ShadowClan Clearing

[Cobra]

// @Greenleap

Goldenfeather muttered to herself as she sat in the clearing. "Stupid...listen...pay attention..." She lifted her head up, and saw Raccoonkit. "Hi," Goldenfeather meowed, uncertain what else to say. "Want...to 'play'?"

[Dovey]

Originally Posted by Greenleap

Raccoonkit padded around the new clearing. He was lonely and bored!

"Hi there!" Raven kit mew'd. "Wanna play mossball?" He asked.

[Greenleap]

@Mando @Hobbes

He glanced at the two cats before mewing, "How about we all play mossball?"

[nocturnal]

// @DaniCalifornia - Welcome to WCO! If you want Moonhowl to speak or acknowledge Talonstone, then go ahead. If not, you can ignore this post.

The frosty tom turned once he dismissed the patrol members, but he paused before making his way through the clearing. There were eyes on him... a cat was watching, someone that he had paid little attention to in the past. The large warrior glared at silver-furred she who was seemingly grooming her fur. He felt the need to scoff, but refrained from doing so - Talonstone valued his formality. Moonhowl should know not to groom during the day. There was work to do, and that came first before looking well-kept. He said nothing to the cat, however, showing no emotion as he continued onwards. If she wished to speak to him, then she would find a way to direct his attention eventually.

[Cobra]

// @Hobbes @Greenleap

Goldenfeather studied the kits, not knowing what to make of them. She didn't have that much...experience with kits. "Yes, let's play," she purred.

[Greenleap]

Originally Posted by Mando

// @Hobbes @Greenleap

Goldenfeather studied the kits, not knowing what to make of them. She didn't have that much...experience with kits. "Yes, let's play," she purred.

"yay!" He mewed happily.

[Ziera]

// @bmkmb | @Finpaw

Sparkpaw jumped out of her nest when she heard the voice of Talonstone, her mentor, the way a kit might if they were caught doing something wrong. Oh no. Did she really miss the patrols? She just went to sleep for a second. Spark would have continued sleeping, too, if she didn't know her mentor better by now.

Over their short time training together, Spark quickly learned that he meant every word he said. The cream apprentice bet a whole fox he'd leave her at camp if she wasn't on time. The fact that she didn't know what a zenith was only made her more paranoid she might be left behind. Did that mean five minutes? A couple seconds? An hour? StarClan.

Sparkpaw skittered out of the den, scanned the clearing a moment before her blue eyes landed on Talonstone and another apprentice. "I'm ready, I'm ready!" Spark called out, rapidly blinking sleep from her eyes and pretending no one heard her voice crack from not being in use. When she stumbled to a stop beside the large white tom, the one she'd been trying to impress but failed miserably at every turn, Sparkpaw looked at her paws. "...Sorry." For being late. For missing the announcements. She... really hadn't been all the way back to herself since Highbranch. Not aware she might be interrupting, Sparkpaw asked -- "Ummm- where are we going?"

[Finpaw]

@bmkmb @Redtalon

Finpaw was quick to join up with his patrolmates- well, single patrolmate, once the assignments were given. He watched curiously as Talonstone ducked into the apprentices’ den, snapping clipped instructions to what was presumably his apprentice, and couldn’t help the simultaneous twinges of sympathy and jealousy. While he hoped Sparkpaw didn’t feel too bad about the light chiding, a part of him wished that he’d been afforded a mentor who cared enough about him to go on patrols or train or bother ordering him around at all.

Thoroughly sombered, he followed Talonstone over to the camp entrance to wait. So lost in thought, he was, that he almost missed the question that followed.

“Hm?” Finpaw mrr’ed, blinking up at the warrior. “Oh! Sorry sir, I hadn’t- my mentor, you said?” He looked away sheepishly, then, shuffling his paws in discomfort. “He, um... I don’t really have one anymore, I guess. He kinda.. went away, after I was assigned to him. So I’ve just been waiting to be given a new one, which, as you can probably guess, hasn’t really been a priority with everything else going on lately.”

Any time he talked about it, Finpaw couldn’t shake the feeling that his mentors’ absences all had to do with him, and how he must be performing as an apprentice. Two mentors, two warriors that took one look at him then vanished off the face of the earth. How else was he supposed to take that?

Thankfully, Sparkpaw chose that moment to come scrambling up and save Finpaw from his self-pity fest. Brightening considerably, he offered her the best reassuring smile he could. “No need to apologize! You’re here now, and that’s what counts. We’ve all been kinda needing the extra sleep lately, anyway.” He glanced aside to Talonstone, briefly, to hopefully gauge that the warrior wasn’t too upset with him for jumping to console Sparkpaw.

“We’re going on a hunting patrol today! So, I guess that answer really depends on where Talonstone wants to take us…?”

[nocturnal]

[ @Redtalon @Finpaw ]

Talonstone watched, seemingly unimpressed, as his apprentice stumbled to a stop beside him. He wasn't annoyed at her tardiness, not at all. Things had been rough in the shadows lately and he understood how that might affect Sparkpaw. The younger feline really had been sleeping, the warrior could deduct from the crack in her voice and rapid blinking. He was less concerned with her missing the announcements and more concerned about whether she had been sleeping enough lately. The frosty tom was aware that he was one of those more demanding mentors. He hadn't been resting much, either, although that never stopped him from working dawn 'til dusk if possible.

Sorry? Oh, how Talonstone despised that word. He would've opened to his maw to reassure his apprentice that she had nothing to apologize for, but Finpaw beat him to it. Sorry didn't mean anything; the warrior was content as long as Sparkpaw could acknowledge her mistake and try to avoid repeating it. He nodded slightly in the older apprentice's direction, then meowed, "Should you ever feel as if you need more training, know that you may seek me out." Talonstone himself had gone through three and a half mentors, half because it hadn't been made official. Then, addressing both the apprentices: "As Finpaw stated, we will be leaving on a hunting patrol. There is a small grove past a shallow stream that is plentiful with prey at the moment. Said grove is our destination. Come."

With that, the warrior padded into the forest, trusting that Sparkpaw and Finpaw were following. He could sense their presence behind him. After a while of trekking in silence, Talonstone inquired, "Finpaw, how much do you know about hunting?" Seeing that he had only taken Sparkpaw hunting once, he might need to turn his attention onto the cream she for a good part of the patrol.

[They will be crossing the stream on their way to the grove. Who would like their cat to be slapped by a fish? And whoever posts next, make sure to do so in the territory.]

[Caramel]

Three days had passed since his consversation with Shrewpaw and he was still thinking about that idea, a group of cats all over the clans trying to get rid of their leaders to take over, Falcondive and Blackhaze running it all, or maybe someone else and Blackhaze or maybe someone else and Falcondive, who else was in this group? Crowskip? Lilackit? Shrikepaw? Beatspark? Ebonyfang? Twilightstar? How big was this group even? What if their working with rogues or with kittypets? The dark forest? Some other group of cats? Do any of the leaders know about this? I mean Twilightstar's evil enough, she's the reason my siblings are dead! With that sort of power working with them they would surely succeed! He must stop them!Sparrowpaw thought, he had just uncovered something big. Should i tell Dawnstar? She'd surely thank me for it! Who else could be in it? Shrewpaw mentionned Darkpaw, what about her? he considered. I mean she was kinda related to two traitors!
Sparrowpaw sighed before noticing Darkpaw in the clearing, getting startled a little. He seemed to just stare at the she-cat for some time, considering if he should talk to that traitor. @Stardustt