RiverClan Clearing

[Random Melody]

Originally Posted by Constellation

Fiercekit, being the immature tom he was, stuck out his tongue at his sister. Who was she to call him a great lump of fur? He was fluffier than her, but not that fluffy. ''Can it, otter-breath!'' He fired back. Ah, the joys of sibling rivalry. The joys of constant name calling to show how close they were. The tom kit began to flatten his fur by giving it a couple rasp licks. His fur was always untidier than his sister. The only time he ever managed to be thoroughly clean was when Splashheart groomed him herself. Even that didn't last long. The tom kit rolled his eyes. ''You're such a drama queen.'' He didn't see a big deal of getting dirty. It was fun! In Riverclan, there was a place much muddier since the water found its way to the shore. If they were near it, Fiercekit wouldn't hesitate to push Squirrelkit into it.

Fiercekit didn't understand his sister. She was such a - a - a princess! An absolute wreck of a prissy princess. Frankly, she constantly annoyed him. Most times Fiercekit blanked out because ignoring her was a lot easier than acknowledging her presence. Like now. She had that fiery expression planted on her adorable face. To mock her, Fiercekit smiled and started to coo at her as if she were a newborn kit. It was heavily indicated that the tom didn't take her seriously. But, her next words had him laughing. In the next moment, the tom found himself rolled onto the ground, on his back, looking up at his sister in bursts of laughter. ''You're the popular one? Sure, sure. But, does it pay to be humble?'' Squirrelkit did have a lot more friends than Fiercekit. Fiercekit preferred a tight group of troublemakers. Consisting of three other toms who were his best friends. Squirrelkit was known more throughout the clan. In a good way - and, in a bad. As he settled himself from his laughing, the tom stayed laying on his back, looking up at his sister with a goofy grin. She looked weird from the way he was looking up at her. ''I'm anything but - what?'' He scoffed. She was such a spoiled pain in the - hmmm... Fiercekit rolled onto his stomach, glaring up at her. If this was a challenge - challenge accepted. Let the insults began.

Squirrelkit sneered at her brother, tail lashing indignantly at his attempt at an insult. "I'm RiverClan, flea-brain. Insults like that hardly faze me. You're gonna have to try a lot harder than that." Her lips curled, displaying tiny, sharp teeth before she sat back. Her nose stayed wrinkled at her brother, glaring at him indifferently. The little game between these two seemed to go on forever. Perhaps though when they were older, they'd get closer. When he called her a drama queen, Squirrelkit smiled wryly. "The only word I heard there was Queen." She taunted, raising her head.

His laughter made her scoff, gritting her teeth in annoyance as he fell onto his back. Her ears flattened. She hated it when he did that - Laughed at her. It made her feel a bit less special than before. With a huff, Squirrelkit glanced away for a moment. "Humble to you, Fiercey? I think not!" She sniffed, sending him a side-glance as she looked around the clearing, seemingly bored. Although, she was rather enjoying the banter between them. At his question, Squirrelkit sighed. "Sorry. I forgot you're dumb." She said innocently. "You're anything but as good as me." A laugh escaped her as she spoke, whirling her head around to smirk at him victoriously. He wanted to dance? She could dance.

[lone]

Originally Posted by Aquarius

After he was done speaking, the tom saw something sparkle and Caracalfrost's gaze, and he wondered if he was finally getting through to her. After long moons of studying the emotions and expressions of other cats, he couldn't put his paw on what was going on in that she-cat's head. Her story and subtle expressions when she was thinking annoyed him slightly, but it perplexed him and intrigued him at the same time. When she thanked him, Darkzephyr nodded with false gratitude, as if this conversation really was the most important thing going on in his life right now. What a guise he had to put on! The lengths he was going just to phase her would have amused him, if it didn't cause him so much work. But it would get better with time, he presumed. His ebony tail flicked behind him as he so Caracalfrost's gaze narrow, and he wondered if he would have any interest in what thoughts were racing in her mind.

As Darkzephyr saw the she-cat tense with her thoughts, he fought the urge to smirk - everything was going as planned, and he didn't even have to do anything, for she was filled with such bitterness already! Even so, the molly's question took him by surprise. The tom pricked his ears, wondering how one was supposed to respond to that question. Well, I sneak into the WindClan territory every once in a while - oh, more often, why not flatter myself - and kindly train an apprentice out of the goodness of my heart. Why, I would consider that fun! Darkzephyr was almost giddy as he returned to his "son", and was able to switch him over. So he could gain full control, the thing he longed for. And Duskpaw was utterly powerless.

"I've never really thought about it," he conceded, pondering how a normal cat would respond to that question. "I usually... study the expressions of other cats," he conceded, imagining how strange that sounded. It was true, but it also most likely made him seem like a creep to Caracalfrost. "I don't really plat around, I guess. it depends what you mean. But I just. I read expressions and emotions of others, so I can better understand everyone better." Well, the first part was true. But he very well didn't do it to understand other cats better; moreso, he did it to camoflauge himself. Darkzephyr wasn't exacty the "normal" type of warrior, but he needed to appear so in order to rise, so he could blend in and seem like any other cat.

Caracalfrost wasn't very good at hiding her emotions, he noticed. Everytime she thought about something - her best friend, assumingly - some type of look came over her face like a shadow, or a mask. Sometimes she would narrow her eyes in anger, or fury that sparkled in her eyes, but now a softer smile appeared. Darkzephyr wondered how a cat could feel such a way, planning to dedicate their life to others! How horrid! And even worse, to have that plan shattered, oh, how much horror this warrior has gone through. How much pity she deserved.

"Observing can be good," The she cat mewed with a friendly smile crossing her maw. Parts of her were wondering about Darkzephyr. Such as, why were other cats basically avoiding him? And why - no, how - had he lost his eye? What could have possibly happened to make him lose such an important thing? Eyesight, for Caracalfrost, was very - very important. Like, she was pretty sure she wouldn't do very good without it at all. And she had always admired blind cats, not because they inspired her or anything, but because she was amazed at their ability to get around without ever seeing anything! She couldn't imagine getting up in the morning and hearing the birds sing, but never seeing them. Never seeing her friends again, never seeing the smile on their faces, never getting to see the pelt colors of new cats. She could always ask for a description... but they probably wouldn't know quite how to describe themselves.

Caracalfrost knew that she wouldn't. She'd end up embarrassing herself, most likely, not that the she cat got embarrassed very easily in the first place. As a matter of fact she was more likely to be the one embarrassing someone else rather then getting embarrassed. "Um, this might be a little bit of a personal question for you, but... what happened to your eye?" It was a bold move. One that, when she was younger, the she cat would not have hesitated to take. She never would have stopped, just blurting out the question as soon as she felt like it. But being a warrior - and being around other cats a lot - it was normal to worry what they might think of you. And, being in the still pretty unfamiliar camp, the she cat wasn't quite sure whether or not the RiverClan cats might start judging her too.

So far, she had been stared at like a caged bird - examined like an enemy - and talked to like a kit. It was annoying, but what could the she cat do? She wasn't really planning on lashing out at anyone anytime soon, that would definitely diminish the spirit of good will that was surrounding the two Clans at the moment. Yeah... if she were to just lash out at someone, they definitely weren't going to be her best friend. And that wasn't even to mention the delicate matter of not hurting a clanmate - that was the last thing that Caracalfrost wanted to do, hurt a clanmate. Emotionally or physically. Right now her number one priority was making sure she wasn't hurting the tom's feelings - simply by not telling him something about her, whatever it might be that would hurt his feelings.

There was no way that she could make him upset by not telling him a personal matter, right? It was nothing against him. But the feline wasn't sure whether she could trust the tom quite yet, and right now, she was pretty sure that... well... she couldn't quite trust him. There was something distinctly suspicious about the tom, and yet, Caracalfrost had no idea what it was. But whatever it was... she was keeping an eye out. And she was ready for it.

[MaskedBandits]

Originally Posted by BluBunny

A smile spread across the she cats face when she saw how quickly the kit learned and how determined she seemed to.be. she showed no disappointment or annoyance when.the young cats pawsteps were a bit too loud, "You did much better! You're a fast learner!" She purred, "We can keep practicing and soon you'll get the hang of it and be as quiet as a mouse." She chuckled. "This time I'll walk along side you so you can follow my paw steps." She added as she prepared her crouch.

Mulberrykit - who was currently amazed at how well Tigerpaw could crouch - gave a smile at her praise. She knew there were plenty of things to work on, of course, but it seemed as though she wasn't doing too badly; after all, the apprentice had praised her. I can't believe she thinks I'm doing stuff right! She thinks I'm good at this! She wanted to take a moment to think about what that ment, how that opened up hundreds of possibilities, but Tigerpaw was already getting ready to crouch, so the kit hurriedly returned to her position. Ok; legs bent? Check. Tail up? Check. Belly off the ground? - She quickly fixed her mistake there - now check. Okay... you can do this. It's not that hard; just follow her lead.

Despite her friend's compliments, Mulberrykit was starting to doubt herself. Walking and crouching seemed near impossible to her, especially since she had to be quiet. She was never quiet, even when it was bedtime; she would just never shut up. Most of the time it was more or less a good thing - she was good with others and was very social - but now are didn't think such a trait was in her favour. C'mon, you can do it! I know you can! The kit did her best to boost her moral, but her nervous never left her muscles. "Okay. I think I'm ready." Her earlier confidence had lost some of its shine, but Mulberrykit tried not to let it get in her way. She'd do this, no matter what.

[Brilliance]

Originally Posted by Random Melody

Squirrelkit sneered at her brother, tail lashing indignantly at his attempt at an insult. "I'm RiverClan, flea-brain. Insults like that hardly faze me. You're gonna have to try a lot harder than that." Her lips curled, displaying tiny, sharp teeth before she sat back. Her nose stayed wrinkled at her brother, glaring at him indifferently. The little game between these two seemed to go on forever. Perhaps though when they were older, they'd get closer. When he called her a drama queen, Squirrelkit smiled wryly. "The only word I heard there was Queen." She taunted, raising her head.

His laughter made her scoff, gritting her teeth in annoyance as he fell onto his back. Her ears flattened. She hated it when he did that - Laughed at her. It made her feel a bit less special than before. With a huff, Squirrelkit glanced away for a moment. "Humble to you, Fiercey? I think not!" She sniffed, sending him a side-glance as she looked around the clearing, seemingly bored. Although, she was rather enjoying the banter between them. At his question, Squirrelkit sighed. "Sorry. I forgot you're dumb." She said innocently. "You're anything but as good as me." A laugh escaped her as she spoke, whirling her head around to smirk at him victoriously. He wanted to dance? She could dance.

Why this little! - Okay, okay. Calm down, Fiercekit. It's not that important. Little sisters always tries to find a way to get under your pelt. They were fire ants, but he kept on coming stronger because Fiercekit refused to be knocked down by her. First she was a girl. Then, she was his sister. His little sister. ''I don't have to use insults because you're a joke yourself!'' He retorted, grunting at her. That was probably pretty mean. If their mother was here, she would surely have given them a good scolding and tell them to be nicer to one another. However, Fiercekit did anything but nice to his sister. She annoyed him, he annoyed her. He wouldn't change anything in the world about how their relationship played out. ''Then you need to check your hearing because apparently you're deaf if that's the only word you could hear.'' He snickered. He was pretty proud of that comeback. He was a tom afterall, and all toms had their ego. Right now, his had been inflated.

Laughing at Squirrelkit was one of Fiercekit's favorite activities. Because he liked how she get angry and grit her teeth. He liked to see her fur bush up and her claws rake the ground. It was a wonderful sight. He had rolled onto his stomach, tilting his head to stare up at his sister, a continued smirk evident on his features. ''Not only to me, you ditz!'' He scowled, shaking his head. She needed to be humble to the entire clan. Fiercekit believed she was spoiled too much by Mixedfur because when they were younger kits, it had always been about her! It may have sounded like Fiercekit was envious, but truly he was annoyed. She carried such a posh sense, and a snooty attitude that his made his fur boil on ends. ''I'm dumb!?'' He shot up to his paws, his fur bristling out of anger. As his name suggested, he was the fierce one. The easily angered one. Her next words triggered him. ''If I'm dumb, you must be ugly!'' One thing you must never tell his sister was that she was ugly. That was not a good sign. Unless you wanted your ears clawed off. Then again, Fiercekit wasn't afraid of his sister. He could tussle with her all day, if given the chance.

[Random Melody]

Originally Posted by Constellation

Why this little! - Okay, okay. Calm down, Fiercekit. It's not that important. Little sisters always tries to find a way to get under your pelt. They were fire ants, but he kept on coming stronger because Fiercekit refused to be knocked down by her. First she was a girl. Then, she was his sister. His little sister. ''I don't have to use insults because you're a joke yourself!'' He retorted, grunting at her. That was probably pretty mean. If their mother was here, she would surely have given them a good scolding and tell them to be nicer to one another. However, Fiercekit did anything but nice to his sister. She annoyed him, he annoyed her. He wouldn't change anything in the world about how their relationship played out. ''Then you need to check your hearing because apparently you're deaf if that's the only word you could hear.'' He snickered. He was pretty proud of that comeback. He was a tom afterall, and all toms had their ego. Right now, his had been inflated.

Laughing at Squirrelkit was one of Fiercekit's favorite activities. Because he liked how she get angry and grit her teeth. He liked to see her fur bush up and her claws rake the ground. It was a wonderful sight. He had rolled onto his stomach, tilting his head to stare up at his sister, a continued smirk evident on his features. ''Not only to me, you ditz!'' He scowled, shaking his head. She needed to be humble to the entire clan. Fiercekit believed she was spoiled too much by Mixedfur because when they were younger kits, it had always been about her! It may have sounded like Fiercekit was envious, but truly he was annoyed. She carried such a posh sense, and a snooty attitude that his made his fur boil on ends. ''I'm dumb!?'' He shot up to his paws, his fur bristling out of anger. As his name suggested, he was the fierce one. The easily angered one. Her next words triggered him. ''If I'm dumb, you must be ugly!'' One thing you must never tell his sister was that she was ugly. That was not a good sign. Unless you wanted your ears clawed off. Then again, Fiercekit wasn't afraid of his sister. He could tussle with her all day, if given the chance.

Squirrelkit was unfazed by his first comeback, rolling her eyes to show how unimpressed she was. "You can do better than that." She taunted, lashing her tail over the ground. Her gaze roamed the clearing to search for some Tom kit to flirt with, no longer interested in annoying her brother. He was much too easy to get to. His comment about her hearing made her laugh at him slightly, sending him an amused glance before continuing to look around the clearing. "Honestly. Why do I even try? You're much too easy to annoy. Shoo now," She flicked her paw at him, smiling. "I have much more important things to be worrying about than you."

When he called her a ditz, however, that annoyed her. Her eyes narrowed at him, nose wrinkling. "Please, Fiercey. I am humble to those who deserve it. You don't. And some of the cats here don't, either." She sighed boredly and glanced away to look around again. Where was that kit? Reedkit, she'd met? Where was he? He was a nice flirt buddy. The she-kit hummed to herself, but jerked in surprise when her brother leaped to his paws. Her eyes widened, too taken aback to properly prepare herself for his next words.

"If I'm dumb, you must be ugly!" The shock broke through her careful mask, followed quickly by the hurt. She hardly had time to be angry. Although, when the hurt of the comment subsided, she could feel slightly furious - But more or so insecure. The two fought worse than any other siblings, but Fiercekit had never outright called her ugly. And to her, that was the worst insult ever. Squirrelkit sat for a moment, staring at him, her expression unreadable. Did he really think she was ugly? The other Tom kits seemed to protest to that. Mixedfur protested to - Oh, wait. Squirrelkit let out a scoff. "Well if you think I'm ugly, you must think Mom's ugly, too, hmm? Because Daddy says I look just like her. Do you think Mom's ugly?" She snapped, the cheeky tone no longer evident in her voice. She sounded slightly upset, but other than that, her voice held... No emotion, really.

[Brilliance]

Originally Posted by Random Melody

Squirrelkit was unfazed by his first comeback, rolling her eyes to show how unimpressed she was. "You can do better than that." She taunted, lashing her tail over the ground. Her gaze roamed the clearing to search for some Tom kit to flirt with, no longer interested in annoying her brother. He was much too easy to get to. His comment about her hearing made her laugh at him slightly, sending him an amused glance before continuing to look around the clearing. "Honestly. Why do I even try? You're much too easy to annoy. Shoo now," She flicked her paw at him, smiling. "I have much more important things to be worrying about than you."

When he called her a ditz, however, that annoyed her. Her eyes narrowed at him, nose wrinkling. "Please, Fiercey. I am humble to those who deserve it. You don't. And some of the cats here don't, either." She sighed boredly and glanced away to look around again. Where was that kit? Reedkit, she'd met? Where was he? He was a nice flirt buddy. The she-kit hummed to herself, but jerked in surprise when her brother leaped to his paws. Her eyes widened, too taken aback to properly prepare herself for his next words.

"If I'm dumb, you must be ugly!" The shock broke through her careful mask, followed quickly by the hurt. She hardly had time to be angry. Although, when the hurt of the comment subsided, she could feel slightly furious - But more or so insecure. The two fought worse than any other siblings, but Fiercekit had never outright called her ugly. And to her, that was the worst insult ever. Squirrelkit sat for a moment, staring at him, her expression unreadable. Did he really think she was ugly? The other Tom kits seemed to protest to that. Mixedfur protested to - Oh, wait. Squirrelkit let out a scoff. "Well if you think I'm ugly, you must think Mom's ugly, too, hmm? Because Daddy says I look just like her. Do you think Mom's ugly?" She snapped, the cheeky tone no longer evident in her voice. She sounded slightly upset, but other than that, her voice held... No emotion, really.

The tom kit lashed his tail, annoyed with his sister as much as she was annoyed with him. He felt his claws slipping out into the murky beds of the earth. He wouldn't hurt his sister. Oh, starclan! Never would he hurt such a sweet doll. Not physically, but he wasn't afraid to hurt her emotionally. It was how they clicked. Ongoing insults until one of them caved in and started to beat the other up...or, told mom. Fiercekit found the former option a lot better. He wasn't supposed to fight girls - but this was his sister. She wasn't a girl! She was a demon!

Then, she had the audacity to talk to him like he was some...commoner? Who was she to tell him to shoo like he was some downgraded animal? This was what set Fiercekit off, and he lunged at his sister with sheathed claws, aiming to pin her down into the dirt. She adored her clean pelt - well now, it will be dirty. And, he had no remorse for doing such a thing. ''Honestly, why do you even try? Why do I even put up with the likes of you?'' He sneered, tusseling around with the she cat below him.

Suddenly, he jumped off her, landing himself into a crouch. It wasn't new that the siblings fought. Constantly, actually. ''I wish I didn't deserve you as a sister,'' He muttered, more to himself than her. She had to be so uptight. What was the deal with her anyway? She was such an over-exaggerated social butterfly. Once they got older, Fiercekit figured he wouldn't be seeing too much of her in the first place. She would be too busy having toms trail over her. Maybe...that was what he wanted. At least, he wouldn't have to worry about her irritating him.

Fiercekit felt victorious after calling her ugly. She was unmoving, and the tom lived in this moment. He had won. She had shut her maw because he knew she didn't like such insults. Their mother would had reprimanded him about calling his sister such an unkind word. Of course, he didn't mean it. He was pretty sure Squirrelkit didn't mean what she said either. He had to strike her nerve in that spoiled heart of hers somewhere. It was probably rotten too - and smelly. Fiercekit shook his head, ridding the thoughts of what his sister's heart could be like. Her next words didn't faze him. In fact, he snorted. ''I don't think mom's ugly. But, I think you can do a lot better. Because, my starclan - you are hideous!'' He stuck out his tongue, pulling off an immature move as he lifted his tail proudly to display his confidence.

[Random Melody]

Originally Posted by Constellation

The tom kit lashed his tail, annoyed with his sister as much as she was annoyed with him. He felt his claws slipping out into the murky beds of the earth. He wouldn't hurt his sister. Oh, starclan! Never would he hurt such a sweet doll. Not physically, but he wasn't afraid to hurt her emotionally. It was how they clicked. Ongoing insults until one of them caved in and started to beat the other up...or, told mom. Fiercekit found the former option a lot better. He wasn't supposed to fight girls - but this was his sister. She wasn't a girl! She was a demon!

Then, she had the audacity to talk to him like he was some...commoner? Who was she to tell him to shoo like he was some downgraded animal? This was what set Fiercekit off, and he lunged at his sister with sheathed claws, aiming to pin her down into the dirt. She adored her clean pelt - well now, it will be dirty. And, he had no remorse for doing such a thing. ''Honestly, why do you even try? Why do I even put up with the likes of you?'' He sneered, tusseling around with the she cat below him.

Suddenly, he jumped off her, landing himself into a crouch. It wasn't new that the siblings fought. Constantly, actually. ''I wish I didn't deserve you as a sister,'' He muttered, more to himself than her. She had to be so uptight. What was the deal with her anyway? She was such an over-exaggerated social butterfly. Once they got older, Fiercekit figured he wouldn't be seeing too much of her in the first place. She would be too busy having toms trail over her. Maybe...that was what he wanted. At least, he wouldn't have to worry about her irritating him.

Fiercekit felt victorious after calling her ugly. She was unmoving, and the tom lived in this moment. He had won. She had shut her maw because he knew she didn't like such insults. Their mother would had reprimanded him about calling his sister such an unkind word. Of course, he didn't mean it. He was pretty sure Squirrelkit didn't mean what she said either. He had to strike her nerve in that spoiled heart of hers somewhere. It was probably rotten too - and smelly. Fiercekit shook his head, ridding the thoughts of what his sister's heart could be like. Her next words didn't faze him. In fact, he snorted. ''I don't think mom's ugly. But, I think you can do a lot better. Because, my starclan - you are hideous!'' He stuck out his tongue, pulling off an immature move as he lifted his tail proudly to display his confidence.

Squirrelkit's fur fluffed up in obvious annoyance, and she braced herself when Fiercekit launched at her, having expected it this time. She kicked at him, biting at his ears and muzzle and trying to kick him off. "You stupid, insensitive, fat, fish-eating, jerk-faced IDIOT!" She had never been so mad at her brother, and she wasn't even sure why she was mad. She just was. She leaped to her paws when he jumped off, and for the first time, she didn't seem to care that her fur was dirty and dusty. She simply gave it a firm shake before glaring at her brother. When he spoke - Saying he wished he didn't deserve her as a sister... What did that mean? He didn't want to be her brother.

"Ugh! Well you know what, that's just fine! Because I wish I didn't deserve you as a brother!" Her deep blue eyes glowed with fury, and her lips curled back in a snarl as she backed up a few paces. But other than anger, her eyes shone with another emotion - Pain, sadness. Nobody could really describe it, but it was there. "You're just an insensitive jerk who only cares about yourself. And you think - You think, what? You're all high and mighty? Oh, the great Fiercekit! Best warrior in RiverClan!" She mocked, her voice dripping with sarcasm. "Yeah, right! Warriors don't go around attacking she-cats. Much less their sister. I bet if you ask Mom - Foxthorn never attacked her. And they certainly never fought like this!"

She paused to listen to his words, hardly batting an eye when he called her hideous, even though it brought a great amount of pain and insecurity into her expression. Fiercekit was her brother. What mattered most of all to her was what he thought. Was that what he thought? "Brothers are supposed to love their sisters. And protect them. And be there for them. So where are you, Fiercekit? Certainly not here for me. All you do is insult me. And you know something? I don't know why I bother spending time with you. I keep thinking - Oh, maybe I can get his attention! Maybe we'll grow up to be as close as Mom and Foxthorn were! Maybe we'll be partners in crime! Maybe my brother will actually start liking me for once. But no! You're just annoying, and rude, and competitive, and freaking selfish!" Squirrelkit's teeth gritted together, blinking back furious tears. She whirled around, but didn't storm off, mostly just turning away so he wouldn't see the sadness behind her expression. "Well you know what, Fiercey? I hate you."

[Aquarius]

Originally Posted by Lonestar23

"Observing can be good," The she cat mewed with a friendly smile crossing her maw. Parts of her were wondering about Darkzephyr. Such as, why were other cats basically avoiding him? And why - no, how - had he lost his eye? What could have possibly happened to make him lose such an important thing? Eyesight, for Caracalfrost, was very - very important. Like, she was pretty sure she wouldn't do very good without it at all. And she had always admired blind cats, not because they inspired her or anything, but because she was amazed at their ability to get around without ever seeing anything! She couldn't imagine getting up in the morning and hearing the birds sing, but never seeing them. Never seeing her friends again, never seeing the smile on their faces, never getting to see the pelt colors of new cats. She could always ask for a description... but they probably wouldn't know quite how to describe themselves.

Caracalfrost knew that she wouldn't. She'd end up embarrassing herself, most likely, not that the she cat got embarrassed very easily in the first place. As a matter of fact she was more likely to be the one embarrassing someone else rather then getting embarrassed. "Um, this might be a little bit of a personal question for you, but... what happened to your eye?" It was a bold move. One that, when she was younger, the she cat would not have hesitated to take. She never would have stopped, just blurting out the question as soon as she felt like it. But being a warrior - and being around other cats a lot - it was normal to worry what they might think of you. And, being in the still pretty unfamiliar camp, the she cat wasn't quite sure whether or not the RiverClan cats might start judging her too.

So far, she had been stared at like a caged bird - examined like an enemy - and talked to like a kit. It was annoying, but what could the she cat do? She wasn't really planning on lashing out at anyone anytime soon, that would definitely diminish the spirit of good will that was surrounding the two Clans at the moment. Yeah... if she were to just lash out at someone, they definitely weren't going to be her best friend. And that wasn't even to mention the delicate matter of not hurting a clanmate - that was the last thing that Caracalfrost wanted to do, hurt a clanmate. Emotionally or physically. Right now her number one priority was making sure she wasn't hurting the tom's feelings - simply by not telling him something about her, whatever it might be that would hurt his feelings.

There was no way that she could make him upset by not telling him a personal matter, right? It was nothing against him. But the feline wasn't sure whether she could trust the tom quite yet, and right now, she was pretty sure that... well... she couldn't quite trust him. There was something distinctly suspicious about the tom, and yet, Caracalfrost had no idea what it was. But whatever it was... she was keeping an eye out. And she was ready for it.

Darkzephyr nodded, preferring not to respond with words. He had always been a quiet cat, even when he was a naive apprentice, playful and joyful like the rest. Now his claws dug into the ground everytime someone mentioned Darkzephyr in his youth. The tom forced a smile back at her, like he had seen other cats do when a cat smiled at them. His tail flicked as he wondered where the conversation would go, and how soon he could advance it. Clearly, he knew it would take moons, but Darkzephyr was never one to be a patient cat when it came to matters involving himself. And certainly, he had gotten himself involved into this matter. He purred, glad the molly seemed like she was getting more comfortable talking to him.

Too comfortable, almost. What had happened, and what he had lost, always pierced something deep inside him like a shard of ice. His eye had been lost during his apprenticeship, and so had his innocence. Of course, it wasn't something he would willingly talk about. But when prompted, the night-pelted cat had no reason not to respond. Making sure his fur was lying flat, he shot a weak smile at Caracalfrost. "It's not too personal," he responded, although the lie felt sour on his tongue. He recalled his past, pain welling up in his stomach like an agony that never went away. No, not agony. An ache. "I was an apprentice during the Dark Era. Like every other apprentice, I wanted to be noble, respected like a warrior. So..." He swallowed hard. "I fought harder than I should have. Instead of listening to my leader, like I should have, I threw myself into battle. I was too young and naive to understand the consequences."

The story Darkzephyr had told was all true, not a word of it fiction. But, he did leave out perhaps the most important part of all - an eye for an eye was the saying, wasn't it? Even as an apprentice he had understood that moral, and he had upheld that. If anyone besides him knew of that, he didn't know, but most cats just assumed he had staggered away bleeding and that was it. "But the past is the past," he added quietly, trying to make it seem like he had moved on from that oh-so-tragic event. "It doesn't really affect me, anyways. I've become quite used to it, in fact." He wondered how the she-cat would react to his story, and he prayed that it wouldn't push her away. No, not because he would truly have emotion towards her, but because without her involvement, he would have to start anew.

[Mango]

Hollowkit wandered around the clearing sadly. Is my father really dead? He can’t be. Nor can Hazelpaw, my best friend be dead. Atleast my father attempted to save Hazelpaw. That’s what matters, I guess. And I’m not going to be like my sisters and crawl around mother, I’m going to be a successful warrior- no I’m going to be deputy. Why not leader? Right- I think it hurts getting nine lives and it’s a lot of stress. Right... He shook his head sadly watching Fallenstream talk to a warrior.

[BluBunnie]

Originally Posted by MaskedBandits

Mulberrykit - who was currently amazed at how well Tigerpaw could crouch - gave a smile at her praise. She knew there were plenty of things to work on, of course, but it seemed as though she wasn't doing too badly; after all, the apprentice had praised her. I can't believe she thinks I'm doing stuff right! She thinks I'm good at this! She wanted to take a moment to think about what that ment, how that opened up hundreds of possibilities, but Tigerpaw was already getting ready to crouch, so the kit hurriedly returned to her position. Ok; legs bent? Check. Tail up? Check. Belly off the ground? - She quickly fixed her mistake there - now check. Okay... you can do this. It's not that hard; just follow her lead.

Despite her friend's compliments, Mulberrykit was starting to doubt herself. Walking and crouching seemed near impossible to her, especially since she had to be quiet. She was never quiet, even when it was bedtime; she would just never shut up. Most of the time it was more or less a good thing - she was good with others and was very social - but now are didn't think such a trait was in her favour. C'mon, you can do it! I know you can! The kit did her best to boost her moral, but her nervous never left her muscles. "Okay. I think I'm ready." Her earlier confidence had lost some of its shine, but Mulberrykit tried not to let it get in her way. She'd do this, no matter what.

Tigerpaw watched Mulberrykit get into her crouch, she was proud that Mulberry had found her own mistake in her crouch and corrected it herself before Tigerpaw could say anything. She gave the kit a light smile but ould tell she was starting to lose confidence, she laid her tail on the younger she cats shoulder. "You'll do fine, you're already getting the hang of it. You just have to.practice. It took me days to get my Hunters crouch right." She purred.

Tigerpaw went back into a more tense state, like she was stalking.prey. She eyed a rock a few tail lengths away, "Okay, we will pretend that that rock is a mouse and we are.stalking it." She whispered. Her pupils were wide with concentration but she looked back every few moments at Mulberrykit to make sure she was following and if she needed any help. As the two cats got closer to the rock Tigerpaw stopped to give Mulberrykit more tips, "When hunting anything, make sure you're always downwind of it. That means the wind is blowing towards you, so.the prey can't scent.you. Do you want.me to show.you how to.pounce? Or would you like to keep practicing?"