[Fits]

Foxpaw
| he/him | ShadowClan | Apprentice |

Mother welcomed Foxpaw in. Really, he expected that. Dawnstar the leader had a sharp tongue and a short temper, but Dawnstar the mother tended to make more allowances. Foxpaw stifled the flicker of disappointment that stirred in his stomach and pushed into the den to settle beside Mother, craning his neck to meet her gaze.

Looking up at Mother like this made him feel like a kit. Foxpaw had grown quite a bit over time, but Mother still dwarfed him easily and probably would for life. Maybe his longer-than-average tail made up for it to some extent, but that probably made him look more strange and lanky than anything else--not adult or intimidating, like Mother. He narrowed his eyes. He didn't like it.

Foxpaw had been silent for several heartbeats, and it was at this moment that he realized that he hadn't actually planned anything to say, and would probably be gaping awkwardly like a toad very soon if he didn't pull himself together. One didn't simply walk up to someone and ask to talk for no reason. Surely Mother expected him to have something more specific on his mind.

Right, a story about Mother's past. Foxpaw could ask about Mother's past. Maybe it would seem like the apprentice had come, lost and without direction, and needed a piece of Mother's life to guide him through. It was fairly feasible. It was easier than the truth, anyway. In any case, he had already thought this over more than he cared to, though unfortunately he would still have to think and use tact to avoid accidentally stirring any painful memories. That would be wrong, and he didn't exactly have the capacity to deal with those sorts of difficult emotions.

Well, here goes nothing. Foxpaw would ask a simple but open-ended question, get Mother talking for a bit, and bonding achieved. It was so easy. Why had he ever doubted that? How strange.

"What sort of cat do you want me to become?"

What? That wasn't what Foxpaw had asked at all--what he meant to ask, that is. He had spoken slowly and deliberately, as if he really had asked something silly like, When did you know you wanted to become leader? or whatever else was flying through that fluffy head of his. And he had asked a very strange question out of nowhere, and there was nothing he could do about it.

His eyes had flashed for a moment with surprise at his own words, but now he smoothed that expression over with a more usual, serious one. If he couldn't fix that faux pas, he had to at least act like it was on purpose. Trying to walk a question like that back would only make things worse and exhaust him unnecessarily. He simply awaited Mother's response. If nothing else, she would have to have an interesting answer to such a question. Maybe Foxpaw wanted to hear it.

( @Undertaker - Dawnstar )