of trees and avoiding death [p]

[alec]

rookfire had grown more weary of asking for help, now feeling more threatened by everyone that possibly knew more than he did than when he had still been "that one old apprentice" or "the riverrat", as an enforcer he felt like everyone expected perfection, like he had to have taken to all the additional training and completed his warrior training with perfection. he, however, had only had a singular moon of training in shadowclan after moons of severely lacking riverclan warriors had halfheartedly thrown tasks at him once in a while, and he felt like he was far behind the other enforcers. so, the easiest choice was of course to ask another enforcer, not hawkbite or any of the other scary ones, not lostspark because he felt he had been annoying enough for the moon he was under her care, so his options narrowed down enough to make choosing sleepysunrise a quick endeavour.

not unexpected, the other enforcer had agreed, who knew she had gotten to learn how to climb during her apprenticeship, somehow shadowclans superior education still surprised him sometimes. without having the nagging voice in his head telling him that any signs of weakness would immediately make a fellow warrior realise he wasnt good enough to be an enforcer, rookfire now focussed on fearing for his life. he had climbed something once before and it had not been a nice experience. without the pressure of wanting to be perfect, he probably wouldnt have ever tried to learn either. too bad.


[ @Estelle i present to you: a very dramatic title. ]

[Estelle]

The act of teaching; an endeavour she sought to uptake more and more around the clan, and not just with her siblings. As made evident by Rookfire's presence this very day. Hawkbite had once taught how to scale the trees and today she would pass on that information to the older - not younger - enforcer at her side, whom she silently led through the territory. It would practice for her as well, an opportunity to put these climbing lessons to use and refine her own abilities, something she sought to do always, at any given opportunity. She could not expect anything less than perfection of herself, or disaster would strike once more.

Within these, Sleepysunrise was given an option; the option to start out small, a shorter tree with low, easy to reach branches. But none ever got anywhere taking the easiest route, she had learned that over the moons. If she did not challenge herself from the beginning she would amount to nothing, the same applied to everyone - even Rookfire, hence why she chose the taller (though sturdier) option, one whose branches hung higher.

Standing at its base the smaller cat looked up, eyes tracking the path of bark rising up of the tree, before facing he who shall be her student this day. She took a moment to think back to Hawkbite's lesson, one given more through example than words, she recalled. How was she supposed to explain this? Example worked for her, she couldn't trust it to work for the other enforcer.

She paused, thinking deeply as she faced the tree, certainly an odd sight for anyone in their vicinity; but such pensive pauses were not uncommon for the younger one, she was often seen sitting in silence guarding the camp, unmoving and unblinking. A feature that passed on from her youth when she used to wait for mama to return; an element that earned her a moniker of weirdness among the clan, or those who cared to look. To everyone else she was but a ghost with a name.

"Climbing."
She began, breaking the silence with a dull tone.
"You jump up. Hook your claws in the bark. Pull and push yourself up; you will create speed as you go. Like this."
She bunched her back legs, pushing herself off the ground and up against the tree, claws digging into the sturdy trunk which the used to propel herself further up with more grace than she had during her first attempt with Hawkbite, the feeling more familiar this time. Reaching a branch far off the ground, she moved herself upon it, tail a counter weighing for balance until she sat, eyes downcast.
"Come."


[ @alec ]