Idly Owlthroat listened in, still eyes searching for his new apprentice. Dawnstar hadn’t put him on the raid against Riverclan, he furrowed his brow in deep anger. It was his fear of water, it must have been. He cursed under his breath, he would’ve loved to have ripped them to shreds, he was a fine warrior. Deep down he knew his fear was known about and would hinder them but he wouldn’t admit it to himself or the clan publicly ever.
The rest of the chatter slipped away from him, Lynxshade and a careless mouth leading to exile, missing cats. The clan felt like it was falling to pieces. If they had been so stupid to get lost they should have been left behind during the move. They didn’t need mousebrained cats to support a clan that was ultimately going to war, there was more pressing things at hand. He wouldn’t say a word aloud about Dawnstar’s decisions but he doubted her, she was capable and no cat could call her soft. But irresponsible strays needed to stay lost, bar perhaps apprentices, kits and queens.
Cutting through his brooding train of thought he heard his name called once again. Willowpaw. Rising quickly he sauntered his way through the mumbling crowd and caught sight of her. Dear Starclan she was small. Or was it just the fact he was so large, never mind. Owlthroat knew that small warriors could be just as lethal as their larger counterparts, a skirmish or two over moons had taught him that. He lowered his head, trying to catch sight of the tortiseshell’s pale green eyes. His own narrowed studiously.
”Willowpaw”, a rough meow sounded. Yellow eyes glinting narrowly at the young cat in front of him. ”I suppose I’m your mentor now”, Owlthroat couldn’t help but let the threatening sneer escape from his lips.
〚~Willow'Paw~〛
| 9 Moons | ShadowClan Apprentice | Female, She/Her | Purrks:
Kitty Soft Paws, Heightened Perception [smell]
[a small, fluffy tortoiseshell she-cat with pale green eyes and an atrociously fluffy tail]
'Oh, you're going to find missing cats and go to war.'
Oh she's going find missing cats and go to war.
OH NO SHE'S GOING TO FIND MISSING CATS AND GO TO WAR.
In BOTH of those she could see a dead body. Her experience so far with dead bodys were "BIG NONO", so she was very startled to see that she of all cats had been chosen for this particular honor. Except other cats might take it as a high honor, while she took it as the world's curse. She almost forgot that Pigeonpaw was there while Willowpaw was somewhat trapped in her little bubble of "ah dang thats pretty rough", so when she shook her shoulder, Willowpaw's soul almost ascended to StarClan. Willowpaw saw what was going on, and dragged her soul back down by the tail. "Uhm, y-yeah. I-I heard that..." She said with a lack of enthusiasm, unable to figure out how Pigeonpaw was so ecstatic about this thing that clearly was extremely bad and petrifying.
Willowpaw was also extremely horrified at Dawnstar's news of Lynxshade. Yes, while its not good to go leak highly classified info to the enemy side, she thought killing them and ripping out they're tongue (Willowpaw shivered involuntarily) was a tincy bit over the top. She was glad she didn't have to be there to witness it, and she hoped she would never have to witness any executions.
She was about to add some more things to her apparently short sentence ('I wonder if cats think i can't actually form sentences longer than that...'), when a meow that made her think whoever said it was fairly grumpy today, talked to her. This time she managed to, you know, not freak the heck out about it.
Oh, Owlthroat! "Uhm, He-Hello," She mewed. "I-I guess." This mentor seemed pretty good, she could handle grumpy, and then things sorta went not-pretty-good. She flinched as a sneer came form the cat. She wasn't too brushed up on what expressions and cat-noises meant, but she figured that a sneer was not a good thing.
Willowpaw suddenly wondered; was she gonna have too do two conversations at once????????? But, isn't that like, literally impossible? ONE conversation has her shivering in her bones, TWO WILL ACTUALLY KILL HER! Well, maybe not really, but she'll at the very least contemplate her life choices more than once.
He surveyed the small apprentice with jealousy; she was going to war. Against Riverclan. His eyes darkened and he once again cursed his phobia for holding him back, he was such a competent warrior. In fact it was about his only strength, he became a graceful bird on the battlefield slashing throats. An ode to his namesake. But his deep rooted fear of the water would hold them all back. It twisted up inside him darkly as he stared at the she-cat. If he couldn’t fight them, he had to make sure his new apprentice could do so in his name. He would propel her to greatness, he hoped.
”You’re going to fight”, Owlthroat stated bitterly. Yellow eyes still narrowed in his anger. He fluffed up his fur, shaking away tension. But still twitching ever so often. Despite the fact he didn’t care for an apprentice, it felt irresponsible to throw one so clearly nervous into the battlefield. His shred of hope for an easy confident young prodigy vanished like that into thin air.
Owlthroat collected his thoughts rapidly before speaking once more. Seeing she was clearly caught flustering in between two conversations at once. ”I’ll be waiting at the edge of camp, tomorrow at dawn. I expect you to be there for training, prompt.” A low hiss and he closed the distance leering into her face only a breath away. ”You represent me in this war, you better not die.” Laced with malice, but perhaps softer than he had been previously. He turned his back on her, slinking quickly away from the Grimpeak, not bothering to listen for a response.
The gathering was over, but his work had just begun.
Pardon her surprise, but was Miss Grandmama being serious? It began with a simple ceremony – one of three – and reassignments, something she could avoid with arguably the most reliable mentor in the clan. But then, Mossfreckle’s newest apprentice – Grousepaw? Him? Of all the cats, young and old, in the clan, Mossfreckle chose… Him? Sleepypaw was astounded, moreso by that than the news of her mother returning to her status as an enforcer, Miss Grandmama had said as much during the previous meeting, after all.
Vibrant blue almost automatically found Grousepaw’s, a look of astonishment (albeit subtle) on her normally stoic face, eyes meeting their amber ones and she could swear she saw his mouth hang agape at a loss for words or thoughts – much like him – truly, had he not know? Did he not want this? Mossfreckle certainly had a peculiar taste in apprentices, choosing the one apprentice arguably behind on his training and known to be rather, well, rebellious and strangely laid-back… She could not… It was… Stars, now she was at a loss for words (or rather thoughts) too!
Her bewilderment was only interrupted by the excited voice of Bleedingkit – erm, Bleedingpaw, happily jumping and wobbling about, calling attention to himself. Astonishment vanished, a mask of cool returned over her face and she watched the apprentice (still feeling slightly ruffled, however), ear giving a flick. She blinked once, twice, trice before doing a subtle movement – however small she could make it – closer towards her mama, Mirepaw and Bleedingpaw, a glint of a certain je-ne-sais-quoi in her eyes; or, perhaps, was it pride? Happiness for her – well – younger brother?
She might’ve stared forever had it not been for Miss Grandmama moving on with announcements – would’ve approached, even, flick the tip of her tail over his ear as Miss Grandmama did with her – but instead, Sleepypaw’s head was prompted to turn back around when her name was called among those set to attend the upcoming fight with RiverClan alongside the other two clans, a certain feeling of pride bubbling in her chest – one she quickly shut down. She was given a chance, and she couldn’t waste it; she had to do right by her mama, Miss Grandmama, clan and family.
Lynxshade… It was unfortunate news, an enforcer lost, and yet of foolish accidents or intent – she could not know – Miss Grandmama took a route to protect the clan from further secrets to be spilled. It sounded ruthless, but was it not necessary to ensure the safety of the clan, she pondered, she decided, looking up without restraint. She would have to remember her face in case Lynxshade ever dared to show again against Miss Grandmama’s wishes. Kill on sight.
Ah, the alliance would be over after the fight. Did alliances usually last for such a short amount of time, she wondered? She would have to think about it some, perhaps ask Nightshiver or a senior warrior or Miss Grandmama about the political details, if they could be shared, and past alliances. She took the news to mind; deny ever having been in one, alliance over once the fight had passed – lie to protect. Lie, to protect.
With that the meeting came to swift end, the only parting words being the need for new enforcers and Sleepypaw… She wanted to stand among them. She had to work harder, work more, do more an excel in her training – then, maybe then, Miss Grandmama might consider her, she hoped; she needed to show that she could be a good daughter and granddaughter, that she could serve her clan well.
The last note was on the topic of search patrols for those lost in the move, eyes switching towards the forever queen as she, too, was called among them to seek for lost queens and kittens. Sleepypaw got up, wasting no time in joining Miss Grandmama’s side while Nightshiver took and accepted the news, preparing herself to sneak around the territory in the hopes of finding those lost among the move.
Observing the meeting, Newtbelly couldn't help but feel disapointed. How many apprentices were out searching? He felt useless sat around camp, but surely he could find some use for his time... Maybe he could practice some skills by himself? Or search out a sparring partner? He wanted to be best prepared for the growing tensions, what if he was called into battle? He couldn't fall behind, not now. Though, Owlthroat having a new apprentice gave him a sense of relief. The tom would finally have his eye on someone other than him - at least sometimes.
[open :3]
Last edited by sleepyyjax; June 8th, 2024 at 01:13 PM.
Mama seemed to be distracted but Sleepypaw and Quietpaw were happy for the apprentice so he was happy and today was great!!! And his mentor (or at least the cat he was pretty sure was his mentor) was here so that was good too! Bleedingki-paw could make a good impression hopefully and they could be friends!
Looking up at the large warrior the golden bengal grinned at her, chirping out a "Hi Miss Brairsplash Ma'am its a pleasure to meet you!" because being polite and being respectful was important and good and Bleedingpaw was going to do his best to be a good apprentice.
He was supposed to touch noses with her next right? The apprentice had seen other new apprentices do that in their ceremony so, standing, he wobbled over to try and do just that.
Which ended up being his new mentors first view of his disability.
The young tom had been practicing and now was able to get to his paws without falling over every time, now he only did if he did it way to quickly or there was some reason it'd be difficult, and further he'd even taught himself to walk quickly without falling bar the same issues. Though running was a mixed bag still, he could manage and was shockingly fast on a good day but definitely needed more practice. But competence in movement now didnt mean his difficulties werent obvious.
The kittens limbs were shakey as he padded over, twitching and jerking at random which made taking steps difficult and his head and body wobbled around as if he had not an ounce of balance in the toms body. Which he didnt, actually, that was the main issue.
Still he got over with no real issue or falls despite how odd the movement seemed and reached up with a little pink nose to Brairsplash, undaunted by how he must look, nothing but excited for all of this.
Not even the news about the battle (which his mentor was going to be in, wow!) dampened anything and as the meeting was dismissed he rambled a "After the battle when Im healed we're gonna get started on training right? I really wanna learn hunting so I can start doing patrols but I know 'patience is key' so I can wait until then if you wanna. Though if theres some cool apprentice stuff I can do in the meantime that'd be great!" trying his best to be calm through his excitement. The kitten needed to heal after all and battles were more important then learning so, even if he wished otherwise, logically the tom knew that he'd be waiting a few more days until his training could really get started. The knowledge wouldnt make just sitting around any easier though.
Shadow Fiend: Inactive | Beefed Up (T3) | Ultimate Predator: Inactive | Hulk SMASH! [Inactive]
___________
CW: Dissociation
To say that he was irritated would be an understatement. Despite this, he massive tom was actually glad to be assigned to both the battle patrol and to search for clanmates, because it showed that despite his recent demotion Dawnstar still had confidence in his abilities. If he performed well in both of these matters, he had no doubt in his mind that he would once again have a spot amongst the enforcers and guards. At the very least, he would bide his time for a bit before asking to challenge for the spot if necessary.
The matter that irritated him, however, was the news of Lynxshade and how Dawnstar so casually mentioned his demotion. Not that he’d speak out about it. So what if the rest of the clan thought him to be some sort of failure like the rest of them? He’d show them in due time just why he had held that position for as long as he did. The matter with Lynxshade, however, was a whole different situation. Though The Spectre hadn’t been particularly fond of her – especially after the most recent battle, he couldn’t deny that she was a competent warrior. Her likely death was unfortunate, however, had he been in Dawnstar’s position, he’d have likely done the same. There was no room for cats who couldn’t hold their tongues about internal affairs. Part of him wished to be the one to find her in the territory, if only to put her out of her misery and give her a death worthy of one of his previous comrades. It was all just a shame, really.
News of Moonmeadow’s disappearance was quite disappointing. The Spectre remembered having high hopes for the enforcer when they had first been give the rank, however, it seems that they would not be living up to those. If there was one thing that this alter couldn’t stand, it was being disappointed. It had been why he verbally eviscerated Redrobin which resulted in his loss of position amongst the elites. Hindsight said that he might have taken things slightly too far, but gosh damn did that cat annoy the living hell out of him. The next cat who decided to try his patience in such a manner better hope that Dawnstar would be around, or he’d do far more than merely hurt their feelings.
He didn’t dwell on that thought for long because his ears flicked at approaching footsteps. Turning, he noticed whom he assumed to be Gutspaw greeting him in quiet fashion. Intriguing, well, a quiet apprentice wouldn’t hurt. So long as they had the willingness to learn, he believed there would be no issues with the apprentice.
As far as the question he was asked, he was unsure of how to answer it. For once, The Spectre was legitimately stumped. To choose one thing out of his multitude of talents would be like selecting a favorite child – it was something that he simply could not do. Despite that, he decided to humor his new apprentice before heading out with the patrol. ”Well, picking just one would be unfair to the other two,” He said with a smirk marking his maw before continuing ”I’m efficient in all three, amongst other things. I learned from the best and as such it would only make sense for me to be one of the best in everything, right?” A slightly teasing tone lilted as he sang his own praises. It was true, after all. He had learned the vast majority of what he knew from a deputy and many of the previous enforcers, so it’s not like he was incompetent or anything. He had earned his place amongst the elite before, and for good reason and as such was not afraid of letting that be known. It was a stark contrast to Darkfall who was far more humble, however, The Spectre figured humbleness be damned – he had a spot to earn back.
Mama seemed to be distracted but Sleepypaw and Quietpaw were happy for the apprentice so he was happy and today was great!!! And his mentor (or at least the cat he was pretty sure was his mentor) was here so that was good too! Bleedingki-paw could make a good impression hopefully and they could be friends!
Looking up at the large warrior the golden bengal grinned at her, chirping out a "Hi Miss Brairsplash Ma'am its a pleasure to meet you!" because being polite and being respectful was important and good and Bleedingpaw was going to do his best to be a good apprentice.
He was supposed to touch noses with her next right? The apprentice had seen other new apprentices do that in their ceremony so, standing, he wobbled over to try and do just that.
Which ended up being his new mentors first view of his disability.
The young tom had been practicing and now was able to get to his paws without falling over every time, now he only did if he did it way to quickly or there was some reason it'd be difficult, and further he'd even taught himself to walk quickly without falling bar the same issues. Though running was a mixed bag still, he could manage and was shockingly fast on a good day but definitely needed more practice. But competence in movement now didnt mean his difficulties werent obvious.
The kittens limbs were shakey as he padded over, twitching and jerking at random which made taking steps difficult and his head and body wobbled around as if he had not an ounce of balance in the toms body. Which he didnt, actually, that was the main issue.
Still he got over with no real issue or falls despite how odd the movement seemed and reached up with a little pink nose to Brairsplash, undaunted by how he must look, nothing but excited for all of this.
Not even the news about the battle (which his mentor was going to be in, wow!) dampened anything and as the meeting was dismissed he rambled a "After the battle when Im healed we're gonna get started on training right? I really wanna learn hunting so I can start doing patrols but I know 'patience is key' so I can wait until then if you wanna. Though if theres some cool apprentice stuff I can do in the meantime that'd be great!" trying his best to be calm through his excitement. The kitten needed to heal after all and battles were more important then learning so, even if he wished otherwise, logically the tom knew that he'd be waiting a few more days until his training could really get started. The knowledge wouldnt make just sitting around any easier though.
~ BRIARSPLASH ~
very large & fluffy dilute gray tortie she-cat with goldish-green eyes
[ shadowclan warrior | she-cat | 26 moons | abrasive, standoffish, loyal ]
~
The first thing Briarsplash had thought of when Bleedingpaw was walking up to her were two words:
Oh no.
This cat was... wobbly. The most unstable one she'd ever seen... and really, she'd never ever seen anything quite like this. Bleedingpaw managed to get to her just fine without falling, but the... shakiness...? She was perplexed, her mouth momentarily running dry with no words as she did the ceremonial nose touch, accepting this apprentice as her own. What was this... condition? Had he had it his whole life? Was it... painful? A hundred thoughts ran through her head, all of which with no answer that she could give herself.
"Uh... it's good to meet you too," she meowed slowly, not daring to cause a scene with her own confusion. How could he be an apprentice...? Was she missing something? How would she be able to teach him?
Her self-doubt rose like waters and she swallowed against a tightening throat, trying to quell any negative comments as the excited Bleedingpaw started to go on about getting training. Training... how would she even start?
"Ah, the battle, yes..." Briarsplash finally piped up, grateful that the young apprentice had given her another talking point. With her racing mind and closed throat, her usually-soft voice was fainter than normal. She cleared her throat as best she could, trying to sound professional. "We can start after the battle's done. There's... a lot of preparation going into this. I'll need to focus on strategy, and then, uh... we can start you after. Deal?"
She watched Bleedingpaw, trying not to let her shock show too much on her face. Firstly, Dawnstar had given her a blind apprentice, when she had no real idea on how to help a blind cat. Luckily, that seemed to be going okay so far, but now... this? What was this condition called? How could she even begin to be a good mentor to this kid...?
[ @Rani - enjoy briar's crisis over thinking about how she's gonna train bleeding LOL. it's so unique to have a wobbly cat in an rp setting, this should be exciting to explore for both of their character arcs!! i will throw up my part of the training thread soon, just trying to get the riverclan side of things streamlined with berrypaw and then i'll be on it <3 ]
~ BRIARSPLASH ~
very large & fluffy dilute gray tortie she-cat with goldish-green eyes
[ shadowclan warrior | she-cat | 26 moons | abrasive, standoffish, loyal ]
~
The first thing Briarsplash had thought of when Bleedingpaw was walking up to her were two words:
Oh no.
This cat was... wobbly. The most unstable one she'd ever seen... and really, she'd never ever seen anything quite like this. Bleedingpaw managed to get to her just fine without falling, but the... shakiness...? She was perplexed, her mouth momentarily running dry with no words as she did the ceremonial nose touch, accepting this apprentice as her own. What was this... condition? Had he had it his whole life? Was it... painful? A hundred thoughts ran through her head, all of which with no answer that she could give herself.
"Uh... it's good to meet you too," she meowed slowly, not daring to cause a scene with her own confusion. How could he be an apprentice...? Was she missing something? How would she be able to teach him?
Her self-doubt rose like waters and she swallowed against a tightening throat, trying to quell any negative comments as the excited Bleedingpaw started to go on about getting training. Training... how would she even start?
"Ah, the battle, yes..." Briarsplash finally piped up, grateful that the young apprentice had given her another talking point. With her racing mind and closed throat, her usually-soft voice was fainter than normal. She cleared her throat as best she could, trying to sound professional. "We can start after the battle's done. There's... a lot of preparation going into this. I'll need to focus on strategy, and then, uh... we can start you after. Deal?"
She watched Bleedingpaw, trying not to let her shock show too much on her face. Firstly, Dawnstar had given her a blind apprentice, when she had no real idea on how to help a blind cat. Luckily, that seemed to be going okay so far, but now... this? What was this condition called? How could she even begin to be a good mentor to this kid...?
[ @Rani - enjoy briar's crisis over thinking about how she's gonna train bleeding LOL. it's so unique to have a wobbly cat in an rp setting, this should be exciting to explore for both of their character arcs!! i will throw up my part of the training thread soon, just trying to get the riverclan side of things streamlined with berrypaw and then i'll be on it <3 ]
Bleedingpaw
Shadowclan Apprentice | He/Him | 5 Moons
Just a Scratch | Shadow Fiend
Perhaps it was a good thing the little tom couldnt read his new mentor right now. Even if it was from a good place knowing her internal reaction wouldve broken his heart.
As is though he simply beamed at her, purring lightly at the nose touch as blue eyes sparked innocently up at the molly. "Yeah! Well get starter after when those mean old jerks are gone! Im gonna go make my nest and ask Mr. Pats if he has something for me to do while youre all gone, see you soon!"
Though the tom didnt explain who 'Mr. Pats' was the flicked tail towards Hawkbite provided a partial explanation and, with one final wave and a "Im really glad to be meeting you! Ill be the best apprentice, promise!" He was wobbling away, leaving Brairsplash to her thoughts.
➜ #GUTSPAW it . . teeth . . bite
small spiky-furred black tabby with striking icy blue eyes; huge fluffy tail & a few scars in the shapes of bite-marks - currently has black nail caps on
[ ╰┈➤ @Dark ]
Gutspaw's fluffy tail swished gently while it waited for Darkfall's response. Every so often lifting up a paw before setting it back down - just barely, just a little tip-tappity. Its eyebrows furrowed together to from a crease at the given response and slowly it cocked its head to the side. ".. Skills are abstract ideas. You can't just ,, give them unfair preferential treatment,, I don't think naturally small cats are just quicker 'cuz they choose to, they just got the advantage, y'know? " Teeth pointed out, maybe it was a joke but Darkfall didn't have that obvious-joke-tone-of-voice so better safe than sorry.
"Cool that you're efficient though, " Gutspaw clicked its tongue, seemed like his mentor was a wee bit high in the prideful section. By bones it hoped he wasn't entirely so fixated on where he excelled that he would outright deny any failures. Anyone who couldn't do basic self-reflection always managed to piss Gutspaw off one way or another.
"Eh, some cats no matter how good of a mentor they got still just end up being --,, .. distasteful." Mistlewhisker would be considered a decent mentor but even she could not cure Squirrelpaw's cowardice. Prime example. "Soo, when do you think you'll be free to train?" Bite inquired, raising an eyebrow in curiosity. It had already gotten hunting ,, somewhat down - battling less so.
__________________
❝ hold on tight to this time,
this place 'cause everything you know will be erased.
you were born inside your head.
and that is where you'll be when you are dead. ❞ -- the sleepy consumes me --
꒰ pronouns.cc꒱
Re: ShadowClan Grimpeak
