[squidz]

— STAGHEART —

very large, muscular, & scarred light brown tabby tom with stark blue eyes and a torn ear; killer aptitude t3 | just a scratch | dreamwalker

[ riverclan warrior | tomcat | 60 moons | gruff & battle-hardened, heart o’ gold; loyal to a fault ]

—

 

Originally Posted by Wingnettle

 

Starrypaw
#thestarswithin
Riverclan | 12 moons
Mind Reader, Lucky Duck III, Monkey’s Paw

Starrypaw smiled genuinely at the muscular brown tom. She felt so at easy with him... that for a moment, a thought bolted through her and her expression clouded. She wished Stagheart was her real father. Wait, where did her real father end up?

She knew she'd seen him before coming to Riverclan, and maybe even before the before that, but... she didn't remember. He wasn't nice, that was a feeling she had... a strong, curious feeling. Oh, if only she'd been born in Riverclan... things would've been different. Easier.

"T-thank you.." She replied, trying to get a grasp of her thoughts again. She needed to concentrate, now. Focus, focus starrypaw!
The thin fish were passing in the flowing waters, though it did take them a while to appear again after she'd taken one out of the river. They were so shiny, so beautiful.

She lunged again, this time missing. She did it again, again and again, but she knew she wouldn't be able to catch anything if she didn't focus.
Breathe. She breathed. Slowly, calmly. Waited. She waited a few minuted, then ten again. She liked the silence, and didn't feel at unease with Stagheart even if they didn't talk.
He respected her time and her silence, and that meant the world for her.

She closed her eyes.
Then her paw, claws outstretched, hooked a small fish and took it out.
She did it again, missing lots of times in the middle, but when she was tired there was a small pile of glimmering scaled-creatures at her side.

She looked at Stagheart, in search of approval. Curious eyes waited patiently with an expectative look.

@squidz

Stagheart was happy to see a smile on the apprentice's face. She was a quiet one that he didn't see always interacting with others, so to know that she was enjoying herself felt good. Sue him, he always had a soft spot for the youngins.

The warrior was quiet, tail curled over his paws on the riverbank as he gave Starrypaw space to do her thing. The silence wasn't uncomfortable; not that Stagheart ever minded that, given that he didn't care much of what others thought. But he did seem to sense that Starrypaw was comfortable with him, and trusted him to watch her closely for any dangers and to improve on her technique.

His whiskers twitched, seeing the nearby fishes around the same time she did. When she caught the first one after multiple attempts, he let out a small mrrow of approval, but nothing else — a silent command to keep going, though it seemed Starrypaw was already doing that herself. Good. She had good drive, and a level head about her, it seemed. He didn't have to say much; she was correcting herself and seeming to understand her mistakes as she went.

By the time she had a pile, Stagheart gave her an appraising nod, eyes glinting from the reflection of the sun on the water. He looked proud, in a way; he hadn't had to keep instructing Starrypaw to calm down, be patient, to breathe. He'd seen her do that all on her own, and made his job that much easier.

"That's good, kid... real good," he purred, the sound rusty but warm from his smoke-damaged throat. The large tabby gave it a sniff, pleased at the catches; they'd need both of them to carry it all home. "You knew to keep goin', even when you were missin', 'n to slow it down each time. Ya didn't lose patience, 'n that's key... I've dealt with plenty o' 'paws that needed to be taught that lesson before they could catch their first fish," he chuckled, now meeting her deep blue gaze. "But you? Yer a natural, like I've said before. You've done well."

Then he glanced between the fish, a more playful type of smirk on his maw. "Guess we're gonna have our paws 'n jaws full, ain't we? That's enough for today, or else I'mma have to hide the fish in my pelt. Here, lemme help you carry 'em back," he meowed, dipping his head to carefully hold a few smaller fish in his maw. Mmm... as much as it was tempting to bite into one right now, the Clan should always be fed first.

But... Starrypaw did really well today, and had caught more than enough to compensate for herself. He'd started to walk back, but paused instead, glancing back over his shoulder at her. "Mm, well... maybe if y'wanted to eat a fresh one right now, I wouldn't stop ya. Call it a prize for all yer hard work," he meowed with one of those fatherly winks when they knew just what they were doing. She'd deserve it.