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Post by Deleted on Jun 27, 2017 22:58:16 GMT -5
  RainClan - Senior Warrior - Tom - 48 Moons
It was a normal, Greenleaf day. Nothing was out of the norm, and with birdsong centralized in the scattered groves of maples, oaks, plus the occasional pine, today was looking to be calm and uneventful. Adderstrike was accompanied by a fellow mentor and his apprentice, along with Rabbitpaw. For once, the four cats were going to go practice their fishing in one of the many tributaries in Rainclan territory. Hopefully, there wouldn't be another incident like the last time they were all together. I'm just glad that Squirrelpaw didn't drown. Adderstrike thought, pushing onward in the baking sunlight, heading for a particularly cool-looking family of trees closer to the Stoneclan side of the border.
Hopefully we'll be able to catch some land prey on our way back. He mused, the ground beneath his feet growing more leafy and brown. Canopies almost completely blotted out the sun, though warmth leaked through the branches and leaves, dappling the forest floor in golden light. The sound of rushing water grew louder, making Adderstrike's paws tingle with excitement. There was little that bested the perfection of Rainclan's waterways in his opinion. Adderstrike glanced around him, locating his apprentice and beckoning her to his side.
The river came into sight, scarcely visible beyond the green, dense-growing undergrowth. The tom felt sand and rounded pebbles beneath his paws as he pushed through the foliage, twiggy branches lush with leaves snagging at his brown fur. He waited along the shore, waiting for his company patiently.
I think today will turn out to be a productive day. He thought contently.
Liberty for wolves is death to the lambs.
Notes: xxx
Tags: Fawn @sparrowkeeper |
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Post by Fawn on Jun 28, 2017 8:44:51 GMT -5
 45 Moons. Tom. (S) Warrior of RainClan.He'd given Squirrelpaw adequate time to recover. Even if he was impatient by nature, and unsympathetic by experience, Crowblaze knew better than to push the much younger tom before he was ready. So their duties had been simple; patrolling, and a few brief swimming lessons in the willow stream. Each swimming lesson ended with a very tired apprentice and a partly frustrated mentor - Crowblaze forced to exercise patience he didn't have over Squirrelpaw's middling progress.
Fishing would go better. Hopefully. This was one of Crowblaze's weakest areas. He had been taught to fish through a collection of brief lessons from his Clanmates; his mentor, Timberstar (Timberwing at the time), hadn't known how to fish at all. His father had helped. Some of his fondest memories were learning to fish alongside Vultureback, though it was far too late to tell the old tom that.
Adderstrike and Rabbitpaw were in the lead, and Crowblaze brought up the rear, making sure Squirrelpaw was keeping it. It was annoying, honestly, having to train the shier of the two kittens - he had to rely on facial expressions and body language to get a real sense of how Squirrelpaw was doing.
Stormstar obviously wanted to test his patience and maturity with this one. That it was his first apprentice, and a great sign of trust from the Clan leader, had worn off after the first drowning experience. Crowblaze sidled up to the bank alongside his fellow senior warrior, and with a flick of his tail, curtly indicated the spot beside him where Squirrelpaw should sit.
"Alright, listen up. If you don't get it on your first try, fine. I want you to catch some minnows." Anything bigger, and Crowblaze suspected the little tom would get pulled right in.
And then he'd have to jump in after him. Again.
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Post by Deleted on Jun 28, 2017 11:28:13 GMT -5
 7 Moons. RainClan. Apprentice.
Ever since the greencough epidemic, Rabbitpaw and Squirrelpaw couldn't have been any more joined at the hip. Rabbitpaw herself suspected it might have played some small part in the fact that Adderstrike had decided to ask Crowblaze to pair up with them, though she could never know for sure. She glanced semi-guiltily at her brother, still slightly gaunt from his battle with the disease. She knew their mentors disapproved, but her heart was trapped in a protective spiral.
First it had been Rabbitpaw who had become unwell, with Squirrelpaw loyally staying by her side and inevitably coming down with greencough himself. As Rabbitpaw had improved, Squirrelpaw had plummeted. The young tom had been on death's door for a while, and Rabbitpaw hadn't left the medicine den for more than an instant. If Squirrelpaw had been rather fragile before, it paled in comparison to how he was now. The tom's ribs still showed subtly under his patchy coat, with shadows hanging dark below his eyes, and he kept his posture low and kept close to Rabbitpaw, who for her part had developed an increased tolerance for how much he relied on her. She had been trying to gently push him away before, but now she would stand protectively by him, almost challenging anyone to try to pick on him.
Rabbitpaw padded along behind Adderstrike, glancing back at her brother periodically as she attentively took in the bright Greenleaf day. The greenery lifted her heart, and as she drew in the surrounding scents she smiled and raised her tail higher in the air. There was mouse on the air nearby, mixed with squirrel and lark, and the young apprentice let herself dwell for a moment on the life flourishing around her. It wasn't to last though, as she glanced back at Squirrelpaw again she felt a now-familiar flash of anxiety for his welfare and stopped paying any attention to her surroundings. She barely noticed the sound of the river until they were right on the bank, where she started with surprise and sheepishly moved over to Adderstrike as he motioned to her.
"Are we gonna do swimming or just fishing?"
She mewed to Adderstrike, glancing at her brother with a gentle smile to try to comfort him as he glanced at the water and shuddered a little. He had padded next to Crowblaze as the tom had indicated, and was looking at the water with a sour expression.
Great StarClan not again. As if I haven't almost died enough times recently. He'd better not make me get into the water
Crowblaze's demand was technically fair, but Squirrelpaw felt bitter about it. After repeated failures and the all-too predictable frustration in his mentor's eyes, Squirrelpaw had grown increasingly to see Crowblaze as a figure of disappointment that echoed his own insecurities about his lacking abilities. He assumed Crowblaze thought he was a weakling, and seeing himself reflected in the calmer shallows of the river he really didn't blame him.
I look like old fresh-kill
He thought distastefully, tail flicking as he took a deep breath and steadied himself. He had started leaning on his sister more and more, to the point that Rabbitpaw had actually started treating him like an invalid, in a caring and sisterly way that made it sting even worse. He had to bring up some kind of ampule of courage within himself to try and prove to her that she didn't need to hover over him at every step, that he was going to be able to stand on his own four paws one day. He appreciated her closeness, knew that he relied on her and couldn't seem to help it but even he could see he was holding her back, and the guilt sat heavy on his shoulders.
"Right."
He mewed, a little more forcefully than he had anticipated. The little tom didn't look at anyone else and instead tried desperately to focus on spotting a fish. Crowblaze had taken him to the river time and time again, so he had no excuse not to know basic fishing strategies. Minnow were tiny, and best flicked out of the water with a clawed paw after they strayed too close, a technical challenge but not something that was beyond a young cat recovering from greencough. He crouched on the bank, careful not to loom over the fish and scare them off, waiting.
I've got to at least catch a minnow. It's barely a mouthful. If I can't catch one of them I might as well just retire to the elders' den already
There were a few minnow darting about, and Squirrelpaw narrowed his eyes as he willed one to come closer, paw at the ready. It stopped and started, hovering in the water in that strange way fish do, before finally creeping within reach-
SPLASH
If he'd only been faster, he would have got it, but unfortunately Squirrelpaw only ended up making a splash and temporarily spooking the fish. The apprentice flattened his ears darkly and stayed where he was, too embarrassed to look at anyone else as he tried to wait for the fish to come back for him to try again.
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Post by Deleted on Jun 29, 2017 16:08:18 GMT -5
RainClan - Senior Warrior - Tom - 48 Moons
It wasn't a surprise, seeing Squirrelpaw splash around in the shallows like fool. He's going to scare all the fish away! Adderstrike thought irritably. The brown tabby tom's tail twitched, and if it weren't for Rabbitpaw's inquisitive remark, he probably would have forgotten she was even there. Swimming? Or just Fishing? As a matter of fact, Adderstrike hadn't really thought that far ahead. Usually he has his lessons figured out beforehand, but he was a bit...distracted. Ever since Silverfrost's deputy announcement...
Adderstrike dug his claws into the pebble-ridden sand.
"Let's swim to the opposite bank and try fishing upstream for a little bit." The tabby tom rumbled, entering the river hastily. Maybe it would be good for Squirrelpaw to see his sister cross the river without conflict. He glanced over at Crowblaze, something perhaps of pity in his yellow-green gaze. I feel sorry for him. I'd have buried that apprentice Day 1. Adderstrike mused, feeling riverwater lap at his belly. The Rainclan tom was well aware of how close Rabbitpaw and Squirrelpaw had become, but they had to establish some kind of independence from one another at some point. Besides, Crowblaze was there. He wouldn't let his own apprentice drown. Adderstrike truly wanted to believe that Squirrelpaw would be fine.
One final shove sent the senior tom off the shore and into the rushing currents, his paws paddling vigorously as he swam towards the other side. He was fairly confident in Rabbitpaw's swimming abilities, but his ears swiveled too and fro, listening for even the slightest noise of gurgling or irregular breaths. Squirrelpaw's incident made even the surly and unsympathetic Adderstrike question the expertise of apprentices, no matter their stages in training.
"I hope you're up for hunting land prey after this!" He roared above the current, water splashing briefly over his head following his comment. It was cool and refreshing, washing away the heat of day from his dark tabby coat. He had to exert himself only slightly, though he was well aware of his status in the clan, him being an expert in the water. This crossing probably would have been moderately difficult for his apprentice. She was still developing her swimming muscles and techniques, but she had been showing promising results before green-cough swept through the clans.
I hope I'm not pushing her too hard. He thought, doubt flickering in his heart like a distant star.
Liberty for wolves is death to the lambs.
Notes: xxx
Tags: Fawn @sparrowkeeper |
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Post by Fawn on Jun 30, 2017 13:07:30 GMT -5
45 Moons. Tom. (S) Warrior of RainClan.
Crowblaze had watched, tail tip flicking in silent irritation behind him - as if already anticipating a failure on Squirrelpaw's part - as the kitten leaned over to try catching a minnow.
SPLASH!
Water speckled Crowblaze's muzzle, dripping off the end of his whiskers. He summoned every ounce of patience he had been born with (a nonrenewable resource, obviously) to keep from snapping at Squirrelpaw. The apprentice was already refusing to look at him - aware of his own screw-up. Even if he doesn't know WHY he screwed up.
It took practice for Crowblaze to get out of the hypercritical mindset of a cat who didn't particularly like a lot of his Clanmates, and into the role of mentor. This was uncharted waters for him. "Alright. Move downstream, so you can try again. I'm not mad," he said, realizing how unconvincing those words sounded.
"I messed up a lot too when I was your age." Mostly because my mentor didn't know how to fish at all. I just had to figure it out, half the time. The frustration during those days had been immense. Crowblaze, making an actual effort to be nicer to his apprentice (maybe that would help), showed his teeth in a smile, like he had seen other cats do. He just wasn't the purring, touchy feely type. A smile was good enough.
What the Dark Forest is the difference between a grimace and a smile? Crowblaze eventually got tired of holding such an unnatural expression, and let his lip fall back over his teeth.
Word Count: 254 WordsTags: @sparrowkeeper @jet Notes: |
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Post by Deleted on Jun 30, 2017 17:14:26 GMT -5
7 Moons. RainClan. Apprentice.
Rabbitpaw flinched internally at her brother's initial failure, casting him a sympathetic look that he didn't return. She started as Adderstrike spoke about fishing elsewhere, slipping into the water like an otter. The young she-cat looked one last time at Squirrelpaw, but the tom only flicked his ears back further and seemed to shrink. With a pang of guilt Rabbitpaw followed her mentor into the water, praying to StarClan that her brother would be okay. Once she moved out of her depth, Rabbitpaw had her worries temporarily stripped from her by the pressing practicality of keeping herself above water and swimming at the right pace and angle. She envied Adderstrike his easy strokes, struggling a little as her muscles complained to her vocally of how little she had recently used them.
I guess Squirrelpaw isn't the only one still on the repair
She thought to herself, managing to keep her head above water despite her discomfort with the effort required of her. She was tempted to reply directly to her mentor as he yowled about hunting, but knew better than to open her mouth when she was struggling in water and tried to grunt assent instead. Only when she had clambered out of the water and onto the bank did she pant,
"Yeah! I scented a whole bunch of prey on the way here, hopefully I'd manage to catch at least one eh?"
She shook herself and paused to groom some of the worst of the water from her fur. Being a RainClan cat through and through, her fur was oilier than most cats, and most of the water would dissipate from her fur quickly if she let herself stay in the sun for a while. She immediately looked back over at her brother on the other side of the river, worry obvious on her face.
"I hope Crowblaze isn't being too harsh on him. He's still not recovered from his sickness and you know how he feels about this river now..."
She worried out loud.
---
Squirrelpaw, for his part, had been almost grateful that Adderstrike had taken Rabbitpaw away. It meant there were fewer witnesses to his failures after all, but then on the flip-side it had effectively left him alone with Crowblaze. He stiffened, waiting for the snappy comment, and was surprised when it seemed that Crowblaze had actually made some attempt to soften it. The young tom glanced up in surprise, and cringed internally as he realised that he had accidentally sprayed water onto his mentor with his mistake.
Goodness, I'm surprised he has the internal strength to not have yowled at me for that
He fought the urge to raise his brows at the blatant lie of "I'm not mad," and thought it was probably better to just to what he'd been told, padding downstream as Crowblaze had indicated, tail low as he anticipated simply another failure just more downstream.
"I messed up a lot too when I was your age."
Squirrelpaw paused, glancing up at his mentor again. The big tom appeared to be smiling, which was such a shift in character that it was initially alarming.
Why is he smiling oh my StarClan what did I do? I literally just splashed water in his face like an idiot, I don't understand
Squirrelpaw wasn't really sure how to react, but the idea that Crowblaze was being truthful was too tempting to turn aside,
"Did you really?"
He mewed tentatively, clinging to the hope that this wasn't some kind of build-up to a upsettingly frank comment about Squirrelpaw himself being somehow still worse than a young Crowpaw.
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