[neversky]

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falconpaw @zen

[attr="class","hwayoungdia"] He finally felt as if he had the upper hand, but it slipped out of his grasp and he was left hollow. Falconpaw was the oldest apprentice he knew and that had motivated him to try to work as hard as he could, but the memory of Moonshine kept pulling him back like a dog on a leash. One step forward, two steps back. He had really cherished the time they had together, Falconpaw saw it as such an honor to be trained with someone who held such a high place in their clan’s hierarchy but because of her busy schedule and the sudden appearance of foxes throughout the forest Falconpaw’s training kept getting more and more delayed. The russet tom was never one to seek the best for himself but through chance alone he had Starclan on his side. Moonshine was busy and Falconpaw forced himself to be patient with her, wait for her schedule to clear. She was very important to the clan, after all. [break][break] Ashflight had asked to meet him at the borders instead of chauffeuring him there. He didn’t need to be directed, he knew where they were, and he was growing rather rapidly so it wasn’t like Falconpaw needed protection or anything. The clan was still in shock at the unexpected loss of their deputy, so the morning was somber and still. No one awake during the sunrise was really speaking to each other but rather exchanged sympathetic nose-touches and half-smiles as they passed each other. Falconpaw did the same, but was more than relieved to learn his new mentor was a friend of the family and someone he knew almost his entire life. He could be more honest about how he was feeling instead of dancing around the fact that their deputy, among many other Rainclan cats, had left a deep gash in the clan’s heart.[break][break] He could see her in the distance, quickened his pace slightly to reach her and make sure she was feeling up to directing him around the borders. It should be an easy time for the both of them, as Falconpaw was more familiar with the area than he was 10 moons ago.[break][break] He approached the she cat with a familiar purr, “I hope you weren’t waiting long.” He offered a polite but hollow smile.

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It was unusual for a patrol to leave without all its members and Rushwhisker had been hesitant to go without Falconpaw. As per Silverstar's decree, all patrols still needed at least 3 warriors in them after the fox attack at the gathering and he was uneasy about allowing an apprentice to travel through the territory alone. Ashflight, however, wanted to allow for the simple test. At Falconpaw's age he ought to have no trouble following the patrol's scent trail to whichever border they went. If he simply did as he was told and followed their trail directly, he would not be alone for long. Besides, the foxes were dead, all but one. Falconpaw was nearly a warrior, he should be able to escape a single fox on its own, preferably use his head to lead it to the patrol waiting for him, and they could end its miserable existence together.

Deciding against arguing with his headstrong sister, Rushwhisker had relented and the three warriors, Ashflight, Rushwhisker, and Lionstride, had all headed to the NightClan border. Ashflight waited when they arrived, ears pricked and watching for Falconpaw, as Rushwhisker and Lionstride went on a head a little farther to renew a scent marker. The young tom was not long to arrive, and with no fox in tow. Her tail flicked dismissively at the continued caution. The foxes might have taken some of their own at the gathering, but if only one of them had escaped it was a clear victory in the side of the Clans, and what could one fox possibly do on its own that they couldn't handle?

She shook her head, “Not long, no. I'm glad you made it without incident.” She tried to take a bit softer tone than she normally did with Falconpaw, since it had been his mentor that had been among the dead at the gathering. He was clearly still affected by it, even a season later, not that she blamed him. She knew how close Rushwhisker and Ferngaze were. A mentor and apprentice could become like family to each other, and she certainly knew the loss of family well. She didn't imagine she would ever hold the same place in the young tom's heart, and that was fine with her; if all went well they would not be together in such a capacity for long before he earned his warrior name. But he was Lotuswhisker's son and she was determined to do what she could for her friend's kit.

“Rushwhisker and Lionstride went on ahead, let's catch up to them,” she gestured in their general direction with his nose, “Lead the way.” She planned to keep the two of them hung back somewhat from the rest of the patrol, let Rushwhisker and Lionstride worry about renewing the scent markers so she could try to assess Falconpaw's training a bit more. She thought he was quite ready to be a full warrior from what she had seen so far. Trying to keep conversation light unless he turned it in another direction himself, she decided to ask, “Are there any names you hope Silverstar will pick for you? It won't be long before you've earned it.”

neversky

[neversky]

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falconpaw @zen sorry i'm rusty 8[

[attr="class","hwayoungdia"] Falconpaw nodded his head at Ashflight’s greeting, he could hear deliberate kindness in her voice and he was thankful for it, he still felt that the wound was raw and easily re-opened but he knew Moonshine wouldn’t want him to mourn. He didn’t spend so much time with her to completely learn her history and habits, but Falconpaw could tell she was a strong cat, as a deputy was expected to be. It was hard to move on like she would have wanted, but Falconpaw knew he had to at least try. It wasn’t in his nature to wallow in self pity. [break][break] “Lead the way,” Ashflight offered, and Falconpaw turned to do so. It was strange to stand next to Ashflight and almost come up to her height, as he padded forward and lead the pair he remembered straining his neck to look up to her and his mother, Lotuswhisker, when he was younger. They both seemed colossal at the time but as the moons flew by Falconpaw found himself growing taller without even realizing. He wasn’t completely grown into his ears yet, that’s for sure. As a youth he was significantly sillier looking, large ears and long legs, he sort of looked more like a red mouse than a kitten.[break][break] Falconpaw was about to open his mouth and thank Ashflight for resuming his training, even though it was only a few days before his training was complete he appreciated her taking the time to help him. Instead, Ashflight asked about his upcoming ceremony. [break][break] “Oh, um,” he started, visibly walking slower as he pondered, “I actually haven’t thought about it that much. I suppose everyone wants a strong sounding name, right?” He turned to smile at her briefly before turning back toward the border markers. Rushwisker and Lionstride could be seen faintly in the distance, their coat colors blurry in the gray light of the leafbare afternoon. “I don’t know what strengths Silverstar thinks I have, but I trust him to make a good decision.” [break][break] Falconpaw had slowed himself long enough to let Ashflight come to his side and resume walking together, rather than him lead the way. “Was that something you thought about as an apprentice?”

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Following along at the younger cat's side as she let him lead the way, Ashflight was somewhat surprised when he didn't list off a few hopeful names. It seemed most apprentices had at least some idea what they might like their name to be, something they called themselves as kits when they were pretending to be warriors, perhaps. Maybe he just wanted to stay open to whatever Silverstar chose for him.

Her ears twitched back briefly when he turned the question on her and a soft, cold laugh escaped her before she could stop it. She shook her head, “No. Once maybe. It's hard to remember....” Hard to remember a time before she had to struggle to survive, a time when she could play silly kit games and sit around with Rushwhisker wondering just what their warrior names might be. She didn't particularly want to dump her entire life story on Falconpaw, but she supposed she could at least mention how she didn't exactly have a... normal apprenticeship.

“Shortly after my apprentice ceremony, my deaf brother wandered off into the mountains and I... I went looking for him. I found him but... we got lost,” her voice softened slightly, “He didn't make it, an... an eagle caught him. I had to figure out how to survive on my own. Names weren't exactly important to me after that.”

She cleared her throat, not wanting to dwell on any other depressing matters when they were already trying to move on from the tragedy of the fox attack, “I know I did once, but I can't recall any of the names I might have hoped for. I think I remember calling Rushwhisker Rushtail during some sort of game though.” Her whiskers quivered with mild amusement at the vague memory.

neversky its all good, idrk wth I'm doing in this thread either LOL guess they can just have a nice chat while they stroll around the borders xD

[neversky]

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falconpaw @zen reply or not, up to you! ♥

[attr="class","hwayoungdia"] Falconpaw couldn’t help but look over at Ashflight in surprise, learning how her brother had been taken right in front of her when she was so young. Compared to the loss Falconpaw and all of Rainclan were going through, the tom couldn’t even imagine the pain of losing a sibling. He had only lost a mentor and his heart was sinking. [break][break] Part of him still felt embarrassed he had reacted in such a way, he didn’t mean to put her on the spot to share such sensitive memories, but Ashflight didn’t seem to be held back. As his paws continued to rise and fall along the crunchy frosted grass he took note of Ashflight’s willingness to share what may have been the hardest moment she’d ever experienced, and then continued speaking as if it were only a footnote, a ripple in the river of her life. Falconpaw looked down, his heart ached. Guilt seemed to squeeze at his stomach, he had acted so pathetically when meeting up with Ashflight for the patrol and had been wallowing in pity. To be more like Ashflight, he agreed, would be smarter to honor Moonshine’s memory. Remember her, but let the impressions she left behind shape who he wants to be in the future, as a warrior. [break][break] The silhouettes of his clanmates were close but still up ahead, as the silence flowed around the pair Falconpaw found a genuine smile somewhere within him.[break][break] “I’m sorry we didn’t have more time to train together, I feel like I could learn a lot more from you if we only had the time.” Falconpaw’s yellow eyes glanced to Ashflight and back ahead of them to the warriors awaiting them in the distance.

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