CC: Birdwatcher

The sound of the shore drew him to the river, ears twitching at the sound. Peering through the surface of the running water, Eaglekit studied the tiny fish that darted to and fro near the bottom, little lightning-bolts of silver. Reaching in, he batted his paw through the school of them, watching them scatter like the disturbed surface of a calm puddle. Brows furrowing, he withdrew his paw and shook droplets from it. A flash of movement in his periphery drew his attention and for a long moment, he stared into the reflection of the flowing water, trying to discern the shape that he'd sworn had just moved.

Then, he lifted his head and stared into the branches of the tree hanging over camp. Squinting, he finally picked out the bird perched within it, features smoothing out as he studied it. A robin, he thought, admiring the splash of red across its breast.

Its wings flashed and it took off, flying overhead and disappearing beyond the boundaries of the clearing. Staring after where it had disappeared, the kitten flicked his ears back, apprehensive now. The desire to chase it, to follow it wherever it would go, was hampered by the rising walls of the clan's camp. Withdrawing from the barrier, he crossed towards the other side, settling in the shade of the tree and letting his tail lay beside the edge of the water.

A flock of small birds shot through the sky, their size seeming to grow and shrink as they maintained such a tight formation. They changed direction at the same time, up and around, before disappearing back the way they had come, beyond his line of sight. What had those been? It itched at his mind to know. Brows furrowing, he hunkered down at the river's side and wondered if he could go ask a warrior.

Instead, he remained still, concealing himself in the shadows until another bird whizzed by. It sailed across the surface of the water, making abrupt turns and sharply angling skyward. It was beige, but beyond that he couldn't keep up with its speed to pick out details. He wanted to know what it was, and its constant zipping around made it impossible for him to pick out distinguishing features. Frustrated, he flicked a paw and sent a pebble splashing quietly into the water. The bird continued to fly, undisturbed by the negligible annoyance of such a tiny creature.

Jumping to his feet, Eaglekit trotted along the side of the river, until he was as close as he could get to where the bird was flying. It was then that the bird chose to follow the river's course, vanishing around the bend. A stab of disappointment surprised Eaglekit, and he drew away from the water. Hesitating, then sitting slowly, he drew his tail around his forepaws and shook off the feeling.

"Eaglekit!" Lifting his head at the call of his voice, the kitten frowned at the sight of a small group of his fellow kittens standing several paces behind him. It was Softkit that had spoken, a relaxed smile gracing his delicate features. "Come play with us," he invited, tilting his head in a beckoning gesture.

Blinking at them, Eaglekit eventually glanced at the others-- Fawnkit, Maplekit-- and wondered absentmindedly where his brothers were off to. "C'mon!" Maplekit encouraged, a trace of impatience in her tone as she hopped to her paws, pacing for a moment. "Let's go!"

It felt strange to be asked to come play, though it had been happening with increasing frequency since he and his brothers had arrived in CedarClan. The three of them had never needed an invitation to join in with each other. Maybe that was just how brothers were.

"Eaglekit?" Fawnkit smiled uncertainly, working her paws against the ground as though second-guessing whether she should speak at all. Still, she had seen the distant look in his eyes, and she knew what it was like to lose yourself in your own mind. "Want to come..?"

Slowly, Eaglekit shook his head, his gaze flicking between the three of them before settling on Softkit. "Nah," he muttered, looking at Fawnkit before returning his attention to the river. "Busy."

"With?" Softkit appeared at his side and Eaglekit twitched away, shooting him a look, clearly not liking the other tom's sudden presence so close to him. "Sorry. Didn't mean to startle you." There was a twinkle in Softkit's eyes that made Eaglekit wonder at the sincerity of that statement.

"Watching birds," he responded before he could consider his answer.

"Oh?" Despite Softkit's interested expression, Eaglekit looks away and chooses not to elaborate. Eventually, the other tom-kit took the hint and laughed quietly through his nose as he stands. "Alright. Maybe later?"

"Maybe," he grumbled, not moving until he heard their pawsteps and voices retreating. Exhaling and rolling his eyes, Eaglekit stood and returned to his place in the shadows, hoping it would deter anyone who saw him from approaching-- and hoping, more so, that it would keep anyone from seeing him.

"Eaglekit!" The shout of his brother's voice wasn't enough to warn him before Kestrelkit's body slammed into him.

"Kestrelkit!!" Eaglekit yowled, immediately kicking his hind legs into his brother's soft underbelly.

"Oof!" Wheezing, the other kitten toppled off, and Eaglekit took the opportunity to roll back onto all fours and leap on top of him. "Hey!" Kestrelkit lurched backwards, rearing up on his hind legs to knock Eaglekit off before whipping around and pouncing.

Growling and baring his fangs, Eaglekit let out a huff of air when Kestrelkit bowled into his side, knocking him over. Immediately, the other jumped onto his side and sat there, pinning him down. "You weigh like a badger!" Eaglekit shouted, squirming and flailing in an attempt to dislodge Kestrelkit.

Somehow, the other kitten managed to keep his balance, barking a triumphant laugh. (In truth, remaining on his writhing brother took a lot more effort than he was willing to admit, but if Eaglekit didn't notice then that was perfect.) "Then you weigh like a leaf!" he shot back, grinning smugly.

Owlkit appeared a couple of tail-lenghts away, panting, probably from the effort of trying to keep up with Kestrelkit after he took off at a sprint to attack his other brother. "Kestrelkit, you said we were going to go looking for shells--"

"Shut up!" Kestrelkit yelped, clambering off of Eaglekit and running over. "Fine, let's go then, if you want to so badly!!"

Eaglekit rolled over and shook himself free of the dirt that clung to his fur, scowling as Kestrelkit and Owlkit trotted off to the far end of the riverside. "I'll get you next time!" Eaglekit shouted after them. Kestrelkit whipped around and stuck his tongue out, before turning to stick his rump in the air and waggle it tauntingly. Then, almost tripping over himself, he scrambled to catch up to Owlkit.

Huffing loudly and flopping down again, Eaglekit put his chin on the ground and stared into the water. Then, spotting a large shadow flash by across its surface, he lifted his head and looked up at the sky.

Barely a fox-length in front of him, a bird swooped down. A bird the size of a warrior-- no, bigger! Black and white swept across its feathers as it aimed its talons forward, its lower half vanishing into the river before re-emerging just as quickly with a trout trapped in its grasp. Heaving its mighty wings, the bird carried itself back into the sky almost before Eaglekit could register what had happened.

Scrambling to his paws, he raced out from under the foliage of the tree and stared up at the sky, gaping as the raptor flew high enough to become little more than a spack, then disappeared over the ridge of the camp.

Water lapped at the shore and suddenly very aware of the sound, Eaglekit looked down, staring as something floated across the surface towards him. Moving forward, he stared as a feather began downstream. Panicked, he lunged forward, wading into the river until he had to lift his chin to keep his face out of the water. Then, he reached it, biting the feather and quickly returning to shore. Setting it down on the grass of his hiding spot and shaking himself off, he sat down slowly and looked down at the feather-- the size of his tail!-- and stared.

He'd never forget the day he saw his namesake for the first time.