a feathered creature | rta

[ravenpaw x]

Ravenpaw enjoyed being alone with her thoughts.

It was nice, of course, to puff herself up and preen for the sake of others. There was a satisfaction to be found in showing off just how much better she was than her clanmates. Which was to speak nothing of how much satisfaction she took in the little games she played with them.

To a point though, it was all performance. Whether she played the perfect apprentice or she simply played all her clanmates for fools, she played a part all the same. It could get tiring, after a while.

There were moments, like now, while she skulked through the underbrush hidden from the world, that she let out a breath she didn't know she had been holding. It was strange, how much more like herself she felt when she was alone. As she hunted, afforded herself the pleasure of a moment alone with her thoughts. The most intelligent company she could possibly have, she commented to herself wryly. Prey was sparse enough that like as not, she would find nothing no matter how much attention she paid. No one would blame her if she had little to show for her work.

The apprentice was so lost in her thoughts, that she let her paw slip on the wet ground. Within a moment, she was sent crashing down into the mud.

With a hiss, she quickly scrambled to her paws, spitting gunk from her mouth. An embarrassing, unforgivable lapse in judgement. She would find it appalling showing for anyone else, and for herself it was unthinkable. She was better than this.

Furtively, she glanced around to see if anyone had caught her little slip up.​

[ PENNED BY EMPYREAN ]​

 

[Magpiepaw]

Ravenpaw would lift her head to find the blue-violet eyed kitten staring at her intently, eyes wide and pupils drawn into thin slits. He had seen everything. He always sees everything. Some cats had mused he didn't blink, but that wasn't true, he just did it slowly. He was also not supposed to be this far outside of camp and you would think his first adventure tumbling into a mud pit similarly to the apprentice would have swayed him from continuing his problematic ventures outward. You would be wrong.
"Don't eat it, it tastes awful." The black and white child comments before averting his gaze, "Not that I would know."
Light wobbly steps carry him bouncing forward to circle around Ravenpaw, pulling his thoughts together to observer her closely. She was one of Pitchstar's younger siblings, yes, which meant she was okay with him even if-he paused warily sweeping a glance over her from ears to tail tip-even if she did not have a single spot of white. Horrible. Dreadful. He hoped she would be okay in the future. Briarstar, he had heard, was solid black as well and perhaps it was for this reason she was carried to the sky. Misfortune. Magpiekit sat down before her, pausing to clean his own paws and clumsily wipe them over his ears because just the sight of the mud brought to mind the horrors of his tumble that left him a puddle of muck and grime.
"I won't tell anyone." He assured, noting the way her eyes had darted from side to side. "...if you give me something." But he was not so merciful as to just look away.
​

 

[CHILLEDSTAR.]

DON'T YOU GIVE ME UP, PLEASE DON'T GIVE UP​

---

"clumsy apprentice make for even more clumsy warriors. you should really watch your step."

chilledgaze raised their brows up slightly, though their mouth didn't move upwards or even downwards in a frown. they simply observed, twitching their nose back and forth before lifting their paw and shaking the mud off with a groan. they could certainly do without it.

"pick your paws up slightly higher when walking."

they advise, flicking their ears with a huff. it wasn't as if they really cared about who was slipping and falling. kits did it all the time. it was somewhat natural. not for chilled but they weren't going to judge. it took a second but then their ears perked up, and they looked over at the star obsessed kitten, brows furrowing before they rolled their eyes dramatically.

"alright enough adventure. you're going back to camp. let's go ravenpaw."

they attempted to grab magiepiekit by his scruff with a low growl as they nodded their head in the camps direction.
​

 

[smogstar]

Smogmaw strays from the camp for some reason or other. To cite hunting as his motive would be a flight of fancy, for he knew damn well that he wasn't going to find any prey out and about in the thicket. Not during this season, not in this climate. He simply supposes ditching camp's comfortless humdrum for a while would be a welcome change in scenery. He was wrong, unfortunately.

A grimace takes hold of his mouth when the sound of clanmates hits his black-capped ears. Perhaps part of the purpose for leaving the hollow was forgetting those miserable sods exist. This is not to say he's any less wretched than them, mind you, but he forsakes all hope for a mental repose now that he's aware of their presence.

Ah well. The particolored tom made the decision to stick around when the going got tough. Viewing his clanmates through this feigned lens of spite isn't solving anything.

Drawing a raspy exhale, he treads off towards where he had heard the dialogue. Among the voices was the deputy's, along with a couple younger ones he couldn't exactly pinpoint (as Smogmaw hates children and can't be bothered to learn any of their names). Sure enough, Chilledgaze's fretful form would manifest as he drew near. They chastise the kids, a move he can truly commend them for.

"Listen to 'em, or we're sending you off to RiverClan with all the other escapees," he blurts, the blackened tip of his tail grazing the underbrush. A simple chortle at his simple joke. It's one he made often, yet he derived amusement from it every time.​

 

[DOGFUR]

"A little slip." Dogfur remarked disinterestedly. "Nothing un-fix-able." They glanced at Chilledgaze, evaluating their response with interest. Magpiekit was out here again, walking in his wobbly way. It did not seem like he would be scolded again. Dogfur would be sad if the scrap died out here again in the mud. He had luck on his side thus far. Dogfur shook out his mud-matted pelt, sensing that the group was planning to return to camp with their runaway.

Ignoring Smogmaw, the tortoiseshell slunk over to Ravenpaw and gave her a curious sniff. "The mud here. Relentless. Dangerous, even. It almost swallowed a kit whole." He did not feel like saying it was Magpiekit. "Anything bruised further—? Apart from your ego."

 

[GHOSTPAW]

Ghostpaw is glad it isn't him. The mud sticks out too much against his own pale fur. Ravenpaw is lucky it isn't too obvious. It is a little bit, still. It would be even less so for a wood-colored cat, or even someone already covered in splotches, like Dogfur was. It could just be a new one, with a new color. That wouldn't be so weird.

clumsy apprentices make for even more clumsy warriors. "Really?" Ghostpaw blinks. The clumsiness got worse? How could that be possible? The older you got, the better you became. Is it because your paws got bigger? Too distracted by the mud and mud-stuff, Ghostpaw kind of forgets that Magpiekit shouldn't be here. He was interested in mud-stuff too. Was that so bad? (Not that he would know.) Apparently, apparently, because Magpie's grabbed by the scruff.

Dangerous, the mud was dangerous, and anyone who didnt heed the warnings would be sent away. Bonejaw had left on her own, hadn't she? Was the mud too deadly, too dangerous? Of course she left then, she would've had too many kits to drown... And she wouldn't be able to save them... "Can we get rid of it?" Less mud would be less problems, he thinks.​