Ask to Join Paws Too Small

Spawn of flame, Thunder-struck, from the ashes I rise
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Leopardrose had only just stepped out of the warriors’ den, hoping to soak in a bit of the mid morning sun and maybe - just maybe - avoid some of her crankier clanmates. The camp felt smaller than it usually did, which always caused the teal eyed she-cat to want to escape out into the wooded territory.

She spotted the blur of white fur too late to sidestep it. A small weight bumped into her foreleg, and Leopardrose froze, eyes wide, like prey caught midstep. Her ears twitched. Robinkit. Leopardrose's tail gave a single, reflexive flick. "It’s...fine." She said quickly, voice a little stiff. She glanced down at her paw, then back at the kit like she expected it to start crying or explode into noise.

"I’ve had worse..." The molly added, a touch awkwardly, eyeing the heap of leaves with a look of guarded curiosity. "You building... something?" Her claws flexed slightly into the earth. She hadn’t meant to ask. Kits made her nervous. Too much like things she'd left behind...and of the blaze that still occassionally haunted her nightmares. And yet here she was.

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

✦･ﾟ: *✦･ﾟ:* 🐦 *:･ﾟ✦*:･ﾟ✦

Robinkit didn't yowl, didn't squeal, didn't cry like she knew Rimekit would have, the bump didn't hurt her, or even frighten her. Leopardrose's paw simply took her by surprise and she was more worried about Leopardrose getting an achy paw more than anything else. So when Leopardrose expressed that she was fine, she didn't question her.

"Yeah, you're pretty scarred up, you must be very strong to survive all that" She noted before sitting down in front of the dappled she-cat, it was much easier to look up at her that way. Robinkit thought about what she said, she had repeated it a few times in her head before saying it, but she wondered if she was slowly starting to sound like Bravesong with all the times she went into that elders' den.

Leopardrose seemed rather awkward and shifty even when Robinkit sat perfectly still, but Robinkit decided it was not worth mentioning, in case it was a problem that Leopardrose was sensitive to talk about or something of the matter. Leaving it be was the best decision, in her mind anyway. "Not building, I collect different plants when the ones in the nursery wilt or get cleaned out. Tigerrush being so organized with her herbs inspired me to keep my nest clean" she replied her yellow eyes staring up at the rosetted she-cat, blinking every so often in curiosity.

"Warriors don't do the same?"

Spawn of flame, Thunder-struck, from the ashes I rise
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Leopardrose blinked, taken aback not just by the bluntness of the kit’s observation, but by how calmly it was delivered. Her mouth opened then closed again. It wasn’t the first time she’d heard something like that. Most of the time from warriors who meant it as praise or kits trying to impress. But coming from Robinkit, it was said with such simple, matter of fact sincerity that Leopardrose didn’t know what to do with it.

Her ears twitched, uncertain. "I… guess so." She murmured, glancing down at the faint puncture wounds along her chest, the faded burns tracing her flank. Her tail flicked once, brushing dust off her paws. She listened quietly as Robinkit explained her collection, and some of the tension in Leopardrose’s shoulders eased at the kit’s steady tone. Distracting her nerves with her description.

"That’s… neat." Leopardrose said, still wary but a little less stiff. "Tigerrush is a good cat to look up to." She paused, eyes drifting to the little pile of leaves. Her next words died in her throat, wanting to compare the medicine cat to someone else, but would the kit even understand?

When the question came her whiskers twitch. "Some do. I keep my nest tidy, but I don’t decorate it...Things can get moved, or crushed with a big body, so...." She looked off toward the warriors’ den, then back to Robinkit. "You make it warm, and you make it safe. That’s enough."

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

✦･ﾟ: *✦･ﾟ:* 🐦 *:･ﾟ✦*:･ﾟ✦

"So they don't decorate their nests? I suppose that's big effort for someone that has better things to do though" Robinkit replied before picking up her leaves carefully and taking a more comfortable seat beside Leopardrose. Her one folded ear twitched for a moment as she placed the leaves down at her paws, placing one white paw on the plain, green future nest decorations. She knew very little about Leopardrose, but she seemed rather wary of the little tri-colored kit, so she made herself look smaller than she was to seem a little less threatening, if that is what Leopardrose was concerned about anyway.

Robinkit nodded at the last comment in understanding "Safety's more important that comfort I think, That's why we have a medicine cat, to keep everyone healthy. To protect what matters most without really using her claws" Robinkit's voice shifted only slightly to one of the utmost admiration for the brown tabby medicine cat and her yellow eyes sparkled with something that Robinkit didn't even know of, but embraced it nonetheless. 

Her rounded yellow eyes glanced down at the bundle of leaves, nothing herbal, but they held a spark of importance to the little kit, enough to make Robinkit want to protect them. And Robinkit then placed both of her white front paws gently on the leaves before laying comfortably on top of them, using her paws to tuck them beneath her chest that held a red mark similar to her namesake. "Do you like being a warrior? I Finchkit and Rimekit really want to be warriors in a couple of moons"

Spawn of flame, Thunder-struck, from the ashes I rise
──●◎●──

Leopardrose watched as Robinkit moved closer, her sharp teal gaze narrowing slightlyThe kit didn’t bounce, didn’t pounce, didn’t invade her space with a shriek or a million questions like she half-expected. Instead, Robinkit seemed to make herself smaller, quieter. And Leopardrose noticed.

"Hm." She gave a quiet hum of agreement, her tail curling loosely around her paws. "Yeah. Warriors have patrols, hunting, sparring sometimes... decorating a nest doesn’t make the list. Not unless they’ve got spare energy and most of us don’t."

She looked at Robinkit longer now, more openly, as the kit settled over her leaf bundle like it was made of precious feathers. A tiny red patch on her chest caught the light, and something in Leopardrose’s chest twisted.

"You’re right..." She said quietly. "Tigerrush does protect the Clan. In ways most of us can't." Robinkit’s next question made Leopardrose’s ears flick back briefly, before she forced them forward again.

Her eyes drifted toward the camp entrance, the sky beyond. Then, eventually, back down to Robinkit. "I do. Not every day. Not every moment. But... it gives me purpose." Her voice steadied, more sure of itself with each syllable. "It lets me protect and provide for the cats who matter to me. Even if I don't always do it perfectly." She let out a grudging huff. "You seem like a...careful kit. If they stick close to you, maybe they won’t run into too much trouble."

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

✦･ﾟ: *✦･ﾟ:* 🐦 *:･ﾟ✦*:･ﾟ✦

Leopardrose's words were held in a high regard by Robinkit as the kit listened with content, listening ears and a curious but gaze, holding a strange maturity for a kit, especially a kit of Robinkit's age. Robinkit noticed how Leopardrose's body eased when she noticed her own body change to fit her comfort. The change in tone was not lost on Robinkit either and a shy smile dared to twitch at the corners of the mostly white kit's mouth.

"You know what your purpose is. Not all of us can say the same I think" Robinkit finally responded after quite a long silence, the smile that graced her lips hadn't left, but softened slightly as she patted at a crooked leaf in an attempt for flatten it to the best of her ability. "I still don't know what mine is, maybe I won't really know now or soon. It might reveal itself to me when I don't expect it to." she added, curling her tail around her small body.

At the warrior's last comment, Robinkit tilted her head, a soft giggle left her chest, but there wasn't much behind it. "I try to keep Rimekit out of trouble all the time. But I think she's always on the search for it most of the time, she hasn't really roped me into it anymore though, not now at least" she replied. Robinkit's voice was thoughtful, soft and most importantly, honest. She didn't like to lie, and she hadn't for as long as she can remember, she knew that lying about things would only cause trouble, either sooner or later so it was not worth the thrill that Rimekit got from it.

For a few heartbeats, there was a comfortable silence, the little tri-colored kit allowed herself to be calmed by birdsong and the sound of the wind brushing against tree leaves and shut her eyes for the moment to take in the sounds before glancing back over to Leopardrose "Have you ever met a cat like that?" she asked, innocence gleaming in her sunshine yellow eyes.

Spawn of flame, Thunder-struck, from the ashes I rise
──●◎●──

Leopardrose didn’t interrupt. "You might be right..." Her gaze dropped briefly to the kit’s little paws, smoothing that crooked leaf like it meant something. She let out a short, breathy snort when Robinkit mentioned Rimekit.

"If she's her dam's daughter, I imagine she's a pawful..." Leopardrose said with a flick of her tail. "Every nursery’s got at least one." The silence that followed didn’t stretch into awkwardness it simply was. When Robinkit spoke again, she paused.

"Yeah." She said at last, voice quiet. "My milk-siblings. One of them changed for the better. The other didn't." A flicker of something unreadable crossed her expression maybe too old for her age, too heavy for just birdsong and wind. But it passed.

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

✦･ﾟ: *✦･ﾟ:* 🐦 *:･ﾟ✦*:･ﾟ✦

Robinkit’s gaze did not leave Leopardrose as she spoke, the young she-cat was raised with respect for cats older than her and respect for her clanmates as a whole, and Leopardrose hadn’t done anything to the little caliby to invoke any reason for disrespect. After her devoted listening to the pretty she-cat, Robinkit licked her white paws before answering.

“Kestrelswipe was like Rimekit when he was a kit?” She asked, a bit of surprise in her voice but also a softness that she was very familiar with. “I think Savagefox wouldn’t be very surprising but Kestrelswipe seems very kind” She added with a flick of her tail, her eyes stuck on Leopardrose, as if she were the only cat in the camp, because she was the only cat that was talking to Robinkit in the moment nobody else, just this strong warrior.

Robinkit wondered what to say from there, there wasn’t a lot that was for sure, but Leopardrose seemed like a mature warrior, maybe Robinkit could ask her anything and she would be okay with it, at least that is what she hoped. “Leopardrose” she began, her tone was something that would be leading to something else, a question “Why don’t you visit the nursery? Greypebbles talks about you a lot and I know that you’re a good cat. Is it something to do with us in the nursery?”

Spawn of flame, Thunder-struck, from the ashes I rise
──●◎●── 

Leopardrose blinked slowly, caught a little off guard by Robinkit's directness. “Mm. Savagefox was the kind of kit who chewed on thorns just to prove they could..." She muttered, a bit of old irritation flashing in her eyes. "But Kestrelswipe… He was softer. Gentle, even. But there’s a difference between being kind, and being careful with what you’re given." She didn’t elaborate. Maybe she wouldn’t.

When Robinkit said her name like that, Leopardrose’s gaze lifted again, more alert this time. She wasn’t used to kits leading into anything with that tone it sounded like the start of something heavy. And it was.

The question landed quietly but firmly, and for a heartbeat, Leopardrose didn’t respond. Her tail curled tighter against her flank. She didn't feel like explaining the real reason as to what kept her far from the pitter patter of small paws. "I've been busy - all warriors are. Some try to keep busier."

She looked away briefly, flicking a bit of twig off her paw. "But Greypebbles talks about me, huh?" Her mouth quirked into the faintest smirk, words half hanging expectantly as her aqua eyes turned back onto the kit.

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

✦･ﾟ: *✦･ﾟ:* 🐦 *:･ﾟ✦*:･ﾟ✦

Robinkit listened, quiet enough that it almost seemed that she wasn't sitting there at all, but she was still present, still comfortably sitting beside Leopardrose with her dappled tail curling around herself as she spoke of Savagefox and Kestrelswipe. She had never really been very close with the deputy or the legendary warrior, but hearing about other cats when they were her age always had some interest in it.

She noticed Leopardrose become a little more alert, rigid, at her question but Robinkit didn't acknowledge it, instead, she listened to her answer with the thoughtfulness of a cat beyond her moons. "Sometimes I start to think you're the only think the can talk about" Robinkit answered, giving her ear a gentle flick before rising to her paws and then moving to politely sit beside Leopardrose, taking her leaves with her as if they were really important to her.

"About how you bravely fought that dog when you were an apprentice, and how you helped him through that snowstorm a few moons ago. And a bunch of other heroic stuff that you did" Robinkit added, curling her tail over her paws as she glanced up at the dappled warrior "And that you're his closest friend and the best warrior he's met, aside from Bravesong" she continued, turning to her leaves for a moment.

She didn't know if she wanted to be like Leopardrose, or like any warrior, or even a medicine cat or anything of the sort, she was happy being a kit, but that is not how it will go on forever, after all, no cat can be a kit forever. With a sigh, not out of disappointment, but more acceptance of her own thoughts, she turned back to Leopardrose "He said you're really brave and really strong, he wants to be just like you. But I think he has to be his own warrior, not anyone else"

Spawn of flame, Thunder-struck, from the ashes I rise
──●◎●──

The sun had shifted slightly, warm light filtering through the leaves and casting dappled patterns over Robinkit’s pelt and the little pile of leaves she’d gathered like they were treasure. Leopardrose watched her move, eyes narrowing a touch from the uncertinty of it all.

Her ears flicked at the mention of the dog...that old tale again. A faint breath left her, not quite a laugh, not quite a sigh. "Greypebbles' stories always get bigger every time he tells them."

But her gaze lingered on Robinkit. "But...I’m not the best warrior. Not even close." She let that sit between them. Her tail flicked lightly, brushing the dirt as she felt herself become a touch antsy again. "He is his own warrior, just like you will when the time comes." Leopardrose figured Robinkit would just be another warrior, as most took that route, and didn't know her well enough to suspect she might be something else in time.

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

✦･ﾟ: *✦･ﾟ:* 🐦 *:･ﾟ✦*:･ﾟ✦

Robinkit tilted her head, eyes wide and thoughtful as she gently poked at one of the leaves she had carefully tucked into her pile. The sun's warmth on her fur made her blink slowly, as if considering Leopardrose's words through the dappled gold. "Greypebbles also said that he looked a fox in the eyes" she said softly, not really arguing but not quite believing it either. "He said its breath smelled like crowfood."

She fell quiet for a while, her gaze drifted over to Leopardrose again. The admission that the older she-cat wasn't the best warrior didn't make Robinkit flinch or frown. Instead, it made her shoulders ease, just a little. "That's okay" she said at last. "I don't think I wanna be the best warrior either. Or maybe... I don't know if I even wanna be anything besides a kit"

Her ears lowered, not in shame but uncertainty, she had spoken to Bravesong about this but the thought still ebbed away at her, maybe it will always be there until her path is chosen. "Climbing trees... fighting... hunting, all of that sounds like it'd hurt. And chasing things is loud. I don't like loud." She turned back to her leaves, pressing one down with her paw "I like where everything is quiet and I can think."

She didn't look at Leopardrose when she added "Is that bad?" her voice was barely above a whisper now, like the question itself might crumble if it had been spoken too loudly. She remembered her interaction with Wildcry when she was barely able to talk, she felt like she shouldn't but she did, the way she shouted at her was something that made her voice shake, and now... her voice had become shaky again, would Leopardrose shout at her like Wildcry?

Spawn of flame, Thunder-struck, from the ashes I rise
──●◎●──

Leopardrose let out a short snort at the fox tale, though it lacked any real edge. Still, the corner of her mouth twitched. Whether it was amusement or fatigue was hard to say. She listened as Robinkit went on. The older she-cat’s ears flicked once, then again, each word stirring something she hadn’t expected to feel. Not pity - Leopardrose didn’t traffic in that - but a heavy sort of awareness.

"Not wanting to be anything…Probably not bad." Her tail curled around her paws, and for once, she didn’t meet the kit’s eyes. "It’s just not something most cats will understand." There was a pause long enough to count out heartbeats in the silence before she exhaled through her nose, low and tired. Her shoulders sank slightly, as if the weight of the conversation had finally begun to settle in.

"I don’t know what you’re supposed to want, Robinkit. The name came softer than it had before. "I don’t have it all figured out. I’m not wise. I’m just tired. And doing my best not to mess up the next thing." She gave her chest a few rough licks, mostly to fill the quiet, and didn’t look back at the kit right away. Leopardrose finally rose to her paws, slower than usual. "You’ll figure it out." She didn’t say it with certainty but she didn’t say it with doubt either. Her voice was somewhere in between. And worn out.

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

✦･ﾟ: *✦･ﾟ:* 🐦 *:･ﾟ✦*:･ﾟ✦

Robinkit blinked up at Leopardrose, her ears angled slightly back at the heaviness in the older she-cat's voice. She didn't know how to make anything better, not really, but the softness in how her name was said made her chest feel warm and fluttery. "I think... doing your best sounds really hard sometimes" she murmured, note quite sure if it was the right thing to say but saying it anyway.

She looked down at the pile of leaves she'd gathered earlier, her paw nudged one aside gently. "Maybe... it's okay to rest for a bit, too? When you get the chance" Robinkit offered quietly, glancing up with wide, thoughtful eyes. "Like when we kits are on their paws for too long and our legs start to feel funny. Even if we don't wanna stop, resting makes it easier to keep going later" Her voice had a small, hopeful note to it, like she wasn't sure if it made sense but hoped Leopardrose would understand.

A yawn slipped from her mouth, long and slow, making her eyes water a little. She shuffled her paws, swaying gently with sleep tugging at her limbs. "I think I'll go back to the nursery now. Its getting a little darker our here anyway" she said softly, her voice barely above a whisper.

Robinkit gave Leopardrose a small, tired smile, barely more than a twitch of her whiskers. "I liked talking to you" she added, and then, with a final flick of her tail, she picked up her leaves and turned, padding slowly toward the nursery.