[Fawn]

"Sometimes I forget how charming you are, Thorn," purred Brookrun, nuzzling into the plush neckfur of the RainClan warrior Snoweye, addressing him as an affectionate nickname of sorts. It came from her detesting his current name, as Brookrun didn't think it was fair to have his warrior name reflect his injury. To her, it was just meant to draw attention to his injury, not note him as a distinguished member of the Clan. Snoweye didn't seem to mind.

The reddish-brown warrior felt his pelt grow warm at her compliment, Snoweye letting out a throaty purr as the pair walked back to the nursery. She was still looking after that wayward, incredibly...troublesome son of theirs. Brookrun's nostrils flared upon poking her head into the nursery and not seeing her troublesome little red kitten; "I swear to StarClan, if that tom-kit is gone again, I'll--"

"Did you hear that, StarClan? She's threatening her own son! What kinda mother does a thing like that?"

Snoweye chuckled, Brookrun's neck-fur ruffling as both parents spun around to see Russetkit wandering towards them with his tail held high. He carried no strange scents with him, no pieces of prey he'd luckily been able to catch on another one of his escapades; instead, the red tom looked as though he'd spent the whole day... in camp. Purring, Russetkit pressed his nose into his father's flank, doing the same to his mother who then circled him, looking perplexed.
"Do you have a fever?"

Russetkit snorted. "Why would I have a fever?"

"Because you've stayed in camp all day..." mewed Brookrun, incredulous.

Snoweye licked his mate on the top of her head. "He's sticking close to camp because his apprentice ceremony is coming up." Mewed the tom, shedding light on Russetkit's strange behavior.

Exactly! And I can't have my apprentice ceremony delayed because I've been breaking the rules! Russetkit looked to both his parents with blazing emerald eyes, the fire-blooded youngster determined to set himself up for as much success as possible, Russetkit kneading the earth with badly contained excitement. "Yeah! I'm gonna be the best apprentice RainClan's ever seen. I'll become a warrior even faster than you did, Dad, and then someday--" Russetkit puffed out his chest, purring out with contentment and ambition, "I'm gonna be leader of RainClan, just you wait!"

"My my," mewed Brookrun, barely able to contain a laugh as she nuzzled her son affectionately, almost knocking him over. "What a strong sense of determination our son has, Snoweye. Must be your lineage - my ancestors certainly weren't as ambitious as he is." Though her words were a bit teasing, it was obvious she was incredibly proud of her son, her own eyes glowing with a warmth Snoweye loved seeing. He turned a stern gaze upon the little ruddy kitten, Russetkit surprisingly not slouching and rolling onto his back to bat at the air like he didn't have a care in the world. Instead, he was already starting to look like an apprentice, his long legs and lack of kitten fur made him appear just a bit older than he was.
"I know it's going to be hard for you, Russetkit, but keep up this good behavior. Just two more weeks now, and you'll be greeting us from the apprentices' den in no time." Even as he spoke, Snoweye could see Russetkit fidget with impatience, the tom grappling with having to sit down and shut up in the face of something he couldn't control. He couldn't exactly make time go faster, otherwise StarClan knew he would've done it by now.

Russetkit threw back his head and let out a low groan of frustration.
"I can't wait until I'm an apprentice - I'm so close I can taste it!"

Snoweye let out a deep mrrow of laughter. "It must taste rather bitter then, having to wait. Any ideas who you want for a mentor?" Snoweye didn't expect Russetkit to pick him; he doubted the youngster would want to be under his father's watchful eye constantly for 6-10 moons at a time. And to be honest, Snoweye didn't want to be a mentor either; he preferred to watch his son develop and grow into a spectacular warrior from the sidelines. Of course he wouldn't refuse if that's what their leader wanted, but if given the choice...

Russetkit grinned.
"Deadstar or Amberblaze!" Proclaimed the apprentice-to-be, Russetkit had to catch himself, for he'd nearly shouted out 'Blazehawk!' and that most certainly would've gotten him into heaps more trouble than he was usually in.
"It takes a leader or a future-leader to raise someone to follow in their pawsteps, right? If I prove to Deadstar that I have what it takes to be the best leader RainClan's ever seen, then he'll put in a good word for me, I'm sure. Same with Amberblaze." Russetkit could feel the excitement growing beneath his pelt like ants crawling all over him, and he could do nothing but shuffle his paws and twitch his tail. He'd probably be doing that for the next half-moon until his apprentice ceremony - he'd probably be itching right up until Deadstar called the cats together and he could at last step forward and progress into his apprenticeship.

Brookrun twined her tail with Snoweye's, the two proud parents watching their headstrong, big-hearted, ambitious son look nowhere but forward, seemingly ready to charge off into his future with all the strength of LeopardClan, LionClan and TigerClan combined.