Caught in The Act [P]

[Blaaze]

◇ Flashpaw
◇ The Lost Melody ◇
Purrks: The Collector
____________________

As Flashpaw returned to the apprentice's den, the ginger molly noticed something. Previously she had placed a hawk's feather perfectly in the middle of Cinderpaw's nest. As she looked around the den, she frowned. Where had it gone? Ah, there it was. The feather had fallen. Plucking it in her teeth, she stopped over to place it in the nest perfectly yet again. For the past three days, The Lost Melody had been sneaking small gifts into the tripods nest. Why? She was lonely. Flashpaw was so, so, so lonely. After one awkward interaction, she'd avoided Cinderpaw for a little while, scared she may not like her. But the tug of loneliness pulled hard, and she desperately wanted company. So desperately, in fact, that Flashpaw had convinced herself that perhaps nobody wanted to be her friend. Nobody liked her. And thus, she had decided she wanted to try again. She wanted to try again with Cinderpaw. Maybe her slow ascent into a more adventurous, soft hearted personality would make her feel better. Braver. And as she quickly readjusted the feather, she thought over her previous "gifts." A pebble. A dandelion. Were those not noticeable? No matter. This would surely be more visible, more obvious. But as she heard pastels approaching, she jumped back, causing the feather to yet again blow from the nest. Crapcrapcrapcrapcrap! Picking it up in her jaws, she began frantically placing it again, eyes wide.
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@Neptune. [Cinderpaw]

[Neptune.]

Cinderpaw
~<>~
37/100
9 moons || she/her || ShadowClan Apprentice
small black tabby with minimal white markings and 3 legs; amber eyes

Tiredness tugged on Cinderpaw’s bones as she made her way back to the apprentice den. There was no real reason fir her to be so tired, really, all she’d been doing was running errands for the queens and elders… grabbing prey, looking for ticks, keeping an eye on the kits etc… She was looking forward to a nap, and maybe a new gift.

She still didn’t know who was leaving them, but part of her assumed maybe it was Wispypaw, though the scent wasn’t quite right, she’d figured maybe she just didn’t know her sister’s scent as well as she once did. So, color her surprised when she spots Flashpaw frantically placing a feather into her nest instead of one of her siblings. Amber eyes blink in brief confusion before she realizes that Flashpaw must have been the one leaving her gifts. But why? Cinder had thought… well, after the ginger molly spoke to her after her ceremony, she’d practically been avoiding Cinderpaw at every turn… Cinder had assumed she decided that she just didn’t like her. It seems, however, that she was wrong.

Regaining her wits, black and white paws pad forward and approach the older apprentice. ”You were leaving them?” She signs, head tilted to indicate it’s a question.

[ @Blaaze || ACK SORRY THIS TOOK SO LONG !! STILL DON’T HAVE ACCESS TO MY LAPTOP o(-( ]

[Blaaze]

◇ Flashpaw
◇ The Lost Melody ◇
Purrks: The Collector
____________________

Flashpaw scarcely moved as she registered Cinderpaw was at the entrance entrance the den. Shhhoot! Well, she'd been caught. The ginger molly then, blinking hard, she slipped into a more smooth, normal form, green eyes fixated on the black and white feline. A feeling of stupidity flooded the Lost Melody's jaws like blood, and she swallowed it back quickly. She stayed standing, and then smiled slightly, sheepishly. Jade hues flicked back to the feather. Then back to Cinderpaw. Silently, she watched Cinderpaw sign. It was a relief, as though silent words could break the deafening silence. She relaxed slightly, translating in her head. Or trying to. She still wasn't too good at silently communicating, after all. A swift head movement. Then, Flashpaw nodded, sheepish little smile growing a but bigger. "Y-yes.. I h-have. I was sc-scared you di-didn't like m-me, and I f-felt l-lo-lonely, so i st-started l-leaving gifts, to m-make you... l-like me. I a-avoided you c-cause I w-was scared you di-didn't want t-to see me." Her voice faltered a bit, but she forced herself to square her shoulders and smile more. But the sheepish look stayed on her features. "D-Did you like th-them..?" Her tone was hopeful and tentative as she mewed the question, subconsciously flicking her deaf ear. A stupid habit. Stupid, srstupid, stupid. No. Silverlark wouldn't approve, not of that. He thinks you got over your self hate. Pull it together for him, Flashpaw. Think about being friends, and you'll laugh..ish about this. Yeah.
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@Neptune. [Cinderpaw]

[Neptune.]

Cinderpaw
~<>~
39/100
9 moons || she/her || ShadowClan Apprentice
small black tabby with minimal white markings and 3 legs; amber eyes

Oh... so they'd both been fearing the same thing, that the other didn't actually like them after all. Huh. Maybe they could've avoided the last few moons of awkwardly skirting around each other if one of them had only come up to the other sooner to communicate. Well, lesson learned in that case. Cinderpaw has to stifle a smile at the realization, it was just so absurd to her that she almost laughed.

"I like them, thank you," she signs in gratitude. She'd never really gotten very many gifts before, and had only managed to be the one on the giving end (does momma still have the pinecone? Had it died by now?), but it's surprisingly nice to be on the receiving end as well, and a warm, bubbly feeling sprouts in the tabby's chest now that she knows who had been the one to leave her such things.

Maybe now that they were here and talking, this would be the start to a friendship Cinderpaw and Flashpaw both seemed to desperately need.

"I thought you were avoiding me because you didn't like me, too," Cinderpaw signs a little sheepishly, feeling embarassment creep up into her chest now to coexist with the warmth that wouldn't go away. "I guess we both need some work in the 'making friends' department." She smiles as she signs, hoping that she was coming across well enough. Not every cat in ShadowClan knew sign language, and, on top of that, Cinderpaw has adopted a few unique ways to sign certain things, so she never expects to be understood by every cat, but so far Flashpaw had seemed to know what she was saying, so... maybe she'd be able to tell? Would Cinderpaw need to teach her? It's a little hard to imagine herself teaching anyone anything...

[ @Blaaze ]

[Blaaze]

◇ Flashpaw
◇ The Lost Melody ◇
Purrks: The Collector
____________________

Flashpaw’s little smile grew to a nervous laugh when she noticed how close Cinderpaw herself had come to laughing.. and how she felt too. Oh. Hehe. Flashpaw… wasn’t too good at holding on laughter whenever she did laugh. Ginger tabby tail raised from drooping to neatly curled around her paws, and the sleek feline’s feeling of stupidity blossomed into amusement as she carefully translated each word signed by Cinderpaw in her head. She’d spoken more now that Flashpaw had offered an explanation and some words didn’t seem all that clear but she was pretty sure it was safe to assume some. But as her slight laughter faded her attention wandered to what Cinderpaw had said before. She liked them! A bold of happiness struck through her, the pleasant electrocution brightening her verdant green hues. Help making friends was all she had managed to collect. Alright, well, that was obvious enough. “Y-Yeah. I’m n-not th-the best at th-that yet.. b-but I-I think we.. we get a-along well! M-maybe w-w-we’re Friends. Th-that sounded weird.. I d-Don’t know I-if you’re s-supposed to a-ask to b-be friends or n-not, I-I’ve never made a-a fr-friend. S-so I w-wouldn’t know.” She admitted with a shrug, jade hues cast the nest for a moment. ”Y-you seem a-a bit m-more c-confident th-than last t-time we t-talked.” She complimented thoughtfully. There were less attempts at speaking. Words not coming were relatable, but her stuttering had improved with age. Cinderpaw was improving too. In her own way. The Lost Melody liked that.
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@Neptune. [Cinderpaw]

[Neptune.]

Cinderpaw
~<>~
42/100
9 moons || she/her || ShadowClan Apprentice
small black tabby with minimal white markings and 3 legs; amber eyes

Friends... yes, yes, Cinderpaw liked that word. She'd never had a friend before, not unless you counted Wispypaw, so this was a change. Before, that change might have scared Cinderpaw, and honestly, it still sort of does, but things staying the same forever scared her just a little more. Everything and everyone around her was changing all the time, her family was distant, the grass grew greener, the sky warmer, and the trees fuller until the day where they would hit the precipise and everything would grow cold and dead again. Cinder didn't want to be the only one who never changed, the one left behind.

She's already leaps and bounds behind all her siblings, they all have training, many of them are probably already close to graduating - hell, Sleepysunrise already graduated! And here Cinderpaw was, stationary, with not a lick of training to her name aside from a tour of the old territories. She was falling behind everyone. She didn't want to stay behind forever.

"Thank you," she signs, smiling, pleased that she managed to make the ginger molly laugh. She didn't exactly feel like she was any more confident than she was before, she'd simply accepted that there were some things she might never be able to do again, and if talking was one of those things, then continuing to try was useless. "You do too. How is your training? Is your assessment soon?" She asks, trying to think of what might be good things to talk about... her and Wispy never really spoke to each other, so she didn't know what friends talked about save for the conversations she heard around camp.

[ @Blaaze - flash ]