brewing storm

[Fawn]

Palequiver -

Palequiver’s ears perked at the sound of a verbal scuffle, fine-tuned to anything Coldpaw, and that was unmistakeably his voice. That tight, almost-childish strained little whine that he made on the precipice of a tantrum, so in the preceding moment, she was on her paws. Seeking him out like a honing missile.

“Coldpaw, dearie!” Palequiver first called, then it dropped into a greeting when she stumbled upon the scene. “Oh, there you are. I’ve been looking everywhere.” Her warmth thinned, muzzle pressing straighter as she regarded what was before her: Coldpaw, agitated, and some other irrelevant apprentice similarly-bristled over a particular spot in the clearing, presumably.

Her boy was better than that.

With a flick of her tail, she gestured towards the territory, distant stormclouds an afterthought. “Come along, Coldpaw. We have training to attend to. Let’s not fuss over unimportant matters.”

@BEAR.

[BEAR.]

This, this, this---! UGH, they were so lucky Mentor arrived when she did, Coldpaw might actually waste braincells coming up with an insult!

He'd swish his tail, but they weren't worth him ruining his pristine curl. He scoffed instead and began to head out of camp, ready to do something better. "Training. What ever are we covering today, Mentor?" He gave the sky a hard side-eye. "Hopefully not anything to do with those dreary clouds."

[ @Fawn ]

[Fawn]

Palequiver -

Palequiver fell into step with him, a pace behind, his diligent shadow. “Today, an expedition into the territory,” she informed him, “during which I recommend mentally cataloguing ShadowClan’s landmarks as we proceed along the border lines. It would be rather embarrassing to get lost in your own territory as a warrior, would it not?”

Her gaze lifted. The clouds were moving in faster than she had anticipated, but perhaps that wouldn’t be such a terrible thing for her darling Coldpaw to experience… Not that she wished to cause his suffering—certainly not—but learning to navigate the terrain in harsher conditions could prove useful.

Tucking away the thought for later, Palequiver’s response was a simple indulgent purr, “Always so vigilant, but those clouds are nothing to fret over.”

The pair ventured towards the separation between ShadowClan and RiverClan. “Saltmeadow Marsh. An eyesore, but there’s little we can do to amend that.” She let out a sigh, reluctantly moving on from woes over the land’s aesthetic value. “If you were bravely leading a band of cats on patrol, tell me—what would you do upon reaching the border?”

@BEAR.

[BEAR.]

Coldpaw couldn't dream of being lost. This was him, after all. Warrior extraordinaire or something; all he knew is he was great. "I won't get lost, Mentor."

"Those clouds look awful stormy..." it was hard to focus on their task today when rainfall seemed immenient. He hoped they were done before it came, if he got caught in bad weather he'd make sure she never heard the last of it!

Coldpaw eyed the small river of Saltwater Marsh skeptically. If it were up to him he wouldn't touch the damn thing, but.. "If the border is along the waterline, I would simply have them rub against what brush they could and watch their step." He expected a better question from her, and didn't see the point in this one. "Are we done? What's the next spot, Mentor?"

[ @Fawn ]

[Fawn]

Palequiver -

As usual, her apprentice spared not a moment in demonstrating his capability. The familiar surge of pride and dread tumbled in Palequiver but was quickly buried as she gave a brief nod.

"Precisely, a suitable enough approach. If one is simply doing the bare minimum, anyway." The slight barb was clipped, a remnant of her resentment over Coldpaw's growing independence, and she continued, prompting him, "And if there is a RiverClan patrol on the other side of the river? These are the kinds of complications that may befall one such patrol leader who carries their ego like a second tail."

Palequiver allowed him an opportunity to respond but moved onward in continuation of their journey to the next landmark. “Or, consider,” her eyes rose towards the sky, passively absorbing the swirl of stormclouds rolling towards ShadowClan, “the possibility of inclement weather. Saltmeadow Marsh can be treacherous in the wrong conditions.”

@BEAR.

[BEAR.]

A whish of his tail. "Surely the border being marked if it's so dangerous should be considered a feat in of itself." At this point Mentor was just being nitpicky, and Coldpaw didn't appreciate it in the slightest. "The fish aren't a problem unless they start something, or our Dear Leader has instructed us to do so. If one of our own is foolhardy enough to cause problems I would let them drown." Same went with the weather, sink or swim, baby. "All these issues you bring up are non, Mentor. Do better."

[ @Fawn ]

[Fawn]

Palequiver -

Palequiver suppressed the exaggerated sigh that remained a fraction of patience away from spilling out her clenched muzzle. Her apprentice, in all his spirited glory, was perhaps a bit much at times. “Let us move on,” she replied to defuse it, though ice laced her dismissal of his attitude.

Hopefully, this was better for him.

"Darkwater Mire," Palequiver acknowledged with the slightest indication, a twitch of her ear towards the sprawling mire before them where fog rolled across its murk. "A decent hunting prospect, and ripe with the fruits of nature's labor. I must advise you not to eat them without Medicine Cat's approval." However, she didn't move to enter the swampland properly, merely passing by on their stretch to the next destination. They hadn't time to dilly-dally, not with the storm inching closer.

@BEAR.

[BEAR.]

"Now this is what I'm talking about." Sedgewater, bor-ring! Darkwater Mire, now that sounded interesting. Coldpaw was irked they spent less time here than the stupid border, who cared about RiverClan when they could explore the depths of ShadowClan? Mind his steps, of course - he couldn't get too dirty. "You in a rush now, Mentor? Where was this with the fish?"

[ @Fawn ]

[Fawn]

Palequiver -

Palequiver's muzzle pursed into a thinned line, though her pace slowed to sweep her gaze over Darkwater Mire as if looking for something notable she had missed.

"Do you not wish to learn the limits of ShadowClan territory?" Palequiver asked, her voice held in a higher, questioning register as if she needed him to justify why a grimy swamp was more important than ensuring he knew literal boundaries and concluded this outing before the storm he'd so aptly pointed out would be upon them.

Perhaps she should've seen this coming.

The tip of her tail flicked upon relenting to what she assumed would be a momentary pause. "By all means," she gave the briefest flick of her head, indicating the mire, "if you would like to venture into the muck, I am not one to stop your precious fur from a fate of bog filth."

@BEAR.

[BEAR.]

"Did I say I didn't, Mentor?" Coldpaw would have raised his brow at her, but didn't want to give her the satisfaction. "You spent so much time yapping about the river rats I anticipated the same for every spot." Maybe she was scared of the fish, and thus felt the need to linger on them. Interesting.

The thought of bog filth in his fur made it itch. He shifted his weight, scoffing. "Where to next?"

[ @Fawn ]