RiverClan Clearing

[ghostwriter]

@dinosaur

Larkstripe was not fond of muskrats.

Unfortunately for the elegant ginger warrior, the thin layer of ice barring him from his favored trout and grayling was a bit too precarious to test. He hates the musky scent of damp fur, but hoped that perhaps one of his clanmates would have a particular taste for the rodent, as it was the only prey he was able to gather that morning. He padded into camp and placed his catch on the fresh-kill pile.
Larkstripe huffed irritably and ruffled his pelt against the cold—his coat was no longer than a spring squirrel’s and the cold was beginning to truly wear on the half-Clan tom. His whiskers trembled a bit as he began to meticulously groom himself in an effort to remove the scent of muskrat from his paws.

[Silverfur & Co]

Snowpaw looked at Russetstrike ready to go either do some battle training or to show him her hunting skills that she had. She was ready to do either and was just waiting and twitching her tail excitedly as she watched. The white and black tabby smiled excited for the kits to become paws. She was soon hoping to be a warrior too. She wanted to impress her mentor and Sootstar she was gonna try to be one of the best warriors in river clan. @Wings

[dinosaur]

Burrface was bowed in a half-moon shape, legs shivering from the effort of a stretch as her lips parted in a yawn. Early mornings were getting harder and harder to get on with. She shook out her wild, spiney fur and padded closer to the center of camp.

An offensive stench struck her nose- she recoiled, wrinkling her nose. Looking around for the perpetrator, she huffed exasperatedly. Burrface spotted a pretty tom-cat sitting not too far away, grooming. She made her way over, her brows furrowed and lips pulled into a line. Once she got into a reasonable distance to the tom, she leaned over and sniffed his fur. "Goodness!" Burrface exclaimed. "Were you rolling around in the grass with them?" She meowed, raising a paw to cover her nose.
@ghostwriter

[Wings]

[ @Silverfur & Co ]
-Russetstrike-

"Snowpaw, before we go out how much training have you had?" He needed to know if she was mostly experience or not. Some mentors in the clan had neglected their apprentices so much they were like kits straight out of the nursery with their training progress.

[ghostwriter]

@dinosaur

Larkstripe let out a soft chuff of amusement, “One would think. They are my least favorite quarry for this particular reason. I would rather leave the pursuit of smelly rodents to ThunderClan and ShadowClan. I am a fisher, not a rat wrestler...but unfortunately, it was all I could find.” He replied, his voice a cool and measured lilt. He offered the newcomer a gentle smile, “I apologize for disturbing your morning with said smelly rodents. New leaf and spawning trout cannot come soon enough.”

[Silverfur & Co]

Originally Posted by Wings

[ @Silverfur & Co ]
-Russetstrike-

"Snowpaw, before we go out how much training have you had?" He needed to know if she was mostly experience or not. Some mentors in the clan had neglected their apprentices so much they were like kits straight out of the nursery with their training progress.

She answers honestly "only a bit of hunting training like working in my crouch and pouncing and stuff like that" she looks down saddened about this and looks at him again. "I wish I had more training." She mews. She felt bad she couldn't help the clan right now most she could do was hunt. She looked at Russetstrike and sighed. @Wings

[dinosaur]

Burrface nodded in agreement. "The icy ground is hard on my paws, the water is even worse." She mused. "I worry for the young ones of our clan. Now that Cattail Pond has frozen over, who knows which troublemakers may venture out onto the fragile ice." . Burrface shook her head and sighed. "I don't want to bury any more apprentices."

The older molly settled onto her rump beside Larkstripe. "No need to apologize, we all need to eat." She looked him up and down. "Ah, I recognize you now, Larkstripe! Could've sworn were a milky-breathed bab just a couple moons ago." She smiled affectionately.
@ghostwriter

[ghostwriter]

@dinosaur

Larkstripe hadn't considered this predicament yet, and found the thought appalling. But Burrface was right--it was exactly the kind of thing his peers might've done when he was apprentice. He of course, would've begged them to reconsider.
"Hm, you're right...that would be truly awful. Maybe it would be worth asking Sootstar to issue a warning." he mused, his tone suddenly quite serious as he considered this.
He chuckled aloud, bright and melodious, steam curling around his muzzle, "Ha, well, I will take that as a compliment, if it means I am aging well!" he joked lightly, "And I recall you as well...Burrface. It's a shame I haven't been able to really connect with my clanmates lately, I feel like I'm always putting out proverbial fires or wrestling muskrats these days--but, when I received a warrior name I signed up for it, so who am I to complain?"
(I'm loving that the RiverClan wine moms are uniting.)

[dinosaur]

Burrface seemed delighted that Larkstripe took her worries seriously. She puffed her chest, and nodded in agreement. "Yes yes, I think you're quite right. Sootstar has their paws full nowadays, but when I get a chance I may run it by them." Burrface purred.

She chortled in response to his words. "It's the beauty of being a Riverclan Warrior! Never bored here, are we?"

She looked back at Larkstripe, giving him a long stare. His face and speech made her grow nostalgic. "You know, hun, I remember your mother. She was a great warrior." Burrface looked down at her paws. "After everything went down with her and that Windclan fellow, well... It wasn't an easy life for her." She sighed.

"You remind me of her, kid."

@ghostwriter

[ghostwriter]

@dinosaur

The soft-spoken warrior's features softened exponentially, and he tilted his head to the side in rather endearing wistfulness.
"I miss her very much," Larkstripe confessed, his charmed lilt growing low and punctuated, like the low crackle of a fire, "I'm...I'm glad someone else remembers her. It's been a while since I heard her name outside of my own thoughts. I could not be more honored that you see me in her..." he trailed off, with a nostalgic smile, "Sorreltail and Reedstep had everything in their own respect...esteemed and beloved warriors, whose only fault was falling in love," he chuckled softly and shook his head, "I like to imagine that they are together in StarClan. I know that may sound overly sentimental, but...sometimes it helps to think that strife and suffering was not the end for them."