Summer’s Muse || Fawnheart & Rookbriar Hang Out!

"O-Oh.." Another moment of genuine surprise, but heading back in a kinder direction as Fawnheart tucked their chin down in a flustered motion, absorbing the nudges like they could bump the sad feelings right out. It probably doesn't work that way. But... Once again, it was hard to hold onto that slippery negativity. Not when someone was being so sweet. And.. it's not like they hadn't always secretly wanted a chance to talk with the kits. Not specifically Rookbriar's litter- He could never be so presumptuous- but the abstract idea of the clan's youngest members in general. Someone even he could manage to take care of, who didn't expect him to be the best hunter or fighter, and.

Well. To be offered a chance to meet not just the new kits, but his friend's family, was a momentous one. They kept their gaze lowered, but the brightness radiating from Rookbriar was no less present in the feeling of her exuberance beside them. "That's.. a really big honor. I guess no one's ever wanted that of me before." He stuttered a little after the fact, peeking back up. "Oh- I'm sure other cats might offer, but. You're the first, is all. So.. I hope I can make a good impression on them. And- Well, maybe it won't be so hard to do? With... both of us as a team. I'll feel a bit more confident... But, where should we even start?" That much was an important precedent to set. The way she already talked, they wondered if she hadn't already started a bit of lore about the bees in advance. And if that wasn't the case, then how could they even begin? Had the kittens ever seen a bee before? "I'll try to live up to expectation.. any family of yours already means a lot to me, so." Fawnheart modestly pawed his muzzle at the edge, as if itching. An unusual itch that couldn't be placed. Maybe, somewhere in their heart, the agitation was welling up. "I.. I might feel a little excited, right now."

Fawnheart's ears rose up as they watched the strange wiggling of Rookbriar's, and only perked up even further with her proposition. A dawn of the swarm? He tried to imagine what that might even look like. But then, how were the clans founded, anyway? It reminded him, just a little, of the recent reveal that'd occurred at the Gathering. The unspoken history that neither group had ever known about, restored before their very eyes like a geode that'd finally been cracked. The history that both clans were still busy debating. Should Sunswarm have such a tumultuous beginning?

A nursery tale shouldn't be something so high stakes. Not when reality was already so harsh. Fawnheart considered as much with their next proposal: "Maybe.. the bees wanted to find a safe place where they originally lived in Sunchaser's Meadow. Because... Although there were so many flowers to hunt- Or, um, gather from- there was no safe shelter during the rainy days. And.. bees would get hurt in the raindrops. So they went on a journey into the woods! Or..." They faltered in their premise, realizing that it might make for too short a story if it all took place within Sunclan's territory. But, it'd be hard to describe a location he'd never been before... they weren't very good at visualizing the unknown, not so vividly as to paint a story. "Well. Should we make it larger scale? I thought maybe a journey from the meadow would work because a bee is much smaller than a cat, so it would feel much bigger to them... but I just realized they can fly very fast." Somehow, it didn't seem any better to choose Moonclan territory. Too contradictory. "Um.. This is harder than I thought."

Leafkit's a smart one, Fawnheart already began internalizing, preparing notes for their big debut as his partner in storytelling raised another very good point. It was good to figure out a starting location and general framework for what would become the settlement of the bees, but the details were important, too. At least the kittens probably wouldn't spare it much thought; that left room for error. With more thought than they'd ever given battle training during apprenticeship, much less strategizing actual tactics for clan life, they puzzled over the next question with a little scrunch of their nose, paws coming tightly together as if to manifest something that could eventually be revealed beneath.

"Ummm..." Slowly, they looked around the meadow, a sunbeam of inspiration alighting in their chest. "Well. We call ourselves Sunclan because of Sunchaser's blessing... but, if we don't want to make it too complicated and give the bees their own beliefs yet, maybe they're just called SunSwarm because... the sun helps grow the flowers. So, it's like... a tribute to their resources." Blinking now at Rookbriar for the stamp of approval (it was a story for her kits after all), they added lightly, "I guess. That could also mean WaterSwarm, but... the water is dangerous for them and the sun isn't. So it's less controversial." Also, they couldn't really think of names outside of the forbidden MoonSwarm. If a rival swarm was necessary, maybe it'd warrant more of a specific type of name, but for now... it seemed like it'd be okay. "If.. things change, the swarm can always rename themselves, maybe. Like name change ceremonies..."

"Oh, wow..." Building an entire world for bees to live in was harder than he'd originally thought. Who would've expected stories would be so complex? Was that what made elders so proficient at them- moons and moons of necessary experience? And here Fawnheart was on moon one, trying to figure out how to craft an epic in one go! Not for the first time, they wished they had some sort of guiding figure who could advise them in the wise ways of big ideas... Although Rookbriar was a fantastic stand-in, she already had enough cats to look after within her own nursery nest! With a bit more determination, they decided to try and meet the big questions head-on! "Well..."

...

Rookbriar seemed to get lost for a moment, but it wasn't Fawnheart's place to judge. They'd had more than enough instances of drifting away into the clouds, even lacking the wings that would allow Sunswarm to fly so high. While she quieted after the explanation, he was left to consider the explanation. It was fairly aligned with warrior culture to earn your name through a feat of courage, even if these days, life was mundane enough to afford less specialized names. But that was fine; not every bee could be a hero, just like not every cat could force their place in history. The less danger there was to confront and challenge, the happier it was for cats like him and his current friend, who could afford the leisure time to lie around in the flowers and wonder what kind of things bees might name one another.

Leafkit's smart, Rootkit's sensitive.

With another bit of trivia to add to the start of a very small pile, they focused back on Rookbriar's musings. "Oh.." It felt like they'd gone through a whole spectrum of ideas, from bringing the bees to camp, to bringing the kits to the bees, to replacing the bees entirely again as he'd suggested just prior. If it circles back, does that mean it's the best idea? For something that was the safest and maybe best idea, it was still a little disappointing. Although it wasn't an endeavor that their leader would necessarily condone, with there being little benefit for the clan involved, there was something nice about the thought of having an alliance with the bees. If anyone should befriend Sunswarm, it should be Sunclan, after all. Sharing a territory with other animals... well, it was a given. But when it came to animals they didn't prey on, maybe it'd be nice to better understand those sort of neutral neighbors, even if it didn't directly offer them any given advantage. Not everything had to have an advantage to be worthwhile.

Fawnheart fell quiet again for a beat, although not in the awkward way he was accustomed to shutting up and letting other cats do the talking. It was a comfortable silence, where they merely listened rather than being stifled. As he listened, he wondered if there were other cats as brave as Rookbriar, so capable of just saying anything that came to mind and somehow making it seem within the realm of possibility. Maybe it didn't even have to stop with bees; if cats could communicate alliance with something as different from them as a bug, what other animals could join a similar understanding? The snapping jaws of a fox were the same ones Rookbriar had seen carrying kits, playing and feeding family. Maybe the same went for dogs or badgers. Out here, where no animal had dominance over another like the encroaching, unstoppable advances of twolegs, maybe understanding one another wasn't as hard as it seemed. In this microcosm of connection between them and the pointed queen, perhaps there lay a seed for something far bigger than the two of them could even comprehend. Something as big as the stars.

..But for now, all that big stuff wouldn't fit in the head of such small kittens. It gave him the instinctual response to shoot for realism, for a tiny flower on scale with a bee, and yet. Something about the way she stated the capacity for empathy struck him more deeply. "I think.. a bigger flower is good, then. Because. We miss things when they're small. That's.. how I never noticed bees very much. Except when they flew at me.. So a big bee will help them look out for little bees in real life." Then, stretching a white paw above him bashfully, they also added: "..And, um. My paws might fumble with tiny petals, anyway." It wasn't like they'd had the training of a medic to prepare them for precise, particular motions. Working with something dwarfed by their pads would just as soon render it crushed beneath his uncertain, unpracticed grasp. It'd be easier to tinker with the details of a model if it were large enough to be modified without risking damage. Moreover, large enough to be handled in the first place. Smaller pieces made for a more fragile product.