spiderstep
ShadowClan
Posts: 6 
Rank: Warrior
Age: 58
Gender: Male
Mate: Cherrystorm
Played By: Aubergine
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Post by spiderstep on Jul 2, 2015 20:12:35 GMT -5
Spiderstep had hauled himself from his nest early that morning despite the protests of his aching body. There was something more to do today, other than the usual patrols and hunting and checking on his mates and kits. The delight in having something important, a task beyond daily monotony was tempered by memories that he thought he had drowned long ago and feelings he had left behind. It left a sour taste in his mouth that no amount of grooming would get rid of.
broken twitching body unable to move or speak bones crushed beneath his paws like the twigs that snapped under her feet
The black tom hadn’t been in the apprentice den in a very long time. Guilt, odd and unfamiliar sensation, something he hadn’t felt for many moons, sunk its claws in to his fur, as Spiderstep ducked in to this near-forbidden place. How long had it been since he had taken on an apprentice? It made his bones ache as he looked around for the black shape of Pricklepaw in the darkness of the den. “Pricklepaw. Are you awake?” He asked, not getting much closer. Honestly, Spiderstep didn’t expect his new apprentice to be up yet; dawn had just broken, and few cats were up and active so early.
Being awake so early was a necessity today. They had quite the long day ahead of themselves, after all.
“I’ve been assigned as your new mentor.” The warrior said, not bothering to ease in to the topic of conversation. There were times and places for delicate words, and this, as far as Spiderstep was concerned, was not one of them. Perhaps he was coming off as callous. For all the clever words and careful planning he possessed, being genuine was something that escaped him. It seemed that his mother’s tutoring had faltered in a few places. “We probably won’t be starting your training in earnest today. I’ll need to learn where your previous teacher…left off. That is, if you’re up to returning to your apprentice duties.”
A moment later, Spiderstep turned back to the entrance of the den, ears twitching briefly. The cat spoke after a moment, looking backwards towards Pricklepaw once more. “I’m sorry about your mentor.” There wasn’t much more to say; the warrior had never been particularly good at condolences. He looked over the apprentice. Grief was a strange thing, hard to detect the scope of even for someone like him who had made it a point to know when people changed. “I can always just lecture you relentlessly if you’d rather not return to training yet.” He offered., amusement seeping in to his voice. |
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pricklepaw
ShadowClan
Posts: 6
Rank: apprentice
Age: 11
Gender: tom
Mate: mudpaw
Crush: mudpaw
Played By: crescendo
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Post by pricklepaw on Jul 3, 2015 21:46:47 GMT -5
pricklepaw
love me, hate me, but i'm no good for saving !
Pricklepaw woke with a panicked start so early that the rest of the apprentices seemed dead to the world. His heart was hammering in his chest, and he swore to StarClan he could still hear Beartail's furious hissing in his ears. The tomcat groaned, despair flooding through him. A nightmare? You've got to be kidding me! How many apprentices had bad dreams about their mentors coming back from the dead for some horrifying training exercises? Only one, probably, this one. How pathetic.
Maybe I can curl up with my brother? Pricklepaw thought, but he couldn't make himself budge to bother the cat. He squeezed his eyes shut, and then felt alarm cause the fur along his spine to bristle. Some cat from the entrance was calling his name, Beartail!? But he's dead! Had it been more than a dream after all?
"Bear--Spiderstep?" Pricklepaw corrected himself, and felt relief flood through his limbs. He carefully got up and made his way for the entrance. The initial horror at the thought of his old mentor coming back for him was shoved back, and he tried to lick the fur on his shoulders flat. New mentor? Spiderstep? The young cat twitched his ears and felt a pang of relief. Better to get out training, though he didn't know much about Spiderstep. The young cat twitched his ears, trying not to feel a twinge of dread at the other tom's words. Where Beartail had left off, ugh. He could feel a headache forming already.
The condolences made his fur bristle once more, he was honestly getting sick of cats apologizing to him. Mostly because he was relieved Beartail was dead. Every time a cat mentioned it he was reminded that he ought to have been heartbroken, but he was just thankful to be out of his shadow.
"Don't--look don't worry about it, he's with StarClan now," Pricklepaw muttered gruffly, feeling nettled more than necessary. "I'd rather get training. I hate staying cooped up in camp, they all just look at me like they're scared I'm broken or something. Besides, Beartail would claw my ears off from StarClan if I took a longer break than necessary. He's probably mad that he can't fight SkyClan now."
If he thought he ought to be respectful of the dead, Pricklepaw didn't show it. He was honestly still remembering the hulking tabby in his nightmare, his breath like carrion. He shook his head, "I haven't gotten far with... fighting. I'm good at hunting, but Beartail wouldn't let me move on with battle training until I was strong enough for him to not knock me off my paws." The cat scowled, furious with himself. This, despite the apprentice's frustration with himself, was not unreasonable. Beartail had been a huge cat, and Pricklepaw was always on the smaller side. He was simply incredibly outweighed by his mentor, "I couldn't do it, no matter how hard I tried. So I'm stuck there."
notes: yikes he's a little shaken up. beartail was so bent on making him "not-weak" that he's really behind in battle training unfortunately. sorry he's so chatty omg
wc: 460
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