[duskfire1]

 

Originally Posted by Ravensong

**Elmshadow**

The dark tom took a deep breath. It seemed the work never ended and he was only truly in charge of punishing those who were slacking. If everybody simply did the minimum then there would be no need for the extra work put in by others and yet here he was. Elmshadow blinked and turned away from the cats he'd called out, ready to head towards the nursery. Cougarivy was gone and he was aware that they still had kits in the nursery. He was sure the other queens in the nursery were doing well keeping an eye on them but he should check in on them. Then there was Goldenstep, the thought of curling up in the nest with his mate for a restful sleep was all too tempting. His green eyes moved across the clearing towards the dens but they were stopped by the sight of an apprentice, an apprentice he had hoped to have seen earlier. He sighed with a slight twitch of his upper lip as he moved across the open ground.

Stopping a tail length from Ryepaw, he looked down his nose, taking in his unsightly and unkempt appearance. "Don't make this a waste of my time. You missed your patrol and then you failed to show up for your punishment. You better have a good reason."

Ryepaw

He smiled politely, clearing his mind as to not let any emotions show through his eyes, sighting Elmshadow's midly revolted expression, which seemed to be focused on his appearance. "My apologies. What you say is true, I did miss those things, and I do have a good reason." He meowed, keeping a clear gaze on the warrior. The wind stirred his neck fur, as he kept his strange smile on Elmshadow. He had noticed that the warrior had a look of longing when he was originally padding towards the dens, in which was interrupted by Ryepaw's untimely presence. When was the last time he himself had longed for something? He was unsure. Putting his mind back on the warrior in front of him, he stopped smiling. It was weird, wasn't it, to continue smiling after so long? Or is that was cats his age did? He didn't know, he didn't socialize often. And if he did, he would do a bang-up job keeping his companions away from him.

"Are you going to punish me?" He asked, leaning forward slightly with perked ears to show his interest. He hadn't been punished before, and he heard it wasn't a good experience, according to his fellow apprentices. He liked new experiences though, good or bad, pain or fear, blood or death, conflicted souls or illness... As long as it was something new, it was exiting to him.

He didn't bother mentioning his reason as to not attending the patrol. He didn't like wasting words if they could be saved. If the warrior asked again, he'd simply answer. The warrior may not like his answer, but he's used to cats disliking the things he says, or the things he does. Does he like it that way? Well, it would be hard to say, for, does he even like anything?