The she-cat would never recover from this instant. Mentally. Her pelt prickled as his tail was laid over her spine, reminding her of when they first met—and of her I-O-U.
Oh dear.
She could act nonchalant! This was nothing. Forcibly smoothing her fur, she cleared her throat. "They're still quite young... But considering the clear absence of a disciplinarian... Well." There was a brief pause accompanied by silence before she copied his gesture, her tail lightly settling on his back too.
Her voice lowered to a mere whisper and she spoke, "I'm going to sound dense, but. Were you poking fun at me, or were you... Um. Serious just now?" Cedarstrike wasn't usually one to beat around any bush, but attention in this respect seemed to make her sheepish and unsure of herself.
Mountaintalon simply hummed in response to her initial words. There wasn't much to be said there that hadn't already been voiced. The rapscallions clearly needed a better minder.
With her question, however, he inclined his head and smiled. "I don't make a habit of making fun of cats I take a liking to, my dear. Yes, of course I'm being serious."
heavily scarred & skinny black tom with white speckles; cloudy light amber eyes. walks with a prominent limp & has protruding fangs that overlap his bottom lip.
content + interaction warning : this character frequently explores themes of mental health, complex trauma, and abuse
the silent ticked on, for a moment he thought he missed the sound of pawsteps fading away and was simply staring into nothingness until he heard it. a quiet shuffle, someone settling next to him.
wormbite attempted to hold out hope that perhaps the apprentice would simply stay in silence, simply trying to get a spot in the crowd. of course, this was vanished when the thunderclanner piped up with questions of all things. his expression kept blank, but he hunched down slightly — as if maybe if he was smaller, she would stop paying attention to him.
he gave a short nod in response, figuring there was no use in lying when riverclan had a rather distinct scent. he kept his gaze fixated to the ground, attempting to focus to hear if any of the leaders were speaking.
".. damp, yes. perhaps more.. mucky near where we fish, but even then the floor typically consists of sand or gravel. depends on the area. " he answered after a while, keeping his answers short and non-descriptive. the less a thunderclanner knew the better, but how .. soggy riverclan was wasn't particularly useful. besides, it was far from boggy. the streams and the rivers - ponds; lakes, they were all much more pleasant than such a word like boggy implied.
wormbite's ear twitched as fadingstar begun to speak. brief, but works. no one seemed to be complaining too much.
after a while, he finally prompted the apprentice, ".. shouldn't you go sit with your mentor?" wasn't that the typical standard? at least for younger apprentices. he was offering a way out.
★ ULTIMATE PREDATOR ★ JUST A SCRATCH ★ SHADOW FIEND ★ SURVIVAL INSTINCTS
Her early apprentice days were often busy and overwhelming, and Gorseflower took everything so seriously. Sometimes the tabby would worry until her stomach was in knots. But having Rabbit around always made her feel calmer. A faint smile spread across her muzzle as she thought back to their younger days. Rabbitfur could be such a mouse-brain, but Gorseflower couldn't deny that he's always been kind and devoted, too. Back then she was even more difficult to deal with, but Rabbit never seemed to mind. He always seemed to enjoy it, in fact. Gorseflower couldn't deny she didn't love it too.
"Eh, I guess you did turn out okay," she mewed teasingly, bumping her shoulder against his. "Eventually." She watched with amusement as Daffodil continued her very enthusiastic conversation with another young cat.
A light chuckle rumbled in her throat when Rabbitfur mentioned finding another cat to appreciate her energy. "Oh, definitely," she purred in agreement before continuing. "But you can always just bombard a cat with nonstop energy until you wear 'em down too, right, Rabbit?" She gazed at her mate through narrowed eyes, a hint of adoration in her bright green eyes. She always loved Rabbitfur's energy. It almost never failed to bring up the energy of those around him. But she also loved teasing him too. Their playful banter kept Gorseflower feeling young.
A purr rolled in the she-cat´s throat. ´´Deer are usually calm, I suppose.´´
The silver-and-black warrior shook her head. ´´Unfortunately, I did not. Bumblestar didn´t choose me to go. However, I did stand guard back at camp.´´
[ @kittycatburmise - she wasnt submitted back then, so im making things up. ]
Doeflame
"I s'pose," Doeflame said. "They're not really aggressive, but the best warriors are usually calm and not picking fights, right? Then you meet them in battle and their claws are to your throat before you can say 'mouse'." Of course, deer didn't fight- she didn't think they did, anyway. If faced with danger they ran away. But she wasn't going to compare herself to that part of their nature.
Doeflame made a sympathetic face at Silverleopard's next statement. "Shame. Guarding camp doesn't come close to the excitement of a battle. Especially such a bloody one. We didn't lose any cats, I don't think, but there were heaps of dead fish. You should have seen it, they ran away with their tails between their legs." She remembered the cat she had been fighting, who certainly had her tail between her legs. She should count herself lucky she wasn't one of the dead; Doeflame had been in a good position to kill her at one time. Fortunately for her, that wasn't how she rolled. Instead she had made her think she would kill her. Much more fun.