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Post by Paw Prince ♛ on Aug 27, 2016 11:00:18 GMT -5
A small wave of despair washed over Hootpaw after the initial frustration had worn away. He was unused to hunting in the forest, and it showed- a ThunderClan cat would have been able to catch that blackbird without scaring it off. Part of him wished they'd stayed in the moorlands, so he'd actually feel useful. Rabbits were easy for him, but birds, things with wings? Not so much. Everyday it set in more and more that WindClan was gone, and the survivors were left with... Well, whatever this was. A shell of what a Clan should be. Whatever they had constructed, it failed to live up to the Clans of old, but part of it had to do with its youth. Hootpaw tried to remain confident that they would recover over time, but it was frustrating at the same time. What will BadgerClan do if half its members don't know how to hunt in these parts? Hootpaw thought, unsheathing his claws into the dirt. Leaf-bare is on its way, will we all starve once the cold hits, if the disease doesn't get us first? No! I can't think like that. A voice resonated to his left, cutting off his train of thought. He whirled around and bristled, despite the softness of the voice. It was an ex-ThunderClan queen who had spoken, and Hootpaw opened his mouth to yowl at her to get off of his territory. Oh wait, this IS her territory... And mine too. Our's... he thought inwardly, forcing his fur to lie flat, though he silently wondered if these trees would ever feel like home, or if he'd be a stranger amongst other strangers forever. The little grey tom studied her for a moment before replying, eyes analyzing her pelt and face. She seemed like she meant well; she didn't mock his lack of skill, at least. But other than what he learned at Gatherings, Hootpaw didn't know much about the molly. "You're darn right; these leaves and sticks aren't helping me any! WindClan never had these old things laying around, even in leaf-fall!""But that doesn't mean I don't know how to hunt!" Hootpaw quickly added, not wanting to seem weak in the eyes of an older warrior. He wanted to seem strong, no, BE strong, for BadgerClan. Even if it meant hunting in a biome he'd never really set foot in until the plague hit. "I'm just ah, still getting aqquainted with the forest. I'm not used to having to go vertical for prey."(Gosh, everything I've written sounds blech. I've decided to make Hootpaw socially awkward. When he's not boasting or being arrogant, he doesn't really know what to do, aha.) (Oh man, I love Hootpaw's reactions & personality so far.  ) Hootpaw had whirled around at the sound of her call, and Poppyfrost had to force herself not to stiffen instinctively at the action. It was her fault for surprising him, after all; to keep this from happening, she should've approached him from the front, or at least snapped a twig to alert him of her presence. . . . Actually, on further thought, that might have only scared him even more – what if she'd been a badger or a fox? It seemed that catching the apprentice off-guard had been an inevitable outcome. This conclusion didn't stop Poppyfrost from shuffling her paws sheepishly, though. She really shouldn't have expected Hootpaw to react to her sudden appearance with utter calm, given that all of BadgerClan was still jumpy from the recent epidemic. A shadow of grief passed over her mind at the thought of all the devastation the sickness had wrought, but she pushed the feeling away, a practice that was becoming more and more habitual to her. At least they'd mostly moved past the stage of automatically seeing the others as intruders and trying to chase each other off their territory. There was still some tension present among the cats of BadgerClan, but slowly but surely, it was fading – at least, she liked to think so. "But that doesn't mean I don't know how to hunt!"Her eyes widened at Hootpaw's defensive tone. "I wasn't implying that you didn't," she assured him quickly, fearing her earlier comment had been misconstrued as a slight against his hunting abilities. Good one, Poppyfrost, she told herself. You try to commiserate with someone, but you end up insulting him instead. Maybe that's why she'd never been assigned as a mentor until Lilypaw came along: Firestar had been afraid she'd tease her apprentice to death. Lilypaw... Again, she pushed the niggling thought aside and focused on the conversation she was currently having. "Hey, I get it. I think my legs would probably fall off if I had to chase after rabbits all day." Whoops. Was that a stereotype? She hoped the apprentice wouldn't be too offended by her total ignorance concerning all things WindClan-related outside of what little she'd managed to garner from word-of-mouth and the occasional glimpse across the border back when they'd lived by the lake.
"I'm still not totally used to the forest, either," she continued. She wasn't kidding, either. Sure, she might have had the advantage of living in a forest prior to this, but those memories could still prove a hindrance to her, misleading her with a faulty mental map. "I keep thinking the camp should be in the opposite direction, and I've bumped into trees I could've sworn weren't there earlier."
In the past, Poppyfrost might've hesitated before disclosing such embarrassing information to another cat – especially an apprentice from one of the other Clans. What if he saw it as a weakness to exploit, or what if he told someone else? But she and Hootpaw were Clanmates now, and besides, there were none of her close friends left to tease her about it - no Jayfeather, no Berrynose, no one. So what was the harm in being self-deprecating every now and then? (Sorry for the delay! I'm trying to make Poppyfrost distinguishable from Generic Warriors She-Cat #3, but her personality's still a major WIP. uwu) |
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Post by Frozen on Aug 27, 2016 11:36:54 GMT -5
Petalfur rasied head her at the sound of Amberpaw's voice, she yawned and shook herself to wake herself up, as she spent most of her time in the nursery resting and waiting for her kits,"Yes, dear?" She asked softly, with a small head tilt,"What do you need?" It wasn't often Amberpaw came to the nursery, she seemed a bit nervous every time she stopped by, but Petalfur supposed that was normal for a young apprentice who wanted nothing more than to serve her clan with hunting and fighting than having kits. Petalfur shifted her weight a bit, and glanced down at her swollen belly, how much long was she going stay like this? If she got any bigger she'd be a badger! For you Amberpaw stepped forward, blinking at Petalfur's size. Her kits must be due any day now. "I brought this for you," she said warily, dropping her still warm cats in front of the queen. "Freshly caught and still warm." Her whiskers twitched, feeling a bit prideful of her catch going to a very valuable member of the Clan. "I was told that you needed to eat, so here I am." The apprentice took a step back, unsure of if she needed to keep Petalfur company while she ate. She herself was quite hungry, and didn't really want to be in the nursery for long. Amberpaw flicked her tail. "When do you think the kits will be due?" she asked, attempting to start a conversation.
Leaftail stumbled out of the warrior's den. He had been in a dream, an awful dream. A nightmare, one may say. The large tom could remember it quite vividly - he was back at WindClan camp, reliving the moment when the Dark Forest attacked. The flashing pelts of his Clanmates launching into battle. His feeling of dread that would stick with him his entire life when he saw cats he once thought were his friends tearing the throats out of capable warriors. The ringing of blood rushing through his ears as he faced Onestar afterwards. He shuddered. It's okay, Leaftail, he tried to assure himself, the Dark Forest is gone. They all faded away... Ugh, it wasn't working! Leaftail unsheathed his claws, shutting his eyes tight. He didn't realize he was shaking as he stood right outside of the Warrior's den. |
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Post by Dᴀɴɴʏ Pʜᴀɴᴛᴏᴍ on Aug 27, 2016 20:33:05 GMT -5
(Sorry I wasn't on; I was at our state's fair all day. Too tired for twelve line posts right now; I'll be back tomorrow or so)
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Post by Thrushmoon on Aug 28, 2016 14:49:26 GMT -5
Amberpaw stepped forward, blinking at Petalfur's size. Her kits must be due any day now. "I brought this for you," she said warily, dropping her still warm cats in front of the queen. "Freshly caught and still warm." Her whiskers twitched, feeling a bit prideful of her catch going to a very valuable member of the Clan. "I was told that you needed to eat, so here I am." The apprentice took a step back, unsure of if she needed to keep Petalfur company while she ate. She herself was quite hungry, and didn't really want to be in the nursery for long. Amberpaw flicked her tail. "When do you think the kits will be due?" she asked, attempting to start a conversation.
Leaftail stumbled out of the warrior's den. He had been in a dream, an awful dream. A nightmare, one may say. The large tom could remember it quite vividly - he was back at WindClan camp, reliving the moment when the Dark Forest attacked. The flashing pelts of his Clanmates launching into battle. His feeling of dread that would stick with him his entire life when he saw cats he once thought were his friends tearing the throats out of capable warriors. The ringing of blood rushing through his ears as he faced Onestar afterwards. He shuddered. It's okay, Leaftail, he tried to assure himself, the Dark Forest is gone. They all faded away... Ugh, it wasn't working! Leaftail unsheathed his claws, shutting his eyes tight. He didn't realize he was shaking as he stood right outside of the Warrior's den. Petalfur nodded and shifted herself to get more comfortable while eating the prey that Amberpaw had caught for her,"Thank you, Amberpaw." She said, swiping her tongue over he jaws while she paused in between bites. It was no fish, but right now, with her kits do date coming so close, and after what had happened to their homes, well she wasn't going to be picky about it. She 'hummed' in thought at Amberpaw's question,"It shouldn't be much longer, I don't think." She said,"I can't wait to finally meet them, also I don't think I can get any bigger without bursting." She said with a minor chuckle. "So, soon."
Pinenose was picking through the fresh-kill pile to try and find something to eat when Leaftail stumbled out of the warriors den, looking like he'd just got away from a close call with a two-leg monster. 'Well, after everything's that happened, that isn't all that far off.' She mused. Looking down at the pile, she flung a mouse towards the battered looking tom with an expert claw flick,"You'll feel better once you eat something." She said to him before turning her gaze back to the pile before grabbing a thrush. She settled down to eat it by herself, ripping some of the feathers away so she could eat it without choking on them. |
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Post by Dᴀɴɴʏ Pʜᴀɴᴛᴏᴍ on Aug 28, 2016 16:21:55 GMT -5
@battlingfear Scorchfur stayed perfectly still as Willowshine applied the dock and cobwebs to his paw. His mind screamed for him to move, but he simply sat still, only making the occasional squeak or whimper. Willowshine was right; the dock did sting. The feeling brought back fuzzy memories of his younger years. He distinctly remembered being a kit and having the same thing happen to him, only for Littlecloud to treat it the same way. He felt a pang of sadness as he recalled the now-deceased medicine cat, and resisted the urge to let out a mournful wail. Instead, he remained quiet until Willowshine had finished. "Thanks, Willowshine," he murmured. "No, there's nothing else." Without waiting for her to say anything more, he squeezed out of her den. Rather than returning to work on the wall, however, he went to the warriors den. Willowshine had told him not to strain, and to him that meant he had to rest and not move around... at all. ThrushmoonSpiderleg stopped what he was doing with the wall when he saw Leaftail. For a moment, he felt concerned, only to realize that it was likely nothing. After all, the warrior had clearly been napping, as his disheveled appearance proved. He'd likely just had a nightmare, which wasn't surprising. After everything they'd all been through, nightmares were much more likely. He'd calm down in a few minutes. He twitched his whiskers as he saw Pinenose toss a piece of prey to the ex-WindClanner. He couldn't help but let out a chuckle; after all, the she-cat always did act so prickly, especially around him. To see her help a former enemy amused him, since she always acted so tough and hostile. Shaking his head, he returned to working on the wall. The nights and days were quickly getting cold, and as such the walls had to be finished as quickly as possible. Spiderleg hoped they could at least get the majority of the third wall done by sundown. |
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Post by Dᴀɴɴʏ Pʜᴀɴᴛᴏᴍ on Aug 28, 2016 16:25:38 GMT -5
( Thrushmoon According to the wiki, Petalfur's mate is Mallownose, who of course is dead in this RP. She gave birth to Brackenkit, Jaykit, and Owlkit. Brackenkit is a girl and Jaykit and Owlkit boys. I think we should keep it the same in this RP) |
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Post by Frozen on Aug 28, 2016 16:48:04 GMT -5
"...That's good," Amberpaw meowed after a moment of silence. "The sooner BadgerClan gains more members, the better." She realized the implications of her words. "B-but that doesn't mean that we won't love them as themselves," she added hastily, ducking her head in embarrassment. Darn it, Amberpaw! Why are you so awkward? she scolded herself. "Well, whenever you feel like you're ready, let Willowshine know," she meowed quietly, out of words to say. She stepped backwards so only her head remained in the nursery. "I'll see you later!"
Amberpaw shoved herself out of the den. Phew. That was an embarrassment.
Leaftail let out a yelp as the mouse landed at his paws. "Away!" he growled, getting in a battle position. He opened his eyes, expecting to see a Dark Forest cat in front of him, only to see his Clanmates working quietly. Slowly, the tom went back to being passive, ears burning in shame at Spiderleg's chuckle. "I... I was having a nightmare, okay?!?" Leaftail defended himself, flattening his ears. However, he still pulled the prey towards him, flopping on the ground. I'm not a kit, he told himself bitterly, Nor am I the naive apprentice I once was. What a wonderful way to start this day. He begrudgingly took a bite of the mouse, a taste he wasn't too familiar with.
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Post by Deleted on Aug 28, 2016 17:35:58 GMT -5
(I close for the fifth night in a row (thanks, boss -_-) so I won't be able to type out an articulate reply until later tonight or tomorrow!
Also, I love your personification of Poppyfrost. Her personality really suffered in the books, so I love what you've done with her so far! <3)
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Post by Thrushmoon on Aug 28, 2016 21:32:56 GMT -5
( Thrushmoon According to the wiki, Petalfur's mate is Mallownose, who of course is dead in this RP. She gave birth to Brackenkit, Jaykit, and Owlkit. Brackenkit is a girl and Jaykit and Owlkit boys. I think we should keep it the same in this RP) (Okay, so three then. I hope you don't mind if I make minor name changes for them, because we already have an 'Owl' in the Rp.) |
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Post by Thrushmoon on Aug 29, 2016 1:57:23 GMT -5
"...That's good," Amberpaw meowed after a moment of silence. "The sooner BadgerClan gains more members, the better." She realized the implications of her words. "B-but that doesn't mean that we won't love them as themselves," she added hastily, ducking her head in embarrassment. Darn it, Amberpaw! Why are you so awkward? she scolded herself. "Well, whenever you feel like you're ready, let Willowshine know," she meowed quietly, out of words to say. She stepped backwards so only her head remained in the nursery. "I'll see you later!" Amberpaw shoved herself out of the den. Phew. That was an embarrassment.
Leaftail let out a yelp as the mouse landed at his paws. "Away!" he growled, getting in a battle position. He opened his eyes, expecting to see a Dark Forest cat in front of him, only to see his Clanmates working quietly. Slowly, the tom went back to being passive, ears burning in shame at Spiderleg's chuckle. "I... I was having a nightmare, okay?!?" Leaftail defended himself, flattening his ears. However, he still pulled the prey towards him, flopping on the ground. I'm not a kit, he told himself bitterly, Nor am I the naive apprentice I once was. What a wonderful way to start this day. He begrudgingly took a bite of the mouse, a taste he wasn't too familiar with. Petalfur watched as Amberpaw scrambled out of the Nursery, amused. Petalfur knew quite well how valuable her kits were if Badgerclan was going to prosper like its predecessors and that they had a tough life in front of them. However, that just made Petalfur more determined to make sure her kits survived the Leaf-Bare and became future warriors to their new clan, no matter what it took to make sure they got there, she'd do it. Anything for her new home and her kits.
Pinenose swiped her tongue over her jaws before sitting up to give her face a wash, ignoring Leaftail's small spat. She figured that, the way he'd jumped into battle position so quickly. They were all like that after surviving the Dark Forest Battle, jumping at clanmates and prey like they'd never seen them before. If they weren't having nightmares about the plague, it was about the Dark Forest. She spared a glance up at the sky, thick with clouds, and wondered if they were still all up there, or if they all died in the battle. She hoped so, the last thing Badgerclan needed was some evil dead cats sticking their nose where it didn't belong. Her ears twitched at Spiderleg's chuckle, 'Well, I'm glad someone can find it in them to laugh' she thought with a sniff. |
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Post by Dᴀɴɴʏ Pʜᴀɴᴛᴏᴍ on Aug 29, 2016 12:48:51 GMT -5
( Thrushmoon According to the wiki, Petalfur's mate is Mallownose, who of course is dead in this RP. She gave birth to Brackenkit, Jaykit, and Owlkit. Brackenkit is a girl and Jaykit and Owlkit boys. I think we should keep it the same in this RP) (Okay, so three then. I hope you don't mind if I make minor name changes for them, because we already have an 'Owl' in the Rp.) (Maybe she could name it Mallowkit in honor of her dead mate?) |
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Post by Thrushmoon on Aug 29, 2016 15:17:37 GMT -5
(Okay, so three then. I hope you don't mind if I make minor name changes for them, because we already have an 'Owl' in the Rp.) (Maybe she could name it Mallowkit in honor of her dead mate?) (That's what I was thinking. So, Brackenkit, Mallowkit and Jaykit.) |
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Post by Deleted on Aug 29, 2016 16:07:59 GMT -5
Hootpaw was not a cat to notice another's body language, so the signs that Poppyfrost meant no harm went unnoticed. Still, he settled, dropping his accusatory tone and forcing his fur to lay flat- coping an attitude with an older warrior, especially one originally from another Clan, would not do him any favours.
He thought back to when he was younger, when challenging a warrior from another clan would earn his mentors praise, his denmate's awe, and a smug sense of satisfaction. Now, there were no other clans to act arrogant towards, just former strangers.
At the thought of his former mentor, he felt his stomach twist. Nightcloud had... Familial issues, and that impacted how she treated Hootpaw, but he still adored the cross black molly. He really missed her and her teachings, and wondered how he and his new mentor, Leaftail, would get along. They hadn't really spoken, most cats keeping to themselves or occupying themselves with idle tasks since the plague dispersed.
He shook his head, realizing Poppyfrost was speaking and he was too busy in his thoughts to catch on. He managed to focus enough to catch the trail end of her sentence, and was immediately surprised by her words.
"I'm still not totally used to the forest, either, I keep thinking the camp should be in the opposite direction, and I've bumped into trees I could've sworn weren't there earlier."
Why is she opening up to me like this? he wondered, surprised that a former ThunderClan warrior would ever admit such things to an enemy apprentice. now that they were clanmates, Hootpaw couldn't see himself ever needing to use it against her- not that that was his way, anyway- but still, it was strange.
A slight warmth flooded him, and he became aware that he was happy she felt she could trust him enough with little details of how she was coping since the plague. It was hard to think that way, but Hootpaw realized that everyone was struggling, even if he couldn't see it right away. He dropped all sense of arrogance and tried to adapt a tone of comfort in his voice.
"I guess, I guess we're all like apprentices now- well, I AM an apprentice, but that's not my point," he began, fumbling for words like a kit, not used to opening up in such a way, "I remember when I first had my ceremony and Nightcloud showed me around the territory, it felt so huge! I felt I could never remember the different landmarks or where things were, but I eventually did! I began to knew where every rock and precipice was after a couple of moons."
He stopped to take a breath. Ears burning, he realized just how silly he must sound. He was unused to being sentimental.
"What I'm saying is, I guess we all just have to manage, and eventually we'll be alright," Hootpaw hurriedly finished, ended in a deadpan. He locked eyes with Poppyfrost, yellow eyes reflecting blue, then looked away hurriedly, embarrassed.
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Post by Deleted on Aug 29, 2016 16:14:41 GMT -5
(It took me like 4902738 times to get the colour in there. I kept reading the bbc code wrong, ahahah.
Also, sorry for the length- I tend to go on and on when I rp.)
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Post by Dᴀɴɴʏ Pʜᴀɴᴛᴏᴍ on Aug 29, 2016 17:21:44 GMT -5
"...That's good," Amberpaw meowed after a moment of silence. "The sooner BadgerClan gains more members, the better." She realized the implications of her words. "B-but that doesn't mean that we won't love them as themselves," she added hastily, ducking her head in embarrassment. Darn it, Amberpaw! Why are you so awkward? she scolded herself. "Well, whenever you feel like you're ready, let Willowshine know," she meowed quietly, out of words to say. She stepped backwards so only her head remained in the nursery. "I'll see you later!" Amberpaw shoved herself out of the den. Phew. That was an embarrassment.
Leaftail let out a yelp as the mouse landed at his paws. "Away!" he growled, getting in a battle position. He opened his eyes, expecting to see a Dark Forest cat in front of him, only to see his Clanmates working quietly. Slowly, the tom went back to being passive, ears burning in shame at Spiderleg's chuckle. "I... I was having a nightmare, okay?!?" Leaftail defended himself, flattening his ears. However, he still pulled the prey towards him, flopping on the ground. I'm not a kit, he told himself bitterly, Nor am I the naive apprentice I once was. What a wonderful way to start this day. He begrudgingly took a bite of the mouse, a taste he wasn't too familiar with. Petalfur watched as Amberpaw scrambled out of the Nursery, amused. Petalfur knew quite well how valuable her kits were if Badgerclan was going to prosper like its predecessors and that they had a tough life in front of them. However, that just made Petalfur more determined to make sure her kits survived the Leaf-Bare and became future warriors to their new clan, no matter what it took to make sure they got there, she'd do it. Anything for her new home and her kits.
Pinenose swiped her tongue over her jaws before sitting up to give her face a wash, ignoring Leaftail's small spat. She figured that, the way he'd jumped into battle position so quickly. They were all like that after surviving the Dark Forest Battle, jumping at clanmates and prey like they'd never seen them before. If they weren't having nightmares about the plague, it was about the Dark Forest. She spared a glance up at the sky, thick with clouds, and wondered if they were still all up there, or if they all died in the battle. She hoped so, the last thing Badgerclan needed was some evil dead cats sticking their nose where it didn't belong. Her ears twitched at Spiderleg's chuckle, 'Well, I'm glad someone can find it in them to laugh' she thought with a sniff. Spiderleg worked until his paws had grown numb from repeating the same monotonous exercise over and over. It wasn't until that point that he realized with a jolt that he had neglected to take Amberpaw out training at all that day. He felt a mixture of guilt and shame wash over him. What kind of a mentor was he? He was supposed to teach Amberpaw everything she needed to know to become a good warrior. How could she ever survive if he neglected to do that? He wanted to smack himself for making such an error. He, of all cats, should have known better than to do such a thing. Leaving Owlclaw to continue work on his own, Spiderleg padded around the camp. He halted near its center, looking around for the familiar pelt of his apprentice. What would Bramblestar have said? The tom had trusted Spiderleg with Amberpaw's care, and there he was not doing his job. Not only that, but he was letting Brightheart and Cloudtail down, too. He shuddered as he remembered Brightheart's dying words, as she pleaded with Bramblestar to make her children strong. That had been, of course, before the deaths of Dewpaw and Snowpaw. Spiderleg remembered sadly how devastated Bramblestar had been that he couldn't save the two young cats. Which was why it was all the more important for Amberpaw to thrive. She had to become strong, so that she could live up to meet the expectations her parents had set for her on their deathbeds. And in order for her to do that, she needed Spiderleg's help. He finally saw her coming out of the nursery. Figuring she had been tending to Petalfur, he padded over. "Listen, Amberpaw... I'm sorry about not taking you out today. I got busy, and it slipped my mind. I hope you'll understand." The apology stuck in his throat. |
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Post by Frozen on Aug 29, 2016 19:05:07 GMT -5
Amberpaw looked curiously at her mentor, who she didn't see when she had padded back into camp. "Hm?" She tilted her head. Remembering his absence from her hunting trip, she shrugged. "It's fine," she mewed, more comfortable speaking around him than Petalfur. "Kinkfur and I ran into eachother while hunting. We caught enough prey for the day." She hoped Spiderleg would approve of this instead of being angry with her. After all, she was helping the Clan! "I figured that you were busy, being the one taking care of everything and all." She wondered if her training was almost finished. Amberpaw found that Spiderleg was taking her out less and less. Maybe he'll end up being the leader!
She let the words sit for a moment, and she was unable to shove down a hopeful mew. "Will you take me out now?"
Leaftail twitched his ear as he grumpily finished his mouse. Even though Spiderleg and Pinenose had left him alone, his public spectacle made him grumpy. He was never one for embarrassing himself. He muttered to himself as he buried the bones of his prey, not looking up until he heard Amberpaw's voice. Oh no! Leaftail stopped with a bolt of realization. I slept in so long that Hootpaw's probably been up for a moon waiting! Disappointed with himself, he looked around for his apprentice. The lack of his pelt in camp made the WindClan warrior frown. Where is he?
Leaftail supposed he could get out for a while, maybe do something useful for once. Shaking out his pelt, he sauntered out of camp. "Hootpaw?" he called, his voice echoing among the trees.
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Post by Dᴀɴɴʏ Pʜᴀɴᴛᴏᴍ on Aug 29, 2016 19:50:46 GMT -5
FrozenSpiderleg felt a twinge of relief at Amberpaw's words. At least she didn't spend the whole day doing nothing. He'd have to thank Kinkfur later, seeing as she had watched over his apprentice for him and all. He was sure that he was going to get rebuked by her for his careless behavior, but that was all right. He knew he deserved it. He twitched his whiskers, milling over his apprentice's question. It was almost dark out; the last of the sunset patrols would be finishing soon. The fresh-kill pile was full, as Amberpaw had already pointed out, so there was no need for him to take her out hunting. Besides, she was already a very proficient hunter. Her skills were likely on par with the warriors; there was no more need to work on those. Warriors. A warrior. It was coming time for Amberpaw to become one soon. She had been training under him for a good while now, and although she still had things to learn, she was getting close. The realization dawned on him rather joltingly, and he found himself feeling both proud and sad. Soon, BadgerClan would have a brand new warrior to support it. However, at the same time, he would miss training an apprentice. He hoped that perhaps he'd be able to train one of Petalfur's kits, but he doubted it. There were cats who needed apprentices more than he, such as Pinenose and Weaselfur. He had no place claiming one of the queen's kits for himself. Realizing that he'd zoned out, he jerked himself back into reality. "There is no more need for us to go hunting tonight, but perhaps the northern border could use some checking. I don't believe anyone's been up there since dawn, so it'd be a good time for us to go. Plus, you should review some of your facts regarding borders and how to go about checking them." He turned and started to pad toward the camp entrance. Without looking behind him, he added, "Normally, I'd take a third cat just to be safe, but I want to be able to assess you alone. Come along now." (I have a plot idea: While on patrol, Spiderleg and Amberpaw are attacked by a rogue cat. The cat manages to pin Amberpaw down, and has his claws against her throat. Spiderleg saves her, and wounds the tom badly. After Spiderleg proceeds to threaten the cat should he bring harm to any BadgerClan cat again, the tom flees. Amberpaw develops a crush on Spiderleg as a result of his chivalry/bravery, and this opens up a love triangle plot involving Spiderleg, Pinenose, and Amberpaw)
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Post by Thrushmoon on Aug 29, 2016 19:58:55 GMT -5
Weaselfur pulled himself away from the den wall with a sigh, they had made a lot of progress on the wall today, and Weaselfur felt proud, but also sore. Very very sore. He stretched himself, trying to loosen up stiff muscles before stopping his work on the wall entirely. That was enough for today, tomorrow he'd get an early start on it to help Scorchfur finish it so they could work on the other dens, and make them Leaf-Bare safe. He flexed his sore claws, before padding over to rest in front of the warriors den, somewhat close to where Leaftail was eating before, and set about cleaning the mud from his paws.
Pinenose watched Idly as Spiderleg found Amberpaw and her gaze drifted a bit as she became lost in thought. She had hoped for one day, that she'd be given an apprentice to train, and since she needed one to become clan deputy, it all worked out. However, before that could happen, the plague struck and took away her chances of that. She dug her claws into the ground, frowning before she forced herself to relax. Maybe this time, when they picked a clan leader, and if Leaf-Bare wasn't too hard on them, she'd be a mentor for a Badgerclan apprentice, like she had hoped she'd have the chance for Shadowclan. She rested her head on her paws, she hoped, but she doubted it.
(I like the idea, seeing Spidlerleg hurt like that would make Pinenose realize that the grumpy tom has grown on her and she gets super extra cranky because she doesn't know how to deal with the extra feelings and Amberpaw isn't helping by having them too?)
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Post by Frozen on Aug 29, 2016 19:59:06 GMT -5
Crap, nevermind. Seems like I misunderstood. Would it be both Pine and Amber having a crush on Spider? It seems like I misunderstood x.x I'll reply to the RP in a bit.)
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Post by Dᴀɴɴʏ Pʜᴀɴᴛᴏᴍ on Aug 29, 2016 20:09:44 GMT -5
Frozen Yeah, it'd be both of them having a crush on Spiderleg, and he'd eventually choose Pinenose, completely oblivious to Amberpaw's feelings for him)
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Post by Thrushmoon on Aug 29, 2016 20:36:30 GMT -5
(Yay for the grumpy couple!)
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Post by Frozen on Aug 29, 2016 20:41:23 GMT -5
NOOOOO!!!!! I was writing my post, and I accidentally hit one of my mouse buttons that makes it immediately go back, and my reply is gone! Gahh! I'm so done.)
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Post by Frozen on Aug 29, 2016 20:49:39 GMT -5
"Of course," Amberpaw nodded, some of her excitement dying away at his words. Just a mere border patrol? Well, she supposed it was late. Amberpaw just felt a tug that made her want to battle train. She wasn't really sure why. While hunting was one of her strengths, fighting was not - which was very important, as she would one day be a warrior fighting on the front lines of battle... right?
Hope flared back into her as she heard Spiderleg's mew. Just the two of them? Alone? Could this mean... her assessment was around the corner? Amberpaw almost couldn't believe it. Calm down, Amberpaw, she told herself. Don't get your hopes up. It's just a border patrol. Being a warrior was one of the things that wasn't completely destroyed by the plague. Having one of her dreams actually in sight almost put her back into the state she was before everything went wrong. Amberpaw, the bubbly apprentice turned strong warrior!
Trying to regain her serious attitude, Amberpaw followed Spiderleg out of camp. Outside, it was crisp outside, yet the perfect weather. It wasn't too warm, but the cold chill wasn't too harsh. The leaf-fall colored leaves created a stunning setting in front of the setting sun. She remained silent as they walked, waiting to see if Spiderleg would assess her or tell her anything important.
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Post by Dᴀɴɴʏ Pʜᴀɴᴛᴏᴍ on Aug 29, 2016 21:07:22 GMT -5
( Frozen I had that happen once and lost 2,500 words of a fanfic chapter) Spiderleg set a brisk pace, expecting Amberpaw to keep up. As he walked, he allowed his thoughts to wander just a bit. He found his thoughts drifting back to the possibility of getting another apprentice after Amberpaw. He was starting to get older; he was likely one of the eldest warriors in the Clan. Would the new leader allow him to take another apprentice, knowing that? Of course, Spiderleg had no intention of retiring soon. The elder life just didn't suit him, and plus he wasn't about to abandon the Clan when they needed as many paws as he could get. Experience was valuable when training an apprentice, and he sure had a lot of it. So much so that the Clan needed him just for it. He knew things that no other warrior did, and that made him extremely valuable. Valuable enough to train another young cat? He was not sure. Overhead, the leaves rustled as the wind picked up again. He fluffed out his fur, no longer used to chilly weather. The summer had been a hot one, not to mention with him having been crammed into a den to try and isolate him from the plague. He'd gotten so used to the heat that now even the slightest chill made him shiver. They reached the border in decent time, although by the time they did night had fallen. Spiderleg tasted the air. He detected the faint BadgerClan scent markers, but nothing else suspicious. He held back a sigh of relief. He didn't want to give Amberpaw any indication of what he himself had discovered. He wanted to see what she was able to do. "So, Amberpaw," he began. "It's all up to you. Show me how to properly handle a border check." He sat down and waited for her to make a move. |
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Post by Frozen on Aug 30, 2016 17:11:34 GMT -5
Amberpaw's eyes glowed in the night, the darkness mostly having no effect her. She was hardly out at night, however - she was usually asleep with Hootpaw and Spikepaw in the small apprentice's den. It was strange being at the border with the moon rising instead of the sun - almost creepy, even. She began thinking of her plan. "Well, first off, we mark the border," she said, doing exactly that. The border was a mix of all four Clans' scents, which she supposed was the marking of BadgerClan. "This shows passing cats that this is our territory, and they need to stay out." She looked at her mentor, searching for approval. "If this was the daytime, or the morning, we'd look around and make sure there wasn't anyone physically snooping, but we can't really do that at night."
It wasn't until then that Amberpaw tasted the air. Among the renewed BadgerClan scent, she tasted something different. Something strangely unfamiliar. She frowned. "I can smell the BadgerClan border good and strong," she began on the positive note. "But I can scent something weird... It's not twoleg, or dog..." A passing loner? Maybe... but if that were the case, wouldn't they be gone, sleeping in a safer place than another cat's territory?
Her fur raised slightly. "Is there someone out here?"
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Post by Dᴀɴɴʏ Pʜᴀɴᴛᴏᴍ on Aug 30, 2016 20:03:48 GMT -5
Spiderleg nodded approvingly as Amberpaw went through the steps of checking a border. She was right; the first step was to renew the scent markers. Next, checking for intruders was the most important thing. Along with looking for any cats snooping on the border, it was important to check for foreign scents, cat or not.
He felt his blood chill, however, when he heard Amberpaw mention that she detected a foreign scent. When he tasted the air, the scent of a foreigner hit him hard. It was fresh, too- the freshest it could possibly be. That could only mean one thing- there was an intruder right around the border, right at that moment.
He felt his claws slide out of their sheaths, immediately regretting having chosen to come out with just an apprentice and no warriors to back them up. He should have asked Scorchfur and Leaftail to come along with their apprentices. At least then, they wouldn't be in danger from any intruder.
Spiderleg opened his jaws to shout something, but was cut off as a dark shape flew from the shadows. Spiderleg let out a surprised hiss as something slammed into his side, barreling him over. He found himself staring up into the blazing yellow eyes of a huge tom. Snarling, he kicked at the tom with his hindpaws. His act must have surprised the tom, for he lurched back. Spiderleg used the distraction to push the tom off of him.
Roaring with anger, Spiderleg rose up on his hind legs. The tom, who had since entered battle mode, rose up to meet him. The two exchanged blows with their front paws, occasionally hitting each other. Both cats yowled as their blood sprayed the ground and each other. Spiderleg's face burst out with pain as the tom's claws raked it, but he kept fighting.
Eventually, Spiderleg managed to get a hard blow in. He slammed his paw against the intruder's head, hard enough to send him flying backwards. The tom stumbled before collapsing into a pile of fallen leaves. Spiderleg darted toward him.
Before he could reach him, however, the outsider recovered. He darted away from Spiderleg, the warrior's claws raking the air where he had just been. Spiderleg turned quickly, but froze when he saw where the tom was heading.
"Amberpaw! Watch out!"
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Post by Frozen on Aug 30, 2016 21:54:11 GMT -5
Amberpaw felt her neck fur raise even more at her mentor's body language. Did he not scent the strange scent until now? Instinctively the apprentice felt her claws slide out like his, and her eyes darted around nervously, unable to pinpoint anything in the dark and the masked scent of the border.
She froze when Spiderleg hit the ground.
Her eyes widened in terror. "N-no!" she choked out, paws frozen to the earth. It was like her entire body had glitched. Nothing seemed to be working with her. She couldn't will herself to leap forward to help Spiderleg, to run to get help, or even to distract the rogue to go after her. It was hopeless. Images flashed through her head, of the Dark Forest battle, of her mother, Ferncloud, dead in the nursery, fighting for her kits. Of Dewpaw and Snowpaw, slowly whittling themselves to nothing but the plague itself. Of Bramblestar facing his Clan.
Of Spiderleg in a fight for his life.
In an instant, the rogue was flying towards her. Amberpaw could only watch, pure terror in her eyes, as the cat collided with her, knocking her to the ground. No, she wasn't the mature warrior she thought she was.. She was only a kit... someone who was never meant to live. Amberpaw let out a choked yowl, winded from her impact with the ground, a sign for help. She flew into a frenzied panic as a stinging sensation went through her neck, and she suddenly couldn't breathe. The apprentice flailed, desperate for air in her lungs. The rogue had her pinned, their claws at her throat.
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Post by Dᴀɴɴʏ Pʜᴀɴᴛᴏᴍ on Aug 30, 2016 22:03:45 GMT -5
(Much drama lol)
Spiderleg let out a furious snarl as he saw the rogue pin his apprentice down. He'd lost too many cats to battle. Too many of his Clanmates had died at an enemy warrior's claws. He couldn't let it happen again. He wouldn't. Not to his own apprentice,
Fury making him strong, he sprang at the rogue. He landed on top of the huge creature, digging his claws into its shoulders. The tom howled in surprise, rearing back. He shook himself violently, trying to dislodge the other tom. Spiderleg held on strong, however, refusing to let go.
Seeing that his first method wasn't working, the tom tried something else. He backed up, then fell over, crushing Spiderleg beneath him. The long-legged tom cried out as all of the breath was knocked from him. Panic set in as he found himself struggling to breath beneath the tom's crushing weight.
The tom didn't stay put for long, however. He quickly rolled off of Spiderleg, now free from the tom's grip. He lifted a paw, aiming for Spiderleg's exposed belly. The tom acted fast, rolling out of the way just as the rogue's paw hit the ground. Spiderleg landed on his feet, jumping up with a hiss. The tom and he stared each other down for a moment before the rogue made another move.
He charged at Spiderleg, who quickly sidestepped. In a move Ivypool had once taught him, he knocked the cat's legs out from under him. He yowled as his face hit the ground. Spiderleg's claws were soon at his throat, putting him in the position Amberpaw had been in just minutes before.
Leaning down close to the cat, he hissed, "You wanna live, huh? If you do, if your life means anything to you, then you'll leave this territory and never come back. Otherwise, you might as well just say goodbye to your life. I swear on whatever I need to that if I ever see your claws at one of my Clanmates' throats again, I'll rip yours out and feed it to the crows." He stepped back, allowing the tom to make his choice.
At first, it seemed as if the tom would continue his fight with Spiderleg. However, after several moments' hesitation, he made the smart decision to flee. A satisfied smirk crossed Spiderleg's face as the tom pelted past him, disappearing into the woods.
The smirk faded, however, as he remembered Amberpaw. He turned toward the young she-cat. "Are you alright?" he asked urgently.
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Post by Frozen on Aug 30, 2016 23:03:38 GMT -5
Yep)
Amberpaw's mind whirled. Was she really going to die now, to a random stranger? She always thought she would die defending her Clan. She survived the plague, so she might as well go out with a bang. But being pinned by a mangy rogue with relative ease certainly wasn't the way she had wanted to go out.
She began feeling her vision fade away. Much to her surprise, however, the pressure on her throat lifted - and she immediately rolled away, taking one of the deepest breaths she had ever taken in her life. Her head snapped up, emotions brewing through her as she saw Spiderleg pin the rogue. Once again she found her limbs frozen. Amberpaw refused to blink.
She stumbled once the rogue fled into the darkness. Her instincts were fading, and exhaustion was taking over. She could feel a faint trickle of blood running down her throat, but it wasn't anything too serious. "I'm fine," she choked out, ears flattened. Not knowing what else to do, she immediately pressed herself to Spiderleg. She felt more disappointed than scared, honestly - how come she didn't notice the rouge earlier? Now she had almost gotten both of them killed. Shameful! Amberpaw wouldn't be a warrior in this state.
She wavered, her paws struggling to keep her standing.
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Post by Paw Prince ♛ on Aug 31, 2016 1:44:17 GMT -5
OOC: Here again! Sorry for not showing up recently; this post absolutely /refused/ to be written. ;u; I vacillated for a while over whether I should make a 100% OOC post, but in the end, I decided to wait to post until I'd finally finished writing this. I'll try to post an OOC update in the event that I foresee future posting delays, though! :')
@aromatisse : No worries; I honestly don't mind reading through longer posts at all! As you can probably tell, I tend to suffer from a similar problem: long-windedness (plus the typing speed of a snail) are my long-time enemies, haha. I will actually try to make my next post shorter, though. nwn;
Also, I'm glad you like Poppyfrost ahh <3 The first time I read through your most recent reply, I was smiling at my computer screen the whole time; I didn't think my impression of Hootpaw could get better, but it DID. :^D
Poppyfrost noted Hootpaw’s shift in tone—from frustrated and snappish to something noticeably less harsh, even soothing—with a twitch of an ear in faint surprise. She could see that the apprentice’s gray fur had flattened too, the sight of which made her heart feel oddly buoyant – not only with relief that he hadn’t taken offense at her earlier comments but also with joy at the implicit trust she saw in the gesture. To her, it was yet another small sign that the motley band of cats that made up BadgerClan were slowly coming together and warming up to each other.
Was she being overly sentimental? Yes, perhaps so – that was what her younger self would’ve thought, surely. But there was so little to celebrate and so much to grieve over recently that she was all too grateful for the few uplifting details that she did manage to discover.
It would’ve been hard for Poppyfrost to miss the way that Hootpaw tripped over his words when he started speaking, but she’d dealt with far more rambling, long-winded speakers in the past (Dovewing was the first to come to mind, followed by Purdy, which said a lot), so his particular case seemed rather trivial in comparison. Admittedly, the impatient side of her urged Hootpaw to just get to the point – but by then, the tom seemed to have already found his stride, and he set about outlining his story with far less stumbling than before.
His mention of Nightcloud made Poppyfrost’s ears flick upward suddenly. Now, that’s a name I recognize. Nightcloud had attacked her once, and that wasn’t even touching upon the complex web of relationship issues that involved Nightcloud, Crowfeather, and Leafpool – not to mention their children. Since her more impressionable apprentice days, Poppyfrost had been trying harder to resist the admittedly very tempting allure of inter-clan gossip, but at the same time, she doubted there had been a cat in the old clans who hadn’t heard about Crowfeather and Leafpool’s scandalous (albeit very brief) elopement at least once.
Harboring such a negative impression about Hootpaw’s now-dead mentor, however, made Poppyfrost’s stomach twist uncomfortably with guilt, especially she’d never actually known the she-cat outside of her reputation at Gatherings and that one border skirmish long ago. As a result, Poppyfrost tried to keep her expression as neutral as possible and then focused on the rest of Hootpaw’s little pep talk.
“Like apprentices, huh?” Poppyfrost repeated. “That sounds kind of tiring, to be honest.” Sure, there had been nice moments when she was an apprentice—the excitement of Gatherings, for one thing, and that indescribable feeling of one’s first outing like Hootpaw had alluded to—but there had also been plenty of tedium, like when she’d had to slog through re-padding nest after nest in the nursery with fresh moss, or when she’d been the poor soul given the dreaded duty of getting rid of the elders’ ticks. “I mean, I don't mind bumping into an oak tree now and then, but I don't know whether I can really wait moons to get adjusted to all…this.” She waved her tail vaguely at their surroundings.
But that was precisely what Hootpaw was talking about, wasn’t it? Making it through the harrowing parts until you finally reached the reward at the end? “Still, I guess you’re right,” Poppyfrost conceded somewhat reluctantly. She might not be looking forward to all the exhaustion in the days ahead, but she could at least appreciate the sincerity behind Hootpaw’s message. She didn’t know much about the former WindClan apprentice, but even she could see that it must’ve taken a lot of guts to say something like that to a virtual stranger.
The more she thought about it, the more that the idea grew on her, and her latent “let’s be positive” mode kicked in. “We’ll get through it,” she said, more firmly this time. “After all, we’re BadgerClan now: stronger than thunder, swifter than wind, more graceful than any river, and sneakier than shadows themselves. If we can’t do it, who else can, right?” She punctuated her cheesy concluding speech with a cheery purr.
In the back of her mind, she dimly registered that she’d probably regret bringing up all these indirect reminders of what she’d just lost when she was on her own tonight, but for now, Poppyfrost was concentrating all her energy on her back-and-forth with Hootpaw. I’ll deal with it all later.
OOC: It's well past midnight where I am, so I'll be going to bed now, but I'll most likely have a post up for Owlclaw later today both because he's been silent lately & because I need to get back into the rhythm of writing posts that are actually ~12 lines long. nwn
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