Smallpines

[taillow]

Cindersky
Blue hues followed the young apprentice as she began to poke at the ground, digging up sand to get to the small glint. Cindersky had seen it, but it would be a much more enjoyable find for Mistpaw. She seemed to really be enjoying their outing, and the gray spotted she-cat was glad that she could offer some support in the form of a shiny shell excursion. It would give both of them something to occupy their mind, and Cindersky for one appreciated that her thoughts were not on the chaotic current state of ThunderClan.

Leaving Mistpaw to her excavating, Cindersky turned to the shoreline to study where the water gently lapped at the small out outcropping. Nothing of interest captured her attention yet, and for a moment she allowed herself to be entranced by the flowing stream. It was quite beautiful, despite the frosty chill that settled in the air around her. Puffs of air billowed from her maw as her gaze shifted along to examine each little detail. It was hard to detect at first, but with the sun in just the right angle Cindersky managed to locate what could quite possibly be a shell.

A smile dotted her face as she moved towards it, paws already curved to work at tossing away the sand. It was half in the water, and with each dig Cindersky would bring her paw up to flick off the excess droplets. A few more scoops and soon a pretty slightly pinkish shell could be seen. She scooped her head down and retried it, giving it and her head a shake. Water rolled down her whiskers and fell with a 'blip!' back into the stream. This would be an excellent addition, she was sure.

Just as she turned to reveal her results, she noticed Mistpaw doing the same. The warrior let out a 'mrrp!' of contentedness, giving her companion an eager nod. Cindersky dropped her shell into waiting paws, beginning to rinse it off alongside Mistpaw. "That one is exquisitely beautiful! You really have a knack for finding shells!" Pride seeped into her tone as she turned to look at the shell, then at Mistpaw.

@Jayvines

[Jayvines]

~Mistpaw~

It looked like Cindersky had found a nice shell too and Mistpaw practically beamed at her praise. Placing the small shell gentle onto the sand in front of her, Mistpaw's excitement at being recognized for her skills by someone outside of her family tumbled out in a slough of words. "My mom said I'm the best collector she's ever seen! Bushpaw and Rainypaw think it's silly, but I find so many pretty things and they make my nest look nice!" Perhaps there was some over-exaggeration in this tumultuous response, but the young apprentice was too enthralled with her shell collecting partner to care. "And now we could give Dogbark TWO shells to restart his collection, do you think he'll like them? I hope he likes them. I left a nice shiny black feather for Icicleripple when I remade all the nests in the medicine cat den but she..."

Oh.

Mistpaw trailed off and deflated slightly as her her mind caught up with her words after spouting so much at once. Icicleripple hadn't even gotten to see that feather... Blinking the misty sadness from her eyes that seemed to accumulate whenever she thought about the past medicine cat, the grey apprentice attempted to refocus on the prospect of shells. This was her first time finding shells, so she should be trying to figure out all the best spots and... and where to find different colours... not being sad.

Her slowly drooping tail betrayed her mood, but Mistpaw tried to give the older warrior in front of her a bit of a forced grin before turning around to halfheartedly poke at the sand some more.

More shells. She needed more shells. Then Dogbark would be happy, and others could see and maybe tell her their favorite things and she could make more cats happy. Not sad. She didn't like this heavy feeling of sad. It made her feel ill.

Spotting another glint in the sand by her paws, Mistpaw pushed away the tiny granules to reveal... well it was another small clam shell, but it had been broken in half. It's jagged edges would be to sharp for paws to step on comfortably, so she carefully plucked it out of he ground and placed it in a more visible spot by the water.

@tulle

[taillow]

Cindersky
It was a marvelous thing, to watch how a cats eyes lit up as they talked about something of which they loved. Cindersky found herself enamored by Mistpaw, purring lightly as her smile grew and gaze sparkled. Even though she had no apprentice of her own, the spotted senior warrior liked to think of all the youth in ThunderClan as her apprentice to an extent. Sure, she might not have them for one on one teaching, but at least she got these small, seemingly insignificant moments that hopefully eased the stress placed on their shoulders.

”She is certainly right! You did such an excellent job finding this one!” Cindersky exclaimed, bending down and stretching her neck out to get a closer look. It was smooth and shiny, and one that Dogbark would certainly take a liking to. She admired the sparkling beauty of it, ears twitching as Mistpaw talked about how she liked to decorate her nest with pretty findings. It was something Cindersky recalled doing in her younger apprentices days, before Ivythorn had commented on what a waste of time it was. She had stopped then, but now seeing young Mistpaw, it was good to see that some young cats did not let the voices of others so heavily influence their lives.

”I bet you have the prettiest nest in all of the apprentices’ den,” Cindersky purred, standing back up and using a slender paw to scoot her shell closer to where Mistpaw had hers. As blue hues shifted up towards Mistpaw, the attempt to dissuade the senior warrior from seeing what true emotion lay beyond the surface was in vein. She had many moons of experience in detangling cryptic expressionless masks thanks to her siblings, and her heart squeezed a bit in pain.

Sliding up so that she was next to Mistpaw, watching the younger cats paws go to work at the sand, Cindersky let out a soft sigh. ”It is okay to be sad. I miss her too. She was a wonderful medicine cat.” Gentle and soft, hoping to float down like wings of a dove and comfort Mistpaw, Cindersky tipped her head a bit to one side. ”I am certain, that even from her place among the stars she saw your wonderful gift, and her heart is evermore full because of it.” It was a nice theory that Cindersky liked to view; that even after their passing, cats still looked down on those honored them, and thought of them in their day-to-day lives.

As Mistpaw carefully navigated the jagged looking shell from the sand, Cindersky stood by in case there happened to be a paw scrape and she needed to make a dash for cobwebs. It fell into the water where they could both see it clearly. It was broken, yes, but to Cindersky that did not matter. ”Even broken things are beautiful,” she murmured, pressing her pelt against her companions in comfort. ”The jagged edges look sharp, but see the shimmer? See how it still has its sparkle? Whatever caused it to break, did not steal that. Not a force in this forest, nor in the sky, could ever take that away from it.”

@Jayvines

[Mistletoe]

Originally Posted by Dawnfallstar

"Then let's go." Leafwind mewed.

[So sorry for the late reply! Been super busy, but it’s totally my fault! I know it’s getting late so if you just wanna speed right on to the end that’s perfectly ok with me We can say we’re late because the border was so faint.]

~Mallardstep~

The black tom was surprised by Leafwind’s sudden remark. He probably should have expected it. He was acting like a kit after all. He tried to suck it up for a bit, something he didn’t do often. He felt he had to make it up to Leafwind for complaining so heavily.

He speed up to catch up with her. I didn’t even realize I had fallen behind. However he quickly had to stop to mark a tree. Wow not marking the borders can really create a problem. He thought with an annoyed sigh.

[Dawnfallstar]

Originally Posted by Mistletoe

[So sorry for the late reply! Been super busy, but it’s totally my fault! I know it’s getting late so if you just wanna speed right on to the end that’s perfectly ok with me We can say we’re late because the border was so faint.]

~Mallardstep~

The black tom was surprised by Leafwind’s sudden remark. He probably should have expected it. He was acting like a kit after all. He tried to suck it up for a bit, something he didn’t do often. He felt he had to make it up to Leafwind for complaining so heavily.

He speed up to catch up with her. I didn’t even realize I had fallen behind. However he quickly had to stop to mark a tree. Wow not marking the borders can really create a problem. He thought with an annoyed sigh.

As they reach the end of the border Leafwind slows down and does a marker as she did not do many. "Are ok" She asked.

[Mistletoe]

Originally Posted by Dawnfallstar

As they reach the end of the border Leafwind slows down and does a marker as she did not do many. "Are ok" She asked.

~Mallardstep~

Mallardstep hurries to catch up with the molly. She hadn’t done many markers and his tail flicked from side to side with annoyance. What did I do to make Starclan so angry with me? He complained silently to himself.

“Yes I’m fine. Just freezing to death! Let’s hurry back to camp ok?” He puffed up his thin, short pelt in a failed attempt to get warmer.

[Dawnfallstar]

Originally Posted by Mistletoe

~Mallardstep~

Mallardstep hurries to catch up with the molly. She hadn’t done many markers and his tail flicked from side to side with annoyance. What did I do to make Starclan so angry with me? He complained silently to himself.

“Yes I’m fine. Just freezing to death! Let’s hurry back to camp ok?” He puffed up his thin, short pelt in a failed attempt to get warmer.

"Ok." She mewed walking back to camp.

[Mistletoe]

Originally Posted by Dawnfallstar

"Ok." She mewed walking back to camp.

~Mallardstep~

The black tom followed her. He was already dreaming of the warm nest he’d collapse in.

[Will Leafwind report to Dogheart or should Mallardstep?]

[Dawnfallstar]

Originally Posted by Mistletoe

~Mallardstep~

The black tom followed her. He was already dreaming of the warm nest he’d collapse in.

[Will Leafwind report to Dogheart or should Mallardstep?]

Mallardstep

[Mistletoe]

Originally Posted by Dawnfallstar

Mallardstep

Okey dokey! He’s gonna be a bit rude about it, just know I don’t share his sentiment