WindClan: Life Before 2023's Fire

[Doom]

@marni [powerplay permission is granted for some minor scratches!]

Beepaw | She/Her

Her brows raised at Laurelpaw's proposal. She'd never considered practicing battle moves before getting the proper training for it. The whole idea of it somewhat intimidated her, but Beepaw oh so desperately wanted to feel something other than the heavy weight in her chest, so her usual caution was lost in the wind of that day. What was the harm in a little friendly sparring, anyway? Surely Acornnose wouldn't care, and they were in a safe space where they could be watched, too. What's the worst that could happen?

"That sounds like a great idea!" She eventually chirped, rising to her paws. She then got into (what she assumed would look like) a battle stance. Her paws were unevenly spread out and her feathery tail was held high over her body. Her claws were sheathed, of course. "Alright! Come at me!" Beepaw was grinning now as anticipation for Laurelpaw's swing built up in her.

[taillow]

Laurelpaw
And so the mouse took the cheese. Soon enough, the trap would snap shut and then Laurelpaw would be in for some real entertainment. She was glad that Beepaw's usual careful nature decided to take a backseat for this interaction and Laurelpaw did her best to mimic the smile and excited gleam in her bicolored eyes.

"With pleasure." Another wrap of a grin around her face, and this time it could be seen - a certain gleam in her eyes revealed the true sinister nature of her request. In q quick flash her claws slid out just a little bit and she lunged forward swinging one paw up towards her head - right above her eye. As it connected, she drew up her other paw towards Beepaw's shoulder and aimed another (unsheathed) blow on her shoulder with the intent to drag it down.

She knew full well her claws were out - and depending on Beepaw's reaction, Laurelpaw was all for feigning innocence and claiming it was all merely an accident should she decide to draw the attention of any of their Clanmates.

[ @Castle ]

[Alchemist Kitsune]

Snowykit

Taking his gaze off the fun warrior with the moss ball, Snowykit turned bright, blue eyes towards Applekit, his self awareness returning. He was hoping to go out and play and was afraid of angering or disappointing Fireflame by waking her kits. That said, Applekit seemed very interested in what he had just witnessed out in the clearing. The last thing Snowykit wanted was to disappoint her by not delivering some answers, although how he was to do that when he knew the right thing was for him to stay quiet and out of the way was troubling him. How could he communicate if doing so would only bother others? Perhaps if they were openly asking for answers it would be okay to talk more than usual. Not overly, of course. He would not want to overstay his welcome.

Glancing over at the long furred white warrior before him, he noticed the cat seemed to be patiently waiting for him to respond before taking him out. Blinking in gratitude and glad that the warrior did not seem annoyed, he turned his attention back towards Applekit, tilting his head as he remembered the odd cat that had just seemed excited to take a sound strike to the face. Deciding to answer her questions in order, he mewed in a soft voice, keeping Fireflame and her kits in mind.

"Yes," he answered for the first question. An easy enough response, as he had indeed just seen a fight.

"Yeh," he mewed for the second question, cutting himself short before finishing the word, unused to saying so much in a conversation.

It was the third question that stumped him. How was it? Exciting, scary, amazing, not quite as horrific as some of the stories he had heard from the elders, but blood had definitely been drawn. And what about the reaction the outsider had? Snowykit didn't know much, but he knew that cats didn't normally react with giddiness at being clawed out by enemies. After a moment's hesitation, he stated, "Weird?" as that last interaction had definitely stood out after the fight.

"Dunno," he finally finished with a shrug, realizing he never really learned who the outsiders were, even though one of them had not really been involved in the fight.

Snowykit's tail twitched with joy. The large kit looked down at Applekit as he sat up, proud that he could give such concise, exact responses without recklessly bumbling needless words that would simply bore or irritate her. Turning back to the warrior, he beamed up at him, silently thanking him for waiting while he responded.

-

@RAT KING @SpottedBread @Breezestarfire

[Doom]

@marni

Beepaw | She/her

She intended to take the first swing like a good sport, expecting only the soft blow of Laurelpaw's sheathed paw, but the sting that followed shortly after proved her wrong. Beepaw winced at the sharp pain, now frozen in fear. She felt something wet trickle down to her eye, so she quickly closed it in order to protect her vision.

Panic set in when Lauerelpaw disappeared into her new blind spot. Beepaw was too late to dodge the next blow; she collapsed as claws were raked across her shoulder and down her foreleg. "Laurelpaw, stop it!" She cried, tears now streaming down her cheeks. "You're hurting me!!" In a desperate attempt to protect herself, she flailed and kicked with all her might, hoping to push Laurelpaw away.

[stardust.]

(Redspeckle)

Redspeckle was sitting in the clearing, enjoying xyr day. With greenleaf here, things were nicer, and it was a lot more peaceful, well... in xyr own opinion. Redspeckle watched as nothing really took place. Well.. as xe saw... But now, it looked like two apprenticess were fighting, xe knew one was Laurelpaw, but xe didn't recognize the other, wait.. Beepaw. Laurelpaw and Beepaw. Xyr thought. Xe made sure that Laurelpaw wasn't causing harm, but yeah, she was causing harm to Beepaw.

[SpottedBread]

Originally Posted by Alchemist Kitsune

Snowykit

Taking his gaze off the fun warrior with the moss ball, Snowykit turned bright, blue eyes towards Applekit, his self awareness returning. He was hoping to go out and play and was afraid of angering or disappointing Fireflame by waking her kits. That said, Applekit seemed very interested in what he had just witnessed out in the clearing. The last thing Snowykit wanted was to disappoint her by not delivering some answers, although how he was to do that when he knew the right thing was for him to stay quiet and out of the way was troubling him. How could he communicate if doing so would only bother others? Perhaps if they were openly asking for answers it would be okay to talk more than usual. Not overly, of course. He would not want to overstay his welcome.

Glancing over at the long furred white warrior before him, he noticed the cat seemed to be patiently waiting for him to respond before taking him out. Blinking in gratitude and glad that the warrior did not seem annoyed, he turned his attention back towards Applekit, tilting his head as he remembered the odd cat that had just seemed excited to take a sound strike to the face. Deciding to answer her questions in order, he mewed in a soft voice, keeping Fireflame and her kits in mind.

"Yes," he answered for the first question. An easy enough response, as he had indeed just seen a fight.

"Yeh," he mewed for the second question, cutting himself short before finishing the word, unused to saying so much in a conversation.

It was the third question that stumped him. How was it? Exciting, scary, amazing, not quite as horrific as some of the stories he had heard from the elders, but blood had definitely been drawn. And what about the reaction the outsider had? Snowykit didn't know much, but he knew that cats didn't normally react with giddiness at being clawed out by enemies. After a moment's hesitation, he stated, "Weird?" as that last interaction had definitely stood out after the fight.

"Dunno," he finally finished with a shrug, realizing he never really learned who the outsiders were, even though one of them had not really been involved in the fight.

Snowykit's tail twitched with joy. The large kit looked down at Applekit as he sat up, proud that he could give such concise, exact responses without recklessly bumbling needless words that would simply bore or irritate her. Turning back to the warrior, he beamed up at him, silently thanking him for waiting while he responded.

-

@RAT KING @SpottedBread @Breezestarfire

Applekit - She/her

Applekit wasn't that much smaller than Snowykit. She had a pretty good build to her, actually. "That's really cool!" The brown she-cat smiled. She looked up at the warrior who offered to play with Snowykit. "Maybe I could join you two? I've been looking for a cat to play with since Fireflame's kits have been asleep."

@RAT KING

[taillow]

Laurelpaw
Just as Beepaw cried out, Laurelpaw slipped her claws back in quickly and stepped back. She couldn't deny the rush, the thrill that raced through her veins, but for now she feigned a look of shock. "I'm sorry, Beepaw! I didn't know!" Her mask was kept up for only a second, before apart of it split a bit. Just a small portion, then a smirk brushed across her face. "...that you were such a coward. I mean, come on - we were just practicing! You're suppose to dodge the moves, Beepaw."

Whatever this whole "woe is me" act that her denmate had going on, Laurelpaw wasn't buying it. She should have known to duck or dodge - besides, she was just preparing Beepaw for the real world. Cats used their claws, and if she continued to fight with only her little mittens then WindClan would surely lose yet another apprentice.

Peering closer, she realized the cuts were minor, and without hesitation she aimed to press a paw against the one above Beepaw's eye. "It's not even bleeding that much, you're fine. Now get up! I want to continue our spar." She could feel eyes on her, but whosever they were they meant nothing to her. With her mom now officially gone from the Clan, there was no one that could really tell her what to do, now was there?

[ @Castle ]

[Doom]

@marni

Beepaw | She/Her

"Yeah, we're practicing! We aren't supposed to use our claws unless it's a real fight!" Beepaw snapped, finally catching a few breaths between sobs when Laurelpaw withdrew. Her heart was pounding. Her shoulder burned. All she could do was lie there and cry as her own denmate called her a coward. Was she crazy? Did she seriously have no remorse for hurting her own Clanmate...? And did any of her Clanmates even care? Not a single soul came to help her.

 

Was Beepaw nothing but a joke to everybody in her life? Did she...deserve this? By the way things were going in her life so far, she started to believe it. Maybe she did deserve to be clawed at by her own Clanmates, just like she deserved to be left by her own mother and former mentor.

She couldn't believe what was happening. How could Laurelpaw be so insensitive? Why was she doing this to her? Did Beepaw miss something? She'd never been hurt before (at least not physically, anyway), and the fact that her first wound was from her own Clanmate...it was absolutely humiliating.

When Laurelpaw began to reach her paw toward the cut above her eye, Beepaw flinched and shuffled back. "Don't touch me!" She hissed in a final attempt assert herself, but the wounded apprentice still quivered with fear. "What the stars is wrong with you? Can't you see that I'm hurting...?" More tears fell as she looked back at her bleeding shoulder. If she was honest, it didn't hurt too bad, but Beepaw was scared -- and that was the main reason she was crying.

When Laurelpaw demanded her to get up and keeping going, Beepaw slowly drew her gaze back up in horror. "What? No! I'm going to see Cowpaw. You really..." she gasped for air, still sobbing hard, "hurt me..."

Beepaw finally pulled herself off the ground, hovering her wounded foreleg to keep weight off of it. "I...I don't ever want to see you again!" She proclaimed, finally breaking her gaze away from the twisted apprentice. In that moment, it was true. She never wanted to deal with a horrible cat like her ever again.

With her tail tucked between her legs, she then turned and limped toward the medicine den.

[stardust.]

(Redspeckle)

Redspeckle watched as Beepaw got hurt, xyr felt angry at Laurelpaw, hurting a cat in the same clan as they are. It's not okay, and xe were going to prove it, "No! Laurelpaw! Never do that ever again! Hurting a cat from the same clan as you are is not okay" Xe stated, it just wasn't okay, it was peaceful until now, Redspeckle couldn't believe it. Xe moved over, making sure Laurelpaw understood, "Understand?" Xe asked.

Now turning to Beepaw, xe knew how much pain the she-cat was feeling. If Laurelpaw had continued, Beepaw might have been off to StarClan. Xe thought. "Beepaw. Head over to Cowpaw immediately, that was serious. Tell Twilightstar, Fallownose or Cowpaw if something like this ever happens again" This is a clan, and clans should stick together, not drift apart, xe didn't want WindClan to become the next ThunderClan.
@marni @Castle

[taillow]

Laurelpaw
As Beepaw cried and whimpered Laurelpaw just rolled her eyes. She didn't even get her that bad! And no one had been watching close enough to really see - it could've easily been a scrape. "You're no fun," Laurelpaw called after her before sitting down with a sigh. She was resigned to maybe seeing what lay on the outside of camp when a voice spoke to her, and she turned her head. Who the heck was this?

"She fell and scraped herself - I didn't do anything. Are you blind?" came the snarky retort as she stared at Redspeckle like the cat had grown wings and horns. As Redspeckle asked if she understood Laurelpaw just stood up and rolled her eyes. "I understand that you have bees for brains. We were having a friendly spar and she tripped and fell. Go stick your nose in some other cats business, rat."

And with that the black and white apprentice whipped around and stalked off away from the scene. She couldn't slip out of camp now with the warriors eyes on her, but later there would be no stopping her. For now she disappeared into the apprentices' den.

[ @Stormpoppy ]