DON'T DREAM ✘ ferngill

[SMOKESTAR]

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Bounceheart's near death experience put him on edge, the river was not frozen and yet it still threatened them should an errant paw slip. It was much too cold to be in the waters for longer than what it took to retrieve a fish, the current was too strong, pushed along into a more narrow funnel as the edges of the riverside froze into jagged slivers of land; no, it seemed it would not freeze over fully this year but it was still dangerous as it always was. The river was their lifeblood, but it took as much as it gave at times and they had one too many drypaws in the clan for his liking. There was nothing to be done about it for now, even his little nieces and nephews would not be able to be taught to swim until closer to newleaf if they even survived the cold at all. Shellkit had been especially sickly, it was a wonder it hadn't spread through the entire clan by now but what was he to do? Leave kits to die? Part of him wonders if that had been the correct answer, but he knows he couldn't have done it.

"Ferngill, do you have a moment?" His tail swept along the ginger tom's side in greeting as he kept walking, pausing only to see if the scruffy young tom was coming along behind him as he pressed onward out of the camp to roam the snow-encrusted territory, "...you did well. We could have very well lost a clanmate if you hadn't intervened, you truly are one of our more skilled swimmers." A useful skill, probably even moreso than his own preference for having the entire clan skilled in combat, what were they if they could not swim? It was RiverClan's greatest strength and something to be admired and honed to perfection. Smokestar himself was perfectly adequate a swimmer, but he was not swift in the water as the ginger tom was.
If his assessment had been about swimming he would not have been held back, but his combat skills were lacking at the time and he approved of testing a cats weakness as their final challenge. He'd gotten somewhat better about it now, he recalls the news of the rogue on the border and how they could have very well killed the tom if he had been the simpering apprentice he was before. It was hard to say if the journey had much to do with that development if at all.
"I think you might be ready for an apprentice soon, you've noticed surely how many kits we have in the clan right now." Hazecloud's newborns and his own kin wrestled from abandonment, it was uncommon to have so many cats to name apprentices come newleaf but it was something he now had to think about. They needed more paws.

——✘ when does ripple become a tidal wave ———✘ when does a candle become a flame

• @FERNGILL
• 
  
  
  Smokestar
  —⊰⋅ Leader of RiverClan
  —⊰⋅ He/Him
  "SPEECH", 'THOUGHTS', ATTACK
  —⊰⋅ Black tom w/vitiligo & one orange eye.
  

​

 

[FERNGILL]

Beckoned by the leader, Ferngill gave Smokestar a very simple answer to his request- "'Course I do." Words accompanied with a grin, the small tom soon followed after Smokestar, in truth unsure of why he of all cats would be specifically requested. Was there something he could do that no-one else could? He very much doubted that... even if he was a warrior now, he was far from the idealised RiverClan champion he'd once fantasised about becoming in scruffy, bug-eyed youth.

At Smokestar's praise, he dipped his head graciously. Saving Bounceheart had been... well, it'd just been the right thing to do, hadn't it? One of our more skilled swimmers. The words prickled oddly against his heart. Even though he knew he was a good swimmer- Mudpelt had always said so- it felt strange to accept it. "Thanks. It's... it was really the least I could do, I... I'm just glad she came out of it alright." As ever, sincerity pulsed brightly from Ferngill's voice.

What Smokestar said next slowed Ferngill's strides. A single green eye wavered to meet the solitary amber of his leader's, a sheen of disbelief veiling the verdancy. Ready for an apprentice? Him? He was barely out of apprenticeship himself... and, when had his throat dried up like that. "I..." he began, but his voice hitched, crumpling his face into a light, thoughtful frown. "I'm, uh... yeah, I've noticed..."

When he'd faced Smokestar at his warrior ceremony, the idea of one day becoming a mentor had not occurred to him. Or... it had occurred, and been swiftly dismissed. It didn't seem logical in any way. Foolish Fernpaw, the seventeen-moon-old apprentice, teaching a protege of his own? "I'd- I'd be honoured, Smokestar. But- but..." he shuffled his feet. There wasn't ever any point in lying. "Only if you really think I'd be good at it. I... I don't want to fail anyone."​

✦ penned by pin ✦​

 

[SMOKESTAR]

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Ferngill worries over his capability and the possibility of failure and he is reminded of the apprentice struggling to hold his own under his brother during an assessment, how he had floundered foolishly and failed to such a degree he dared to challenge a fox to prove his worth later. Between the two of them they had two functioning eyes at last, maybe it helped him see things a little more clearly than before. He'd scoffed somewhat at the poor attempt at fighting, but he would swallow his words when the apprentice volunteered to journey with the others to save them from certain death. RiverClan had no lost a cat on that perilous trek, they'd all come home stronger and more skilled than they'd left.
He doubted Ferngill was suddenly an amazing combatant or anything, but he'd managed to last in the wild with strangers without returning battered and broken. There was a different kind of strength at play.

"...I think.." And he pauses, carefully trying to decide how to go about articulating his words in a way that will not be misunderstood, "...I think there is more merit than I once considered toward skills outside of combat itself. Do not think I believe any degree of pacifism is acceptable, but there is more to training an apprentice than just fighting in itself." He had focused primarily on battle with Iciclefang and it showed, she was a hardened veteran of many now despite still being a young warrior and her tenacity could not be denied. They had of course done hunting as well as stealth and tracking, other various skills he knew and passed onto her but he could only teach what he knew and his knowledge was geared to survival alone. His first apprentice had been a challenge for both of them, learning to adapt to eachother, learning to determine what she needed to work on and what could be ignored for more pressing things.
He was much more confident now with Beepaw than he'd been before and it showed, his daughter was already a skilled fighter and capable hunter.
"I will always believe it is important to know to defend yourself, I do not want any cat to be put in a situation where they are helpless and unable to fight back but..." He glances out across the water near them, the slow churning of the ripples lapping the edges in a gentle murmur, "...it's not the only thing a cat should learn. It's not the only skill needed to survive. RiverClan needs more capable swimmers, skilled hunters, excellent trackers, even cats who understand how to talk to others, to handle in-fighting and disagreements. Cats who may not be capable of fighting outside the basics but can plan an attack, arrange patrols for battle, for hunting..."
Smokestar rolls his shoulders in a shrug, "I've been somewhat tunnel-visioned on the clan being able to fight out of fear...but we don't need to just survive, we need to thrive. Every cat has something they can give, I just have to look harder...with you I see the gift of less drypaws, less cats losing themselves to the river or being unable to fish."

——✘ when does ripple become a tidal wave ———✘ when does a candle become a flame

• OOC can go here.
• 
  
  
  Smokestar
  —⊰⋅ Leader of RiverClan
  —⊰⋅ He/Him
  "SPEECH", 'THOUGHTS', ATTACK
  —⊰⋅ Black tom w/vitiligo & one orange eye.
  

​

 

[FERNGILL]

With great interest, he watched Smokestar speak. It was not often Ferngill was faced with a direct acknowledgement of the skills he bore- it was usually all about what he lacked. And though he was not a perfect fighter, he at least knew his weaknesses well enough to prevent them from being exploited. Combat would never be his strong suit- and though everyone knew it, Smokestar did not brand him as a failure because of it.

It was encouraging, he couldn't deny it- and Ferngill betrayed the warmth within him with a bright smile splayed obviously across his face, glee glimmering in his sighted eye. A gift. His teaching, a gift. It was surreal and daunting and a little bit terrifying, and Ferngill nearly felt as if he should shake some sense into his leader, but... "Thank you, Smokestar..." The words were as sincere as ever, sentiment as bright as the sun itself.

"When the time comes... I will be so, so proud to have an apprentice." Grateful, he dipped his head toward the snow-splashed tom. By the sunlight, the water glimmered... and every time it looked as beautiful, it reminded Ferngill of how dearly he adored his Clan. "And no apprentice of mine will be a drypaw, I can promise you that!" It was something of a joke, but equally something he very much meant. Though nervousness still wobbled within him, uncertainty that he would be untalented with teaching just as he was untalented with fighting... knowing that Smokestar truly, wholly believed in him was enough to clear the haze from his eyes.​

✦ penned by pin ✦​