[KARAZHAL]

Except for his wet nose, Moosejaw could not feel the cold of the early morning hours. His fur was fluffed up, and all in front of him were comrades all gathered around for Silverstar's announcements. He took his usual position in the back, since he was so big and typically blocked the view of anyone behind him. However, he could hear Silverstar fine back here and didn't mind the added background music of the gurgling stream. The shallow water surrounded the camp, glittering like snowflakes in the clear sky's sunshine.

The announcement named some new apprentices to the Clan. They chanted the names of the young cats with pride. Come leaf-fall or next leaf-bare, those apprentices would be new warriors of RainClan and join the ranks of the others to hunt and protect their families. Moosejaw grinned as his name was called and his abilities stated. Thrusting out his chest, he strolled around the perimeter until the crowd opened up and he could see the kits getting their names up in front. They were both tabbies sitting ahead of their beautiful mum Willowbreeze. No longer small enough to hide in his undercoat. No longer little mice crawling over the queen's dens. Moosejaw sighed and gave a small proud smile at the two kits-no-more. Silverstar named the pretty one to be his. Her name was to be Stormpaw.

Per tradition, the mentor and apprentice were to touch noses and greet each other. Moosejaw had not mentored in over a year at least, so he was excited to get started and teach this youngblood how things ran in RainClan. "Welcome to apprenticeship, Stormpaw. You have quite the namesake to live up to. Silverstar's predecessor was named Stormstar. With time, you may earn that title for yourself. As you heard, I am Moosejaw." The huge tom leaned his head down to politely touch his nose to her.

Ghost the Undead Goddess intros for stormoose and then we can get started on all the training threads needed <3

[Ghost the Undead Goddess]

☁

Stormpaw
I'm headed straight for the castle
They wanna make me their queen

☁ — It was about time.

The feisty feline had given herself a thorough grooming that morning just outside the entrance of the nursery. The newleaf winds were warm as they blundered through the open camp of Rainclan, brushing against her silver striped pelt. Of course, it didn't take too long for her blue pointed mother to find the young molly free from the suffocating smallness of the milk-scented den. The brilliant look of love and pride was written across Willowbreeze's face before she moved to run her rough tongue over her daughter's already pristine pelt.

The kitten let her without much of a fight, through a small grumble rumbled within her chest at the action. She had never truly been one for overly affectionate cats aside from Willowbreeze and her less temperamental brother, Troutkit. An ear twitched with mild annoyance as those stormy blue eyes flickered with an even emotion... For now.

Ever unpredictable like her namesake, Stormkit could easily snap back and forth between moods and tempers. Authoritative figures generally made it worse, from a young age she had never been one for the rules. They were but a set of guidelines that could be as choking as being forced to stay within the woven walls of the Nursery. Stormkit needed freedom, she needed the comforting of being alone, by herself and with her own thoughts from time to time.

The young molly was tired of constantly being watched by warriors, Willowbreeze and Silverstar. But, it was finally time for her to be able to stretch her legs, to let her paws take her from border to border within the low lying lands of Rainclan's territory. She and her brother were officially six moons old, the changing of Newleaf bringing along other things aside from warmth and renewed prey. It promised adventure and mischievous excitement.

The ceremony was quick, Silverstar speaking as if he had done this for a thousand moons despite his youth. Or so Stormkit had been told, she could honestly care less about the silver coated leader. Her plume tail actually twitching with growing annoyance, remembering her first adventure away from the nursery with her brother. It had ended in a failed attempted because of Rainclan's noble leader had swooped in to prevent the two siblings from tottering out into the wilderness beyond camp.

With a new age and a new name, now he couldn't stop her from wandering anywhere she wanted.

A brilliant light of pride rippled within those stormy pools as she sat a little straighter, lifting her head in a rather superior motion as she accepted the change of Stormkit to Stormpaw. The long coated siren shifting her gaze to view the tom named as her mentor, curious as to how this warrior would be able to handle her as he moved forwards in a style similar to a bumbling badger. Or so she assumed, as she had never had the fortune of meeting such a creature.

The shift in her temper was quick, like lightning striking through the sky as her stormy hues shifted into a more ferocious shimmer. Supposedly, Stormpaw was suppose to touch noses with this large feline named Moosejaw, which seemed about as appropriate as her badger thoughts earlier, yet upon his words she shifted away from his large head. A low growl rose within her throat as she stared down the older tomcat with a noted defiance.

"I could care less about some dead cat." Stormpaw said tersely, plume tail lashing behind her once as she responded. Willowbreeze hadn't named her after Silverstar's predecessor, and she hadn't been named after Silverstar's sister Stormfeather and she wasn't about to let this oaf compare her to any other stupid cat. She had been given her name due to the powerful and massive storm that rocked her clan upon her birth, and that was something she took pride in. There was no respect in the way she addressed a former leader, nor was there any as she eyed Moosejaw with the same intensity as her namesake.

Stormpaw was a handful, she had been so since her birth and one of the only cats who had the ability to seemingly take the rebellious soul was her mother. Yet, the diluted tabby was no longer stuck beneath her mother's silky fur, or her gentle gaze that caused the new apprentice to ease her temper.

So far, she was hardly impressed with the lumbering form of Moosejaw, though it was doubtful that any warrior given as her mentor would shock and awe her. She was not some impressionable she-cat who was captivated by a smile and a twirl of a tail of some feline that had a warrior name. Even Waspstrike, a formerly unruly apprentice, had even managed to cross her sharp tongue and foul temper. Unfortunately for Moosejaw, he would be no exception within their time training together.

"Standing here talking doesn't catch fish, are we going to do something or should I go explore the territory on my own." Stormpaw asked in her normal grumble, stormy blue eyes still flickering with irritation like lightning in those hazy depths. Her paws, filled with extra toes, were dying to flee the insufferable crowded camp of Rainclan, that territory beyond the sheltered walls had called her name since she had first clambered from the warmth of her mossy nest.

906 Words || KARAZHAL Ginger Justice Hellion (Waspstrike, Silverstar, Willowbreeze, Troutpaw mentions)

[KARAZHAL]

Moosejaw had a fondness for kittens. He'd been around for almost all of RainClan's apprentices except, of course, for the lonerborn one, Silentpaw. First there was poor Littlekit, born all alone. Her predicament had really started it all. It broke him to know that her mom had gone to StarClan and left Whitestorm and Littlekit by herself. He'd donated all his spare fur to the nursery. Then Russethawk and Ashflight's children, he let Rosekit and her brothers lay in his pelt whenever they wanted. Then, that awful situation with poor Hartkit; he mourned alongside that poor orphan and felt great pity for him. Stormkit and Troutkit were no exceptions. He, too, was familiar with them, and had probably told a story to them when they weren't even weaned off their mother yet. For the most part, kits were cute and harmless, and thus protected by the Warrior Code. Never would he hurt a kit.

But his new apprentice was a kit no longer, and he had hurt an apprentice before, both in battle and in training. RainClan's relative litter shortage was not the only reason why he'd gone moons without being a mentor. He could already see that the next half year would be a long one, from the thundercrack note of defiance in her tone to the lightning-clap gleam in her eyes as their gazes met. Moosejaw's brows raised as he tilted his head to the side. His puffy tail whipped in annoyance and fluffed out, smoothing itself out by rubbing quickly back and forth on the wet ground. He glanced up over Stormpaw's head to Willowbreeze and wondered where this queen lapsed in reining in her daughter's disrespect. He could appreciate a hot, spirited she-cat, but he felt blatant disrespect had no place in a true warrior's heart. Some dead cat? His StarClan ancestors had to be yowling

"Is that so, big tough girl?" he rumbled in that deep baritone voice. He wasn't surprised by Stormpaw's rudeness--he'd overheard her barbs before--but he thought an apprentice would have more respect for the Clan she was going to be training for a future in. "We're starting with the basics. Every apprentice is required to earn their keep. You do all your chores and training, you keep all your privileges. Only an apprentice I trust goes out into the territory alone, do you understand?" He tilted his head downward to appear serious. Undoubtedly Stormpaw would test him on this "You may think you're exploring on your own, but out there"--his cocked chin indicated over the stream surrounding camp, and a crow cawed loudly in the distance--"you are never alone." He was entirely prepared for her to sneak out of camp and knew he had to keep an eye on this wily she-beast. His eyes flicked to her web-clawed paws; they looked like they were plotting something all on their own. She would really put his land-hunting skills to the test, he could tell. Moosejaw took a deep breath while they were still close together to get her scent memorized.

With the apprentices named to their mentors, the clan began chanting their new names and it drowned out the chance for further conversation for several moments. Moosejaw glanced over at Troutpaw and Waspstrike paired up before returning to Stormpaw. "I will show you places nearby where we get new bedding and where the best places are for drop-off. We are going to celebrate your graduation from kit to apprentice by tidying up the camp's den spaces. If you're the sentimental sort, I'll help you bring your mum's bedding to the one you will make for yourself in the apprentice's den." He tried to extend a paw of friendship to the impatient she-cat but he also wanted to impress in this first lesson how important it was for every clanmate to do their part to help the clan.

Ghost the Undead Goddess

[Ghost the Undead Goddess]

☁

Stormpaw
I'm headed straight for the castle
They wanna make me their queen

☁ — There was a snarl that was practically waiting to leap from the young she-cat's throat as she stared down her larger mentor with ferocious blue pools. There was a rising fury within her silver chest as she stood her ground, that temper of hers obviously sparking as Moosejaw pressed her nerves, though she had no cares that she probably pressed his own nerves with her disrespect and sharp tongue.

But Stormpaw loathed being told she couldn't do something.

"Don't coddle me. I don't need my mother's nesting." Her raspy voice snapped coldly as it rumbled from her throat, save that kittish stuff for her more sensitive brother, Troutpaw. There was no doubt that the older warrior would have trouble dealing with the silver tabby she-cat and her volatile nature but that was something she hardly cared about. She was ready to stretch her limbs, let her chunky paws race through the reeded territory of Rainclan or even the rushing waters of the streams and rivers hidden within the area. The fact that she had to wait until she was six moons old to explore and be on her own was annoying within itself.

There was hardly any doubt that Stormpaw would make the next few moons a living hell for Moosejaw, but she hardly cared how her actions would affect him. Let alone any of the other cats that she called clanmates... though she used that word loosely as disrespectful as it was.

Lashing her plume tail behind her, the silky silver she-cat pushed past her newly appointed mentor with little care as she headed forwards towards the known entrance of the camp. Had it been possible she probably would have a storm cloud low above her irritated form as the hackles along her shoulders were lifted ever so slightly. She was, without a doubt, aptly named after the ferocious storm that had wrecked Rainclan during the night of her birth.

Her temper, her essence, she would without a doubt be a force of nature within her own rights one day.

"Are you coming or not? I thought I had to find this special, precious nesting moss." Stormpaw growled without care who heard her as she shifted to glance over a shoulder, lighting practically crackling within those stormy pools upon her pretty face though the scowl didn't aid to that alluring feature of the tabby youngster. It wasn't like she was allowed to venture on her own, or so Moosejaw had happily told her when they had been nose to nose moments prior.

WORDs: 439 / tags: KARAZHAL xD

[KARAZHAL]

Moosejaw's muzzle tweaked into a small smile as the big tom loomed over his apprentice. "No coddling? Fine. Only kits throw temper tantrums when they don't get what they want," he remarked pointedly as Stormpaw shoved past him. His fur gave way to her but his stolid frame did not. He was one of the largest cats in RainClan; Silverstar probably expected him to use his bulk to sit on Stormpaw if she didn't want to comply. Heaving a sigh, Moosejaw turned around after her, wondering how much patience she would snipe out of him by the time this apprenticeship was done. Nonetheless, he hoped that he could whip her into shape and channel her energy into productivity.

"Watch how you speak, Stormpaw. I am a warrior, not a kit that you can push around without consequences," Moosejaw grunted. He was already following her, and didn't need the little snit thinking she could demand her way through this apprenticeship. "If you show respect, you are more likely to receive respect."

He picked up his pace, his heavy pawsteps tamping down the reeds on their way out of camp. The camp guard glanced at them as they crossed the stream, and she gave Moosejaw a somewhat pitying expression that he did not see.

"Congratulations on taking your first steps out of camp," he said cheerfully to the sullen plume-tailed goblin beside him. Although it did not seem that his apprentice would care, Moosejaw was determined to press onward with his lessons, feeling they were crucial to Stormpaw becoming a well-rounded warrior within RainClan. He didn't want to stop being a mentor just because his apprentice was unruly. In fact, it only impressed on him more that his mentoring was crucial to her growth. "We'll go upstream. Moss can be found all over here as you can see, so you don't have to go far to do your chores. I see you've got extra claws--excellent for fishing and mossing too, as a matter of fact. You'll start from the driest side here." Moosejaw found a boulder with its entire side covered in moss. "This looks like it would make a good bed. Go ahead and get on that side, and I'll be over here." He stood on his hindlegs and unsheathed his claws, demonstrating what to do to the young she-cat.

"I start slow and pull it down so that I get it in as few pieces as possible, that way you're not taking a million trips and your moss shreds don't float away downstream. Give it a shot." Once again, he attempted to be friendly, hoping to help Stormpaw with her chores so they could get to training and other fun things.

Ghost the Undead Goddess