[nyme]

WE'LL BUILD A FIRE IN YOUR EYES

── ⋅ ⋅ ── ! ── ⋅ ⋅ ──

SALAMANDERPAW . 6 MOONS . SHE/HER . RIVERCLAN

Salamanderpaw works very hard on breathing all the way in (deep!) and all the way out (noisy!). This, she's heard, is supposed to help somehow--but she's not really buying it, because she just feels like a big, winded badger, forcing the air around like she's trying to hack a storm out of her chest. It's almost funny; for once she had the sense to know she shouldn't be here, that it was a no good, very bad, terrible idea, and she had committed to it anyway. So maybe being smart and thinking ahead doesn't matter, Salamanderpaw decides, paw at her mouth so she can pick at her claws with her teeth. Not if my paws know where they're going no matter what my mind says. But, it's fine. It is. Yes, she'd given Slugpaw a tongue-lashing, but nobody was bleeding. Shellpaw's fine, which is especially good. They have a strong sister here to keep the bad guys away, and a sweet friend to make the trip worthwhile. And...and Salamanderpaw would never say this aloud, but Slugpaw's pretty alright, for a Thunderclan monsterling. One can almost tell she didn't do anything wrong, which is nice. Almost makes up for the fact that all of the cats she's being raised and trained by certainly did do things wrong.

Though Salamanderpaw's moved herself to a safer distance, she can't resist shooting another withering look at the other young calico, and--PSSSSST! Oop!! Salamanderpaw twitches, eyes going round, fur going floofed. Oh. Oh, it's just Shellpaw. She'd been so deep in her own nonsense that she hadn't noticed the pale cat scurrying back a few paces to meet her in the Brooding Zone. A spy? Oh, scuff. Salamanderpaw hadn't even considered that. Here she'd just been hating on principle, but now that Shellpaw's mentioned it, it would be clever of the older Thunderclanners to train up their littler ones to be all...all conniving and uh...spy-ly. Eyes still stuck wide like discs, she nods gravely. This makes...so much sense...

"Be careful," she whisper-hisses back to her sibling. "I gotta stay right here so I don't act stupid but if anything gets weird, all bets are off." Salamanderpaw doesn't want her paws to move without permission from her sense again, but she can't trust that that won't happen if she remains within swinging distance of Slugpaw. It's not worth the punishment!!! She thinks as loudly as she can, nipping the paw at her mouth firmly. Starclan only knows if the message has been received.

"But I think it's okay," Salamanderpaw speaks up softly again, nodding toward Slugpaw and Rainpaw. "I think we have a cat who can be anti-spy." Rainpaw's talking, and although Salamanderpaw doesn't catch much of it (not because she's not hearing it but because she's having a hard time listening; it's a very crowded place, and she is very riled up), the side-view she's getting from the black-and-white cat's face looks very...sincere? Like she's working through something with Slugpaw, who even giggles, at one point. Whatever sparks of conflict had been ignited by Salamanderpaw and her big mouth were...were rained on, just like that. And maybe it's a little irksome that Rainpaw--Salamanderpaw's starting to process what she'd said, now--is apologizing (you have nothing to be sorry for, and I'm sure not sorry!), but having someone to soothe the situation is probably a good thing. Because if Slugpaw's willing to move past it all, that's...that means Shellpaw and Rainpaw, at least, can have a good long chat with her and really work on uncovering what kind of spy stuff she may or may not be up to. Salamanderpaw, for her part, will have to keep back, still. She fears no amount of rain or talk will keep her paws still if her own mind can't.

Still. "Thank you, Rainpaw." It's awkward, stilted, but genuine. She turns to meet Shellpaw's gaze briefly, jerking her head toward the other two. She doesn't want to keep him. He'd be better at sussing out a spy than she would, and anyway, she's suddenly too busy beaming ear-to-ear and puffing up proudly as hers and Shellpaw's recent promotions are mentioned overhead by Fadingstar.

"That's us, you know!" She chirps over at Slugpaw, finally feeling able to address the she-cat without snapping. "Shellpaw's going to be the fastest swimmer ever. And I'm going to be a better fighter than you could ever dream of. Alright?"


@Luna16 ; RAINPAW
@Bonsai ; SLUGPAW
@sleepyyjax ; SHELLPAW