The Trees and the Birds

[Cloud of Diamonds]

The dark gray queen watched somewhat bemusedly as Elmkit and Lynxpelt spoke. How interesting...she would not have suspected a medicine cat, though a head one, to have such insightful advice on being a warrior.

Approval at the little brown tabby's words shone faintly in Swallowpelt's green eyes. He was a warrior born and bred, and would probably grow up to be as strong as his father. If he got a good mentor, and if he payed attention, and...well, hopefully he would. But he seemed to have the right attitude, at least.

The information the large tom provided on the flower was large, even for a cat who had great knowledge of plants. Though Swallowpelt had no idea of the regular teachings of medicine cats, he seemed to know more than the average medicine cat. He must be a fairly good mentor to Littlepaw, she mused.

Wait...was she being positive? Why was she being so positive? This was weird!

Crowkit. Elmkit. Even Willowkit, who hadn't spoken much.

That was why.

A strange thought occurred to her...how each of her kits seemed to represent part of herself, almost. Elmkit, for example - he reminded her of herself when she had been young. And Willowkit reminded her of now - a extra-mischievous kit, but one she loved no less for it. And one who loved Otterfur as much as she did. And Crowkit, who seemed so bright, always looking forward...

It seemed, in some fanciful way, that they were her past, present, and future.

Part of her scoffed at this...but a bit of her thought it made some sense. Maybe she could think more on-

Oh. Lynxpelt wanted to speak with her? Why? Well, even if it was nothing good, she guessed she'd find out soon.

"Of course. Kits, try not to bother anyone too much while I speak to Lynxpelt, and don't leave camp."

With that, she slowly followed him to where the tabby was sitting, and sat a tail-length away, her long tail beside her. "So, what do you wish to speak of?"

[glowlynose]

Lynxpelt... that was an interesting name. Why any mother wold name her child Lynxkit in the first place was beyond Crowkit's grasp, but he supposed that if it made Lynxpelt's mother happy it was alright. If she was proud of him it didn't matter how unusual his name was. But of course, the head "Medicine Cat" or whatever he called himself had to have ha a father as well. Crowkit sat firmly down and began to ponder this matter of nomenclature. While he had never actually seen a lynx, he assumed that one must look at least sort of like Lynxpelt. Had his parens seen a lynx before? And how? The clans were too powerful and intimidating for a single intruding feline to infiltate a camp, and the clans had always been there. They would always be there... wouldn't they? Or had the clans actally taken a journey and seen lynxes and bears and all those cool things? It was a while before Elmkit's mew managed to split his thoughts, but when it did it sure wasn't pretty.

First of all, the poor little tom's eyes widened in terror at the thought of ripping another's being's guts out. He then clenched them shut and shook his head, trying to rid himself of the mental image but sorely failing. Why would anyone want to do that to someone else? It was sick, horribly sick and wrong. That would be robbing that cat of their most basic right, the one to live. Were it not for clan boundaries keeping souls apart, one might be fighting a cat who would have been his best friend. You never know what will happen when you take the time to get to really know someone.

"Elmkit, why do you hate FogClan so much?" Crowkit stood up and padded over to his brother and sister, then promptly sat down again. His voice was almost sorrowful as he spoke, his ears and eyes downcast. He couldn't meet his brother or sister in the eyes. They just didn't understand, and they never would.

"Is it because you've actually met the whole clan and liked none of them, or because you think you're supposed to hate them because they're 'different'? Being different is a stupid reason not to like someone. You're different from me and I still like you." He brought up his gaze so that he looked the little brown tom in the eyes when he spoke.

"Why does everyone have to fight each other? What's the point? We're all cats. If everyone was in the same clan nobody would want to fight each other because there would be no borders. The borders are like walls that could be keeping best friends or soulmates from meeting each other. But you wouldn't understand, Elmkit. Neither of you would want to understand." With that, Crowkit dashed away from his family. None of them really understood him. Elmkit and Willowkit were too violent, he barely knew his father, and his mother was too sad all the time. His tiny chest heaved with sobs. Nobody would be able to cheer him up now, so he did all that he knew how to do: he followed the scent of plants. Soon he was infront of a place that smelled like Lynxpelt did. It made him happy, and soon the sobs were reduced to sniffles, and then the sniffles melted away into a smile. Don't get in trouble, his mother's warning rang in his mind, and so he sat down. He would be perfectly content here just bathing himself in the clean, pure scents of whatever magical things were in that place.

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[prowler.]

LYNXPELT

✖ Glancing back over toward the kit that had so easily caught Lynxpelt's attention, the muscular tom watched as the kit had an emotional outburst at his brother. He managed to catch the end of the conversation by swivelling his ears. Ah. That question. Why did there have to be fighting? Lynxpelt remembered asking the same question in his youth, only then, nobody had been there to give him an answer, it was such through painful experience he learnt that it was feline nature - attack or be attacked, kill or be killed. He'd lived by that for many years, forced to become primal in the wilderness of his young rogue years, until he'd met Fate anyway, she'd changed his mind, there were other routes than violence. All the same, it would never be obliterated, it was like shouting at the rain - futile. Lynxpelt shook his head sorrowfully as Crowkit dashed off, the kit would come to know in time, he was sure, but it was never an easy lesson for a kindhearted feline.

✖ Still, his eyes did not move from Crowkit for a few moments, watching with intrigue as the young kit somehow, as if naturally, made his way over in the direction of the Medicine Cat's Den. He watched as the sobs faded from the kit's countenance, replaced with some sniffling then abruptly by a smile. So the scent of herbs soothed him, Lynxpelt noted. Yes, he thought, turning his primal golden eyes back toward Swallowpelt, he was right about this one, he knew it. But breaking it to the mother's was, as he'd previously thought, always the hardest. It was even worse with the fathers normally, but fortunately Lynxpelt didn't see any sign of Ottertail being in the immediate vicinity of the camp.

✖ Lynxpelt held his tongue for a moment and let Swallowpelt's question linger in the air, before perfectly timing his phrase, slowly, so that it could sink in. 'I know this may come as a shock to you, Swallowpelt, but nonetheless it is customary that the parents of kits are consulted before their mentors are assigned.' He paused, knowing this statement could be confusing, before continuing, voice rumbling in an unusual, soothing manner, 'I would like to extend the privilege of the life of a Medicine Cat Apprentice to your son, Crowkit. You do not have to make your decision immediately, but the sooner you can let me know, the better.' He paused again, before continuing before Swallowpelt could react either positively or negatively. 'Of course, I would not be his mentor, but I was here today in search of the next Medicine Cat of PineClan and I believe here I have found that said cat. If you accept this offer, he will begin training under Redclaw immediately.'

✖ What Lynxpelt failed to mention was that regardless of Swallowpelt or Ottertail's reaction, the offer was merely custom, if Lynxpelt so desired, his position allowed him to overrule parental complaints and continue with the ceremony. All the same, it was much easier when the parents agreed to the process, it made it an easier transition for the kit in question. Lynxpelt briefly remembered Littlepaw, his own apprentice, and made note to take a training trip, just the two of them. He had been neglectful as of late with his own newly-assigned apprentice, too caught up with the duties which leafbare always increased, but herb supplies were lazy and Lynxpelt had taken to letting Littlepaw watch and learn, as well as learning by smell-honing. Pensive, his wild golden orbs met Swallowpelt's own optics, the flame within his eyes burning as bright as ever as he awaited a response.

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[Crowzerplorodon]

[avatar]http://i49.tinypic.com/118qhlc.jpg[/avatar]

“If I take Cougarpaw out tomorrow morning on dawn patrol I can probably spend some time with Swallowpelt after sunhigh... Or, y'know, I could always use my morning time to... No, that's stupid, she's probably going to be sleeping in the morning...” Planning. Otterfur had never been good at it. He was always so wrapped up in PineClan PineClan PineClan that really, free time for himself seemed completely foreign, much like the pampered kittypets who lived not so far away. But he had been trying to get better ever since Swallowpelt had given birth. It wasn't working out too well, admittedly. He had only seen his kits a pawful of times. The large warrior hoped that when they became apprentices, that would drastically change, but those times were still relatively far off. Not that a moon or so was 'far off'.

Shaking his head softly, Otterfur let out a body wracking sigh, one that fluffed up his fur rather comically before the mass of brown strands settled against his body. What would his friends think if they stumbled upon him now, hiding out behind the Medicine Cat den, speaking in hushed tones to no one else but himself? Maybe he'd be pegged for crazy. Or worse – they could call him out for talking to StarClan. Hah, the idea was laughable. He was not believer in the absurd starry cats, his clanmates knew that. Perhaps he had more taste for the stories of StarClan, and perhaps he wasn't quick to judge other clans, and perhaps he was even curious in them. But believe? No, that was just silly.

The warrior sighed again, kneading at the ground anxiously. He really, really needed to get back to work, but he hadn't even decided on what he was going to do tomorrow! It did need to be planned out before the sunset, that way he wouldn't be spazzing with nothing to do when the sun rose again. That would be bad, and a flat out waste of time. The green eyed warrior narrowed his eyes. Wasting time. That was bad, probably the worst thing ever.

… Except for the sound of a young cat crying.

His ears pricked at the sound of another cat close by, obviously in distress. Warily, the warrior picked his way around the Medicine Cat den, eyes wide when he recognized the small form of one of his own kits. “...Crowkit?” He said softly, tilting in head in confusion. “What, uh, why are you... Is everything ok? I mean, you're crying and...” He was quite brilliant when it came to conversation, that much was clear. The warrior glanced around quickly, wondering if Swallowpelt was nearby, then decided she was probably with the other two kits. Whatever had upset this young cat didn't seem to have alerted Swallowpelt to Crowkit's distress.

ooc;
have an otterfur. |D
i just thought it would be a smart-ish time to throw him in.

[glowlynose]

Crowkit glanced over his shoulder warily. He hoped that his brother hadn't seen him crying in front of the medicine den. His sister he didn't care so much about, because she was a she-cat and prone to sudden fits of weeping as it were (or so he'd been 'told' from the conversations of older toms), but his brother would never ever let him live it down if he caught him crying. He could picture it now... the three of them living comfortably in the elder's den and Elm-whatever-his-name-would-be-then, probably Elmclaw or something, telling the apprentices stories about his brother as a blubbering kit. The laughter, the legend of the only tom in PineClan to ever cry about the thought of battle. That would just be fantastic.

Someone came around the corner, someone big and brown. Someone REALLY big and brown... who could it be? Then the large mass of fluff spoke, and Crowkit dimly recognized the voice. It must be someone related to him, because he knew his name. Was it his dad? Was it really Otterfur? But what had he been doing in the good smelling place?

"Oh. Hey Dad." Crowkit glanced up quickly and then averted his gaze. He barely knew his father, even after five moons that he should have been around for. All the awkwardness was channeled into the rapid shuffling of Crowkit's paws and the flicking of his tail. Something dimly reached his ears from across camp - it sounded like the deep voice of Lynxpelt - but he paid it no attention.

"What were you doing back there? I like this place. What is it? And why does it smell so good? And that tom over there, Lynxpelt, why does he smell like this place and not like you do? Does he work here? How've you been, why haven't you been with us?" All the questions that had been building up inside of the tiny tom for moons (actually, mostly minutes) spilled out of him like runoff from the mountains that accelerated the pace of the river, and so, his voice. He was now standing indignantly, tail fluffed and eyes challenging. Why hadn't Otterfur been around them for so long? Was he... was he embarrassed of his family? Did the thought of being around his mate and kits make him cringe? Why hadn't he been Crowkit's father?

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[thistle.]

"However, I believe such methods would be best taught to you by your future mentors. Remember, if ever you are in a battle and you force your opponent to surrender without crippling them, do so - many of your enemies will be all hot air, goading and spiteful words; teach them that PineClan will not be mocked as such, but also teach them that we are merciful and all felines alike." Ha. Now that Elmkit knew Lynxpelt's actual position in the Clan (not that it meant much to him) he considered the older's tom's words of mild importance. Medicine cats were quite mad, in his opinion. Who would want to heal sick or injured felines all day long? It sounded like a very boring and tedious job. Lynxpelt shouldn't be wasting his time on flowers and plants; if he were a warrior and Elmkit had a choice, Lynxpelt could be his mentor. Powerful, strong... exactly what the young kit himself imagined to be one day. "If someone attacked me, I'm definitely gonna attack 'im back! Warrior's aren't s'pposed to be 'merciful', they're s'pposed to defend their Clan!" he protested forcefully, although the latter didn¡¯t seem to hear him because even before the last word was out of his mouth, he had turned and spoken to Swallowpelt.

The brown tabby had a putout expression on his face as he harrumphed loudly and glanced at his brother, who looked even queerer. He couldn't be troubled, could he? A few minutes later, Elmkit found out that he was. He replied, "I don't hate 'em! We have to fight them or they'll steal all our food! An' 'course bein' different is a stupid reason." He didn't say why, though and avoided Crowkit¡¯s yellow eyes, instead gazing away toward his mother and Lynxpelt. He glanced back to his night-furred sibling after a couple seconds pause, exasperation starting to creep in. "I already told you," he mewed rather impatiently. "Ev'ryone else's so greedy that they try to steal our stuff, an' we can't let that happen so we fight back! You're just bein' stupid, Crow-" He stopped the moment his littermate fled, eyes widening in surprise. It took about thirty seconds to fully register what was going on, however, and once he did, he coaxed an angry flame out of the coals of hurt and shock to try and sort his confused feelings. That was so unlike Crowkit... they used to be the best of friends when they were younger, but now it seemed that his silly notion of peace was drawing a line between them. It wasn't Elmkit who didn't understand, it was him!

The kitten began swear under his breath, letting his temper get a hold of him. Who cared about that dumb furball? Such a coward. Crowkit was probably just scared of battles. But claws and fangs didn't daunt the brown tabby. Fighting was an important part of life! PineClan shouldn't have weaklings in their ranks; it made them seem more vulnerable to the other Clans. And oh great, Otterfur was comforting Crowkit now, who burst into a babble of talk. He was telling their father about Elmkit, for sure. Elmkit groaned inwardly and slunk toward his sister with his head bowed unhappily.

[Crowzerplorodon]

[avatar]http://i49.tinypic.com/118qhlc.jpg[/avatar]

Well, at least the crying had stopped when Crowkit burst into a pile of speech larger than Otterfur himself was. Even if the little tom did look nervous talking to him (for fairly obvious reasons). Otterfur would take nervous over sad any day. But still, the fact that Crowkit had even been sad to begin with ticked on his mind, poking and prodding and tempting him to stomp over to the kit's siblings and ask one of them what happened. After all, it was far more likely that Elmkit or Willowkit caused this, rather than Crowkit's own sensitivity. The warrior smiled gently, feeling slightly awkward under Crowkit's innocent, yellow gaze, only to tense up at the angry, practically accusing one that replaced it. When did his son get so... mature?

“Slow down, sport,” he mumbled, mostly to himself, before setting off to answer each question that the small kit provided him. “This is the, uh, Medicine Cat den. It's for Medicine Cats and their apprentices. And it... smells good because of the herbs? There's a lot of plants and stuff in there, so it smells really sweet sometimes. Though mousebile smells bad, so stay away when Lynxpelt is using that.” He chuckled softly, pausing to catch his breath. “Lynxpelt is the head Medicine Cat, which means he's in charge of the other ones... Redclaw and Littlepaw – though Littlepaw is just an apprentice. Lynxpelt's apprentice. He's just a little older than you.” Otterfur was thankful for the time he spent with Jaggedclaw, as hanging around that particular elder meant hanging around the Medicine Cats.

“And uhm, I'm here to... think? Yeah, think. It's quiet around here... no noisy other warriors and the Medicine Cats don't bother you too much.” They were much toe intuitive for their own good. Then again, maybe that was why they were picked. “But... I've been fine, y'know, busy. Being a warrior isn't easy and all... It's tough to make time for warrior duties, an apprentice, and a family. But I'm always thinking of you. That's why I was here, y'know?” In retrospect, he should have been spending this freetime with his family, and not behind the Medicine Cat den with the scent of herbs acting as a soother. “Uh, why are you here, Crowkit? You were crying and... Well, it's not nice to hear little kits cry, y'know? Did something happen?” Maybe that was why Lynxpelt was there? Because something bad happened? Did one of the other kits get hurt? Oh pine trees he hoped not.

[Cloud of Diamonds]

Swallowpelt blinked several times. This was kind of...unexpected. True, Crowkit liked flowers, but...did that really mean he was destined to be a medicine cat? Would it make him happy? Of course, there would be problems, like him not being able to train with his brother and sister, and he was such a sensitive cat...could he really cope with that? Well, of course he could always cope, but the real question was would he think it was worth it. She had her answer for Lynxpelt.

"It's not a shock." She meowed slowly. "Just a little surprising. And I will let Crowkit train to be a medicine cat, but only if he agrees. He might want to think about it, I don't know. But immediately?" The queen frowned, dark gray brows slanting downwards, looking at the ground, unable to meet the tom's fierce gaze. "He's only five moons. While I've no objection, again, Crowkit himself must agree. And I'll need to tell Otterfur, of course".

Wait...there seemed to be some sort of argument going on between her sons...blast. Muttering a quick excuse to the medicine cat, she began to pad back to the nursery still staring at the ground but found Crowkit gone when she had gotten there. A sigh came from the heavily built she-cat. Lovely. Where had the little poof ball gone? Knowing him, he'd probably try to find more flowers and then he'd get hurt somehow and-

Oh...his scent seemed to be coming from the direction of the medicine den. But she would deal with Elmkit, looking quite distraught, first. She bent down and gently licked him on his head before padding towards the place where Lynxpelt worked.

And who should she see there but her mate! Otterfur! The one and only!

Her steps increased in speed and her eyes shone with rare happiness until she was at the dark brown tom's side, pressing against him ever so slightly, purring. She rubbed her muzzle along his cheek, wanting to show him how much she had missed him.

And then she looked at the small black cat in front of her.

Poor Crowkit...he still seemed so lost, somehow. She should try and comfort him, even though it probably wouldn't work.

"Oh, Crowkit. Otterfur is right. It's a hard lesson to learn, too. But you're lucky. I never even knew my father, Jaywhisker. And my mother died before I was even your age."

Her voice grew sorrowful, and she paused a moment, now speaking to her mate.

"Something did happen...he and Elmkit argued about something, what I don't know."

Switching her green gaze back to her son, she mewed,

"You can tell us if you want to, but if you think you can resolve it between the two of you I won't get involved. And remember, Crowkit, every day Otterfur doesn't spend with us, he thinks of us. Oh, he tries to pretend he's all tough and tomly-" Here she nudged the tom playfully. "-but any cat can tell his heart's bigger than his mouth."

[glowlynose]

Crowkit continued to stare at the big, dark brown tom who sat before him. So he wasn't ashamed of his family. That was a good thing. He'd just been busy keeping them all safe, being a big, strong warrior. Cats from the other clans would probably run away with their tails between their legs when they saw Otterfur coming for them. His father would do anything to keep his family safe. Crowkit knew this. But did it always have to mean fighting? Why couldn't everybody just look past the borders that divided them and see a bunch of cats just like them, instead of enemies? There didn't have to be fighting for everybody to get along.

Oh, jolly good. His mother had just arrived. She was getting all lovey-dovey with Otterfur. They hadn't seen each other in moons, but Crowkit would see in Swallowpelt's eyes that she loved him even more than ever. Love must be a very powerful thing to endure for so long. I wonder what it feels like to be in love with someone. Is it a good feeling? It must be, because everyone seems to love someone. Does it bury every other feeling you have? How can you tell when it's love and not just a hint of something else? How do you even fall in love? And now Swallowpelt was trying to defend her mate's honor. Didn't she know she didn't need to? Otterfur was Crowkit's father as much as he was her mate. Crowkit loved him too.

"Well, it's not really a big deal. Elmkit was just talking about ripping FogClanners' guts out. So I asked him why he hated them so much when he'd never even met one, and he couldn't answer. He said that of course being different was a stupid reason to hate somebody, but he still couldn't get it. So I ran away here to think. That's it." Of course, Crowkit was downplaying the whole episode for the benefit of his parents. They wouldn't understand either. They saw no problem with stealing the life of another cat away just because someone in power told them to not like that cat. They were warriors, and so would Crowkit be soon. He didn't want to be a warrior. Instead of hurting others, he wanted to fix them. Then maybe he could begin to make amends for all the pain and heartbreak caused by the other members of his clan.

"I don't want to hurt everyone else when I grow up. Can I work with Lynxpelt, mom? What were you talking about anyway?" Crowkit looked up at his mother with bright eyes. If he could become a... medicine cat, everything would be better. He wouldn't have to worry about killing anybody's mate, or brother or sister or parent. He could fix them instead. A glance over at Elmkit told him that his brother was really upset with him. He'd have to fix that later. Apologies didn't fix everything all the time, but at least he would've tried. It's the thought that counts, right?

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[Crowzerplorodon]

Green eyes widened a little at the sudden presence by his side – Otterfur hadn't been expecting his mate to join them over here by the medicine cat den. “S-Swallowpelt!” If his fur didn't completely cover his skin, you would have seen the large blush that crept over his face. It made having so much fur quite uncomfortable, really, as, despite the chilly weather, the blush made things much too warm. But he would cool down soon enough, Swallowpelt's arrival had just taken the warrior by surprise is all. Last he had checked, the gray queen was over by the nursery, talking with Lynxpelt and keeping an eye on their other two kits. What were those kits doing, anyway? Hopefully nothing that would get them into too much trouble. Otterfur couldn't say he knew them well, but, from his few visits, those two kits were the rowdier of the litter, while Crowkit was the good child. What did that say about their upbringing? Could he even be held accounted for their upbringing? It wasn't like he had been very present during the younger bits of their lives. Of course, he was going to try now, and when they became apprentice it would be even easier, as he would probably be assigned to several duties with them.

The warrior shook his head, zoning back in one whatever his mate was saying to Crowkit. Something about her parents...? Oh, wait! He knew this, Swallowpelt had definitely told him this story before. Otterfur himself knew his parents rather well, having spent most of his younger days with them. Honestly, if he had not grown rebellious, he would have spent the rest of his time with them. Would he have gotten to know Russetpaw better than? The young tom... Otterfur hardly knew his brother, as he was born after Otterfur left for the clans. And even if the apprentice had joined PineClan, the time had been short, and he had left. For whatever reasons, Otterfur didn't know, and he doubted he ever would. The warrior just hoped his brother was safe. Then Swallowpelt was explaining about Elmkit and Crowkit, about why they argued, and Otterfur focused again. “Ah,” he said, most cleverly, as a blush crept under his fur again.

For some reason, it was much easier to focus on his son. Perhaps because the little black kitten didn't make Otterfur blush every minute or so. What he was saying, though, was rather shocking to the warrior, and while he would never admit it, his eyes narrowed slightly. Was one of his kits really suggesting to rip another cat's guts out? For no reason? Just because they were FogClan? That was wrong, very wrong. Screw beliefs and screw StarClan, they were all cats in this forest, and they all deserved to be treated with respect! StarClan should not come between the bonds of the living, oh no. “That was very wrong of him, Crowkit,” Otterfur reassured, nodding slightly. “I'm gonna talk to him about that, it's not right to think that way.” He'd probably talk to Willowkit too, the brother was sure to influence his sister.

But those thoughts were pushed away slightly when he tuned back in. What was this about Lynxpelt, and not wanting to grow up like the other cats? Otterfur turned to his mate, confusion obvious on his face, hoping for an answer.

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