Oh My Godot!

[amaterasu]

Mothkit sat just outside the Nursery, watching the other cats walk past him with his one good eye. He didn't think it was fair, that Cinderstar hadn't made him an apprentice with his siblings because he was partially blind! He could fight and hunt just as well as they could! Well, that was, if he was trained.

He liked to believe that StarClan had a reason for letting him be born with only one useable eye. Maybe he was destined for something better than a warrior life?

His mother and littermates sure didn't think so. They had never really paid much attention to him in the first place, but now that they were all apprentices and his mother was back on warrior duties, he was completely forgotten.

Swanfeather came out of the medicine cat's den and called, "Mothkit? Would you like to come help me sort herbs?"

Mothkit gave the medicine cat a small smile. He helped her out from time to time, but only because he enjoyed the company. He knew that Swanfeather wanted to train him to be a medicine cat, but he just wasn't interested.

"Not today, Swanfeather! Sorry!" he called, and the she-cat nodded and went back into her den.

[J I N G O]

Sparrowpaw emerged from the apprentices den. She looked around for Goldenrod but gave up fairly quickly. She saw Mothkit sitting outside the nursery and felt bad for the poor tom. His brothers and sisters got to be apprentices, but Cinderstar didn't think he was WORTHY enough. She padded over to the tom and mewed a greeting to him, "Hello there." she mewed, not using his name in case it made him FEEL BAD.

[amaterasu]

"Oh, hi Sparrowpaw." Mothkit said, stopping himself from jumping as she approached his blind side.
He turned his head to gaze around the clearing, but he didn't see Goldenrod anywhere.
"Why aren't you training with your mentor?" he asked. It wasn't sour, just curious.

[J I N G O]

Sparrowpaw shrugged. "He might be out hunting or something. I'm not sure where he is." she mewed. "But I saw you over here, so I just decided to say hi!" she mewed, her tone friendly and her eyes bright.

[amaterasu]

"Thank you." Mothkit said to the cheery she-cat, not sure what else to say. He kind of felt awkward. He could feel pity coming from her, it was just obvious by the way she help herself and spoke. Before he could say anything about it, a familiar voice echoed through the clearing.

"Sparrowpaw! Are you ready to train?" Goldenpaw asked as he emerged from the warriors den. Seeing Mothkit behind her, he added, "Oh, hello Mothkit! Would you like to come with us?"

"Can I?" Mothkit asked, tilting his head.

"Of course!" Goldenrod responded, almost as cheery as his apprentice, "Just don't wander off!"

[J I N G O]

Sparrowpaw looked up at Goldenrod when her mentor spoke to her. She felt glad that she had the awesomest ShadowClan cat as her mentor. "He can really train with us? That's great!" she mewed, excited. She believed that Mothkit would be able to be a regular warrior if he was given the chance.

[amaterasu]

Goldenrod frowned a little. Lightly, he mewed, "I didn't say train. I said come with."

Mothkit nodded his head, understanding what Goldenrod meant. He couldn't train him, or it would be against the warrior code. Sure, StarClan would overlook the 'training kits' part since he was over six moons old, but they couldn't overlook such an obvious strike at disobeying the Clan leader. He just didn't like the pity or regret rolling off the warrior.
"I'll come anyway." Mothkit said, happy to get out of camp.

Goldenrod smiled and nodded his head, and off the cats went to the training spot.

[J I N G O]

Sparrowpaw felt a little disappointed. Once they were at the training spot she decided to start up a MINOR argument. "But, Goldenrod, I think that he could train to be a warrior! Don't you?" she mewed, not really aware she was going against her leaders word. "I don't think it's fair."

[amaterasu]

Mothkit felt bad that Sparrowpaw was now arguing about him with her mentor. Maybe he shouldn't have come along at all? He slunk along behind them, trying to give them their space.

Goldenrod frowned at his apprentices comments. "Sparrowpaw, you know that the leader's word is the Warrior Code! You shouldn't just outright challenge your leader like that, or else I would be getting in trouble for not teaching you any better!"
He avoided the questions purposefully.

[J I N G O]

Sparrowpaw felt bad. She wanted Mothkit to be an apprentice like her! Why did the warrior code have to be so mean? Cinderstar shouldn't be keeping him from being a warrior! It wasn't fair. She wouldn't want to have to watch all of her siblings grow up and be warriors. Though, she didn't really have any siblings. "I just want to help though..." she mewed sadly. She wanted to help Mothkit be a warrior!

[amaterasu]

Goldenrod rested his tail on his apprentice's shoulder. "I know you do, Sparrowpaw, but sometimes things can't be helped."

He stopped suddenly and sniffed the air. "Do you smell that, Sparrowpaw? Mouse! Show me what you can do."

Goldenrod saw the mouse slowly shuffle into the clearing. Suddenly there was a rustling in the bushes, and three lithe shapes darted out of them and at the mouse. The mouse couldn't escape all three cats, and one pulled away with the mouse dangling in its jaws.

"Good job, Dogpaw." Tigerfire praised as he stepped out of the thicket.

Addertail followed him. "Come on, Mudpaw! You could have had that!"

Mudpaw and Badgerpaw were staring at their paws, while Dogpaw held his mouse out for all to see.

Goldenrod frowned at the other cats. "Having a competition?" he asked.

Addertail nodded his head and hissed, "Wanna join?"

Goldenrod shook his head, "No thank you. I'll teach Sparrowpaw somewhere else."

[J I N G O]

Sparrowpaw looked up with her ears pricked when Goldenrod started talking about mice. She was about to get into a hunting crouch when the three apprentices exploded out with their mentors. Except Badgerpaw. Stormshadow was probably BUSY. "Where are we going then, Goldenrod?" she asked, still worried about MOTHKIT.

[amaterasu]

"We'll go toward RiverClan territory." Goldenrod decided. He headed off in that direction, Mothkit following him. He was just happy to be away from his siblings.

[J I N G O]

Sparrowpaw followed her mentor, still thinking about Mothkit. She tried to keep pace with the tom, eager to start conversation with him. But she had no idea how to talk. Or how to start talking about something that would get them very far. So she was just keeping pace with him. Silently.

[amaterasu]

When they got to a good spot, Goldenrod had them stop. He scented the air and announced, "There's plenty of prey here. Mice and voles, mostly, but I can smell a few frogs too."

Mothkit lifted his head to the sky and scented the air too. He could smell familiar smells from the fresh-kill pile, but it was hard to pinpoint them.