[AbsurdJinx]

@Duskflight


Featherpaw inched further onto the plateu, fur bristling cautiously. Each step of hers was careful and uneasy, as if the earth might just open up beneath her and launch her into a dark chasm. She frequently searched the area around her, eyes wide and ears swiveling and whiskers twitching. She was alert for anything off, such as the odd rustling of a bush. Featherpaw was still on guard even though the Dusk Syndicate had been scattered. Ever since SkyClan joined the four other Clans, living alongside the Dusk Syndicate, Featherpaw hasn't felt safe in her own home. She was scared a Dusk Syndicate cat or just any other stranger, like a rogue or a loner, could jump out at her any moment, most likely ending her life. She certainly was not strong enough to take on a full-grown outsider - cats who did not fight with mercy - and she was much too frightened of just the possibility of that happening, let alone it happening in reality. Featherpaw felt it was luck she had not attended the Gathering, where she was sure to of been murdered.


The black-and-white she-cat crouched near the center of the plateu, patiently awaiting the arrival of her mentor. In all honesty, Featherpaw adored Grousestar, who had eager taken her on as an apprentice and even trained her at her own pace. Unfortunately, Featherpaw did not believe she would become a warrior alongside her denmates. She was eleven moons old currently, but lacked the skills of an average warrior. Most felines became warriors at twelve moons, so long as they could fight and hunt - both of which Featherpaw sorta failed at. I should just retire to the elders den. Will Grousestar let me do that? Maybe I could be a forever queen, and just help queens raise their kits. No, that means socializing. I suck at socializing. Featherpaw had doubted her place in SkyClan since her arrival as a kit. She didn't think she held a place in the Clan, and should just return to her roots as a kittypet.


She was having trouble making the decision on her own, however, and was debating whether or not she should confide in her mentor or her foster mother. Featherpaw greatly appreciated the support of her adoptive mother, but she seemed to be busy with her other adoptive kits and her biological family. She didn't want to burden her mother-figure with her issues. And Grousestar - she had learned to trust the brown tabby tomcat, but she did not wish to burden him as well. After all, he had leaderly duties to attend to, let alone a self-pitying former kittypet who called herself a warrior apprentice.


Speaking of Grousestar, Featherpaw wondered if she'd come to the training plateu at the correct time. Am I supposed to be here tomorrow, or later today? She feared she'd made a mistake in the date, which would either result in her cowering alone in the forest or Grousestar awaiting his apprentice who had forgotten which day they were supposed to meet. Featherpaw felt sorry for Grousestar, actually, who had taken her on as an apprentice which meant he had to add her own issues onto his own. She couldn't even look the older tom in the eye without panicking, yet she silently hoped he'd never get sick of her and leave her. She looked up to her mentor and relied on him; she trusted him to be there for her, and she hoped it would always be that way, whether she leaves the Clan to become a kittypet or grows into a successful warrior.