[The Cannibal]

Originally Posted by Lonestar23

The slim Havana Brown made his way into the clearing, his green eyes gleaming with the pleasure of living in the new era of WindClan. With Singenight gone (and having been gone for a while), Pinepaw felt as though he could finally relax. As far as he knew, his best friend was still an apprentice. StarClan, Pinepaw missed her. He hadn't even realized how much until now, and he wished that he could see her soon. It was almost like being seperated from a birth sibling, that's how close he felt to her at times. The tom thought about how close he was to being a warrior. At 12 moons old, in the next moon or so, he should be one. A purr of excitement rumbled in his throat, and his green optics flashed once more in excitement. He certainly had changed from the young kit/apprentice he had been before. So manipulative and cruel... Pinepaw wondered how come he hadn't changed sooner. Maybe change didn't happen overnight but for real, it seemed to have taken him forever to realize that that wasn't really who he was! Or at least, not really who he wanted to be! Not since he had met Adderpaw, that was. It seemed she had changed his whole world for the better, and Pinepaw was glad of it. He had needed that change. Who knew where he might have ended up?

The tom guessed that he would have ended up doing something bad, or perhaps he would have even ended up dead - a victim of some cat's claws that he got on the wrong side of. At least now he knew how to curb his emotions better. As for politeness, well... for some cats it took a longer amount of time. But, at least he was trying! He was trying now. And he was doing a fairly good job of it, too. Pinepaw glanced up, looking around for the familiar pelt of Adderpaw. Right now, all he wanted to do was have a conversation with his friend. To be able to joke around and laugh, and play, like old times! Training and change had been a big part of both of their lives though, he felt like... what with the changing of ranks, and now they were going to be warriors soon! Granted, his warrior ceremony wasn't for another moon or so (or perhaps less, he was hoping less) but he was still excited for it. There was no telling what might happen in that moon or so, perhaps he and Adderpaw would get to go on some great adventure together or something! Just like old times.

Only better, because now... everything was open and there were no lies. Now they were both safe from having heartbreak placed upon them by manipulation and cruelty. The tom grinned as he thought about this, and his tail began to twitch happily. Over the past few moons, Pinepaw had grown a lot. He was much more muscular and had a better build, not to mention his pelt had grown more handsome. Had he wanted to, or had he still been manipulative, things could have been different. Even his voice had outgrown that roughness to it and now had an almost growling sound when he spoke in an even tone, one that deepened when he was angry and grew more cheerful when he was happy. Yes, Pinepaw had changed - for the better, he hoped.

--

Heartpaw was growing up, whether she liked it or not. Some of the change that she had recently gone through had been good and beneficial to her, and some of it... well... the apprentice wasn't quite sure yet. Among that change had been quite nearly losing her best friend - Rainpaw - and she still wasn't sure what kind of ground they were on. Still, at least she had her mentor. Rookpatch was sweet, even if he did have trouble with his speech, and she liked training with him.

She was constantly around cats who talked all the time, had nice speech, but they never seemed to have anything worthwhile to say. At least this way she was getting someone who, when he opened his maw, he had something interesting to say. Except perhaps that was just because of Heartpaw's personality, the fact that she liked cats like that, that made her think that way. The apprentice yawned and looked up towards the blue sky. She remembered someone - had it been Rainpaw? - or Rookpatch, maybe? - telling her that she had eyes bluer then the sky above. And she had liked that. It was pretty, but if only she could remember who had told her!

Some days Heartpaw had trouble remembering anything, there was so much stress and worry along with excitement crammed into her young mind. Rare was the time when she saw Rainpaw anymore. They talked, and they seemed to be on fine terms, but he was never around. It felt as though she were slowly losing him. Right now, Heartpaw just really needed someone to be around. Someone to count on. Her soft blue eyes glanced up towards the sky again, and this time, she felt more sure it had been Rainpaw complimenting her. He always knew what to say to make her feel better.

She remembered when they had first met, the day that her Mother had disappeared... and the day that Singenight had taken over... the day they had both become apprentices, and the day that he had apologized to her. She remembered all of those days. Rainpaw had been right there the whole time, but now? Maybe it was Obsidiansky's training that was taking attention away from her. Not that Heartpaw was jealous or anything, because she most certainly was not jealous - but she figured a talk with her mentor might do her some good. And what did she want to talk about? Feelings. Nothing but feelings. Like happiness, and sadness, and anxiety, and excitement... calmness...

love...

Wait, what? Love? Nope, nope, Heartpaw was not going to talk about love. That was a complicated subject for her - complicated meaning that the tom she felt like she might be in love with was never around, and she was having trouble remembering when the last time they spent time together was. But she could still remember his face. And she could still remember his personality. Those were the things that counted... at least she hoped so. And she could also remember the times that they had spent together, just in case... just in case that meant anything.

@Duskflight

When was her ceremony, a couple of days ago? It was all a blur to Adderheart, the excitement of it all had overwhelmed her making the memory fuzzy and all she could think about now was her new name. Adderheart. She loved it, loved every syllable of it and believed it was the best name that Blazingstar would ever be able to give her. That's right, she was known for her heart, her heart was in this clan and this clan only. She fought with all of her heart, trained with all of her heart and would die with all of her heart for Windclan. And any cat that knew her, knew that that was exactly true of her. She wasn't sure if Pinepaw had been at her ceremony or not, but it didn't matter, the second she saw him she would break the great news whether he already knew it or not. Wait, when was the last time she had seen him? It's been too long, I need to find him. She thought to herself as she roused from her new nest in the warriors den. She had just been laying there for a couple of minutes, recounting the past couple of days with a stupid grin on her face, yellow eyes sparkling with her happiness and joy. But now she had another goal in mind today. She was going to find Pinepaw. How could she have gone this long without being with her best friend? Maybe it was the last few moons of training, she had been training really hard, pushing because she knew that any day she would be getting that final evaluation and soon after that, her warrior name. It saddened her a little to think that she had put her training before her only friend, she hoped he didn't mind. But.. She had finally made it. Surely he would show the same excitement as she felt!

With that grin of her's fixed nearly permanently on her muzzle, the light ginger tabby would slip out of the den and out into the camp, her eyes immediately surveying the area for a very familiar brown coat. Pinepaw wasn't the only one to have experienced change, Adderheart wasn't as small as she used to be, no, in fact she was completely average sized now. She couldn't be called runt anymore because she couldn't be labeled as small, she was a grown she-cat now. Her muscles were now well defined, rippling with every movement in a way that almost made her look like a lioness, something that she wasn't afraid of showing off either. In a way her face didn't seem as soft and rounded, like that of a kit anymore, but defined and.. Older. Her heart though, that's one thing that hasn't changed. Her love for this clan was.. It was beyond just normal loyalty. This she-cat, she had the love that only a leader could know. These cats, they were her family, and she would fight tooth and nail for their health and prosperity. She couldn't explain it, it just was how it had always been.

There he is! A jolt of excitement rushed through her as she caught sight of his frame, standing in the clearing, looking around, perhaps even looking for her. A purr burst into her chest as she went bounding towards him, tail sticking straight up in the air to show her excitement of seeing her best friend again in what felt like an eternity. Leaping, she would aim to tackle him with a playful yowl; it was one of her favorite ways to greet him, though what surprised her was how he had grown too. He wasn't as small as she remembered; she had been slightly hoping to have outgrown him, but no, he was still slightly bigger than her. Whether she missed the tackle or not, she didn't care and would excitedly mewl out, "Pinepaw, Pinepaw, you'll never guess! But guess anyways, guess what happened!"

--

Now that he has a mate, life seems to have slowed down a bit for Rookpatch, it didn't seem so much like the whirlwind of fear it had been before, and he was grateful for that. While his speech was still an issue, he has been able to work on his paralyzing paranoia and for the most part is able to go most of the day without having some sort of mental breakdown.
Though there is one thing that he is guilty of, and that's not spending a lot of time for Heartpaw. He's tried to take her out for training sessions when he can, days when his paranoia didn't completely shut him down, but even now he feels that that's been much too little. What if Blazingstar decided he wasn't doing a good enough job and revoked his title as mentor and gave her to someone else? He would feel horrible, like a failure. He didn't want that. So he wanted to spend more time with Heartpaw, spend more time training her because if he was going to eventually be a father.. Then he needed to first succeed in raising a successful apprentice. That, and, well, he liked Heartpaw, she was a sweet young cat that deserved to be trained.

Him and Marigoldrise had a special corner in the clearing that they often went to, a patch with a small bush and cover from the sun, it was a spot he went to for comfort, even if his mate was out doing her warrior duties. Lifting his head from his paws, the Cornish Rex would cautiously scan his pale green gaze across the clearing, looking for his apprentice. She could still be sleeping, but she could also be out. If she was still sleeping, he would give her time to wake up on her own, he believed she would get upset with him if he awoke her before she was ready.
But it didn't take long for him to find her. She seemed to be in thought, sitting over by the apprentice's den. Was something on her mind?
Flicking his ears a bit, the tom would slowly stand up on his paws and make his way over. He couldn't help but lower himself slightly to the ground as he went out into the open, his gaze nervously flitting to the sky as if he expected a hawk to be there, ready to swoop down upon him.

"H-H-Huh-Hell.. Hello-oh Huh-Heart-art-paw! {Hello Heartpaw!}" He tried on a cheery tone, but with his wavering, stuttering voice it sounded sort of odd, as if he were trembling with cold even though it was fairly hot and humid out. Settling down beside her, he would look at her cheek as opposed to her eyes. Direct eye contact always made him scared, it intimidated him, the only cat he would comfortably make eye contact with, and that was only for a few moments, was his mate. Most cats thought him strange for not liking eye-contact, but then again, most cats found him strange anyways, whether it be because of his strong stutter or his constant fear of death. "Th-Th-T-Thu-hinking-ing-Thinking uh-of eh-eh-any-e-anythi-hing inter-eresting? {Thinking of anything interesting?}" He asked politely, offering his apprentice a small, but steady smile. That was a small improvement from last time, last time he couldn't even hold a smile in place, it would waver just like the stuttering of his voice, but now, he could at least put on a small smile that wouldn't move or tremble.

Quietly he hoped that Heartpaw would be willing to talk, because it did seem like something was on her mind, but he knew that many young cats liked to keep their problems to themselves, thinking that older cats or just other cats in general won't understand what they're going through. Rookpatch wanted Heartpaw to trust him, he wanted it desperately and he knew that they weren't as close as some mentors and apprentices were because well, I believe we both know why. He just hoped that it wasn't too late to try and form that bond with her.