RiverClan Clearing

[vellichor]

// @wnder

Woollyflame
________

The Somali watched as Sootflare walked forward and announced patrols. Ooh, pity. He wasn’t hinting. Ouch, or doing border. Eh, that was alright, there was always next time. With a quick nod of his head toward the deputy, Woollyflame began to head out by himself, until — what, huh? Looking back, the warrior paused to listen. Tunnels? Cool. He quickly padded toward Sootflare, not wanting to keep the important cat waiting. "Ready to go when you are," he spoke, nodding.

[Elementals]

~Splashfury of RC~

Splashfury waited her turn before going up to the leader. "Good afternoon, Lionstar. The herb patrol went well though some of the herbs managed to get into the water so we took a bit longer to make sure that we all get a good sized haul of herbs." she informed as she carefully rearranged the poppy flowers so the they were sideways but the seeds wouldn't fall out. The black and orange striped cat stepped back while offering the apprentices to say anything they wanted to the leader.

{ @BILL. @soot @TheShadowAnimal }

[Ziera]

// @soot

Ottersplash’s smile widened. Before this, he hadn’t known anything about her, but Sootpaw was… kinda cute. “That’s technically blackmail,” he pointed out with dramatic flourish. “Your sweet, innocent front is the perfect cover—no one would believe me if I told them!” Otter chuckled, and this time the sound was feather-light. “But ya know, I could manage a trip to Lionsrange. First, your paw, though.”

After the hazel-eyed she-cat gave him an out, Ottersplash scoffed.

“You know, I think I’ve done enough warrior things today,” he said, giving the meanie rocks a scathing look, as if doing so would make them rethink their life choices. Otter turned back to Soot. “Besides. It’s the least I can do for my rock-rescuer.”

[Ziera]

// @TheShadowAnimal

Brightkit squeaked in surprise when Frostpaw noticed him. The soot puffball had been trying his very best to be quiet!! Even so, she heard him all the same. Or maybe she smelled him? Bright smiled warmly; Frostpaw was so talented! Oh well. Since he’d been discovered, there was nothing to lose, right?

“I’m reeeeaaddddyyyy!” Brightkit used his muscles like little springs, jumping with the goal of trapping Frostpaw’s tail between his sheathed paws.

[Ziera]

Originally Posted by StealthWarrior

"Yes please." Bluepaw said, "I would prefer to leave now." it was hard to contain her excitement, but it was early and she didn't want to give anyone a headache

Stormtalon nodded approvingly at the apprentice’s readiness. A good sign. “Before we leave, a quick test. I want you to name every RiverClan territory you can think of. It’s understandable if you can’t remember all of them…just do the best you can.”

[Ziera]

// @Zesty Mango [Hope this works! Let me know if you'd like something different~]

Brightkit’s older brother—spoiler of all fun and happiness—kicked him out of the elder’s den. Again. Okay, yeah, Bright knew he’d kinda ignored his chores… but STILL. Why couldn’t Stormtalon let him do all that unimportant stuff later? It was so boring, especially when Bright could be chatting with funny cats instead. Huffing out quite the big sigh for such a little tom, Brightkit padded into the clearing, black tail dragging behind.

He felt the claws of depression sink into his pelt for all of five seconds, brief because next to the fresh kill pile sat a calico she-cat all alone. The name jumped into Bright's head instantly: Fennelheart! They'd never met- but the tom-kit heard some rumors about her.

See, Brightkit could finish his chores, but… he dearly loved to grace unsuspecting cats with his presence. Stormtalon couldn’t even be mad, since the she-cat wasn’t in the Elder’s den! Technically Bright was following orders.

Deciding that this was far more important than his nursery tasks, the coal-puffball padded towards Fennelheart, smiling broadly. “Hey!” he mewed in a high-pitched squeak when close enough. “Are you really from SkyClan?”

[Fawn]

Originally Posted by Redtalon

// @Dipper

Ottersplash was in one of his good moods—the kind he got right before doing something spontaneous. His fur prickled with anticipation of something. That was, until some cat asked if he wouldn’t mind going on an unofficial hunting patrol, cause the fresh kill pile needed some love. He had several ideas of how to spend the nice, sunny afternoon—but hunting wasn’t one of them.

Eh—whatever. Otter could still salvage it; making the best of things was what he did best. For instance. It wasn’t exactly rebelling to, ya know, hunt in a location he wanted to hunt in, right? Say—Lionsbeach? And it wasn’t a bad thing to bring another cat he enjoyed being around. Why would it be? As long as they spent some of their time hunting, who cared how fun the trip was?

When he was ready to leave, Otter emerged from the warrior’s den. He watched cats come and go in the clearing, trying to decide which one he wanted to spend an afternoon alongside.

After a moment of searching, Ottersplash caught sight of Frozenpaw. Hmmm. That could be interesting. Otter hadn’t talked much with them, so he didn’t really have a good read on their personality yet. But—wasn’t that the fun of it? Spontaneity? Going with your gut feeling? Whatever they ended up being like, Otter was optimistic he’d be able to match their energy. Sometimes it just took the right icebreaker, or maybe a ridiculous joke thrown in for good measure and boom: new friend.

Ottersplash scanned the clearing around them, cautious only till it was pretty clear Lionstar wouldn’t like… jump out of a bush or something in protest. Then? He decided to just go for it. If they weren’t comfortable, Frozenaw could just tell him, and that would be fine. But besides the whole being spontaneous thing, it would be kinda nice to know them a little more.

“Hey there, Frozenpaw!” Ottersplash padded towards them with a wide grin on his face. Despite the two being pretty much acquaintances, his tone was warm and carefree, as if he was talking to a good friend. Sunlight sparkled in Otter’s honey-eyes when he raised a cat-brow. “Up for a little adventure? As in hunting. I'd get too bored if I went alone.”

Frozenpaw was still alive, still existing--but that was about the extent of what they could say of their condition. Hanging in there, it was the phrase that came to mind with the curious and pitying looks of their clanmates. They hated the staring. That was often what chased them back into the apprentices' den, whether those gazes were real or imaginary. The stares were what typically barricaded them from interactions and training, but today, they had cornered themselves in the clearing to be as unnoticeable as possible but still.. present, with their clanmates. Where they were supposed to be, even though they felt very little connection to the Clan or the cats residing in it anymore. To them, they were a freak show and always on display in the worst way possible.

They were watching idly when they noticed Ottersplash and.. happened to catch him looking back at them, so they merely doubled down and stared harder, determined to give at least one of the clanmates a taste of what they put them through. But somehow, that must've gone horribly awry because Ottersplash mistook the stare as an invite to actually walk toward them. Oh. Stare harder, stareharder, stareharder, stareharderstareharder--

Why wasn't it working?

Frozenpaw's pelt felt like it was buzzing with static and numbness by the time Ottersplash spoke to them, puzzled by how he talked to them like they knew each other for more than two seconds and they weren't a total stranger to the Clan who may as well be a feral at this point and ... and...

it was kinda nice. but it was also (superficial) demonstration of intimacy. put that way, it became .. mildly terrifying.

"Hi.." they said, then.. no. It needed to be more formal. Not friendly. Firm, distant. "Salutions." Erm. They were pretty sure that was how they were supposed to say that? "Sal-oo-shuns"? Or was that...

No matter.

Nevertheless, Frozenpaw imagined they could scare Ottersplash off like everyone else. They had a knack for it. Just came with the territory of being high maintenance, or whatever fancy word they figured Lionstar would use. "Last time I went hunting, I was abandoned for two moons," they said, plain. Emotionless. They made a show of looking around the clearing, surveying their clan and clanmates only to add, "Sure, let's go."

They.. didn't really think Ottersplash would last long with them. He'd find a similarly sunshiney cat to jive with.

[gs29513]

Originally Posted by Shadeleaf

Lotusheart was quite shocked at that logic. Probably not how it worked.
"Well, I have two apprentices because there weren't enough warriors to train them. So Lionstar gave me and a few others a second apprentice. And no, brain size probably has nothing to do with it. I'm just a bit more quiet and less energetic than you."she said.

Well then why don't I have one? Does he think I'm going to be a bad mentor? Splashleap asked worriedly. On one paw, she didn't want Lionstar to not like her. On the other paw, it was nice not to have to do ALL the training for someone. At the confirmation that her brain was fine, she let out a small sigh of relief. So.......once I'm a little older and have a little less energy I'll be a bit more mature? Maybe? Or learn to control the energy? Yeah, that sounded about right. She would have to work on that. A lot. Because her energy calming skills.......were not very good.

[Bread]

Acting quickly, Duckbounce ducked and jumped out of the way before the apprentice had gotten to her. She landed on her feet and turned around quickly so her her back was not vulnerable. The molly then lunged towards Lizardpaw, attempting to knock her over.

@Shadeleaf

[Mango]

Originally Posted by Redtalon

// @Zesty Mango [Hope this works! Let me know if you'd like something different~]

Brightkit’s older brother—spoiler of all fun and happiness—kicked him out of the elder’s den. Again. Okay, yeah, Bright knew he’d kinda ignored his chores… but STILL. Why couldn’t Stormtalon let him do all that unimportant stuff later? It was so boring, especially when Bright could be chatting with funny cats instead. Huffing out quite the big sigh for such a little tom, Brightkit padded into the clearing, black tail dragging behind.

He felt the claws of depression sink into his pelt for all of five seconds, brief because next to the fresh kill pile sat a calico she-cat all alone. The name jumped into Bright's head instantly: Fennelheart! They'd never met- but the tom-kit heard some rumors about her.

See, Brightkit could finish his chores, but… he dearly loved to grace unsuspecting cats with his presence. Stormtalon couldn’t even be mad, since the she-cat wasn’t in the Elder’s den! Technically Bright was following orders.

Deciding that this was far more important than his nursery tasks, the coal-puffball padded towards Fennelheart, smiling broadly. “Hey!” he mewed in a high-pitched squeak when close enough. “Are you really from SkyClan?”

Fennelheart heard a kit call to her, so she turned around to see little Brightkit,” Hello Brightkit. Yes I really am from Skyclan. Skyclan was around a really long time ago, but it doesn’t exist anymore. The last few Skyclan cats who were left joined Riverclan.” she meowed