xx. sage arrives

[(aurora) of the problematique]

^{"An apprentice?" Sage thought to himself as he rubbed his belly and then looked up at Mousekit and Pecankit. "Sorry... I know, but it still kinda hurt. It was a bit of my fault. I rolled over onto my back when she tackled me. I guess I must have taken Mousekit with me." He smiled to show that now harm was done.}

[trissea]

Ryekit squirmed with the weight of Sagepaw and Mousekit on top of him, although not hurting at all. When the weight was removed, he jumped to his paws and shook himself, dust flying off him in all directions. He sneezed. "I wonder who your mentor would be!" He mewed, twitching a whisker. Sagepaw was lucky. He was just going to join the Clan and he'd probably be an apprentince before him and his siblings. He was breifly jealous, but his still undevolped mind briskly brushed the thought away as he leapt onto Mousekit, batting him with brown tabby paws and squealing.

[Spice..xx]

ooc: I thought she landed on his back not his tummy -shrug- anyway

bic: Mousekit squealed in horror at the thought of hurting Sage. She leapt off of him and cowered behind Pecankit. "I'm sorry" she whispered, looking at Sage, eyes wide. She snuggled into Pecnkit, the warm scent of her sister comforting.

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[fernie. (:]

Hazelkit sat down and licked one paw. 'I'm tired. I'm going back in the nursery.' she said, yawning, then padding into the warm nursery.

[SHADE. :D]

Pecankit licked her sister between the ears. She waved a paw at Hazelkit. "See you later!" she called. The tabby kit turned her head on one side, looking at Sage. "What actually happened to your belly?" At Ryekit's comment, Pecankit twitched her ears excitedly. "Yeah, you might have my pa, or Kestrelfeather, or Stormfeather.."

[(aurora) of the problematique]

((Yeah, I noticed that too. That's why I had Sage say that he must have taken Mousekit with him when he rolled over.))

Sage mewed. "I'll be Sagepaw then," he said cheerily and then looked up thoughtfully at Ryekit. "A mentor? Well, my mom's been a mentor ever since she rescued me. Would I need another one?"

He looked over at Mousekit. "It's okay, Mousekit. It didn't hurt that bad. I know you didn't mean it." When he heard what Pecankit said, he paused for a long time. "I...don't remember. Mom says she thinks an owl hurt me, but...let me go. She met me after I ran away...from Two-legs," he said softly, looking at the ground.

[SHADE. :D]

Pecankit smiled. "Yeah, you'll get a big, strong warrior!" she purred. Excitement stirred inside of her. She couldn't wait to be an apprentice! At Sage's answer to her question, she flattened her ears in sympathy. "Sorry," she mewed. "I expect you don't want to talk about it." Hearing Sage's last commen, Pecankit's dark sapphire eyes widened. "You used to be a kittypet?" she mewed, putting much emphasis on the last word.

[(aurora) of the problematique]

^{Sagepaw nodded weakly. "It wasn't all that great. Never get caught by a Two-leg. The Two-leg kits kept pulling my tail and trying to pick me up and after that I ran away, but it was during Leafbare and I wasn't really strong. My mom rescued me and I've been living in an abandoned Two-leg barn with my brothers," he said
He then held up his paws to count. "Um, there's Jinx. He's an older cat, Mom's age maybe. And then Ash, who's younger than me, like your age, Pecankit. And my new brother Hollow. He's a badger," he said brightly and then grinned. "That's probably why Hazelkit said I smelled."}

[trissea]

Ryekit's hazel eyes widened to be almost as big as his paws. "A badger?" He mewed, incredulously. "That's so cool! What's he like? Is he fun to play with? Does he talk?" He mewled excitedly, his tail up in the air.

[(aurora) of the problematique]

^{Sagepaw looked over at Ryekit. "Well, he's hurt right now. We haven't had him for long, just two days. He has an infected paw, but I'm sure he'll love to play when he gets better. To be honest, he's a bit scary to me. Then again, everything's scary to me," he confessed and then thought about Hollow.
"Well, he's about the size of your dad. And his claws are long and his pads on his feet are bigger than my face," he said, motioning with his paws. "Um...he's got a lot of teeth and my mom says that he'll have a jaw stronger than those metal monster things Two-legs use to trap rabbits in." Sagepaw mimed what a steel-trap would do, gently clamping his paws onto Ryekit's flank. "Like that. But he's really nice when he's awake to eat. He smiles a lot and he's shy like me. He just wants to be friends."}

[KURI. (happy birfday to me :D)]

^{Ryekit blinked and padded sleepily out of the nursery. Watching the commotion in front of the Leader's Den, he felt a surge of anger that his siblings had let him sleep through this. His brother, Ryekit, was standing by a small tomcat. Who was he....?
Trotting over to his sister, Pecankit, he prodded her angrily with a paw. "Why'd you let me sleep?" he mewed in a high-pitched voice. "And," he continued, glancing at Sage, "Who's that?"}

[SHADE. :D]

[ooc;] It's Grainkit you act, Kuri. xD You need to change it in your siggie. ^^;
[bic;] Pecankit wrinkled her nose. "Urgh, I hate badgers," she mewed, though she had never seen one before. "They eat kits like us." She shivered, fluffing out her tabby fur. When Grainkit appeared, she grinned at him. "Because you're impossible to wake up when your sleeping, you lazy lump!" She hissed playfully at her light tabby brother.

[(aurora) of the problematique]

^{"He doesn't eat kits!" Sage defended his brother, a bit outraged. "He eats what we eat, but if there's not a lot of meat, he eats berries and honey! Besides, Mom taught Hollow never to attack a cat unless in self-defense!" He paused when he saw what had to have been Grainkit. "Um...hi...my name is Sagepaw. I'm going to be part of your clan soon," he said nervously.}

[Spice..xx]

Mousekit smiled at Sage when she heard his forgiveness. She gasped along with the rest when she heard what a horrible thing had happened to poor Sage. She began grooming herslef while The rest talked and Sage began to talk about his family. When she heard the word badger she stiffened in fury. 'A badger! They're killers!' she thought to herself. She drew herself up, hackles raised. "Well, if you see your mum anytime soon tell her to watch out! Badgers are cat killing piles of fox dung, I should know!" she cried and then ran back into the nursery, sobbing as she thought of the screams of her mother and the stink of the badger as it gorged itself on her family. She threw herself down in the nest and sobbed her heart out, even the warm scent of her family not comforting her.

[/center][/color]

[(aurora) of the problematique]

^{"But Hollow is--," Sage broke off, dumbfounded at Mousekit's reaction. He looked over at Pecankit and Ryekit worriedly. "I...guess I should've not talked about my brother...," he said gloomily.}

((>.< argh sorry for the three-liner))

[trissea]

Ryekit (NOT grainkit, lol) nodded at Sage. "Its okay, her family was killed by badgers when she was really little. You didn't know." He soothed the other cat, blinking. Mousekit seemed very upset. And in need of a friend. He turned to look back at the nursery where the desolate kit had dissappeared, and continued. "I'll go cheer her up."

[SHADE. :D]

Pecankit's fur bristled. "No, you shouldn't have!" The light brown tabby kit brushed past Ryekit on her way into the nusery. "I'll look after Mousekit," she told hr brother. Pecankit pressed up against her sensitive sister. "It's okay. We'll stay away from him. He might set badgers on us. He's weird."

[fernie. (:]

Hazelkit yawned and opened her eyes as Mousekit came into the nursery. 'Hello.' she mewed sleepily.

[Spice..xx]

Mousekit snuggled into her sister. She was glad that Pecankit had come, she seemed to get on better with her sisters than her brothers. She sniffed a few times before rasing her head. Stiffly, Mousekit got up and began washing her tear stained face. She took a peak ourside the nursery. "Is he still there?" she asked her sister warily. She sat down, thinking hard. "I suppose it isnt really his fault. He didnt know what happened. Its just my mum...." she murmered, a single tear landing on the dusty ground between her paws.

[/center][/color]

[(aurora) of the problematique]

^{Sage's expression shattered and he ran off in tears, mentally hitting himself for even trying to open up to someone. He mewled out for Aurora even though he knew she probably wasn't there. Thorns slashed at his fur as he stampeded past brambles and gorse, eventually tripping over his paws and landing in a puddle. He looked so pathetic; he just wanted to lay there and die as he sat there sobbing. "Hollow's not bad!" he squeaked to no one.}

[fernie. (:]

Hazelkit unsheathed her claws and tested one on her flank. 'Ow.' she mumbled. So she wasn't dreaming. She was just being ignored by her sisters. 'Well, I'm gonna go. No,no, no need to get up.' she said in a dissmissing tone. She ran out of the nursery and followed Sage's scent. It smelled distressed. She wondered what had happened. She caught up to Sage, and ran in front of him to block his path. 'Hey. What's up?' she asked quietly.

[(aurora) of the problematique]

^{Sage ignored the fact that muddy water was matting his fur and that he was probably sitting on rabbit dung. "They probably hate me," he said flatly. "And definately my brother. Just because he's a badger doesn't mean he's bad. Not all of them are bad..." He started crying again.}

[KURI. (happy birfday to me :D)]

ooc; Oh my gosh, I'm really that stupid? xDDD

Grainkit couldn't help but smile. But still, why'd they let him miss all this? Watching Mousekit begin to cry and run away, Grainkit leaned closer to Pecankit again. "Who is he?" he asked once more. But his curiosity got the best of him and he padded across the clearing towards the black cat. "Hi, I'm Grainkit!" he mewed cheerfully.

[SHADE. :D]

Pecankit pressed up to Mousekit. "No. It's not your fault," she mewed. "He should have shut up talking about badgers." The tabby kit glared out of the nursery, sniffng angrily when she saw her brother and sister comforting Sage. Angrily she turned away, the dream playing through her mind. She was tempted to tell Mousekit, but she kept her mouth shut. She lay down, resting her head on her paws. She knew Hazelkit would probably run off and tell their father about Sage. Then she'd be in trouble. She hissed to herself.

[fernie. (:]

Hazelkit mulled this over for a second. 'Well, you can't blame them. Mousekit's family was killed by badgers. The Clan has never met a nice badger before.' she said, flicking her tail slightly.

[Spice..xx]

Mousekit watched her sister. "Is something wrong? You look worried." she said, shuffling closer to her sister again. "You know you can tell me anything" she added. Rolling her shoulders she peeked out to see where her family was. She hissed quietly when she saw the. "Nice to know that they would go to a stranger rather than family." she mumbled huffily. She turned her attention back to the worried Pecankit and looked at her intently.

[/center][/color]

[(aurora) of the problematique]

((My loner Aurora and the badger cub Hollow saw Kestralfeather and decided to pad along to help Hollow walk to ease the stiffness of his paw. They're going to meet up with Sage, Grainkit, and Hazelkit.))

<sup>Sage sniffled and nodded at what Hazelkit had said. "Hey Grainkit, I'm Sage..." he said and then nosed the air. "M-mother?" He spotted the black and white she-cat.

Aurora had heard the cries of Sage and hastily ran to him. "I was trying to find Runespell to come see you. Apparently, someone had died back there. Sage, why are you out here? Your brother's here" she asked, licking him lovingly. "Hello, little kits, I'm Sage's guardian, Aurora. I am friends with a warrior of your Clan called Runespell, and his mate, Leopardflight. Are you and Sage getting along? He's very shy..." She looked down at the Clan kits with approval in her stern eyes. She looked back, telling Hollow nonverbally to stay nestled behind the ferns.

"Mother, I told them about Hollow. I shouldn't have, I know, but Hazelkit and Ryekit over there and now Grainkit are pretty nice. I know Hollow would never hurt them. Is it alright for them to see him, so they know what he's like?" Sage pleaded. Aurora frowned and looked at the kits. "Only if they are not scared. If they show any sign that they are frightened, Hollow will only be allowed to see you," she said roughly and then looked at Grainkit and Hazelkit. "Are you two afraid?"</sup>

[trissea]

Pansyleaf raced into camp after Aurora and Hollow, her eyes wide. From her angle, it was perfectly clear that there was something in the ferns. And she knew what it was. She stepped in front of Ryekit and Grainkit, her tail held up. "Take that- that- thing out of here! I may know he's not dangerous, but the rest of the Clan doesn't! He could really cause panic!" Without waiting for Aurora's reaction, she sped to find Runespell.

Ryekit peered out from behind Pansyleaf at Sagepaw, making a face. He had no idea what Pansyleaf was talking about, but as soon as she left, he tilted his head at Aurora. "We're getting along great, he's awesome! He has a badger for a brother!" This was a mistake. But of course, he didn't know that.

[(aurora) of the problematique]

<sup>Aurora nodded at the she-cat warrior. "She's right, but it's them against a baby badger. If he did try to attack them, they would overpower it for sure," she sighed and then looked down at Ryekit. "That's great. I'm glad to see that." At that point, Hollow came out curiously, interested that Ryekit actually liked him. He let out a noise that sound like a cooing Two-leg kit and waved shyly. Sage was right; his paws were about as big as a kit's head.

Sagepaw nodded gratefully at Ryekit. "Thanks," he said, smiling. He saw Hollow and happily tackled the cub. The badger giggled and rolled around with the young tom. "Guys, this is my brother, Hollow, and Aurora, the one who rescued me from Two-legs. Hollow, Mom, this is Ryekit, Grainkit, and Hazelkit," he introduced. The badger cub waved with his healed paw. "I'm probably the only badger in this forest who wouldn't hurt a cat unless it attacked me," he said softly.</sup>

[SHADE. :D]

Pecankit shook her head. Suddenly badger scent flooded her nostrils. There was a badger in camp! She curled herself protectively around Mousekit for a moment, then dashed from the den. Hollow's datk eyes, sharp teeth and blunt claws scared the very spirit out of her. THe tabby and white kit crouched, cringing away from the black and white creature. She placed both paws over her eyes, sobbing in terror.