[Katara]

BRIARPAW

SHE QUIETLY EXPECTED GREAT THINGS TO HAPPEN TO HER, AND NO DOUBT THAT'S ONE OF THE REASONS WHY THEY DID.

Y ou know what, I think you've got it wrong," Briarpaw announced, making a show of opening her mouth to taste the air, and sniffing vigorously. "That's not snow I smell, that's definitely... new shoots, flowers blooming. Someone's made a terrible mistake, we should be unstuffing the warriors' den with heather." Her tone reached a keening complaint toward the end, which felt very unprofessional on her part, so she switched tactics. "Well, let's not say you weren't warned," she finished with a flick of her tail, turning around and trotting across the hollow with her tail held high.  "You still have to gather some heather - you know that, right?" her father, Addertail, called after her.  "Heather who?" Briarpaw scampered away before she could catch a reply (or a cuff around her ears by any warrior around who found her to be less-than-charming this morning), and only slowed to a normal pace once she was out of the hollow, following a couple other apprentices to the outskirts of camp. The entire den of apprentices (at least, the ones that weren't on patrols at the moment) were being assigned to gather some tufts of heather and other soft materials they could gather to prepare for the 'impending snowstorm' tonight. She narrowed her blue eyes at the sky accusingly. "You'll quit this nonsense right this second," she whispered. "I'm supposed to have battle training tomorrow at sunrise, and if I have to freeze my paws off, I'm going to--" She struggled to come up with an adequate threat to throw at forces of nature itself.  "Live." Her father's voice sounded behind her. Obviously, he didn't trust her to not wander off by herself after being given a direct order. "You'll live with it somehow. If I don't see you with the others back at camp with heather in your jaws, I'm going to hunt you down myself." Well. Threats did, historically, work miracles with her. Briarpaw merely twitched her ears in acknowledgement, scoffing as soon as Addertail was out of earshot, and karma immediately rewarded her with burrs beneath her paws. Letting out a growl of annoyance, she shook her paws free of them, then tilted her head as an idea struck. Not even bothering to glance around, she bent down to quickly pluck the stems of them into her mouth, careful to avoid the burrs getting on her muzzle. Briarpaw twitched her whiskers with her own secret amusement; she hoped Addertail liked burrs woven into his nest by his loving daughter.

tagged Phoenix

418 words

[Phoenix]

THUNDERPAW

apprentice of lightningclan

The whole endeavor was a waste of time, if you asked him, though they never did. Why were they having apprentices patch up dens in preparation for a snow storm rather than sending all able-bodied cats out to catch what they could before the nasty weather chased everything deep underground? Warm dens meant little to cats who were starving. And besides, they didn’t need to use all the apprentices for this task; he would have had only the youngest and newest cats working on such menial chores and allowed the more experienced apprentices, such as himself, to hunt as they please. But again, no one asked him.

A loud voice snapped him out of his thoughts, and he looked down abruptly at the dried grass he had spent the past many moments idly stuffing in the corner of the den next to someone’s nest. After so much mindless patting, the tuft – and its neighboring nest – now looked too beaten down to be able to provide any real insulation or comfort against the cold. Oops. He flicked an ear as he stepped back, turning away from the mess with a careless flick of his tail. Whatever. It was their own fault; they should have had him hunting anyway.

The striped tom casually sidled over to the entrance of the den, peering out into camp where the rest of the apprentices, including the pretty she-cat whose announcement had caught his attention, had begun to gather for another trip to collect more bedding and heather. A vague plan began to form as he stepped back into the shadow of the den. If he remained unnoticed long enough for the group to leave, he could reappear and have the perfect excuse to be wandering out of camp on his own – “I didn’t realize they were leaving, Mudpelt; let me catch up to them now!” – and if he returned to the camp when the sun started dipping below the horizon instead of with the rest of the group, well, that was most unfortunate and he was so very sorry. What could they do to him anyway? Keep him in the apprentice’s den even longer? At this rate he would be old and gray by the time he earned his warrior name anyway, so what did that matter?

(It mattered quite a bit, but he would never admit just how much it did.)

Briarpaw’s obvious reluctance drew the attention of Addertail, and from within the warriors den, yellow eyes watched the short exchange between father and daughter with lazy interest. Satisfied that his message had been received, the warrior took his leave, and Thunderpaw was about to turn away until he noticed the other apprentice surreptitiously picking up something from the ground before quickly walking after the group of apprentices who had already left. An ear flicked curiously. What was she up to? Focused as he was on the she-cat, he didn’t see her father’s approach until it was too late. Reflexively, he ducked back into the den to look busy, only to hear:

“Thunderpaw.”

Foxdung. He poked his head out of the den with an innocent expression that fooled only the most gullible of cats – everyone, unfortunately, knew his penchant for trouble. "Oh hi Addertail. Were you coming to check on the den? I was just finishing patching it up, and I think it’s looking very insulated and warm myself,” He grinned. "In fact, I really don’t think--"

“That’s the first true statement that’s come out of your mouth all day.”

Wide betrayed eyes. His tail placed theatrically over his chest. "You wound me."

Addertail, his patience already tested by his daughter, seemed to have even less for the apprentice with a reputation for mischief. He gestured with his tail. “You know where you’re supposed to be—“

"Oh you’re right – what a perfect time for a nap."

"---The others have left already. Get going—"

"Certainly. Can’t miss my beauty sleep."

“—And it's not your nest. Do I really need to go find Cloudyfeather to make you listen?”

Thunderpaw rolled his eyes, his practiced nonchalant expression meeting a stern, unamused gaze. "Careful,” He said as he strolled by the older cat. "Your face might get stuck like that, and then everyone will know how boring you are." Dancing away from a paw swipe, the young tom made his escape into LightningClan territory.

Though he wasn’t particularly trying to find any of the others, it did not take him long to stumble upon Briarpaw, who had gathered a small collection of soft things and – he noticed with a grin – not so soft things. "Hey Briarpaw," Thunderpaw greeted her lightly, tail waving. His gaze shifted meaningfully to the burrs. "There’s a better place to find more of these. Funnily enough, I was just about to head there myself."

background image | Katara

[Katara]

BRIARPAW

SHE QUIETLY EXPECTED GREAT THINGS TO HAPPEN TO HER, AND NO DOUBT THAT'S ONE OF THE REASONS WHY THEY DID.

B eneath the brambles she'd just collected, Briarpaw was sure to stack some actual soft things on top of it, to give the impression she was actually doing as she was told. It was difficult to keep it in place as her collection grew though, and she had to drop her stack and rearrange several times just to make sure the sticky brambles didn't get caught on her muzzle. Along with them, she'd also found a couple thorn stalks, and some of the uncomfortable stalks she'd found in her nest last moon herself. Now, she used her claws to carefully arrange the pile again, and heard approaching pawsteps too late. She had just swung herself to attempt to cover her pile of prickly things from sight when another apprentice trotted up to her, and she recognized Thunderpaw with an exhale of relief. "Thank StarClan it's just you," she sighed, letting out a noisy sigh once she'd checked to make sure her father wasn't lurking nearby. "Have you seen Addertail today? He looks like someone's stuck thorns in his tail - kind of prophetic, if you ask me," she grinned conspiratorially at him. His gaze slid to the small collection of bothersome objects she'd accrued, and she flicked her tail in delight as his next words were exactly what she wanted to hear. She swore Thunderpaw was one of the few cats in camp who seemed to understand her mischievous spirit, and even encourage it, just like now. As a kit, she'd heard him get into trouble, and he'd immediately become one of the inspirations for her antics - much to her mother's dismay. "What a wonderful coincidence," she purred, brushing her paw over her pile to sweep away the useless bits of fluff she'd been using for disguise. She needn't bother with hiding anything from Thunderpaw, and once they separated from the group, there'd be no one else around to peer at their work. "I don't see the point of insulating the warriors' den," she grumbled as she plucked up the pile of thorny things. "They're f'all f'omfortable enough," her voice was muffled around the stack, but nothing could keep Briarpaw from continuing to chatter if she wanted to. Spoiled senior warriors, if you ask me!

tagged Phoenix

373 words