Chapter 75: Growing Up
It was the time of the Gathering again, but due to the unfortunate timing of my mental breakdown and Cinderpaw's orders, I will be missing this one as well. It was one I was looking forward to too. I wanted to hear what Shadowclan and Windclan had to say for themselves given their unjustified invasion as well as see the reaction of the other clans when they realize Tigerclaw was exiled. At least I could still be productive with the time I had in camp.
Ashpaw and Brackenfur were also cats staying behind for this Gathering, which worked fine for me. I had noticed that Brackenfur had some level of interest in Snowkit, potentially wanting to mentor him, and Snowkit presented a unique opportunity in Ashpaw's training. I couldn't afford to pass it up, so I called the two in.
"What's going on Smudgefoot? You think something's going to happen at the Gathering?" Brackenfur queried.
"Nothing so drastic. I just happened to notice you spending some time with Snowkit. I'm sure by now you are aware of his condition?" I responded.
"Yes. He can't hear anything." Brackenfur replied.
"Then you know that he's going to take some extra effort to train. In fact, I've already gotten permission from his mother to begin a level of training early to help counter the downfalls of his condition. That's where you come in. I want you to work with Snowkit to improve his general awareness. Since he cannot hear, we'll have to focus on improving his other senses as much as possible." I explained.
"Well… I do want to help the little guy. How would I go about that?" Brackenfur asked.
Ashpaw piped in a question as well. "And why do you need me here?"
"First I'll answer Ashpaw's question. As I'm sure you've figured out with your time training with Ravenfeather, there are times you will work with cats who see the world an entirely different way than you do. You cannot just disassociate with them. Instead, you must expand your understanding and try to figure out how to align your interests with theirs and establish a level of communication. What better of a cat to learn this from than a cat who has never heard a thing, and thus at a most basic level cannot understand sound? As for Brackenfur, we'll be creating games for the kits, ones that help expand his awareness that he can take back to play with the other kits. I preemptively made one already. I call it Guard." I mewed before leading the two out to a collection of ten moss balls.
Brackenfur retrieved Snowkit as I began to explain the rules. "Snowkit here has to protect the ten moss balls as long as he can. We can try to steal it, but if he swats our paw, we have to pull back and try again. The game is over once he's only got three moss balls left. After that, one of us will be the guard. He'll have to figure out how to coordinate with the rest of the players to steal the moss balls of the guard. It'll teach him to always be aware of his clanmates and his opponents."
Since Snowkit didn't entirely understand the game we planned, we let him play with the moss balls a couple moments before beginning. Brackenfur snagged one first. Snowkit, seeing the offense, positioned himself between Brackenfur and the mossballs to prevent that from happening again. I then reached in, sure he'd see me trying. I deliberately did it slow so the kit would have time to react. He smacked my paw, so I theatrically reeled looking thoroughly dissuaded. Of course, that wasn't the end of things. Ashpaw acted next, stealing one easily. Snowkit spun to face him only to feel Brackenfur steal one that was touching his tail. Snowkit spun again, starting to realize what was going on. His eyes flicked between all of us as he tried to guess who'd go next. Thus, we moved to encircle him. There was no way for him to see us all at once, so he'd have to get clever. The game didn't last much longer, but Snowkit did start to develop some sense of when one of us was moving.
The next game began with Brackenfur in the center. Snowkit watched as I crept around Brackenfur as Ashpaw kept him distracted. I then lanced a paw in and managed to snag one of the moss balls. Brackenfur spun to face me, but he kept Ashpaw in the corner of his vision. I nodded to Snowkit, and Brackenfur pretended to not notice. Snowkit scampered in and grappled one of the moss balls. Brackenfur pretended to be in shock at that and faced down the kit. Snowkit made another attempt, but was pushed away by Brackenfur, showing that the kit couldn't just rush in. Snowkit looked confused as he tried to figure out what went wrong. He tried and failed again before looking across the center, seeing Ashpaw in position to steal one, but he was waiting for something.
I believe Snowkit tried to say Ashpaw's name, but it came out more of a shush. Ashpaw, being generous about acceptable signals, snagged one of the moss balls from the center. We continued this game for a while longer, with each of us getting a turn to be the guard, and each round requiring the thieves to be more stealthy in their attempts. Finally, Snowkit gave in, thoroughly exhausted by the game, but his environmental awareness did seem to go up as the game progressed. We took him to his nest and placed the moss balls nearby. Bramblekit had witnessed the game with baited interest, so we knew the game would soon be a popular one among the kits.
"Do you really think that helped him?" Brackenfur mewed.
"Only time will tell. For now, keep coming up with games for him to play that help train his other senses. Ashpaw, I want you to aid Brackenfur with this. I know that you have a hard time wrapping your head around what Snowkit thinks and wants, but this is the best lesson I can give you. Learn how to read his interests and accommodate them, and you'll find your ability to understand others will be much better."
Ashpaw nodded firmly, always committed to my lessons. I always knew how to keep his drive, and he adored me for it. I even once caught him accidentally referring to me as 'like a father' to the other apprentices. At the same time, he made me proud, taking to my lessons with ease and always giving his all. Even when he didn't understand, he tried for me. He tried so hard. Sometimes he'd fail, but he learned from the attempts. I couldn't wait for the day he'd graduate from apprentice to colleague. I wanted to see the sparkles in his eyes the day he got his warrior name. I wanted to let him know the honor I had in being his mentor. I pushed down those sappy feelings for now. Ashpaw still had some growing to do before I could do all that. I still had time to raise him a little more and grow more proud in the cat he's become.