Dropletkit tilted her head, watching Ashpaw with wide eyes. For a moment she didn't speak at all, only watching the apprentice in front of her. 'He's so big,' she thought, rather awed and frightened. Eventually, she spoke. "Dropletkit," she whisper-mewed.

A grumbling nearby caught her attention, and she swung her head around to see who made noise. For a moment she was speechless, caught in the look of this rugged, scarred warrior with wide eyes. Then she let loose a frightened squeak, scrambling backward a few steps.

"Dropletkit? Lightkit? Palekit? Where are you kits?" a rather kind voice complained. A tortoiseshell form stepped out of the nursery, squinting icy blue eyes in the sudden brightness. She frowned, glancing around the clearing. She had thought that she had heard the squeak of one of her kits, but maybe she wrong. The femme turned to go back to the nursery, when Dropletkit caught her eye. 'Oh, there you are,' she thought to herself as she began bounding across the clearing.

Dropletkit was still staring at Goldscratch, blinking her pale eyes repeatedly. She was quivering with nervousness and fright, and her eyes never left the tomcat. Slowly, though, she calmed down. When Goldscratch didn't try to hurt her, she took a step forward, moving slowly. Her eyes never left him, but she seemed more sure of herself. Finally she stood infront of him, smiling now. A purr escaped her. "Hi. Who are wou?" she asked, tilting her head and pulling her tail around to brush her nose. She giggled, sitting down and wrapping the tail around her pretty paws. "I'm Dropletkit." She was friendly now, speaking happily to the warrior.

Dappledleaf slowed, padding closer to the group of cats and sitting near Ashpaw. "Hello, Ashpaw," she purred brightly. "I see you've met Dropletkit." She purred loudly, amused. "And I see she's met Goldscratch. Gets over her fear easily, that's good, isn't it?" she meowed conversationally; it was a rhetorical question, obivously. She wrapped her own black-and-gold tail around her paws, shuffling them momentarily. She smiled, watching Dropletkit. "Dropletkit!" she called, and smiled at the kit as she glanced back at her. Dropletkit stared at her mother for a moment, then returned her gaze and smile to Goldscratch.