|
|
Post by tor on Jun 5, 2024 9:57:13 GMT -6
#s://i~ibb~co/FwjNtcB/asterkit~jpg Asterkit wasn't a stranger to sunlight, having basked in the sun's warm rays a few times as she sat near the nursery entrance with her parents. She was a stranger to walking around in it. Especially unaccompanied. Her rapidly growing paws felt clumsy under her feet as she stomped through the clearing in front of the nursery entrance. Vaguely, she was aware of her mother's eyes following her as she went. Maybe she wasn't completely unaccompanied. But it was the closest she'd ever been to wandering alone! Asterkit relished in her newfound freedom, even if the sunlight made her eyes squint and water, and if the heat of it was a bit too much for her downy kitten fur. She shook out her pelt, hoping to dissipate some of the heat that was building up, and then took a few more steps toward the rest of camp. As her sensitive eyes adjusted to the daylight, Asterkit began to take in more of her surroundings. PrairieClan's camp was pretty. The trees that sprung up around it provided some shade, though less right now, under a near perfect mid-day sun that banished any shadow. The brambles and hills that nestled the burrowed dens were spotted with flowers. Asterkit eyed a patch of bright yellow ones nearby, excitement making her heart race. She wanted one of those flowers! Nervous, she glanced back at her mother, and waited for Hollynose to nod in agreement before she hurried toward her heart's desire. What flowers are these? She wondered, coming to an abrupt stop in front of the patch. The medicine cat or his apprentice would know. So would the herbalist! But she didn't know how to find any of those cats, still unsure how to navigate her own camp. "Yellowflower," she said, deciding that, if her own name came from flowers, then flowers must share names with warriors, too. She frowned. The name wasn't that inspired... "Sunnyflower?" |
|
storms make trees take deeper roots
|
Post by cosmic on Jun 13, 2024 13:22:54 GMT -6
#s://live~staticflickr~com/4255/34687359874_07eb6121c4_b~jpg Applekit was bored. Moss ball didn't seem that interesting today, Lionflower was out in the territory and she couldn't go pester him with questions about herbs, and her siblings were just getting on her nerves today for whatever reason (though she would never tell them outloud). She was looking for something, anything to do.
Being careful not to get stepped on by the warriors rushing around, they investigated the area to find themselves a sense of purpose for the day. Applekit smelled the area to try to find something interesting that was around the camp, and something did cause her to look around. The smell of herbs always managed to grab her attention almost immediately, so much so that she really didn't see the other kit by the flower. As the brown spotted she-kit walked up, she didn't hear what the other said, just their mouth moving.
"Wow! You found coltsfoot, Asterkit!" They approached with a springy trot, their ears perked forward to investigate. "Or is that... dandelion? I don't remember, they both look similar." Her youthful mind was worried about other things than memorizing flora extensively, like chasing butterflies and annoying her littermates. "If Lionflower was here, he could tell us what it is," she sighed, looking in the general direction of where the herbalist usually keeps his stash of herbs. "I wonder if he would mind if we help rearrange his flowers for him. Or we look around camp for more flowers for his collection." Being helpful was something that her momma had always tried to instill in her, so helping Lionflower would be a great way to make a difference! |
|
|
|
Post by tor on Jun 18, 2024 8:34:21 GMT -6
#s://i~ibb~co/FwjNtcB/asterkit~jpg Asterkit felt herself wilt as another kit approached. Applekit was someone she was perfectly familiar with in the confines of the nursery, but under the bright sky like this, Asterkit worried the other kit might be a different cat entirely. The sun made her feel bolder. Who knew what it would do to someone else! She had little time to speculate, though, before Applekit started chatting about the flowers that Asterkit was admiring. Coltsfoot? Dandelion? Those names were so strange, compared to the simple Yellowflower, or Sunnyflower. But Applekit was a little older... Not much, but a few days older meant so much to Asterkit, hardly two moons old. Applekit had to know better, just based on those few days alone. "Who's Lionflower?" She asked when Applekit finished speaking. Lionflower could be another name for this flower she found. It was bright and feathered, like a lion's mane, at least according to her mother's stories. "Will we be in trouble if we touch his stuff?" If he had flowers, he had to be a medicine cat or herbalist student, or even the herbalist. She was pretty sure the medicine cat was Maple-something, so... Herbalist it was. "Maybe we should just look for more things. But we can't go that far." She pouted. "It's my first time outta the nursery. Mom's very prote-protek- protek-i-tive." |
|
storms make trees take deeper roots
|
Post by cosmic on Jul 1, 2024 14:22:35 GMT -6
#s://live~staticflickr~com/4255/34687359874_07eb6121c4_b~jpg Other than a few, carefully observed interactions between the two newest litters of the prairie, she hadn't really known that much about the other kits in the nursery. But, now that they were all old enough to play outside, they could have so many adventures... and so much mischief to get into!
Applekit tilted her head as the other she-kit questioned the identity of Lionflower. To her, it was a silly question to ask. How did their mother not tell them about all the council already? It seemed that it was a good thing that she had been born as the leader's niece, as she already knew the names of the council. Cinderstar, obviously, was her aunt and the leader (which was really, really cool). Applekit definitely wouldn't brag about it in the future. Then, Nettlefang was basically the less-cool Cinderstar, always bossing cats around in the camp. Maplefrost and Vulturepaw were the ones to treat sick cats. She was a sick cat when she was a baby, Dappledfern told her. All she remembers is that Maplefrost was cranky and Vulturepaw was funny. And lastly....
"Lionflower? He's our herbalist, duh!" The striped she-kit looked around the camp excitedly, hoping to catch his pale fur among the bustling camp. He was her hero, her idol, everything she wanted to be when she grew up. "He teaches how to grow herbs so that we always have them! He knows everything about every plant in the prairie!" She would often try to ask him questions when she saw him working. Usually, a herbalist student would try to shoo her away. But not Lionflower. He would always invite her to sit by him and allow her to adore the work that he did. No question was left unanswered.
"He won't mind! There are always cats reaching their paws around his area to help him out. Lionflower will be so happy we helped him!" Unknown to Applekit, obviously his students were allowed to touch the herbs. But kits?
"Come on, Asterkit. I'll protect you!" She may be small, but she knew her fierceness made up for it. Despite that, she still would go toward Lionflower's work station with or without her nursery friend. "Now... let's see." The kit looked over the area. "What if we organized them by color? That would be so much easier than all these different piles!" |
|
|
|
Post by tor on Jul 10, 2024 13:40:14 GMT -6
#s://i~ibb~co/FwjNtcB/asterkit~jpg "He's our herbalist, duh!" Asterkit's ears flattened at how obvious Applekit made her words seem. She didn't want the other kit to think she was dumb for not knowing who Lionflower was. It wasn't like the herbalist was always coming in and talking to kits and queens! It was just the medicine cat, and sometimes his apprentice, who did that. There was nothing duh about any of this. It perfectly fine to only just learn the herbalist's name. Feeling justified, Asterkit tried to focus on what Applekit was saying, in hopes she didn't get caught not knowing something again. Maybe she could pretend she knew things all along, and she was just testing Applekit? But... no, Applekit seemed too enthusiastic. There was no way Asterkit could succeed in lying to her. She would just get called out again. "I know what an herbalist is," she said, stumbling over the right way to pronounce herbalist. "I just didn't know his name." And now she wouldn't forget it. "Come on, Asterkit. I'll protect you!" Her annoyance with Applekit was suddenly gone. Asterkit puffed up with pleasure, immediately drawn to the idea of someone taking care of her. "What if we organized them by color? That would be so much easier than all these different piles!""We shouldn't ruin the piles," she said, trying to sound smart and mature. Was she older than Applekit? She didn't know. She felt older, because Applekit shouted a lot, but also Applekit knew more. "We should sort them by color inside the piles. Someone made piles for a reason, right?" |
|
