Work Text:
“Jaywhisker!” Ivykit cries, weaving through her father’s legs. “Jaywhisker, come see what we did!”
He purrs. “And what did you do?”
Impatiently, she nips at his foreleg. “I’m trying to show you.”
Ivykit wraps her tail around his front leg, dragging him to where Dovekit is sitting with their pile of leaves.
“We’ve been catching leaves all morning,” Dovekit says. “Whenever they fall from trees.”
“And we sorted them into piles,” Ivykit says. “‘Cause you can’t watch us catch them.”
Jaywhisker licks the top of her head. “It sounds like I have a lot to look at,” he says. “Alright, Dovekit, what’s first?”
“Okay,” Dovekit says. “I caught this one, and Poppyfrost says it’s a maple leaf, and it was floating down, which means it’s like a bird I think.”
Jaywhisker sweeps his whiskers over it.
“Very impressive.”
“Hey,” Ivykit says. “Jaywhisker, how do you catch birds?”
He pauses, the tip of his tail flicking back and forth. “I don’t, usually,” he admits. “I let Hollyleaf catch them.”
“Poppyfrost says you brought the feathers in our nest, though.” Dovekit’s ears are straight up, and she pounces on nothing as she speaks, wriggling on her back and batting her paws in the air.
“Those are from a quail,” he says. “They’re ground birds, and they’re large and slow, so they’re easier to catch.”
Ivykit wrinkles her nose. “Do you need prey to be easy to catch?”
Jaywhisker laughs a little, but his face says it’s mostly forced. “No, mouse. I’m one of the best hunters in ThunderClan.”
“But you can’t catch birds,” Dovekit says, sitting back up with a slight shake to her head.
“There’s a lot of other kinds of prey,” Jaywhisker says. “Squirrels, rabbits, moles, gophers, pikas…and I’m the best at all of them.”
“What about Hollyleaf?”
Jaywhisker nuzzles her, the tips of his whiskers tickling her neck, and Ivykit giggles.
“Has my sister been spreading lies again?” he asks. “I’m the best hunter in ThunderClan.”
He flicks his tail tip over her nose, and Ivykit sneezes.
“No!”
“Good.” Jaywhisker gives her a lick, and settles onto his paws. Ivykit scrambles up his back, putting her head on top of his, and he purrs, wrapping his tail over her. “Alright,” he says, “now that that’s settled, I believe I have some more leaves to look at.”