[Deleted]

I wanna taste love and pain, wanna feel pride and shame...

---

The honor and responsibility of becoming a mentor had done wonders for Rushwhisker. Having a young cat in his care, depending on him to teach her everything she would need to know to survive as a warrior, was both humbling and invigorating. It gave him a new, wonderful reason to get up every morning. The fact that his first apprentice was also deaf meant she had found a special place in his heart very quickly. She was quieter than Icekit had been. He sometimes mused about how they both had received leaf-bare names. He knew training a deaf apprentice was not going to be a simple task, especially for a first time mentor like himself, but he was honored he had been given the opportunity.

Frozenpaw would not progress as fast as her peers, but there was nothing wrong with that. All cats learned at different speeds, in different ways, and Rushwhisker was prepared to take as much time with her as necessary until she earned her warrior name. He was determined that she would be a warrior, no matter what any cat said or thought about it. Especially after her mother had abandoned her and all of RainClan. From what he knew of Redsplash, she had not led a wonderful life in RainClan, often bullied for her appearance, so he could hardly blame her for leaving, but why hadn't she left before? How could she leave her kits? That part he didn't understand. He and Frozenpaw had both lost loved ones, but Rushwhisker would never abandon her.

He padded into the apprentice's den where Frozenpaw still slept. The sun was still struggling to rise above the horizon, but he thought perhaps the two of them could try to hunt some early risers who were out, like them, trying to find food before the pickings became any thinner. He lifted his paw, pressing lightly on the little she-cat's shoulder and giving her a gentle nudge to wake her. It had been more difficult that he had thought it would be, so far, learning how to teach her without words, but he was more than happy to take up the challenge.

He couldn't wait for leaf-bare to end so he could teach her to fish and swim properly. With how cold it had been, even if the streams weren't frozen over, he couldn't risk Frozenpaw getting ill from a soaking this leaf-bare. Everyone was always hungry and he was sure by this point that herbs were running very low. Catching ill this leaf-bare could easily become a death sentence. There were really only two training options currently, hunting land prey or battle practice, and helping everyone stay fed and healthy was by far more important to Rushwhisker during this time of scarcity. So hunt they would. Battle training could wait for newleaf, there was no reason to risk unnecessary injury right now.

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I wanna live better days, never look back and say, “It could have been me.”

Leaf-bare 20
Amber

[Deleted]

Her dreams were filled with sorrow. Images, memories, kept playing themselves over and over in her mind. Things she couldn't understand. She had been a happy kit, with her mother and her red eyes, her blue-eyed brother, and her sister with the pale purple eyes. But then the sister she loved and had been so close to just didn't wake up one morning. Frozenpaw was confused. Why wouldn't she wake up? Her sister was taken away, and she had mewled pitifully, and had never seen her again. And then, one day, her mother had groomed her fur and snuggled her and then left the camp, and she hadn't returned. Even now, Frozenpaw still hoped for her mother's return. She hadn't fallen asleep like her sister had. Surely she would come back, right? She still didn't fully grasp the concept that her sister would never return, and now her mother was gone too? It was almost too much for the little she-kit.

She still had her brother, though, so that helped. They weren't as close as she and her sister had been, but he hadn't left her, so that was enough. She just hoped that he wouldn't change his mind and leave, too. She had lost too much already.

Currently, Frozenpaw was curled up deep in her nest, her fluffy tail wrapped tightly around herself and covering her entire face. She was, quite literally, a ball of fur, that inflated and deflated in time with her slow, even breaths. When a gentle paw pressed down on her, she flinched, her eyes snapping open and her entire pelt fluffing out. She managed not to cry out, though. After the moment of panic faded, she looked up at the brown and white tom standing above her. She gave a small smile, trying to reassure him that she was okay. Being woken up was something she would probably never get used to. Since there was no way for her to hear approaching pawsteps, she couldn't brace herself for the tap, and she definitely couldn't hear anyone calling out to her. So, she resigned herself to trying not to cry out in panic every time someone nudged her awake. So far, she was doing well, and had only woken up the entire den a few times since her apprenticeship started.

Frozenpaw fully uncurled herself, parting her jaws in a large yawn and stretching momentarily. She pulled herself to her paws, gave her coat a quick once-over to pull any stray moss from her fur, then looked up at her mentor. She smiled again, this time a little brighter than before, and stepped forward quickly. Ducking under his chin, she pressed her ear to his chest and held her breath. When she felt the faint thump, thump of his heart, she closed her eyes and purred loudly. She backed away, still purring, and blinked up at him happily, now ready to start the day and follow him wherever he may lead.

@zen

[Deleted]

I wanna taste love and pain, wanna feel pride and shame...

---

As she startled awake, Rushwhisker felt a pang in his heart. He wished he could figure out a better way to wake her, but anything he tried was likely to startle her. He at least tried to wake her gently so it wasn't too much of a shock. It was just something she would have to deal with, it seemed. She recovered quickly, at least. Maybe she was getting used to it. He waited patiently for her to give herself a quick wash, and then she pressed her ear to his chest. In the time he'd spent with her so far, he'd come to think of it as her way of saying hello.

He purred affectionately and rasped his tongue over her ear before she stepped away. Turning, he flicked his tail to indicate that she should follow him, not that he didn't already expect her to anyway. It was one signal he was pretty sure she was used to by now. It was the first one he had started using, and he always began their training sessions with it when he led her anywhere. He would have liked to give her a chance to eat before they left, but the freshkill pile was nonexistent, and perhaps hunger would sharpen her instincts for their hunt.

Glancing back at his white apprentice, he couldn't help but feel impatient for this leaf-bare to be over so he didn't have to watch his Clan starve any longer. He led the way out of camp, his paws slipping every now and then on the ice that coated everything after yesterday's light thaw. His slight weight didn't even break through the snow today, the ice making it solid as stone beneath his paws. That didn't bode well. He had managed to catch a water vole beneath the snow yesterday, but it seemed that wouldn't be an option today.

His gaze flicked skyward, toward any branches they might near as they made their way farther from camp, keeping an eye out for any that looked precarious. After Bitternwing's close call when they were hunting yesterday, he felt as though he was paranoid today, but better safe than sorry. Especially since Frozenpaw wouldn't be able to hear any branches breaking above her. He glanced back again, checking on Frozenpaw, and parted his jaws to see if he could draw in any prey scent at all. No luck. He was sure today would be a lost cause, but he had to try.

He paused, turning to Frozenpaw. As long as there was no prey around right at the moment, he might as well go over a proper hunting crouch with her. He made sure she could see his whole body clearly before he settled into a crouch, taking a few careful steps forward as if stalking something before standing upright again. He padded over to stand beside her, touching his nose to her shoulder, and crouched again, looking at her expectantly. He was trying to establish touching his nose to her shoulder as his way of telling her he wanted her to do what he was doing, but he wasn't sure if she had grasped that one yet or not.

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I wanna live better days, never look back and say, “It could have been me.”