prey, just an offer that he was free to take if he wished.

"Yes, it's me Bravesong" She purred, her voice had become a little more matured, yet still with the kit-like lilt that it came with, she was growing up, and there was no denying that. But that is what scared her, she was worried that she was going to be drifting endlessly, unknowing what she is meant to be doing and simply going on without purpose. And her eyes struggled to hide her worry.

She took a breath, quick by deep, holding something heavy before she feigned a smile, turning to Bravesong with a twitch of her whiskers. Bravesong was more important, she wanted to know if he was doing fine first. "Is the elders' den treating you well? Anything to complain about" she asked softly, the tip of her dappled tail twitching uncertainly.

"I hope that mouse was is enough, I wasn't sure if you already ate"

Nature does not hurry, yet everything is accomplished
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Bravesong watched Robinkit settle beside him, the faintest press of pride lighting his expression. She moved with the caution of a cat trying not to spill what she carried not just the mouse, but whatever it was weighing behind her eyes.

He let the offered prey sit at his paws for a moment, as if honoring it first. Then he gave her a quiet smile, voice dipping into a warmer register. "You brought it for me. That makes it enough." He said simply, before leaning down to rake the creature's hide of fluff.

"Oh, you know how the elders’ den is. Moss in my ears, stories in my head, and Gingerthrash snoring like a storm." His whiskers twitched with faint amusement. He didn't mention the small aches and pains of his self. He had no reason to concern a kit. "Little to complain about today."

Then he tilted his head, hazel eye flicking toward her with a perceptive sharpness softened by care. "But...is there another reason for your visit?" He didn’t press, not yet. Just made room for the truth.

I may be small, but I’m braver than I look.

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At first, Robinkit tried to avert her gaze from Bravesong's question, but she knew why she was really here, every cat to their scrap of prey would. So she had no choice but to tell Bravesong the truth... as hard as it was.

"Did I really make it that obvious?" she asked, a slight tilt of her head to the side of her lop sided ear, a soft little sliver of whatever was left of her kit-like youth that wasn't masked by her solidifying body. The sigh that followed was heavy, weighed down by her own worries about her future, about her bloodline, about everything that ebbed at her calm like a warrior eating away at their favourite prey.

She kneaded her paws, glancing down at them watching as her claws sheathed, unsheathed on repeat until she forced a halt. "Bravesong." her voice was as heavy as it had been a moon or two ago, last time she had spoken to Bravesong beyond a courtly manner, she was sure that Bravesong could guess where this was going.

"I'll be an apprentice soon, and I still don't know what I will do when the day comes, what I'll do when it happens." She began, the weight not leaving her, as if a boulder had planted itself right on her slumped shoulders. "I can't tell what is going to happen and it scares me... I've always been a little cautious but, this feels different, like if time keeps moving, I will struggle to move along with it. Am I making any sense at all?"

She felt her legs buckle a little beneath her, so she fell into a half-hearted crouch before she would fall over her paws. She thought out of all the cats, Bravesong would be able to help, he seemed to understand her more than a lot of the cats in the nursery... perhaps competing with Sunstrike on that matter.

Nature does not hurry, yet everything is accomplished
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Bravesong let the silence linger as Robinkit spoke. His hazel eye remained on her, quiet but unwavering. "You’re making perfect sense. Even if it feels messy right now." He reached out gently with his tail and brushed it once across her flank, the same way he had done moons ago when she was smaller and even more uncertain.

"There’s a trick time likes to play. It makes you think you’ve got to run with it - or be left behind. But the truth is time can only move forward. And so can you. Even if it’s slow. Even if you don’t know what’s at the end of the path yet."

He shifted slightly, settling more comfortably in his nest while his claws ripped a pile of mousefluff and collected it nearby. "You’re not wrong to be scared. Change is scary. Being an apprentice means stepping into the unknown with nothing but your own paws under you. But listen to me, Robinkit - uncertainty doesn’t make you weak. It means you’re awake to the weight of things."

He gave her a sideways look, one brow slightly raised. "And I’ll be right here. You don’t have to have it all figured out the moment Moosestar calls your name. Why don't you take the first bite." He offered, the mouse properly de-fluffed and ready to savor.

I may be small, but I’m braver than I look.

✦･ﾟ: *✦･ﾟ:* 🐦 *:･ﾟ✦*:･ﾟ✦

Robinkit was still crouched, staring at the ground like it was the only thing that was sturdy in the den, however, she still listened, she heard and listened to Bravesong's words and shut her eyes. Bravesong's words were the only thing in the den now the only thing she knew were safe. 

A purr slowly made itself known from the pit of her belly and her eyes opened, half-lidded but open as she glanced over at the tuxedo tom, the corner of her mouth rising slightly in a tired grin. "How do you manage to do that?" she asked leaning down to take a bite of the mouse, small enough to leave plenty for the elder. "How can you say just the right things to make everything real? It is like you always find me and bring me back to camp when I'm lost in my thoughts"

"Please keep that talent for as long as you can, Bravesong" She replied, her tail flicking to meet his own, even if it were only briefly. "You never know when me or anyone else could need it" she added, her worried eyes softening, only slightly.

"Do you think... I could hear a story? For old times sake?" she asked, her grin widened, her teeth peeking out faintly from under her upturned lips "Any excuse to stay here longer"

Nature does not hurry, yet everything is accomplished
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Bravesong chuckled low in his throat, the kind of warm sound that rose from somewhere old and familiar. "That’s because I cheat. I’ve had moons to get lost in my own thoughts. And enough wrong turns to know what kind of words helped me find my way back." He gave her a small nod, more serious now. "So I keep them ready - for cats like you, when they need them most."

Her tail brushed his, and he met the gesture without comment, but the way his hazel eye softened said more than any words might’ve. He tucked his paws beneath his chest and let out a thoughtful hum. "A story, is it?" He cleared his throat. "Let’s see… There are so many, but maybe... Maybe the story of a little kit who thought she'd never be ready. Who feared she’d never be brave enough, clever enough, strong enough. But who turned out to be more than all of that."

I may be small, but I’m braver than I look.

✦･ﾟ: *✦･ﾟ:* 🐦 *:･ﾟ✦*:･ﾟ✦

"So it's experience then." Robinkit noted aloud, shuffling a little closer to Bravesong as she stared ahead, facing the fresh kill pile as warriors passed it. Greypebbles walked past and shot the two a friendly glance before slipping into the warriors' seemingly having other things to take care of or other warriors to talk to. Robinkit didn't mind, Greypebbles was a stable warrior, and she did enjoy the way he made up games that didn't involve much fight.

She glanced over at Bravesong as he spoke of the story and raised a brow, but said nothing, she was happy she was getting a story, even if it would be the last one she would get as a kit. "You've created a story just about my struggles?" She asked, a shift in her posture and a light shake of her shoulders implied she was trying to suppress a giggle as she wriggles close to the black and white elder. "It's like you know just what to say to make the worries captivating."

"Go on then," she prompted politely, a soft, more relaxed hum in her voice "Who is this mysterious kit?"

Nature does not hurry, yet everything is accomplished
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Bravesong gave a slow blink, one of those rare moments where his whole expression softened like melting snow dispite his rough exterior. He glanced toward the camp entrance watching Greypebbles disappear with a fond glint in his eye, then turned his attention back to Robinkit.

He shifted just enough to make room for her against his flank. "Ah yes. The mysterious kit." His tone took on the rich cadence of a practiced storyteller, the rhythm both soothing and familiar. "She was born under the hush of early leaf fall - empathetic, quiet pawed, and clever as a crow. She had questions... Questions about everything. About stars, and purpose, and why her paws didn’t always feel like they fit the path laid out for her."

"She was the kind of kit who didn't charge forward blindly. Some said she was hesitant - afraid, even. But what they didn’t see was how brave she had to be, just to speak up when her heart felt heavy."

Bravesong's voice dropped, more intimate now like he was telling a secret meant for her alone. "And though the kit didn’t know it yet, her story wasn’t about being ready."

He gave her a gentle tap with his tail. "Sound like anyone you know?"

I may be small, but I’m braver than I look.

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Robinkit listened unspeaking to the story that was being laid out in front of her, she knew it was about her, who wouldn't? But it was nice just to hear Bravesong speak the way he formed the words as if they were made to be heard, but still having the softness that only asked to be heard, not demanded.

A black and ginger dappled tail curled beneath herself as she felt Bravesong's tail meet her side, and her unfolded ear twitched ever so slightly before pricking at the question. "There is one cat that it reminds me of" she cooed, a soft smirk tugging against the corner of her muzzle as she spoke with a soft chuckle slipping through her voice "But I don't think I need to say who it is"

"What happened next? What happened to this she-kit" she asked after a silence that felt heavy but not imposing as she folded her paws beneath her chest "Or is this a tale that you'll just make up as you go?" she purred, however, her voice still held that natural quietness, that she had since she was a much smaller kit, except... it held more peace now, no longer the skittish little kitten from the corner of the nursery, but a calm young she-cat who wasn't letting her fear define who she was. That was who was laying beside Bravesong now.

Nature does not hurry, yet everything is accomplished
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Bravesong let the silence linger, not out of hesitation, but out of reverence for the moment. Something about the way Robinkit carried her questions, how she watched the world rather than simply ran into it, told him more than words ever could. Tigerrush saw it too, clearly. And Bravesong… well. He’d always had a soft spot for cats who walked roads most others didn’t even notice.

"Well… the little she-kit left the nursery. She didn’t know what kind of path she was stepping onto. Not really. All she knew was that it wasn’t the same one her denmates were chasing. Not all strength looks the same, after all. Some cats are meant to fight battles with claws. Others fight them with memory. With patience and care."

He paused, his voice dropping low, like he was letting her in on something private. "This kit… she began to notice things. She didn’t say it aloud, not yet. But part of her wondered if she belonged somewhere else entirely. That meant she was already halfway there. She wasn’t fearless, Robinkit. But she was listening. And StarClan… they tend to speak loudest to the ones who do."

Then with a faint smile tugging at the edge of his mouth, he added with a grin. "And as for the rest… that part happened yet. But I think it’ll be worth hearing."

I may be small, but I’m braver than I look.

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Robinkit leant her ear to Bravesong uninterrupted as he spoke of the she-kit, how she didn’t know where she was headed, how she moved forward anyway because that is what she should do. Robinkit shuffled slightly closer, mostly out of instinct, but a small part of her was intrigued to see how Bravesong would weave the tale, as true as it might have been.

Then, he mentioned StarClan and she twitched her ear "StarClan?" She glanced up, her yellow eyes only meeting the wooden, hollowed out roof of the elders’ den, however it was as if she were looking further, further than what the elders’ den help beneath its roof, so far that she could hardly understand what she was looking at.

"Where… Cottonlily is?" She spoke again, her words as if a weight had suddenly been forced onto her back, but they weren’t quivering, not anymore. Cottonlily’s death had been both moons ago, and had happened so soon, as if it had transcended time itself as well, causing Robinkit to flinch ever so slightly, her eyes revealing more than words ever could. "It makes me wonder if she is still helping anyone on their journey, this big, confusing, scary story that were all following" she began, her tail twitching with indifference, however there was something fond in her voice.

Yellow eyes met Bravesong again, much less anxious then when she entered, and much more sturdy than she had ever entered the den with. But this time, this calmness was hers to keep "We all take out journey at different paces, some together, and some pulling up the rear to make sure the others meet their destination safely" she added, a subtle smile forming on her maw "Thank you Bravesong, this has been, enlightening"