Post by Dawn on Oct 20, 2011 12:24:46 GMT -5
Seems like there's always someone who disapproves.
So don't you worry your pretty little mind | People throw rocks at things that shine | And it's not their's to speculate if it's wrong.
With every breath taken and every word spoken her destiny was changing. The seasons had whispered by, barely an intimate murmur against her ears, from new leaf to leaf fall. Barely, however, could the coming of new sunlight be remembered by her; she was ten moons old now, and had been just a kitten when the leaves began to turn the forest green. Splashkit's greatest want and desire was to become an apprentice, and train under a strong warrior; she hoped that with time and age, she would grow, and no longer would be a puny, undersized kit. With seasons of growth, perhaps she might stand as tall as her father Rivershadow; and then, the others wouldn't tease and jeer her so. That was all she had wanted that Newleaf; to be accepted and to become stronger. Well, four moons later, in Greenleaf, she was made an apprentice. Splashkit was named Splashpaw, and she was supposed to put all of the childish nursery encounters behind her; she was supposed to come away from 'kit' with her bruises healed, and her scars closed, and her heart open to become a warrior. She had tried, really she had. Her first mentor, Flareheart, had neglected her training; every evening Splashpaw would go out alone and train until she was near dropping with exhaustion. By the time Voidstar noted that Flareheart was not the best mentor for her, she was already two moons into her training; set far behind her littermates and denmates, whose muscles rippled beneath their sleek pelts. The runt gray tabby was re-assigned to Islandsplash, a half clan warrior whose parentage was part Zephyrclan, part Tempestclan- the irony of this was simply sickening, as a moon ago, Splashpaw had met a Zephyrclan apprentice named Dunepaw, and befriended him. Training was going alright with Islandsplash; she admired her, because, like Splashpaw, the orange warrior was different; she was kind, and half clan, and gentler with her training methods than most. With her help, she could have become a great warrior. In two moons, she would be eligible to earn her warrior name, whatever that may be. But instead of putting her complete self into training under her mentor, she was playing kit games with Dunepaw. What am I doing?
They had met by chance on the moors. A lit moon, burning stars, everything set for a meeting that would change fate. But perhaps she couldn't be the only one held to blame. It was he who had tipped the scale; it was he who had sought her out purposefully, ten sunrises ago, on Tempestclan territory. It was selfish, what they were doing and what had already been done. Asking to meet him again, in half a moon- tipping her head to the night sky each night. Asking, Why have I done this? and yet counting the sunrises, watching the moon waxing as it grew from a sliver toward a half moon. Only twice they had met and each time it seemed like he took more and more of her with him, back to that windy, desolate place on the moor. Splashpaw shivered for him, curled in a dip in the highland, perhaps not shielded from the cutting breezes. If she were to be with him there, would they curl together and share in sinful warmth? No, she reassured herself, and the shiver she had felt before came back all the more real, making her shudder painfully. We are friends, and friendship between clans is completely allowed by the warrior code. Gazing across the camp clearing, her face was etched with despair, such strife that filled her green pools. Watching the apprentice's den absently, Splashpaw thought of one of the newly made apprentices, Aspenpaw. Indeed he was handsome, strong and far better looking than Dunepaw. In a fight, Aspenpaw could easily best the scrawny Zephyrclan youth; his cold blue eyes would sear into Dunepaw's warm yellow gaze, would burn him as only the coldest frost could. She tried to imagine herself with Aspenpaw- becoming a warrior before him, then meeting him in the same den; becoming mates, falling in love. It was a fanciful daydream that any she-cat might have; but the stark unhappiness that her face portrayed did not change with it. Aspenpaw was not Dunepaw; there wasn't any cat in Tempestclan that would ever be like him. Not the handsome older warriors, Flamestripe and Emberblade; not toms to come. It wasn't that she was drawn to him because of his great bravery and strength; but together, they had taken a chance, and together, she would see this fall through. Splashpaw longed to hear him speak with his gentle tone, not the aggressive one warriors of her clan would adopt; she longed to see him carefully studying her, not a raking glance that said to her, "You are nothing. Nothing but a runt."
Daydreams of the future were pushed urgently away, and her face quickly became guarded, as a patrol of warriors entered the camp bearing prey. It was the sunhigh hunting patrol; her cousin, Dreamfeather, was at the lead, an easy expression on her face and softened blue eyes. Splashpaw wondered what could have melted her from cold and hard so much; she didn't linger long on curiosity though, when she caught sight of an orange pelt. Unaware that Islandsplash, her mentor, and the deputy had been speaking moments before, Splashpaw padded toward her, hoping she would be up for some training today. Practicing her hunting, fighting, and tracking skills ought to chase off thoughts of the Zephyrclan tom; or at least diminish them. Islandsplash was a fun mentor, and she often found herself smiling at the end of their training sessions, loosened up by her casual mood. With any luck, that would be the case for today, as she truly needed a lightening of heart.
"Hello, Dreamfeather." She greeted her kin lightly, dipping her head with the respect due. Once the gesture had been returned, she headed past the other warriors on the patrol, most still grouped together despite having dropped their prey at the edge of the tree. "Hi Islandsplash!" Splashpaw mewed brightly, working up a smile meant for her mentor entirely. It was easy to make the smile feel real, as it settled easily on her features. Despite all of the hard things going on, she was still excited for training, just like any other apprentice would be. Still, rather than demand that the she-cat take her out this very instant, she managed to be polite and comment on the hunt. "How is the prey running?" Then, she grinned conspiratorially, and lowered her voice to a whisper. "What's got Dreamfeather in such a good mood?"
WORD COUNT: 1141 TAGGED: Wolfy [Islandsplash] only NOTES: Here is the mucho long Splashpaw post I promised, as well as the training thread for them. I'm pretending that, following our Islanddream role play, they went hunting on a patrol and are just now returning? I didn't want to powerplay though, so of course say whatever she did with her catch, or if she did in fact make a catch, and how the hunt went with them and what not. I hope this is okay with you. c:
With every breath taken and every word spoken her destiny was changing. The seasons had whispered by, barely an intimate murmur against her ears, from new leaf to leaf fall. Barely, however, could the coming of new sunlight be remembered by her; she was ten moons old now, and had been just a kitten when the leaves began to turn the forest green. Splashkit's greatest want and desire was to become an apprentice, and train under a strong warrior; she hoped that with time and age, she would grow, and no longer would be a puny, undersized kit. With seasons of growth, perhaps she might stand as tall as her father Rivershadow; and then, the others wouldn't tease and jeer her so. That was all she had wanted that Newleaf; to be accepted and to become stronger. Well, four moons later, in Greenleaf, she was made an apprentice. Splashkit was named Splashpaw, and she was supposed to put all of the childish nursery encounters behind her; she was supposed to come away from 'kit' with her bruises healed, and her scars closed, and her heart open to become a warrior. She had tried, really she had. Her first mentor, Flareheart, had neglected her training; every evening Splashpaw would go out alone and train until she was near dropping with exhaustion. By the time Voidstar noted that Flareheart was not the best mentor for her, she was already two moons into her training; set far behind her littermates and denmates, whose muscles rippled beneath their sleek pelts. The runt gray tabby was re-assigned to Islandsplash, a half clan warrior whose parentage was part Zephyrclan, part Tempestclan- the irony of this was simply sickening, as a moon ago, Splashpaw had met a Zephyrclan apprentice named Dunepaw, and befriended him. Training was going alright with Islandsplash; she admired her, because, like Splashpaw, the orange warrior was different; she was kind, and half clan, and gentler with her training methods than most. With her help, she could have become a great warrior. In two moons, she would be eligible to earn her warrior name, whatever that may be. But instead of putting her complete self into training under her mentor, she was playing kit games with Dunepaw. What am I doing?
They had met by chance on the moors. A lit moon, burning stars, everything set for a meeting that would change fate. But perhaps she couldn't be the only one held to blame. It was he who had tipped the scale; it was he who had sought her out purposefully, ten sunrises ago, on Tempestclan territory. It was selfish, what they were doing and what had already been done. Asking to meet him again, in half a moon- tipping her head to the night sky each night. Asking, Why have I done this? and yet counting the sunrises, watching the moon waxing as it grew from a sliver toward a half moon. Only twice they had met and each time it seemed like he took more and more of her with him, back to that windy, desolate place on the moor. Splashpaw shivered for him, curled in a dip in the highland, perhaps not shielded from the cutting breezes. If she were to be with him there, would they curl together and share in sinful warmth? No, she reassured herself, and the shiver she had felt before came back all the more real, making her shudder painfully. We are friends, and friendship between clans is completely allowed by the warrior code. Gazing across the camp clearing, her face was etched with despair, such strife that filled her green pools. Watching the apprentice's den absently, Splashpaw thought of one of the newly made apprentices, Aspenpaw. Indeed he was handsome, strong and far better looking than Dunepaw. In a fight, Aspenpaw could easily best the scrawny Zephyrclan youth; his cold blue eyes would sear into Dunepaw's warm yellow gaze, would burn him as only the coldest frost could. She tried to imagine herself with Aspenpaw- becoming a warrior before him, then meeting him in the same den; becoming mates, falling in love. It was a fanciful daydream that any she-cat might have; but the stark unhappiness that her face portrayed did not change with it. Aspenpaw was not Dunepaw; there wasn't any cat in Tempestclan that would ever be like him. Not the handsome older warriors, Flamestripe and Emberblade; not toms to come. It wasn't that she was drawn to him because of his great bravery and strength; but together, they had taken a chance, and together, she would see this fall through. Splashpaw longed to hear him speak with his gentle tone, not the aggressive one warriors of her clan would adopt; she longed to see him carefully studying her, not a raking glance that said to her, "You are nothing. Nothing but a runt."
Daydreams of the future were pushed urgently away, and her face quickly became guarded, as a patrol of warriors entered the camp bearing prey. It was the sunhigh hunting patrol; her cousin, Dreamfeather, was at the lead, an easy expression on her face and softened blue eyes. Splashpaw wondered what could have melted her from cold and hard so much; she didn't linger long on curiosity though, when she caught sight of an orange pelt. Unaware that Islandsplash, her mentor, and the deputy had been speaking moments before, Splashpaw padded toward her, hoping she would be up for some training today. Practicing her hunting, fighting, and tracking skills ought to chase off thoughts of the Zephyrclan tom; or at least diminish them. Islandsplash was a fun mentor, and she often found herself smiling at the end of their training sessions, loosened up by her casual mood. With any luck, that would be the case for today, as she truly needed a lightening of heart.
"Hello, Dreamfeather." She greeted her kin lightly, dipping her head with the respect due. Once the gesture had been returned, she headed past the other warriors on the patrol, most still grouped together despite having dropped their prey at the edge of the tree. "Hi Islandsplash!" Splashpaw mewed brightly, working up a smile meant for her mentor entirely. It was easy to make the smile feel real, as it settled easily on her features. Despite all of the hard things going on, she was still excited for training, just like any other apprentice would be. Still, rather than demand that the she-cat take her out this very instant, she managed to be polite and comment on the hunt. "How is the prey running?" Then, she grinned conspiratorially, and lowered her voice to a whisper. "What's got Dreamfeather in such a good mood?"
WORD COUNT: 1141 TAGGED: Wolfy [Islandsplash] only NOTES: Here is the mucho long Splashpaw post I promised, as well as the training thread for them. I'm pretending that, following our Islanddream role play, they went hunting on a patrol and are just now returning? I didn't want to powerplay though, so of course say whatever she did with her catch, or if she did in fact make a catch, and how the hunt went with them and what not. I hope this is okay with you. c:
ANCK SU NAMUN OF CAUTION!