Out Exploring

[breezy]

A female kit with black, brown, ginger and white patchs and bright blue eyes was looking out side the camp to make sure no one was after them. She smiled when no one was there and ran quickly out of camp to a clearing with her brother following. Mintkit was always going out to explore the territory with her brother Skykit who always comes along. She jumped him once they were out of sight of the camp and started to play fight in the clearing.

Skykit was a off white tom with light brown on his body who has big paws. He also has one blue eye and one green eye too. He was always getting in to trouble along with his sister and loved to get out of camp. Skykit hated it that kits could leave camp just because they were too YOUNG to leave camp at all. Skykit was surprised when Mintkit leaped on his back and joined her in the play fighting with a smile on his muzzle. The two kits were never told about their older siblings, so they never knew of Copperpaw or Kip-paw or seem to worry about them.


A copper colored tom with green eyes was just walking around ThunderClan on his day off. He loved to take long walks and seem to always hope he'd run in to Kip-paw or Burntpaw the pretty she-cat he befriended recently. The young tom sighed at the thoughts of her and didn't realize that he'd soon be coming up on a clearing. He turned a different direction than the clearing and headed to a river he knew of to get a drink. It was a warm day and other mentors weren't training their apprentices on a nice day like this. Which Copperpaw was happy about and wanted to spend time with Kip-paw and Burntpaw hopefully.

[reason]

Burntpaw tumbled to the ground with a dull thud. Her white and flame pelt was strewn with small leaves and sticks from the multiple times she was knocked to the ground. Rolling to a halt, the young apprentice huffed in annoyance. She staggered back on to her paws and threw a playful glare at the other apprentice in the clearing. Kip-paw gave Burntpaw a sheepish grin as he relaxed his stance. Taking the hint that the fight was over, Burntpaw trotted over to the off white tom and butted his brown striped shoulder with unnecessary force. Kip-paw laughed at the she cat's antics, his bright blue eyes glittering in amusement. "I think that is enough humiliation for one day." He purred.

Burntpaw snorted and gave him a 'no really?' look. "Thank StarClan. I thought you were actually starting to enjoy throwing me around for a moment there." She meowed, her words loaded with sarcasm. Kip-paw just grinned at her before trotting out of the clearing. As she caught up to the tom she grimaced ever so slightly, feeling the tight skin of her burns pull uncomfortably. Kip-paw shot her a concern glance. "If your burns were hurting you I would have stopped earlier." He meowed softly. Burntpaw shook her head stubbornly, her mismatched eyes burned holes in Kip-paw's pelt.

The tom just shuddered and dropped the subject. Burntpaw came to an abrupt stop that took Kip-paw a few paw steps to realize. "Burntpaw?" Kip-paw asked cautiously. While he was the better fighter, Burntpaw had much better senses than him. Burntpaw waved her tail irritably at him to be quiet. Kip-paw paused too, his ears perked to hear what Burntpaw had heard. It took a moment but Kip-paw could hear the faint sounds of kits playing. Kip-paw gave Burntpaw a confused look. They were no where near camp yet, why would they be hearing kits.

Burntpaw waved her tail, a serious look on her face. Kip-paw fell into place beside her in a hunters crouch and the two of them stalked closer towards the sound. they came upon a clearing where two kits were play fighting. Kip-paw felt a surge of resentment, anger, fear and tension as his eyes landed on Mintkit and Skykit. As Kip-paw stood there frozen, Burntpaw straightened and leaped into the clearing.

"What are you thinking?" She hissed at the kits. "What are you doing out of the nursery? Let alone camp!" Burntpaw ranted, her eyes blazing as she glanced around for any dangers. Kip-paw walked up behind her quietly, not saying a word but the steely look in his eyes said volumes.

[breezy]

Mintkit and Skykit jumped up quickly at hearing an older cat scold them for leaving the camp. They had their ear's flat on their heads and looked at the apprentice with angry eyes. Skykit looked at her after she was finished yelling at them "We can leave camp when ever we please, Why is it that you get to go out in tothe territory and we don't" he yelled at the older she-cat. He thought it was unfair that just because they were kits they couldn't leave camp at all.

Mintkit looked at the older at the two older cats and saw the other had frozen behind the female. She looked at her brother and felt the same way as to why they could leave camp "Yeah why do we have to stay in camp and you get to train or even just explore the territory alone" she said calmly without any anger. It wasn't this two's falt that they couldn't leave camp until their were of apprentice age.

Copperpaw was near a clearing on his way to the river for that drink. He than hear'd a loud voice and changed directions to head to a clearing that is near. He soon came to see his brother frozen in place and Burntpaw was yelling at some kits who got out of camp some how. Copperpaw than saw why and his green eyes went steal as stone. He saw Mintkit and Skykit who were from his mother's second litter. She had abandoned them just to have more kits. Copperpaw saw that Burntpaw was looking at the two kits with angry and so were the two kits. With angry eyes he walked up to Burntpaw's side to look at the kits. Copperpaw couldn't believe the danger they'd just put themselves in. He couldn't help but be angry at them and at their mother. But deep down he knew it wasn't this kits falt that their mother abandoned him and his siblings. Copperpaw looked at Burntpaw "lets get them back to camp....I don't care what they have to say as to why it's not fair and plus it's to keep them safe" He said before picking up Mintkit. Copperpaw watched as Skykit ran in another direction before anyone could pick him up too.

[reason]

Kip-paw and Burntpaw shared a look before Kip-paw stepped forward to stand next to the she cat. Burntpaw glared when the kits yelled at her and she opened her mouth to snarl something back. Kip-paw placed a paw over Burntpaw's own scarred one causing the she cat to pause. Burntpaw huffed before stepping back to let Kip-paw take the lead.

The tom set the kits with a stern stare. "First of all, has your mother ever taught you to respect your elders?" Kip-paw couldn't help but jab. Internally he flinch. Kip-paw had to learn that lesson by himself, Deepshade had never taught Kip-paw much. "We are trained apprentices and we can take care of ourselves out in the woods, kits cannot. You cannot even begin to imagine all the dangers out in the territory. " Kip-paw meowed seriously, his eyes darting to Burntpaw. The she cat was frozen, lost in her thoughts of the past. Kip-paw gave her an understanding smile. Burntpaw had been a mere kit as well when she was in the accident.

When Mintkit spoke up with the same concerns Kip-paw sighed to himself, wondering how he could tell kits of danger in the woods. "Do you really think kits like yourself could take on a full grown warrior? Our mentors do not go easy on us when we train, it is not all fun and games. We risk our lives every day to keep the clan safe and feed. You are not old enough to understand such responsibilities." Kip-paw spat out the last word. He would know all about responsibility. All the days he had to take care of his siblings, having to act like an adult despite his age, constantly worrying about his siblings health. Had they eaten enough today? Was one of them coming down with greencough? Were they warm enough at night without the warm body of a mother next to them? Would they be alive tomorrow? Or would they have died during the night due to his carelessness?

The tom was snapped out of his thoughts when his brother came into the clearing as well. Kip-paw relaxed slightly, glade he wasn't the only one having to deal with the kits. But he was also worried how Copperpaw would react to the kits.

Burntpaw snapped her head up at the sight of Copperpaw. Her eyes shined with happiness and surprise. "Copperpaw!" She called breathlessly. Unconsciously she leaned into the tom's side, his copper coloured pelt brushing up soothingly against her's. Burntpaw felt her ears twitch at the sound of the tom's voice and a shiver run down her spine at the pitch. The she cat gave the other apprentice a shy smile, her eyes not watching the kits.

Kip-paw on the other hand was. He saw Skykit shoot out from his brother's hold and run off out of the clearing. "Skykit! Come back!" Kip-paw called desperately. He bounded after the kit, his tail whipping into Burntpaw accidentally, waking her from her thoughts. The white she cat snapped to attention, her flame coloured ears pinned to her head as she turned to watch Kip-paw run after the kit. She recognized the soundless command and was in motion instantly. Being older gave her the advantage of longer legs and she caught up to the tom apprentice quickly.

Shoulder-to-shoulder the pair dashed over the kit, their paws fall about each other instinctively. They had fought together too many to trip each other up when running. As their strides lengthened, Burntpaw glanced over her shoulder at Copperpaw, hoping he would stay with Mintkit.

[breezy]

Copperpaw had blushed when Burntpaw lend up againist him and had smiled before picking up Mintkit. He was starting to really like the older apprentice. Copperpaw wanting to protect her and also hope that nothing would ever happen to the she cat. He was surprised when Skykit ran off and with a mouth full of kit fur. Copperpaw wouldn't be able to follow them fast enough. Copperpaw bowed his head and gental placed Mintkit on the grass "I'm sorry Skykit......But it's for your safty" he thought to himself. Copperpaw looked at the young kit and quickly picked her back up. He looked in the directions the other apprentices ran after Skykit. Copperpaw followed at a fast walk and tried to keep up as best he could.

Mintkit was a little surprised to be picked up as she had been payig attention to Kip-paw as he told her. Mintkit was a smart kit and knew that he was right. She couldn't take on a full grown warrior; heck Mintkit knew she wouldn't be able to take on an apprentice as she was now. Than Copperpaw came up and said he didn't care about what they thought about it not being fair. Mintkit curled up her legs like did when Deepshade would pick them up. Her tail waved around as she was held in the air and than stared at Skykit as he ran off. It was bad enough that they were out of camp and now her brother had to be dumb enough to run off alone. Mintkit had looked wide eye'd after Skykit and tried to get out of Copperpaw's hold. But gave up after a few minutes and than he placed her on the ground. She looked at Copperpaw with bright blue eyes. He looked sad as if he didn't like what was said here and understood how they felt. Than he picked Mintkit back up gental and walked after the other apprentices.

Skykit ran as fast as his little legs could go in to the woods of ThunderClan. He was anger at Copperpaw for trying to tall him what to do. Skykit had always wanted to see ThunderClan territory and he didn't want to go back to camp just yet. He was so worked up in to this thoughts that he didn't notice the hole in the ground. Skykit finally noticed it when he fell in with a fearful cry and landed hard at the bottom. He looked up with different colored eyes and than tried to climb out. But the dirt was too loss to grab on too to get himself out of this. Skykit wanted out of here and was getting scared "Help, someone up there; help meeeeee" he cried out with tears in his eyes out of fear.

[reason]

Burntpaw slowly started to outrun Kip-paw with her superior size and longer legs. The she cat bound over a tree root with grace and landed noiselessly on the other side. She kept her eyes on the kit racing ahead of her with rapt attention. Burntpaw was faintly aware of her heart racing hard in her chest and her limbs ache dully from the training she had been through all morning. The she cat glanced over her should to see if Kip-paw was still keeping up.

The tom caught her eye and grimaced. Kip-paw was a few paces behind the she cat but was still keeping in stride with the older apprentice. He too felt the strain of his muscles from the training and felt it more than Burntpaw. Despite the fact that Kip-paw was usually the winner of their fights, Burntpaw had much more endurance than Kip-paw.

Burntpaw skidded to halt when Skykit suddenly disappeared from her sight. The she cat uttered a quite "What?" of surprise. Kip-paw didn't hesitate like the she cat had. He twisted around the Japanese Bobtail and lightly landed in the hole nest to the kit. He wrapped his tail around the kit and gave a purr of comfort. Shhh Skykit. It will be alright." He hummed, he gave the kit a comforting lick on the head. He could feel his innards twist uncomfortably. What was he thinking? Jumping after a kit into a hole? This kit wasn't even his sibling? Should he really be caring for this kit? Kip-paw shook his head. Of course he had to care for Skykit. Even if they were not distant kin, he was still a kit of ThunderClan and that was what mattered right now.

"Umm, Burntpaw?" Kip-paw's sheepish voice snapped Burntpaw out of her momentary shock. The white, flame she cat felt laughter bubble in her throat. She fought to keep it in, but kip-paw's embarrassed voice made laughter burst from her maw.

"What a splendid idea kip-paw!" She cackled, her eyes shining in mirth as she glanced cautiously down the hole. "Would you like me to join you both down there? That would make it a real party!" She chirped teasingly. The only answer she received was a icy blue glare. The she cat danced from the side of the hole, her worries abated and the familiar light back in her heart. Burntpaw glanced about her, looking for some form of rescue for the kit and apprentice.

"Don't worry, I'll save you!"

"Why does that make me worry?"

[breezy]

Copperpaw tried to keep up with the others and soon found himself far behind the others. He than started to slow down to catch his breath. He walked through the trees of thunderclan territory and soon found a small river that was very low, it only partly covered his paw. Copperpaw placed little Mintkit on the ground and got a little something to drink. He never knew how to act around this kits since his mother abandoned them. The new litter was the only thing on his mothers mind at the moment and yet Copperpaw knew that she would abandon them soon enough. But strangly he hoped it wouldn't come ture and his mother would care for the new litter longer than she did her first litter. Copperpaw looked at little Mintkit as she also took a drink from the little river. Soon enough he picked the kit back up and continued to carry her towards the others. Soon they came to were the other two apprentices were and he came up beside Burntpaw to see his brother in a hole. Copperpaw placed Mintkit on the ground again and looked at his brother "Need some help bro" he said calmly.

Mintkit relaxed as the apprentice carried her and she watched as everything went by fast. Soon enough the older tom slowed down til they were at a small river that she was able to stand in with no trouble at all. She looked at the river for a moment after being placed on the ground. Mintkit could see herself in the water and saw her pretty blue eyes. She smiled at herself and made funny faces that were cute. Soon she was picked up again and the older tom carried her again til they reached the others. The apprentice Kip-paw seem to have leaped in to a hole that Skykit fell in to. After being put down she walked over to see her brother "you OK Skykit" she yelled down. Than she hear'ed what the copper colored apprentice said to his own brother and she laughed as it was a little funny.

Skykit looked at kip-paw as the older tom told him it would be ok "but how are we going to get out of this big hole" he said out of fear that he'd be stuck down here forever. Skykit just wanted to get back to the clan and stay in the nursery til he was old enough to be an apprentice. He looked at Kip-paw with tear filled eyes "I want to go home Kip-paw and I promise never to leave the nursery again til I'm old enough" he cried out with tears falling down his muzzle.

[reason]

Kip-paw glared up at the entrance of the hole, barely suppressing a grin. Leave it to Copperpaw to act so casual in such a situation. The tom's off white tail flicked in amusement and snorted loud enough for Copperpaw to hear him. "On second though, let Burntpaw come up with something." He meowed loudly, grinning at his brother innocently.

Burntpaw rolled her eyes at the play between the two toms and shot her fellow she cat, Mintkit, a look. "Toms." She meowed, as if it explained everything. The white she cat trotted to the base of a rotting tree and broke off a large piece of sturdy bark. Latching her teeth firmly in the soft wood, Burntpaw dragged the bark back to the opening in the ground. "Watch yourself!" She warned Copperpaw and Mintkit, carefully avoiding the siblings with the bark in her jaws.

Kip-paw ignored the muffled sounds of conversation above him to glance down at the clearly panicked kit. Kip-paw felt a pang in his heart. It was the same look his siblings gave him when they realized that Deepshade did not care for them any long. His blue eyes softened as he regarded the kit for a moment. Using his forepaw, Kip-paw drew the kit into his fur for comfort and tapped his little kit nose with the tip of his tail. "No need to worry Skykit!" He meowed comfortingly, his voice taking on a soft quality he only used with his siblings. "There is no way Burntpaw, Copperpaw and Mintkit would leave us down here. Copperpaw and Mintkit are our siblings, and true family means that you look out for each other. Burntpaw is practically family anyway." The ThunderClan apprentice meowed sincerely to the kit. He quickly looked up to make sure Burntpaw was listening and learned close to the kit with a sly grin on his face. "And if this thing between Copperpaw and Burntpaw keeps up, she will be apart of the family too.

Burntpaw balanced the bark on the side of the hole and glanced down into its depths. She saw Kip-paw leaning over Skykit, whispering something to him. She shot him a suspicious glare and shoved the bark unceremoniously into the hold. There was a yelp when the bark made contact with Kip-paw's head. The tom had his jaws open to start hissing at the she cat but she quickly cut him off. "Just prop the bark up against the side and you should be able to use it to climb out. That is, if you were paying attention to Jaywing's climbing lessons." Burtpaw gave Kip-paw a pointed look. Kip-paw had the grace to look ashamed.

The tom turned his attention back to the kit at his paws. "There! See? I knew Burntpaw wouldn't let us down! Ready to get out of here?" Kip-paw asked Skykit patiently.