ShadowClan Apprentices' Den

[Estelle]

She hadn't spoken in some time. Nighthound, that is. He was friendly through his tough exterior, though the lack of seeing him around the clan had her worried: what about his children? She still recalled little Midnightkit sitting with her during that one meeting, and the goofy little Eveningkit demanding something for having - accidentally, mind you - taken him for some moss. Well, they weren't so little anymore - Eveningpaw and Midnightpaw. Either way, that's what brought her to the apprentice's den this morning. Concerned for the well-being, without much thought, the forever queen found herself at its entrance, poking her head inside to find who she'd been looking for: Midnightpaw. A kind smile spread across her maw as she entered the den, cautiously approaching. She didn't want to intrude, after all.
"Mid..night..paw,"
She greeted softly, not getting too close just yet - frankly, this had her a little nervous. What if she was bothering the apprentice? But... It just felt necessary to check up on how she was doing.
"Have.. you been... well..?"


[ @Omari ]

[Omari]

Midnightpaw
Shadowclan
She/her
8/100

The apprentice’s den was weird. She wasn’t quite sure how she felt about it yet. It was nice to be in the same den as her brothers now, it was comforting to know that they were there. They hadn’t interacted very much since her apprenticeship, but nonetheless, just seeing them and smelling them in the new den was comforting.

It was a little less daunting with her friends in here, too. Rainypaw was nice, Rufflepaw was a bit silly, but he was fun nonetheless–Batpaw was… She didn’t know, yet. The guy was a bully through and through, but he wasn’t necessarily bad. When she first became an apprentice, he moved his nest right next to hers just so that he could bug her. Bothersome, really. It was like having a tick in your ear–a tick that could talk. Still, a part of her kind of liked the company, even if he was a stone-headed dummy.

Nevertheless, she was alone today. A moment of peace, curled up in her moss bed that she had tugged off towards the back end of the apprentice’s den. Since becoming an apprentice, she came to terms with the fact that this den was cold. The nursery was warm and comforting–but the apprentice’s den was cold and… Scary, sometimes.

A soft call of her name caught her attention, and she lifted her head to find Nightshiver. The sight of her got her all excited, a sudden rush of adrenaline running through her veins as she almost immediately hopped up onto her paws. “Nightshiver! Hi!”

Nightshiver was homey. Nightshiver was warm and comforting, like the nursery was. Like her dad was–and like her brothers were, too.

“I’m good–I’ve been okay. I’m getting used to things in here–getting used to the new name, the new bed, my new mentor–” Midnightpaw’s head bobbed from left to right as she rambled on about all of the new things in her life. “I’ve been outside of camp! Did you know that? I went out with Hazelstripe an’ my friends, Batpaw and Rufflepaw! Their mentors came, too! It’s nice outside, different–everything smells a bit different outside of camp.”

Oh, I've been rambling! Impolite, not nice at all! “Nightshiver, have you been doing good, too?”

[ @Estelle ]

[Estelle]

Spotting the young apprentice, she padded closer to the young one's nest near the back. It was notable how much chillier this den was compared to the nursery, something Nightshiver never did understand. Though perhaps it had to do with the size of the den's opening? She wasn't certain.

Either way, when Midnightpaw arose, she gave a soft smile. It was... Touching, to see her seemingly so happy to see her. Nightshiver could've shed a tear right then and there, her heart growing a little warmer at the sight, banning away any worries. The forever queen sat down, tail wrapping around her paw.
"Did.. I... wake you?"

She questioned gently, though the newly named apprentice was already rambling off to answer the molly's previous question. Nightshiver couldn't help but smile at that. She was beyond happy to hear Midnightpaw's happy rambling, intently listening along. Most of all, the white lady was happy to hear that Midnightpaw was doing well, despite Nighthound's seeming absence, despite all these changes. It was reassuring to see.

"I am... glad... you've been... well. It sounds... like.. you've... seen a... lot of... new... things? Is your... training... going well... so.. far, and... your... mentor?"
With a gentle tone the questions left her maw without much thought. It was silly, really, Nightshiver rarely posed many queries but here she was.
"I... have been... well... thank.. you. The... nursery.. is.. busy as... ever..., but... it's... lovely."


[ @something. ]

[Alchemist Kitsune]

| Silverlark |
Shadow Fiend - Inactive | Just a Scratch - Inactive | Beefed Up [Tier 3] - Inactive

---

So. There were many new things going on in the new warrior's life. For one thing, he was a warrior. After moons of struggling to get his training done, he had finally accomplished his goal, his promise to his mum, and had become a warrior! Victory! And before that, he had become a guard for the clan, and then an enforcer! So many things, so many things, aaah, it was almost hard to keep track. Naturally, there might be one or two things the silver throated warrior might have forgotten.

One of them being that he had a new apprentice. Oops. In his defense, he either had not been there for the ceremony when she had been made an apprentice, or there had been none, and Dawnstar hadn't told him, and then she hadn't come over to tell him... Rawr, this was a mess! And now? Now he was - gasp - doing the same thing Shadefrost had done to him! He was ignoring poor Cloverpaw!

Look. It might not be his fault he wasn't properly briefed about having an apprentice, but! But. It was his fault for not taking action sooner, and tonight? Oh ho ho, tonight he made up for it! Cloverpaw wasn't going to know what hit her! Well... she would. It would be all the hard work they were going to do. But you know. Figure of speech.

With this in mind, Silverthroat headed towards the apprentices' den. The filtered moonlight the only thing that lit up the clearing, darkness soon engulfed him as broad, muscular shoulders blocked the sparse light that was afforded into the den by the cavern's gaping entrance. Green eyes instantly growing accustomed to the dim shadows cast over many a sleeping body, he perked up his ears, trying to find his apprentice's mottled fur. His breath puffed into a small cloud before him as he snorted, realizing that despite being able to make out the shapes, it was still being a bit of a pain to make out colors in the darkened space. Perking up his ears, the stocky tom called out to his charge, his whisper too loud as it carried through the grouped up paws.

"Yooo, Cloves! You in here? Let's be going. Time for some night training, yeah? Yeah!" the scarred warrior called out, his mouth open wide in a happy go lucky, beaming smile.

---

@Poprock [Cloverpaw]

[Kix]

rufflepaw took a nap in his nest.

[Poprock]

Originally Posted by Alchemist Kitsune

| Silverlark |
Shadow Fiend - Inactive | Just a Scratch - Inactive | Beefed Up [Tier 3] - Inactive

---

So. There were many new things going on in the new warrior's life. For one thing, he was a warrior. After moons of struggling to get his training done, he had finally accomplished his goal, his promise to his mum, and had become a warrior! Victory! And before that, he had become a guard for the clan, and then an enforcer! So many things, so many things, aaah, it was almost hard to keep track. Naturally, there might be one or two things the silver throated warrior might have forgotten.

One of them being that he had a new apprentice. Oops. In his defense, he either had not been there for the ceremony when she had been made an apprentice, or there had been none, and Dawnstar hadn't told him, and then she hadn't come over to tell him... Rawr, this was a mess! And now? Now he was - gasp - doing the same thing Shadefrost had done to him! He was ignoring poor Cloverpaw!

Look. It might not be his fault he wasn't properly briefed about having an apprentice, but! But. It was his fault for not taking action sooner, and tonight? Oh ho ho, tonight he made up for it! Cloverpaw wasn't going to know what hit her! Well... she would. It would be all the hard work they were going to do. But you know. Figure of speech.

With this in mind, Silverthroat headed towards the apprentices' den. The filtered moonlight the only thing that lit up the clearing, darkness soon engulfed him as broad, muscular shoulders blocked the sparse light that was afforded into the den by the cavern's gaping entrance. Green eyes instantly growing accustomed to the dim shadows cast over many a sleeping body, he perked up his ears, trying to find his apprentice's mottled fur. His breath puffed into a small cloud before him as he snorted, realizing that despite being able to make out the shapes, it was still being a bit of a pain to make out colors in the darkened space. Perking up his ears, the stocky tom called out to his charge, his whisper too loud as it carried through the grouped up paws.

"Yooo, Cloves! You in here? Let's be going. Time for some night training, yeah? Yeah!" the scarred warrior called out, his mouth open wide in a happy go lucky, beaming smile.

---

@Poprock [Cloverpaw]

"I'm here." She murmured groggily, lifting her head to reveal black and orange fur sticking out at odd angles and heavy lidded eyes. It wasn't her fault she wasn't presentable... how was she supposed to know her mentor would come into her den in the middle of the night? Not that I'm complaining, any training is good training. She stepped over the sleeping bodies of her fellow apprentices - maybe catching a few tails here and there - before finally joining her mentor.

"I'm not sure what night training entails, but I would like to request one thing. Teach me how to counter a pumpkin leaping at you." In her mind the request made perfect sense. How would she defeat Rushingpaw the big fat idiot next time they dueled? She had been completely humiliated last time... and couldn't let it happen again. However, would Silverlark understand? Her sleepy mind hadn't even realized the nonsense she had spouted as she began to pad ahead. Her mentor was following... right?

[Estelle]

It was strange the way she'd been feeling lighter as of late; perhaps it was the influx of positive sights, perhaps it was her friend's return - Nightshiver couldn't quite pin point it, but she cherished the feeling all the same. It was rare for the white feline to feel calm, to feel at peace almost - to be content, plagued with fewer worries than normal.

And yet, there was one worry that wouldn't leave her mind. One she couldn't quite ignore of push to the back of her mind, one that had prompted her to visit a particular apprentice just a few days before. One prompted her to check on another one, the former's sibling, in fact. And that was Nighthound's disappearance.

Silently stepping inside the apprentice's den, the first place she thought was to look for the bossy young apprentice.
"Evening..paw..?"
She softly questioned, unwilling to disturb any resting apprentices.


[ @Starfall ]

[Shade.]

@The Cannibal

It truly was a shame, they probably said. A cat old enough for warriorhood, with her father's healthy and powerful lineage and her mother's pretty face and enforcer legacy. Such a shame that she was so disappointing. Still an apprentice, while her prodigal brother Dogskull was probably making waves already within clan politics. But Seedpaw loved pissing people off and rebelling against the norm, so she wouldn't have it any other way. Well, that wasn't entirely true. She would rather be a warrior now, if only so everyone would stop bossing her around. Only being allowed to be bossed around by high ranks and enforcers at least narrowed the pool of potential bossy cats. Still, Seedpaw didn't like the idea of growing up, and wanted to enjoy the excuse of "I'm just an appwentice, I don't know any bettew uwu" for as long as it was an option.

Right now, she was dabbing moss rolled in some Ash onto someone's nest. She'd found a lone tree that got struck by lightning during a recent thunderstorm. The rain seemed to have prevented a forest fire, but there was a lot of asg around, and while Seedpaw found the smell of burning lovely, the ash definitely made you sneeze. If she got caught, she could claim she was trying to clean the nests with moss. Everyone in the clan thought she was stupid anyway. How could she not be? Always joking around, not taking things seriously and mentioning so many flaws. In reality, Seedpaw was just painfully self-aware of her shortcomings, bored to death and, in fact, very smart. So much so that she figured out how to use the clan's opinion of her to her advantage.

And so she had predicted the possibility of someone entering the den as well. They didn't seem to be heading for this nest specifically so it wasn't theirs, right? Hmmm..the work was tedious and maybe she could use an Accomplice. Though she waited to see if they'd bring it up first.

[Alchemist Kitsune]

| Silverlark |
Shadow Fiend - Inactive | Just a Scratch - Inactive | Beefed Up [Tier 3] - Inactive

---

His apprentice's voice called back to him, groggy but aware. As far as he was concerned, that was a good sign of a ready to train cat! Although... her words did confuse him. How did she not know what night training trailed? For one thing, it trailed nothing. There was no trail. Or at least that was the point. Moving in the dark without leaving a trail! Oh his poor, poor apprentice. He would need to take things slowly with her it seemed like, at least while she woke up a bit more.

If her lack of knowledge on night training had stumped Silverlark for a bit, her request left him booming in laughter. His shoulders shaking with glee as the muscular tom wiped a tear from his eye, he tried to regain some semblance of control before speaking again. What had Cloverpaw gotten herself into? A pumpkin?! Leaping at you?! Oh wow. She was definitely still more asleep than awake, that was for sure! Raising his paw, the tom slammed it down, attempting to gently - or as gently as the beefed up warrior could manage - pat his apprentice on the shoulder a few times before leading the way out of the den.

"If it's battle training ya want, ya got the right cat, yep! Fighting's my thing, ya dig? And we are ShadowClan. It would do you some proper good to learn how to fight and avoid pumpkins in the moonlight. Might even help you to avoid other things. Like... things that actually move, ya know? 'Course ya do! So what ya say, Cloves? We head out to the territory now? Get you used to fighting in more solid ground? Best know how to fight with good ground 'neath ya before ya move to swampy terr- tarrin... muck."

The silver throated enforcer gave his companion an eager look, the potential of a good play fight getting his blood pumping. He was well aware he would not be able to go all out against his apprentice. For one thing, he was trying to teach her, not break her. Even Silverlark understood as much. But a playful scuffle could still be fun! It would be a good warm up, if anything. He could always go looking for a proper brawl later, once their training was done for the night.

---

@Poprock [Cloverpaw]

[MintyBea]

Honeypaw stretched and immediately scampered to her paws. Her first day initiated as an apprentice- she was so excited! She rushed to the entrance, peeking out to see if her mentor was awake, and where he was.
"Dogskull?" She called for her mentor as she fully emerged from the apprentice's den. "It's the morning! Shouldn't we start training now?"