pafp a paper shield and wooden sword | intro

[chamomilepaw!!]

It must have rained recently, Chamomilepaw thinks to himself as his delicate paws sink ever so slightly into the soil and leaf litter decorating the ground. He cannot recall if it actually rained recently or if the ground simply gave way this much on any given day. Perhaps that was not a good trait to have - to be so absentminded of the world around him - but he thinks himself still young with plenty of time to shape up. One day he will be a competent warrior. He imagines himself leading patrols, his fawn tipped tail beckoning fellow ThunderClanners along like a flagship upon uncharted waters. He imagines himself restocking the freshkill pile with the largest squirrel ever seen in the territory. He imagines so much in such a short span of time that he nearly misses the words of his companions encircling his ears.

"Huh?" Cham mumbles as he snaps back to reality, the remaining pieces of moss in his maw tumbling to the ground to join the rest of the painstakingly gathered moss he had unknowingly been dropping whilst deep in his daydream. Sage green eyes drift downward to seek out the fallen moss, only to catch onto the trail of the organic material left in his wake, and suddenly he has a good idea of what was being said to him moments earlier. "Oh no." All that hard work not quite ruined but also not ideal considering he would have to backtrack to retrieve the moss he had lost. "Do you think you can wait for a few minutes so I can clean this up?" He doesn't want to leave Daffodilpaw waiting long - their mother is expecting them back in camp soon after all.

//please wait for @daffodilpaw​

 

[daffodilpaw]

Daffodilpaw is just as quiet as her brother whilst they traverse the undergrowth. His mind wanders far yet so close to home - hopes to be a prized warrior when the time comes for them, to prove something and be someone. Meanwhile the young femme simply listens to the world around them - in addition to the warriors keeping watch of them. A bickering duo, she finds, though in a jesterly way. They seem to care less and less about the apprentices they're supposed to guide and watch, and instead put more of their energy into entertaining one another.

No matter; it makes no difference to Daffodilpaw.

Her brother halts, his voice fluttering out of the birdsong next. Something must've happened...? The air smells no different, and she can't imagine Chamomilepaw becoming upset with some mud on his paws. She nods regardless, eyes lingering over him as he regathers much of his dignity in rounded green shapes. As he does so, the multicolored apprentice finds her attention captured by a buzz. This being her first newleaf, she can only infer the new noise - but it interests her nonetheless. Listening closer and she can tell that it's drifted away for only a moment before returning and landing on the top of her head.

"A bee...?" a bumblebee, harmless even when directly confronted. She wonders how much akin to a real flower the buzzy little guy must think her, to rest its little legs deftly on her skull. "It's a bee, right?" she then asks her brother, or perhaps any of the others on patrol, just to confirm her suspicions.​

 

[chamomilepaw!!]

Something akin to shame tingles at the tips of his ears as the apprentice catches his sister's acknowledging nod and allows him grace to rectify his blunder. It really isn't anything major to drop moss, though he has to admit to himself that appearing incapable of carrying out such a menial task before a couple of accompanying warriors isn't great. Fortunately they don't seem to care all that much (or at least they haven't said so aloud) as the fawn ticked tabby retraces his steps to gather up the clumps of moss. He makes quick work of it though - each fallen clump rejoining the ball held tight in his maw until his jaw began to feel the familiar ache he experienced when they first finished their task of collecting moss.

"A bee...?"

Sage eyes divert to where his littermate sat and the reclaimed moss finds itself back on the ground, this time gingerly placed there by the apprentice. "It's a bee, right?" Daffodilpaw asks and Chamomilepaw hesitates to answer. He has never come face to... antennae with a bee before. "Uh, I think so?" Curiously he stares at the bumbling insect perched upon Daffodilpaw's head and purses his maw in thought. The stripes and fuzziness intrigue him up until he notices the stinger attached to the round creature's rear. Cham tries to recall stories of bees, of what they do, and he thinks he remembers hearing of beestings. "Not to scare you or anything, but we should probably try and get that thing to leave. For your safety, y'know..." he stammers, the moss ball long forgotten and wide eyes glancing around for some help. Daffodilpaw may not be in any immediate danger, but he'd rather not have her in any position to get harmed.

 

[nightbird]

she passes by the apprentices paying no mind to their moss collecting adventures, as riveting as they might be. almost out of range, the lead warrior looks back over her shoulder to check on them before diving in deep to the forest. she is met with chamomilepaw's shifty eyes almost begging for assistance with whatever trouble the siblings got into. a sigh escapes her, she even glances for anyone else who may be able to help. unluckily, no one else was found.

begrudgingly she approaches the duo, silver eyes raking over them both to see what possibly could have gone wrong. a fuzzy thing, black and yellow in color, sat smugly atop daffodilpaw's head. a whole swarm is one thing, but just one bee had chamomilepaw's nerves heightened. she wouldn't deal with it herself, they could handle a bee on their own. however she would offer some expert, sarcasm drenched, advice. "swat your paws at it, i hear bees love playin' tag." ​

[ ☾✩ ]​

 

[chamomilepaw!!]

It seems Chamomilepaw's shifty gaze catches the eye of not only a warrior, but a lead warrior, and he instinctively leans in to listen to what Nightbird has to say. Certainly she would not steer him wrong. Though, admittedly, the idea of swatting at the bumbling insect causes him pause. "But I don't want to play tag with it? I just want it to leave Daffodilpaw alone," Cham murmurs thoughtfully, hesitantly, yet still willing to take the other's sage advice.

After a few seconds he shifts his weight to his hindquarters and eases his front paws off the ground. Cham is grateful for his balance as it would be so embarrassing to fall forward or backwards while under the guidance of a lead warrior. "Daffy, don't move." Without much more than a second, nary enough time for his littermate to process his words, the apprentice swats at the bee. He tries to avoid cuffing Daffodilpaw's ear, though should the siblings be out of synch his aim may not be so true. Speaking of aim, the fawn ticked tom finds that the bee is now fixated on him, and it does not seem thrilled with being swatted at. "Uhh, umm, oh no. What do I do now?" Cham asks as he drops back down to the ground and backs away from the buzzing insect, panic swimming in pale green depths.

 

[nightbird]

she shrugged at the apprentice's reluctance to rid the other of the bee. amused, although her features would never show it. tentatively, chamomilepaw lifts himself onto hind legs, tells his sibling to be still, before letting a paw loose, swinging at the creature.

as expected it is angry, found a new target in the young tom. although he backs away, instead of darting he just asks what to do. her brows raise as a silver gaze flickers from the apprentice back to the bee. "stay calm. kill it, or run. don't let it sting ya," she instructed, catching the rising panic within the other thunderclanner and trying to extinguish it with a cool, confident tone. surely he would be fine, it was a bee not a badger. "and be quick."​

[ ☾✩ ]​

 

[chamomilepaw!!]

Be quick was a rather tall order for the typically lackadaisical tom. Though Nightbird's voice is calm and instructions clear, Chamomilepaw still finds hesitation curls taloned claws around his heart and insecurity rises from the earth like vines to bind his paws to the silt and loam. Fear hums just as loud as the bee's buzz in his ears as the creature looms ever closer, shortening the gap his retreat had temporarily created. Kill it or run, kill it or run, kill it or run... Cham doesn't know which option to pick. If he kills it then he will have killed an innocent creature that merely wanted to rest on his sister's head - there was no purpose for a bee among his clanmates, it wasn't like prey where they could eat the body or utilize parts of it. If he runs then he is a coward and might even put Daffodilpaw in harm's way should the bee angrily go back to her.

He is running out of time. He is frozen by indecision. The bee draws nearer and nearer. Nightbird's silver gaze feels like daggers pricking at his pelt. He is running out of time. Why is this such a hard decision to make? Why is his fear causing him to treat this bee like it is a greater threat? Soft sage eyes blink and open to find the bee millimeters from his face

WHAP -

Instinct sent rigid muscles into action. Adrenaline courses through the apprentice's veins as he stares down at his paw, the paw that had swept up and caught the bee before slamming it into the ground in one fluid motion. Beneath the rush of adrenaline is a surge of pain - something white hot and sharp pulsing through his paw pad. Chamomilepaw lifts his paw and catches a glimpse of the squashed insect before focusing on the throbbing pain; embedded in the supple pink flesh of his pad is the bee's stinger. One final middle finger to the frightened apprentice from the bumblebee who simply wanted to be left alone.

"I-I think I need help," Chamomilepaw whimpers with tearpricked gaze, gingerly holding up his paw and wincing at the ever growing pain as his adrenaline subsides.

@BERRYHEART

 

[BERRYHEART]

It was a stroke of fortune that Berryheart was nearby without having to be called- the loud buzzing of a bumblebee did not bypass his senses, agitated in its whirring. It was no swarm of sound but it was certainly identifiable, especially to a tom who considered himself quite the expert of pillaging bees of their produce. Beckoned by a stammering sound of distress, a confused expression occupied his features- though it was a stony etching, one that was subtle and barely readable.

Dull eyes befell the bee on the ground, and the way in which Tufts was looking down at his paw. Inky's advice to not let it sting you that he had heard from beyond the verdancy had seemed unheeded; it was not simply guilt, he imagined, that was making the apprentice's gaze swim with tears.

"I'm here," he hummed through the gathering of blackberry leaves in his maw. This was... an opportunity, was it not? Perhaps it was some sort of fate that he held a herb whose use was unbeknownst to him, and yet... logic pointed toward it being a sort of solution. Many flower and fruit-leaves were used to soothe certain aches and pains; perhaps these would help. "Can you walk?" It would be treated best within his den... no trek to rub off the poultice. ​

PENNED BY PIN ☾​

 

[chamomilepaw!!]

Amidst the guilt and pain filled gaze lies a flicker of relief as Berryheart materializes from the undergrowth, a mawful of some sort of leaves Cham doesn't believe he has seen before. The fawn tabby's paw pulls slightly more to his chest as he attempts to nod accordingly to the medicine cat's question. The apprentice believes he can walk, and to prove as much he rises to his paws, wobbly as a newborn, and hops forward a few paces. An apology for getting stung lingers on the tip of his tongue as sage green eyes waver between Nightbird and Berryheart, though Chamomilepaw swallows the shame down for now. He should focus on following Berryheart back to camp first, then offer up apologies after treatment. Though his balance is off and guilt radiates from lengthy fur, Cham patiently waits for Berryheart to lead the way, and for Daffodilpaw to follow (since he would never leave his littermate behind).