ANYWAY, DON'T BE A STRANGER &. geckoscreech


His sister is gone, and instead of mourning her like he should be - like he wants to be, curled up in the apprentice den where Ragwortpaw's nest lays old and withered - he is here. Here, at the edge of their territory, where ShadowClan lingers in refuge. Here, checking in on them, making sure they aren't causing trouble or... whatever he's meant to be doing here. He isn't too sure - his mentor's instructions are lost somewhere in the cloud of grief.

Toadpaw does know, however, that Stonepool said this would be a good training opportunity, but with Nightdust tagging along, the brown tabby doubts much training will actually be done. Instead, he thinks this must have been an attempt at distracting him - an attempt at keeping his mind off of the image of Ragwortpaw's unmoving form, away from the thought of stars woven into her pelt. It's a poor attempt, with Nightdust here, with Stonepool's focus on the dark-furred warrior, instead of his apprentice.

The scent of swamp already lingers on the edge of the oak forest. A pungent scent, but nothing as strong as the boar scent that's woven throughout ThunderClan's territory. Nothing could be as bad as that, he thinks, though knows nothing of the smell of bear that looms in the marshes.

The tom trails behind the two warriors as they arrive at the scene of ShadowClan's temporary camp. It isn't long before Stonepool sends an encouraging smile his way and a nod towards one side of the area, an action quickly followed by his mentor and Nightdust wandering off in the opposite direction, huddled close in conversation. He isn't too surprised, but Toadpaw can't help but to blink in confusion at the two of them.

He knows he'll be a warrior soon, that he needs to learn how to be more independent - learn how to be on his own now - but, was this the place for that?

The apprentice sighs, looking around awkwardly before marching onward to assess the area, holding onto the hope that he won't have to interact with too many ShadowClanners while he's here.