Hailflight lifted her head and looked down at Hickorykit. "Hickorykit, are you okay?" She nudged the kit gently, concern for the kit making her want jump up and run to the medicine den as fast as her paws could carry her. "What's wrong?"
Hickorykit stirred a bit more before he opened his eyes with a soft whine. He glanced up at Hailflight nervously before he buried his face in her fur, his ears flattened back against his head.
"Snowball fight?" Clearpaw tilted her head, pretending to think. "Hmm, yeah. I have played before. I was still a kit at the time, though." The apprentice mewed, looking at her paws and pawing at the snow. "I'm probably a little rusty." She looked back at Bluebellkit. "But it sounds fun! Let's do it!" She gave the kit a grin and tossed a pawful of snow in her direction.
Bluebellkit giggled a bit and started trying to make a ball of snow. She eventually managed to make a clump with some kind of form to it and tossed it back at Clearpaw, jumping around excitedly.
"H-hey. I need you to t-tell me what's going on here, o-okay?" Hailflight stuttered, staring at the kit with wide eyes. "Y-you're really s-scaring me, Kitten." She had never felt so scared in her life. Why is this scaring me so badly? She thought, wanting to race to the medicine den, but finding her paws wouldn't move.
Clearpaw laughed as she began to chase the kits around the camp, tossing snow at them as best as she could without tripping over her own paws. "Come on, Gingerflake!" She called. "I can't beat them on my own!"
"H-hey. I need you to t-tell me what's going on here, o-okay?" Hailflight stuttered, staring at the kit with wide eyes. "Y-you're really s-scaring me, Kitten." She had never felt so scared in her life. Why is this scaring me so badly? She thought, wanting to race to the medicine den, but finding her paws wouldn't move.
"I-I just… it's dumb… don't worry about it…" Hickorykit replied weakly, keeping his face hidden for the time being. "It's really not a big deal, Hailflight…"
Clearpaw laughed as she began to chase the kits around the camp, tossing snow at them as best as she could without tripping over her own paws. "Come on, Gingerflake!" She called. "I can't beat them on my own!"
Bluebellkit spent most of her time just trying to make snowballs, but she seemed to be having fun anyways. Her aim wasn't great but she was still bouncing around with excitement.
~ Hailflight took a breath and relaxed. She was still worried, just not paralyzed with fear anymore. "I don't care if you think it's dumb." She mewed, putting one paw under Hickorykit's chin to make him look up at her. "You're my Kitten, and I want to know what's wrong."
~ Shadowpaw stared in confusion as Clearpaw and the kits hurled snow at each other. "What are they doing?" She muttered, looking at Hollypaw, who at this point was as bright eyed and bushy tailed as a squirrel. "I don't know, but it looks so fun!" "Are you serio-" "Whoo!" Hollypaw yowled as he jumped into the snow, and began tossing snow at the kits and Clearpaw.
Hickorykit sighed, looking up at Hailflight weakly. "W-Well, sometimes… sometimes when I'm sleeping, I start thinking about my mom… or… or what I think she looked like. Obviously I don't remember her all that much, but… thinking about it always makes me kinda sad…" He tried to hide his face again, clearly embarrassed.
Strangespots wandered into ShadowClan camp to be greeted with a snowball to the face. He shook it off and watched the kittens run past, followed by Clearpaw. He smiled to himself, remembering playing like that himself.
~ Clearpaw slid to a stop and looked back. "Sorry Strangespots!" She called, then let out a yelp as Hollypaw tackled her into the snow. "Ha! Got'cha!" Hollypaw mewed, jumping up and running while Clearpaw chased after him.
~ Shadowpaw watched the others play their game, then looked at the snow at her paws. She made a ball of snow and glanced uncertainly at the others as they threw the snow at each other. The apprentice hesitantly tossed the snow, watching as it landed right on Hollypaw's head, and then watched him get tackled into the snow by Clearpaw. Shadowpaw looked up at the falling snow with a small smile. Maybe hanging out with others isn't so bad after all…
(Does Hailflight know who Hickorykit's mother is?)
~ Hailflight lowered her paw and cuddled close to Hickorykit. "It's okay. I'd be sad if I couldn't remember my mother." She mewed, with a twitch of her ear. "I bet you're a lot like your mom. You're certainly not like Larchclaw."
(Does Hailflight know who Hickorykit's mother is?)
~ Hailflight lowered her paw and cuddled close to Hickorykit. "It's okay. I'd be sad if I couldn't remember my mother." She mewed, with a twitch of her ear. "I bet you're a lot like your mom. You're certainly not like Larchclaw."
(Probably? I'm sure she would have met her at the previous ball, at least, and probably at gatherings as well)
~ Hickorykit buried his face in Hailflight's fur again to hide his face, trembling lightly. "It's… it's really dumb, though… I mean, it's not like she can come back, so what's the point in trying to remember, especially since it makes me sad?"
~ "It's not dumb." Hailflight replied, "We should remember those we've lost, even if it hurts. Sometimes, we need to be sad." She thought back to when she lost her parents. She had still been an apprentice at the time, and they had both died from wounds they had received in battle. "She might not be able to come back, but if there was even a slight chance, she would do it. She'd come back for you."
Hickorykit sighed, still trembling. "B-But how do you know? Have you ever even met her?" He asked weakly. "Dad won't talk to me about anything, much less her… I just… I-I wanna know who my mom was…"
(Wait, what Clan was Crescentshine in?)
(Windclan, I believe, but I'll switch her to Shadowclan since that's where Bluebellkit is lol)
(How would Hailflight know that Crescentshine was Hickorykit's mother though?)
(It was probably a scandal or something once it was out in the open? I doubt she would know about Bluebellkit, though)
(っ◔◡◔)っ ♥ s c a n d a l ♥ ))
(Oki!)
~ "I did meet her." Hailflight mewed, "Her name was Crescentshine. I only talked to her a few times, but she was a wonderful cat." She looked at Hickorykit with a smile. "You look a lot like her. Her fur was lighter than yours, and her eyes were blue, but you look very similar."
"Really?" Hickorykit looked up at Hailflight weakly, sniffling a bit. "If she was nice, how did she end up with my dad, then? He's really mean…" He shuffled his paws around a bit.
o m g gggggg sa d bb y!! it makes my heart ache qwq ))
~ "I don't know kiddo." The she-cat replied. "I guess maybe Larchclaw wasn't that bad when they got together. Maybe he became the way he is over time." She glanced over her shoulder into the den. "Still gets on my nerves though."
"Why doesn't anybody here talk about her?" Hickorykit asked weakly. "Nobody ever wants to tell me anything about her… they always come up with some excuse to leave. Did she do something bad?"
~ Hailflight sighed. "A lot of cats think so. I don't really see the problem with it though." She looked up at the sky, then looked back at Hickorykit. "Crescentshine was a ShadowClan cat. She and Larchclaw had you, and when everyone found out, they decided you belonged in ThunderClan." She explained, remembering the look on Crescentshine's face as Whitestar took her kit away from her. "She asked me to take care of you, and of course, I promised her I would. Eventually, I began to think of you as my kit. When your mother died, I promised myself I'd never let anything bad happen to you."
"Oh… how… how did she die?" Hickorykit asked weakly. He clearly didn't know the whole story. No one had ever told him that his mother died giving birth to him since they knew it would probably upset him. "Shadowclan's medicine cat couldn't save her?"
~ "I- uh, well…" Hailflight stared at her paws. "You really want to know?" She asked, not looking at him. She knew what Hickorykit was about to say, but she wanted to protect him. She knew how he would react to the truth. She didn't want him to feel like it was his fault. "It'll just make you feel worse." Hailflight had been there when Crescentshine died, and she felt guilty that she couldn't have done anything to save her friend.
"Yeah, I… I wanna know. She was my mom, and nobody else will tell me…" Hickorykit stared down at his paws with his ears turned back. "I-I feel like I deserve to know, don't I?" He asked weakly.
~ Hailflight nodded. "Alright." She took a breath. Come on Hailflight, it's not that hard to talk about. "I was there when she died. Larchclaw was there too. I had found them at the border between ThunderClan and ShadowClan. All of a sudden, you were born. A tiny little kit." She closed her eyes and continued. "Crescentshine told me to come closer, and she said, 'Promise me you'll take care of him,' I told her I would. She smiled, said 'Thank you,' and then…. She was gone." Hailflight opened her green eyes and looked at Hickorykit. "My friend was dead, and… I wasn't able to help her. Then Whitestar showed up, and Larchclaw told him what happened. Whitestar decided to bring you back to ThunderClan, and Fawnstar convinced him to let me take care of you. Of course, I had to leave you in the nursery with the queens."
