A Bright Dove

Dovekit was almost old enough to be an apprentice and she didn't even have friends and was too shy to walk up to others. She was known for being the quiet kit in the nursery but she couldn't help it. She was just nervous when talking to others that her voice gets quiet. As she sat at the nursery entrance, Dovekit thought about what it would be like to be an apprentice and warrior.

Brightpaw padded into camp carrying a wren from her hunt. Camp was unusually quiet, subdued by the growing cold of the coming leaf-bare. The warm, lazy days of greenleaf were well behind them. She placed her catch into the small fresh-kill pile, licking her lips to rid herself of the fluffy down feathers that had caught there. She could hunker in the apprentice den to shelter from the chill but Brightpaw wasn't quite ready to settle down yet. Looking around the clearing, the white-grey kit at the entrance of the nursery caught her attention. With a decisive flick of her short tail, Brightpaw made her way over, she liked kits but she'd been busy enough as an apprentice she hadn't spent much time around the latest litters. This was... Dovekit? Yes, Dovekit. That was right.

"Hey, Dovekit," she gently purred, "what're you up to over here?"

Dovekit looked at the apprentice that neared her. She made sure to remember everyone in the clan so knew the apprentice was brightpaw. "I don't know what I'm doing, Or what I'm going to do." she mewed in almost a whisper. She tried before to make her voice louder but for some reason it just wouldn't come.

Brightpaw tipped her head. That certainly wasn't an expected response. She seated herself near Dovekit, close enough she could hear the quiet kit without too much trouble. "Well, I guess that depends on what you wanna do?" Brightpaw had never put much thought to the future, it was the future afterall, only Starclan knew what was to come so why worry?

Dovekit thought about it for a second before smiling. "I want to be strong like everyone else." she mewed quietly but the giant grin on her face showed exactly how happy she was for her goal. "I will be as strong as you." she mewed as being nice was her favorite thing to do.

Brightpaw blinked, surprised yet flattered. She certainly wasn't the strongest cat in Skyclan given her generally smaller stature and overall, unfortunate, clumsiness. But, upon reflection, she was likely reaching the end of her training and would finally earn her warrior name and place amongst her clanmates. She purred, "Aww, Dovekit, that's so sweet! I hope I'll be as good a warrior as you think I am!" her voice full of warmth. "So, if you wanna be a strong warrior you're gonna have to train hard!" Brightpaw crouched playfully, gently reaching out to bat the end of Dovekit's tail.

Dovekit laughed as the apprentice batted at her tail. "Cheater! Your bigger than me!" she mewed pouncing on the now retracting paw. Even though Dovekit was big, she was still a kit and brightpaw was an apprentice, so bigger.

Brightpaw purred in amusement, allowing Dovekit to catch her retreating paw. "Oh no, you got me!" She gently tugged at her trapped paw, but not enough to actually break free of the kit's grasp.

Dovekit looked shocked for a second before hiding it. "Woah! Guess I am as strong as you!" she mewed still putting all her kit weight onto her paw. Dovekit didn't realize she was this strong, maybe she could even beat brightpaw.

Brightpaw's tail lashed playfully, "Oh yeah? But what if I do- This!" She reached out with her other paw, gently knocking Dovekit over with a push to the shoulder.

Dovekit squeaked as she was pushed off in surprise. "I am strong, nothing can beat me!" she mewed trying to sound brave but of course her quiet voice ruined it. She pounced on the other paw before climbing up onto brightpaw's shoulder.

Brightpaw's purred softly as the kit immediately rebounded from her push; staying mostly still, she allowed Dovekit to climb her shoulder. If she so chose, she could have easily shaken the kit off but instead played along. "Oh no! You got me!" she laughed, dropping to her belly dramatically under the kit's weight. "How could this happen!"

"aha! I have beaten you! When I become an apprentice I want a rematch to prove I will get even stronger!" she mewed then got off of brightpaw. "As an app, you can't fake it." she said with a small smirk. Dovekit was known for her shyness but she was also one of the smartest kit in the nursery. She was playing along with brightpaw knowing the apprentice was having as much fun as she was.

"Aww, you really did catch me," Brightpaw purred, sitting up as Dovekit hopped off. She gave her coat a quick shake. "But I'll definitely take you on for real when you're an apprentice!" She leaned over, giving the kit an affectionate lick, "I'm sure you're going to make a great warrior someday."

She smiled at brightpaw and nuzzled the Apprentice. "and you would make a great warrior!" she mewed with a smile. Dovekit wondered what else the two could do cause she didn't want to stop playing.