[Deleted]

      ›› murkypaw
little miss little miss little miss

Sky blue eyes traced a perfect, uninterrupted blue sky as she padded, dainty paws crunching on top of once-living. water-logged tendrils with little concern. Despite RainClan's current troubles, Murkypaw was not tending to the clan like a good little apprentice. Despite the oh-so-friendly smiles she gave off and her sickly-sweet personality she had as a kit, Murkypaw didn't like being that "goody two shoes". Murkypaw, since entering the life of an apprentice, had desparately wanted to change her personality. She wanted to become someone who people liked and respected; not a cat who people liked but treated like a kit. 

Coming up to a large decline in the path Murkypaw had intended -- towards an open field --, Murkypaw decided that it would be fun to charge down the hill at full speed. The wind running through my fur ... This is just what I need, the young apprentice thought to herself, grinning ear-to-ear before tensing her leg muscles. Without a second thought, Murkypaw raced down the hill, giggling and scaring off all sorts of birdss: crows, thrushes, finches, in her wake. The apprentice could not hear all the noise she was stirring -- the wind howling and pushing against her ears kept her oblivious to how much trouble she was causing. 

As she ran, Murkypaw found that it was increasingly difficult for her to maintain a steady run down the hill. Her paws along the water-logged mud began to lose their footing on the soft earth and what was once a free, yet controlled race down the hill became a tumbling whirlwind. Still laughing despite the unpleasant situation at the end of the road, Murkypaw raced along. Murkypaw paid a lot of attention to her paws, trying to keep from slipping a little too far. The gray and tan apprentice was happy that she looked up when she did; just in time to notice a cat in her way. 

Squeaking, she veered out of the way and as result, tumbled a little and became more horizontal than vertical. At the bottom of the hill, Murkypaw lay in a slightly mussed heap for a few seconds, before rising to her paws and meowing very loudly. "Who d'you think you are? Mousebrain!" 

›› CAN'T BE WRONG.

[Fawn]

CROWPAW of RainClan
Apprentice || 6 Moons || Tom

"A cat who actually knows what they're doing, loudmouth! You scared all the prey away!"
Here was one crow she hadn't frightened out of the brush, and he glared at her crossly, watching the clumsy RainClan apprentice rise to her paws and bark at him as if it was his fault. Orange eyes burrowing into her gaze with obvious challenge, the young son of Vultureback and the former deputy of StoneClan of the opinion that he could read everything about her if he just looked hard enough. Murkypaw, huh? Tideripple's daughter. From what he knew of the gray and white feline, she was a bit of a goody two-paws; did everything her parents told her, was complacent and hadn't been one for roughhousing when they'd both been nurserymates.

Crowpaw scoffed, tossing his extremely dark tabby pelt as though he might be able to physically rid himself of the agitation he felt towards her, long white whiskers twitching as his ears swiveled, attempting to latch onto any sounds of prey returning. Well there goes my solo hunt. In no mood to be well behaved, the apprentice had been acting out more than usual lately - as a byproduct of both his brother's desertion and being in that rebellious stage of life - and while under normal circumstances he could appreciate Murkypaw's throw-caution-to-the-wind actions and would've probably ran with her, the fact that she'd interrupted his first catch of the day was enough of a reason for him to give her the cold shoulder.

She's such a pest. Almost as bad as Heronpaw, though Crowpaw found his sister's spiritedness a little easier to relate to. It was impossible to tell what had happened to that mouse he'd been just about to catch and kill, but Crowpaw opened his mouth anyway, willing the tell-tale mousescent to flow in the wind in the hopes that he might pick up the trail. Or better yet find something larger.

He wasn't about to forget the fact that Timberwing had caught him breakfast on their first day out together; the temperamental RainClan tom had more than inherited a little of his father's dislike for favors and debts.

[Deleted]

      ›› murkypaw
little miss little miss little miss

'A cat who actually knows what they're doing, loudmouth! You scared all the prey away!'

Amused baby blue gaze watched the dark brown tabby tom she had tackled yell at her. Despite the fact that Murkypaw was maintaining focus and silence, the look she maintained was one that seemed terribly close to busting out into laughter. Her mocking eyes, her silly grin, the swish of her tail: her playful appearance was enough to anger the strongest tomcat. Moons ago, the apprentice would have been incredibly apologetic and squeaky-voiced. She would have patted him and checked him over for several minutes to ensure that her clumsiness hadn't caused him harm. But now, hearing his angry tones back, Murkypaw did not worry about the tom's health. Instead, her grin continued. 

The pretty RainClan apprentice rose to her paws swiftly, still choosing not to respond back to Crowpaw's whiny tones. Instead, the gray-tan apprentice began to circle the blackened tom, maintaining only an inch of space between her light pelt and Crowpaw's blacker one. The apprentice smiled, letting her skinny tail wrap around Crowpaw's body before setting in front of him, Murkypaw's smile still big. "D'aww, poor baby! Didja hurt yoursewf?" Murkypaw asked him mockingly, before bursting out into a happy fit of giggles. The apprentice took a moment to settle to her haunches, not taking care to keep her pretty pelt from settling in the sticky mud. Glancing around at the grainy reddish ground for a moment, Murkypaw nearly relented in her attack on Crowpaw and his character. The gray-tan tabby cat might've stopped there, if her first look at Crowpaw's character had been a little different. All Murkypaw saw was a grumpy black tabby who needed to learn to smile. Moving her pretty eyes from the ground to look at the tom's face, Murkypaw wondered if the tom would gain wrinkles in old age from frowning so much. Does he even know how to smile? The apprentice wondered and let out a slight laugh. "It's not like you can catch anything out here with the state of things," the apprentice meowed pleasantly, not meaning to attack the apprentice again. Her gaze, returning to the clay ground, hinted merely that the she-cat was talking about the slimy ground, rather than the tom's skill. "Though I wonder if some big fat rabbits are getting stuck in the mud," Murkypaw meowed in a whimsical sort of voice, refusing to return her gaze to the blackish tom. 

›› CAN'T BE WRONG.

[Fawn]

CROWPAW of RainClan
Apprentice || 6 Moons || Tom

His expression soured further at her slightly flirtatious mocking, not taking it as thus. About to snap at her when a comment about 'the state of things' seemed to be an underhanded sort of jab at his hunting abilities, Murkypaw following up with some nonsense about rabbits stuck in mud did a little to quell some of Crowpaw's anger.
"Who cares about rabbits? We're RainClan cats - and the mud's not that bad." He'd trekked through a decent amount to get here, and while his paws were quite muddy, he had not gotten stuck, despite the tremendous bone mass he had for an apprentice his age. Crowpaw seemed to be following in his father's very large footsteps, and would likely reach Vultureback's size if not slightly smaller.
Slightly.

"The birds from the river are hanging around places like this because of all the insects," Crowpaw explained in a voice that was both gruff and proud, as if he felt an inward pleasure at having made his own clever deductions and chosen the best hunting spot based off of that. Even as he spoke, a dragonfly buzzed and thrummed by one of the dark tom's even darker ears, causing him to flick it away with one tufted swat, Crowpaw able to just spot it's glittering, iridescent green back as it zipped on by.

Letting his focus expand from the things happening directly in front of him to what was occurring all around the two apprentices, Crowpaw concentrated, listening for any telltale signs of wading birds or noisy crows or even the thrum of insects. What with the weather warming up so much, the mosquitoes were out, as were the water bugs, the frogs, tadpoles - everything was coming back to life with a roar, and Crowpaw had every intention of taking advantage of the decent land-hunting. Orange eyes taking on a peculiar glitter as he caught a tall, grayish blue shape in the distance, Crowpaw's muzzle wore a sly grin, pupils shortening into diamonds as his posture shifted to a hunter's crouch.
"Think we can catch a heron?" He whispered, a quick thrust of his chin in the grayish-blue shape's direction indicating he had successfully identified their next target.

[Deleted]

she holds the shotgun while you do-si-do
murkypaw

The she-cat's skinny gray tabbied tail twitched as she felt the mood of her accompanying apprentice sour. Despite the fun Murkypaw had had twisting Crowpaw's whiskers, she felt a slight twinge of guilt for her actions. The apprentice chose to lighten up on her verbal attack for a moment. She could practically see the steam rising from the blackish apprentice's head.

"Who cares about rabbits? We're RainClan cats - and the mud's not that bad,"

Murkypaw's small gray head dipped down to stare at her equally small gray paws. So many retorts swam around in the apprentice's head at that moment and none of them she chose to employ. While staring at the brownish, malleable ground Murkypaw was literally biting her own tongue, an acidic mixture swimming around her mouth. Just because I am a RainClan cat doesn't mean I enjoy mud. I'd like to see you do a nosedive into a puddle, she thought as her eyes darted and skimmed across the surface of the ground.

"The birds from the river are hanging around places like this because of all the insects,"

Olive eyes hardly could meet Crowpaw's eyes after he had spoken. Without releasing any of her bubbling inner emotions, she felt quite like she could explode. Is he trying to show off? she wondered, eyes starting at the top of his ears and sliding all the way down to his paws. The least he could do is rub some of the mud off of his legs, she critically remarked as she looked him over. The dirtied limbs of the temperamental apprentice took her mind off of the attack. She wondered what Crowpaw had been up to that had gotten him quite so mucked up.  Maybe his mood is so heavy that it is making him sink down into the mud, she wondered, letting her imagination get the best of her as usual. Despite his muddy stockings, Crowpaw had a point. Newleaf floods, despite the initial trouble they caused, would bring on plentiful prey. Her ears slightly perked up to catch the high pitched twittering of birds overhead.

"Think we can catch a heron?"

Murkypaw's head popped up at Crowpaw's suggestion. The smile that curled along her face was a mixture of mischief and joy. "With my hunting prowess? Of course we can!" she meowed excitedly, her tail raising high into the air like a flag and hooking at the top. Murkypaw didn't wait too long for Crowpaw's rebuttal. Her jaws unhinged and tasted the air for any lingering scents. "I think I do scent one nearby. It's a wonder it hasn't heard us," her voice mewed hardly louder than a whisper. The apprentice was amused with the situation entirely. How could a bird be that stupid? I literally slid here as fast as I could!

[Fawn]

CROWPAW of RainClan
Apprentice || 6 Moons || Tom

That was more like it. Crowpaw grinned. He'd rather have a partner in crime then another cat to argue with; in Hawkpaw's absence, the tom who had been forced to go solo found he was not at all enjoying the excessive amounts of 'me time'. Of course, being not particularly close with any of the other apprentices in RainClan (in fact, he was an enemy of quite a few), and having gotten rather distant with his sister Heronpaw lately, the dark tabby tom was grateful Murkypaw was here. Even if he didn't quite recognize that feeling as such, he gradually felt his mood improving. Noticing the pretty apprentice's tail raise up like a banner, Crowpaw quickly approached, speaking in a loud whisper, "It might see you! Put down your tail. I think we can sneak up on it from this side."

Big stupid heron. They were one of the slowest birds he'd ever seen! Well, they were slow on land, but that's all they really needed it. Shaking free his front paws from the swampland he'd managed to traipse right into, Crowpaw's orange eyes blazed with determination, the tom intent upon proving that he was a good hunter, even if he didn't exactly know how to fish yet. Murkypaw wouldn't have been his first choice for cohort, but beggars hardly had a say in the matter, did they?

The heron was wading at a leisurely pace, reminding the dark tabby wading through the reeds and clusters of tadpoles of what a tree branch would look like if it suddenly decided to walk. Eying the funny-legged bird, Crowpaw's body tensed, the bluish gray body of the wading bird fully locked in his sights. Maybe he could get Murkypaw to chase it towards him? She was smaller than him, and - assuming she wouldn't go running around making noise like earlier - obviously a lot less muddy. His weight made it easy for him to sink, and thus attract attention to himself trying to pull his heavy body free of the marsh. The bird would have all the time in the world to get away just then, but if Murkypaw played her part...then he could jump up and bat the heron down before it could take off again.

Crowpaw looked for the apprentice again, indicating that she was to sneak around it by making a circular motion with one mud-covered paw, mouthing the words, do you get it? and waited.

She understood the plan, right? Of course she did. He was great at explaining stuff.

[Deleted]

she holds the shotgun while you do-si-do
murkypaw

---

For Murkypaw, seeing the blackened tom's rare smile was contagious. Every cat knew about Hawk-kit's departure to StoneClan and the hurt Crowpaw had felt from his absence. Bright and happy as Murkypaw was, the apprentice had wanted to share her consistently pleasant mood with everyone, including the most negative tomcat in RainClan. Crowpaw's truculent behavior hadn't reacted well to her goofy, upbeat way of critiquing Crowpaw's negativity, so she had chosen a more gentle approach. Though less natural for the apprentice, the apprentice's new attitude kept her from getting scalded too much by the tom's bad mood.

"It might see you! Put down your tail. I think we can sneak up on it from this side."

The RainClan apprentice's gaze drifted over from her hunter's crouch to meet Crowpaw's gaze. Visibly, she rolled her eyes and gave a playful snort to her friend before lowering her tail down. Who are you to tell me what to do? I know how to hunt! I'm three moons older than you! the apprentice thought to herself as she did what she was told. If Crowpaw hadn't been completely right and she hadn't sworn herself to brightening his day, Murkypaw certainly would have made her thoughts and feelings clear to the black tabby. Instead she turned to watch the heron in its natural environment, plodding through wet depths to find something to eat. Its pretty blue-gray pelt reminded her a bit of her own. 

The sooty gray apprentice and her companion watched the slow bird hunt. As she gazed at it, her whiskers twitched in amusement. The hunter is being hunted, she thought and turned to Crowpaw to tell him as much. When she turned, she saw an expectant look in his eyes and face. The tomcat seemed to be motioning for her to do something involving the bird. What the nature of his request was, she did not know. Her murky gaze showed her confusion, darting back and forth between cat and bird as she tried to encode Crowpaw's somewhat impatient gestures.

Suddenly Murkypaw's ears flicked up. A spark went off in her brain and his concept suddenly clicked for her. He wanted her to run around behind the bird and chase the heron towards Crowpaw. The apprentice gazed at Crowpaw, then to the bird, then back to Crowpaw. Murkypaw gave a definitive shake of her head. "What if the bird takes off?" the apprentice hissed at her companion. Certainly the slow moving heron would simply fly to avoid Murkypaw, rather than race towards the pair. With its big wingspan, it would be out of Murkypaw and Crowpaw's leaping capacity a second after it took off.

Word Count: 443
Tags: Crowpaw
Muse: Medium
Comments:

[Fawn]

"If we both run at it from the front and the back, then we'll catch it. It can't change directions that quickly." Replied Crowpaw, half out of sureness and half out of some very quick guesstimating. "If we don't try it now, we'll miss our chance," he hissed under his breath, struggling to hide his large form within the reeds and avoid the big rounded eye of the heron nearby.
That makes sense though, right? Smaller birds are faster, this big stupid heron won't be able to lift it's body as quickly as a sparrow or a finch or something. We can take it down in no time. Trying to shoo Murkypaw away to her spot with an impatient - but surprisingly gentle - nudge of her shoulder with his, Crowpaw gave her a meaningful look, expression clear. Hurry up!

If they caught this, then Crowpaw could prove once and for all that he didn't need Timberwing as his mentor; he didn't want to be trained by a NightClan she-cat, he wanted to be trained by a tried and true RainClan cat with no doubts at all about their lineage and their loyalty. Murkypaw and Heronpaw are lucky, they have pure-blooded mentors, and I bet even Hawkpaw's mentor is a real StoneClan cat and not some ex-TreeClanner or something stupid like that. Feeling the well of resentment within his heart start to rise, Crowpaw mentally shook himself, trying to clear his thoughts and get into the zone that let him focus on the hunt and nothing else. Opening his senses, Crowpaw took in a deep, calming breath of the slightly pungent marshwater, the shallow, squelchy area actually cool to the dark tabby tom's paws, the sun beating down on his shadowy pelt having left him with a need for shade and cool drinking water, as he'd been out here for quite a while.

After they caught this bird, then he could get a drink, cool off, and maybe spend a little more time with Murkypaw. Unless she didn't want to. Why would she? Were they...friends? Well...maybe...but...it was hard to tell. She was a she-cat, it was apparently an unspoken rule that all she-cats were confusing - not that he was interested.
Because he wasn't.
She-cats weren't important right now, he had to focus on his own self-taught methods of becoming a warrior, not keep an eye on the pretty grayscale tabby who had chosen to spend a little of her afternoon with him...

[Deleted]

she holds the shotgun while you do-si-do
murkypaw

---

"If we both run at it from the front and the back, then we'll catch it. It can't change directions that quickly."

A clever glint danced in Murkypaw's eyes as she listened to her companion's words. Crowpaw had a good point, especially when she thought about his suggestion in adherence with what she had been told in kithood. Brighteyes had told her how to avoid big predators before she had been apprenticed, and she remembered her advice like the back of her paw. If you changed directions frequently while being chased by something large, you can generally outrun them because it takes more time for whatever is chasing you to turn its body. The predator had to stop for a moment to turn its big body while a cat could continue onward. The gray tabby figured it'd be about the same with the heron if it tried to change directions or take off.

"If we don't try it now, we'll miss our chance,"

Despite her agreement with Crowpaw's comment, she still hesitated long enough that Crowpaw had to give her a nudge on her should to get her to get going. As his darker fur grazed hers, a sick, yet excited feeling pulsed from her stomach outward to the tips of her toes. Despite the urgency of chasing after the heron, despite every that had happened to her in the past moon, she felt a smile edge its way onto her maw that came on its own accord. She did not have to force herself to be happy for others for once. Her happiness bubbled up from her heart to her brain, to her face.

Had Murkypaw's seagreen eyes not casually drifted over to the half clanner, she would have remained on her bubbling feelings and would not have focused back in on the heron. Instead, the butterflies quickly dissipated and her swampy gaze focused back in on the task at hand. The stupid heron was still dipping its long snout-thing in and out of the water. It hadn't sensed their presence and flown away quite yet.

The hardest part of going after the heron was getting over to its backside in preparation for the attack. The gray tabby would have to go within its line of vision across a sea of noticeable ripples and loud mud. Because of the delicacy of the operation, Murkypaw was careful about selecting the path that she'd travel through. She certainly did not want to be the one screwing up their hunt, especially not in front of Crowpaw. She felt like if she messed up, he'd be angry with her.

Spying some tall ferns and reeds not too far away from them, Murkypaw crept forward, leaving her partner in crime behind. She moved over to the tall grasses with a slow pace, careful not to step on anything she shouldn't or alert the creature to her movements. She even made her body as small as it could get -- pulling her ears and tail down as she stalked. Once she found shelter in the reeds, she picked up her pace a bit, not wanting to keep Crowpaw waiting too long or give the bird a chance to escape.

As she reached the other side of the reeds, she found herself just beyond the blue-grayish heron's tall form. Poking her small head just beyond the reeds, she scanned the waters for her well-concealed brown tabby friend. Murkypaw took a good few moments motioning Crowpaw to ready himself for the attack before charging at top speeds for the surprised bird.

Word Count: 594
Tags: Crowpaw
Muse: -performs cpr-
Comments:

[Fawn]

Impatience coupled with an adrenaline surge made for a very antsy Crowpaw, feeling as though he would implode within his dark tabby fur, the normally grouchy apprentice forced himself to wait, staving off that urge to lunge forward despite feeling it in ever sinew, every muscle. If I catch this big stupid bird, Sandstar will HAVE to assign me a better mentor. He'll have to. Gaze trained upon the murky hues of his companion, orange oculars glinted in the sunlight, the tom bending his much larger body in order to stay secluded.

Hurry up, Murkypaw! We don't have all sunhigh!

Resisting the urge to growl out his displeasure, Crowpaw waited. Meeting Murkypaw's quick, signaling glance, one moment it had felt as if he'd waited a hundred moons - and the next moment they were lunging forward as if their lives depended on it. They technically didn't, but their reputation and their pride did; they'd told themselves they could catch this thing, missing was not an option. Spraying a thick spattering of mud in all directions, Crowpaw's quivering lips pulled back in a release of pent up energy, snarling as he put all of his strength into his back legs, launching his heavy body clear of the muck. Gotcha!

The startled heron took off with surprising speed, Crowpaw's stomach dropping with dark tabby body still suspended at this sudden turn of events - but his moment was what saved them. That, and the fact that Murkypaw had done her part of the job perfectly. Together, in a flurry of muted blue wings buffeting them across the face and against their ears, the pair of apprentices were able to drag the bird back down to earth. It was surprisingly difficult, beating through the storm of flapping wings and jerking limbs, Crowpaw grunted as a wing clipped his left eye, the dark tabby producing a hiss. Trying to get a grip on the bird's throat, it was more of a suffocation tactic than him actually drawing blood, the tom feeling the heron's throat convulse as he bit down, choking off it's airways.

After less than a minute, the bird had stopped flapping, and Crowpaw, winded and with a stinging left eye, was able to let go, feeling equal parts triumphant and a little beaten up.
"Told ya - we could - do it." Panted the apprentice, sneezing as a heron feather shaken loose in the scuffle tickled the outer edge of his nostrils.