| BERRYPAW |
small & nimble dark brown she-cat with darker flecks and light, leafy-green eyes
[ riverclan mc apprentice | she-cat | 8 moons | timid, kind, hardworking ]
—
Berrypaw had tucked Juni close to her as she listened with a sorrowful expression. The entire meeting had been nothing but stress and bad news — she could feel the tension in the air, like she could slice it with her claws.
She stayed quiet the first time around, not one to make her presence and opinion known. She was surprised had Stagheart talked, however — her adoptive father practically never put in his thoughts at meetings, often seeing it as a waste of time and breath. But here, it seemed important to him to speak... Fadingsun and Dusklion were both asking for it, clearly and plainly. Maybe that's why.
She hesitated, hemming and hawing over whether to speak out or not. If she were an ordinary apprentice still, she'd be content to be silent, not thinking her opinion was relevant enough to all these important cats around her. But now she was the medicine cat apprentice — others had already been treating her different, in higher regard in a way? It was surprising. She meant something different now, called a 'high rank' (which intimidated her), and that likely meant her voice would want to be heard as well.
Berrypaw knew killing was wrong, especially if it was another Clan cat rather than some outsider. Dusklion seemed to know that and looked as sorry as the sky was blue. But it sounded like that WindClan deputy had been testing the waters, pushing for it...?
Ugh. She didn't know. It was all a mess in her head.
She opened her jaw to say something but slowly shut it, disappointed with herself yet again. It was next to impossible to speak with the lump in her tightened throat, despite her conviction. She'd just be a stammering mess at that point.
Ears flattening in shame, she ducked her head a bit and simply listened as her Clanmates continued to speak up, wondering if there'd ever come a day where she wouldn't be plagued by the fears gripping her throat.