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Thunderclaw had spent the morning organizing patrols, a task that had wound up frustrating him to no end. Some of his clan were nowhere to be found, and others, still, apparently had plans of their own. When he'd asked Mockingbird to join a border patrol, she'd informed him that she was going hunting with Longstripe instead. Didn't they know that he'd just given them an order? How Lionstar managed to run this clan, he had no idea. Thoroughly ruffled, he'd snapped at Swallowtail and had thankfully been rescued by Sixtoes, who had, in his composed demeanor, helped gather the rest of the cats and send them off to their respectful duties.

He was still new to this, but Thunderclaw couldn't help but feel that Lionstar had chosen the wrong cat. Anyone might have been better! Stormchaser or Sixtoes or Nobleheart... The doubt was still fresh in his mind when he'd beckoned his former apprentice to follow him out of camp. Making up a small hunting patrol of their own, he led her out to the clearing, which was blooming spectacularly with newleaf growth. He knew that Rowanberry had more of a knack for hunting amid the trees, but there was no point in sweeping areas that patrols had already hunted in again.

Once he reached the field, colored brightly with blossoming flowers, though, he didn't feel much like hunting. His fur still prickling with agitation, he stopped abruptly, then turned and looked at his companion. Suddenly, he sprung in to the air, leaping over her, batting at her ears as he flew through the air like a giddy kit. It was very much not in his nature to be so playful, but he missed the long training sessions with his bubbly apprentice that he'd grown to enjoy. Though they'd grated his nerves, he'd learned to be patient, and it had served him well, though his patience had been worn thin this sunrise.

Still, he was in the mood for a playful spar, and Rowanberry was just the cat for the job.

Character; Thunderclaw
Word count; 341
Notes; Amber

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Her sleep had been rough last night, and her thick coat showed it well. Ruffled, twisted, and tangled with moss, it was a mess. She'd been cleaning herself since she woke up, fighting to remove all traces of sleep from her fur. She was pulling the last bits of moss from her bottlebrush tail when she heard her name called out. She looked up and saw Thunderclaw beckoning her with his tail.

Rowanberry smiled at her former mentor and hopped to her paws, bouncing along to follow him out of camp. There were so many words she could have said, so many thoughts to think and feelings to feel, but she knew her mentor and his subtle body language silenced her. Something was troubling him, and she didn't know what, nor what she could do to fix it. So instead she followed in silence. He would speak when ready. Maybe. Hopefully.

He lead her to the wildflower clearing, where newleaf had been kind and caused a blossoming of colors. She took in all the beautiful flowers, and nearly ran into Thunderclaw when he stopped short. He turned around, and Rowanberry looked up at him, expecting him to instruct her next pawsteps, once again slipping into the mentor-apprentice roles they knew so well.

She wasn't expecting his next moves, and only reactively ducked when he leapt up and over her. She spun around as he landed, eyes wide with shock. After a moment, her mouth curled into a playful grin. Gathering her weight into her hindquarters, she wiggled slightly and pounced, not really aiming to land a blow, but excited to see him happy.

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The young she-cat pounced at Thunderclaw, he sprung away, fur puffed up playfully. Bouncing was certainly more up Rowanberry's alley than his own, but still he bounced in to the tall wildflowers. He waited for her to approach, whiskers twitching, before leaping over her back again. Upon landing, the gray tom crouched, his tail waving through the air.

Whatever he'd been trying to accomplish, it had worked. He felt the morning's frustrations ebbing away, focusing less on his duties as deputy and more at the frolicking he was doing with his former apprentice. She was Lionstar's half-sister, but they were little alike. Lionstar was far more sensible, noble, and poised than his younger counterpart. Rowanberry had been his first apprentice, and it had been quite a journey. Keeping her focused, especially at first, had been difficult. With an internal wince, he remembered when she'd fallen while training in the tree branches.

But once she'd gotten the hang of it, she'd blossomed in to a worthy warrior, losing none of her bubbly personality. Perhaps he should learn from her. His deputyship should not smother or drown his personality. He could retain who he was. Trying to be someone he wasn't wasn't helping anyone.

More memories flooded his mind. The fire raging through TreeClan, when the branch had crushed their leader. The fur still hadn't fully regrown from his back and shoulder. He remembered the fear and pain, but also the determination and strength that he had felt. Able to order the then-apprentice Rowanpaw to help drag her older half-brother out, he realized that if he hadn't have been with his leader, matching his stride step for step as the dove through flames, Lionstar could have lost all of his lives there and then. That is what makes me worthy. Neither Stormchaser nor Nobleheart nor Sixtoes had been there beside their leader. Perhaps they were more experienced, better at giving orders, but he had earned his position. And I will continue to earn it.

Thunderclaw had been so consumed by thought that he hadn't noticed when Rowanberry had pounced, and she was soon on top of him. Purring, he rolled over and pushed on her belly with his hind paws. "And so the apprentice surpasses the mentor," he mewed dramatically, falling completely limp, his tail-tip twitching.

Character; Thunderclaw
Word count; 384
Notes; I suck at this game.

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She giggled and bounded after her mentor, forgetting for the moment that she was a warrior and not a giddy new apprentice. He leaped over her again, and she realised not for the first time how much bigger than her he still was. She'd grown up, she'd grown bigger, but he was still taller, stronger, bigger than her, just like Lionstar. More than she could ever hope to be.

He landed and turned, crouching down low. Rowanberry matched his pose, bushy tail swishing against the flowers. She narrowed her eyes and watched him, waiting for an opportunity. Thunderclaw's eyes grew distant, and she continued to watch him. After waiting a moment or so to see if he would come back to earth, she wiggled her hindquarters and pounced, letting out a shrieking cry of victory.

TreeClan's deputy was under her paws, and she giggled as he rolled and kicked softly at her belly. She hopped away and darted back in, tapping at his stomach with a sheathed paw before skipping back.

"And so the apprentice surpasses the mentor." She openly laughed at his dramatics. "And so, the mighty Rowanstar reigns supreme!" She sauntered over to him, placing a paw on his chest like the victor she was. She looked down at him and her smile faded a little.

"I could never dream to surpass you. Or Lionstar." She hopped over him and rolled to the ground, batting idly at his twitching tail. The mood had changed. The joyful smokescreen had faded, revealing the more somber feelings below.

"Thunderclaw, you know you can trust me, right?" She looked up at him, green eyes uncharacteristically serious and slightly worried. She hoped he could trust her enough to open up to her. She could tell he carried something around with him, a burden that heavied his shoulders and weighted his soul. She just hoped he knew that she would be there to help lighten his load.

Pain internalised always became pain externalised.

~~~~

Notes: I don't know what I'm doing anymore.

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Laughing along with Rowanberry, Thunderclaw stayed on his back, his eyes fixed on the she-cat as she spoke. The gray warrior felt a wave of concern wash over him, but he didn't interrupt. I remember feeling that way. The faux-cockiness that had defined his late apprenticeship and early warriorhood had been plagued by the pins and needles of doubt. All the senior warriors had been so intimidating, so practiced. But they were just that, practiced.

Rowanberry didn't always pay attention, but she had never been oblivious. The gray tabby knew that she'd picked up on his earlier frustrations. "Of course I know," he mewed gently, meeting her troubled gaze with his own calm one, brushing her ear with his tail. He rolled over, so that his belly pressed against the meadow grass and he faced her, silence filling the air for a moment before he continued.

"Of course you will surpass us. Both of us. You're what gives TreeClan hope for the future! The new warriors, just beginning to grow in to their claws... that's what every great warrior was at one point." His twitched his whiskers. "And if I may divulge a little secret to you," he lowered his voice, leaning in playfully as if he beheld some great wisdom. "I'm not so sure of myself, either." The deputy drew back quickly, widening his eyes, a purr filling his throat before he continued loudly.

"I feel like TreeClan is one big mess of disorder," Thunderclaw admitted, flopping on his side so that the scars from the fire faced the sky. "Organizing patrols is like trying to herd sparrows! Cats are never where they should be, and half of them have their own plans. Today I nearly clawed off Sparrowtail's ears because I couldn't get enough cats together for a border patrol and Sixtoes had to come help me sort everything out." The warrior flicked his ears back, vocalizing the worries that had weighed on him all day. "Sometimes I feel like Lionstar chose the wrong cat to be deputy."

Character; Thunderclaw
Word count; 340
Notes; Same lmao

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The calm in his gaze and the flick of his tail over her ear soothed her fears of him locking himself away from her. He rolled over and she listened to his next words with all the intensity of a young soul seeking knowledge from the stars above. "Of course you will surpass us. Both of us. You're what gives TreeClan hope for the future! The new warriors, just beginning to grow in to their claws... that's what every great warrior was at one point." Rowanberry's wide eyes crossed slightly and then narrowed in frustration as she tried and failed to imagine Thunderclaw as a newly-made warrior. In her eyes, he had always been this way; strong, wise, a teacher and a friend.

"And if I may divulge a little secret to you," her gaze focused back onto his when he spoke, "I'm not so sure of myself, either." Her eyes went wide at his confession. How could he be uncertain? He was Thunderclaw, TreeClan's deputy, her mentor, he was supposed to be strong and confident and unbreakable and infallible! How could he not have confidence in himself, when she had complete faith in him?

"I feel like TreeClan is one big mess of disorder. Organizing patrols is like trying to herd sparrows! Cats are never where they should be, and half of them have their own plans. Today I nearly clawed off Sparrowtail's ears because I couldn't get enough cats together for a border patrol and Sixtoes had to come help me sort everything out." Her gaze turned to hopelessness and sorrow as he flopped to his side and flicked his ears back. "Sometimes I feel like Lionstar chose the wrong cat to be deputy."

"Never!" Rowanberry jumped up suddenly, startling a trio of birds at the edge of the clearing. She fixed him with a fierce gaze, challenging him to disagree. "Lionstar chose you for a reason. He chose you because he trusts you with his life, with all of his lives. And he has a pretty damn good reason to!" Her gaze softened some as she looked at his scars from the fire, where his fur was still patchy and growing in unevenly. "He wouldn't have chosen you if he didn't believe in you." Her voice was quieter, her passionate fire had burned itself down to embers. "I believe in you, too."

She settled back down on her belly, tucking her paws beneath her. "I remember the first time I climbed a tree." She raised her tail to silence him, knowing the sudden change in topic might be confusing. There was a method to her madness, though. "Daringheart had taken all of us apprentices out for a tree climbing less. You know what happened? I ran up the tree first. And I got stuck, and didn't know how to get back down. An older, more experienced warrior had to bring me down.

"In those branches, so high off the ground, I was sooo terrified. And now? I think I hunt better from the trees than on the ground." She looked up at him, a soft smile on her lips. "It's just as you said. Just as every great warrior was once a young apprentice, so was every great deputy."

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Even as he spoke the words, a slight knot formed in his belly. His suspicions weren't a great deal of fun to have, and even more unpleasant to say. He trusted Rowanberry, though, after all their moons of training. She was smart, and would know to keep what he told her between them. Always so well-meaning.

He easily read her surprise at his confessions, and felt a spark of affection for the young cat. It felt good to have her look up to him, acting as a spring in his step. Deep down, her confidence in him fed his own. His eyes followed her as she sprung up, ears twitching as he listened to her exclamation. He trusts you with all of his lives. His former apprentice's words struck him, and the gray warrior was silent as she continued, her initial excitement ebbing.

Rowanberry settled back down on to her belly, telling an anecdote of her first time climbing a tree. Thunderclaw thought back to their many training sessions in which he'd helped her learn to navigate the canopy with as much ease as she might slide through the undergrowth below. He didn't often reflect on how far she'd come, and it resonated deep within him as she returned his words. Everyone began this way. 

Thunderclaw purred affectionately, batting slowly at her nose, his back pressed in to the young meadow grass. "You have the wisdom of a warrior twice your age, Rowanberry, and the energy of one half it," he mused, affection filling his mew.

Character; Thunderclaw
Word count; 256
Notes; ~