Enjoy The Little Things (open)

[Kat]

The beech trees rustled over head, and bright sunlight shined through the trees dappling the ground. No breeze stirred the air, and a thick mat of leaves covered the ground. Then a white she-cat appeared in the gap between the trees. Dry crackling of leaves sounded under her paws, and she seemed to pay no mind to the prey on either side of her. Sun flashed across her white pelt, making it sparkle for just a moment.

Mintstar slowed to a stop looking around with a sigh. Riverclan was doing well right now, but relations between the clans could be so fragile. Before becoming leader she had loved fighting, and still did in a sense. But now she had the clan to think about, and pointless fighting wasn't in their best interests. The white she-cat sighed shaking her head. Why in the name of Starclan was she worrying about this now? Everything was fine now, but...oh there were so many things to worry about.

The she-cat shook her head sitting back on her haunches. She raised a paw, and swiped it across her ear. Her eyes flickered as she saw movement in the bush beside her, and with a snarl she leaped into the bushes. Mintstar's whiskers twitched, and she pulled the mouse out of the bushes. Setting it carefully back on the ground in front of her paws the Riverclan leader stared back into the trees. Yes. There was so much to worry about.

[Veritas]

Ravenheart didn't like being as old as he was. While he still had a good chunk of time left before he had to retire, he could feel the days of old and all the reckless feats performed within them start to take a toll on his body. Or, rather, the toll had begun to show. Either way, he wasn't particularly pleased with it, especially when his joints refused to move without protest, such as now. Each step was accompanied by just the slightest twinge of pain, and while it was nowhere near enough to prevent the black tom from going about his daily life, it was undoubtedly a hindrance, and a pain in the paw, if you'll pardon the pun. When he had woken up this morning, he had wanted to go out and hunt to help feed the clan, but after catching just one vole, he found that his legs were against crouching at the moment. So after depositing that one, sole piece of prey on the fresh kill pile, the giant cat had decided to go for a walk around the territory so as to wallow in his less-than-happy mood without dragging others down. He had also wanted to try and loosen up the muscles in his legs, which he assumed were tense from the unusually cold nights that they had the past few days.

With a heavy sigh, Ravenheart found himself remembering the moons in which he had been an apprentice. As melancholy as they and his earlier days as a warrior had been because of his blood and size, he still had been happy for the most part, with Kestreltalon by his side. Although moons had passed since his dear friend's death, the claws of grief still gripped the giant black tom's heart, more than ever now for some reason. He blamed it on the amount of time he had to think about it now, as he didn't really have anyone to talk too or an apprentice to train, or the energy and physical capability to hunt as long as he would have liked. That was probably where his age struck the hardest, actually; the gap between him and most of the other RiverClan cats was... Well, it was fairly large. Mintstar was the closest to him in age, yet Ravenheart was still almost twice her age. While the number of moons one had lived wasn't an indicator of who to talk to and who to not, Ravenheart noted that it was a lot easier to converse with a cat he was close to in age, as opposed to a younger one, probably because the empathetic connection was considerably weaker in the latter scenario.

Another sigh escaped the tom, but this one was more frustrated sounding. "This is ridiculous." He declared, out loud to no one in particular. "I sound like a mopey, whiny apprentice. It's a beautiful day out, no wars are happening, and I'm alive. I should be enjoying it, not dwelling in the past or on unimportant matters." He muttered, and shook his head to clear it. All the while, he failed to notice that he had walked not only to the Reed Forest, but that he was standing only a few fox lengths away from Mintstar, who could probably hear him without a problem. He took a deep breath to aid in clearing out the gloomy thoughts in his head, which was when he caught a whiff of the leader's scent.

"Oh, oops." He chuckled, feeling his ears heat up out of embarrassment when he realized that he hadn't noticed her, and that she was close enough to hear his ramblings. "Sorry if I bothered you with my, ah... Pep talk." He said, offering her a warm smile. "Embarrassingly enough, I didn't realize you where here until just now- guess my head was too far up in the clouds. Just one of those days, I suppose." He explained, shifting his weight from side to side slightly- his shoulder had begun to irritate him just the slightest bit. Taking a closer look at the leader's face, he noted that her expression wasn't particularly of the happy sort. "Forgive me for prying, Mintstar, but you seem a bit troubled. Is there something on your mind?" Ravenheart inquired, and went to go sit beside her, wrapping his tail neatly around his paws.

[Kat]

Mintstar knew worrying wouldn't do her clan any good. She should just sit back and enjoy the peace, but like other times peace ruled the forest Mintstar felt a pressure on her heart. A simple ache for those who had been lost before the peace.

Soon peace would end, and her clan-mates could die. Mintstar would be powerless to stop it. Just like when her kit...No. She couldn't go back to that place again. That time in her life was over. It was done, and Mintstar wasn't going to ever to ready to go back to it. With a sigh the she-cat opened her eye, ready to keep hunting. To her shock Ravenheart was right in front of her.

Her whiskers twitched,and she pushed away the shock of seeing him here. She really needed to be more observant. Riverclan's small leader dipped her head in greeting to the older warrior. "Oh something is always bothering me." The white she-cat said in amusement as she sat beside her.

"I worry about the future, the past, and the present. It's really quite tiresome. Mintstar continued. She sighed again her mind drifting back to her thoughts. Worrying was so irritating.

[Veritas]

Ravenheart had noted the brief shocked expression that had crossed her features, and guessed that he hadn't been the only one not paying too much attention to their surroundings (much to his amusement, of course). He listened to her woes, nodding his head empathetically; he understood exactly where she was coming from, with the draining ways of constant worry.

"There is a lot to be concerned about, I suppose." He commented, looking up to the sky. "Past mistakes, what others' are thinking about us, what they're doing, what they're planning, what battles might happen, what will happen in those battles, who's going to make it through another day..." He paused for a moment, large jaws gaping wide in a huge yawn. After a moment, he continued on. "If only we could read minds. At least present and future would be put to rest, no?" He said lightheartedly, chuckling. "Or perhaps that would just create more questions to worry about."

[Kat]

Mind reading. The thought sent a shiver through Mintstar's fur. No, that would not be good. The white she-cat knew for certain that she never ever wanted anyone in her head or be in the head of someone else. The Riverclan leader certainly didn't want to know the thoughts that floated around in her clanmates heads.

"Mind reading would certainly not be useful. I don't need anyone else in my head." Mintstar said with another shudder. Certainly she didn't want to be in her ex-mates head. The white she-cat shook her head back and forth clearing the threatening images. This day was going from bad to worse. She was already worrying about the future she didn't need to re-visit this time in her past.

"Aren't there things in your head you wouldn't want anyone else to know about?" Mintstar asked her whiskers twitching. It was nice to imagine reading another cats mind, but not another cat reading her own.