EASY GOES | getting back into the groove

[Softsight]

Being an apprentice was no easy task. That was something that Softpaw had found out the hard way, and after her first excursion out of ThunderClan's camp to the meeting a moon prior, she could understand why the leaders had banded together to agree on raising the minimum age for apprenticeship to six moons - she wouldn't wish to have been held back until that time, of course, but she understood the thought process. Some cats were simply too young to be risking their lives out in the forest.

For her, Softpaw had spent most of her time as an apprentice dashing about and carrying out busywork and duties that warriors had no time for - replacing moss chief among them, and Softpaw would be lying if she said there wasn't some sort of calm that came out of making new nests. Too much time doing her duties, not enough time left for socialization or getting to know her peers; it was time for a pause to check in with her Clanmates.

Tucking the last piece of moss that she was carrying into place in the elder's den, Softpaw exited with a small, hushed sigh and glanced around. She wasn't hungry, and wouldn't eat until those before her had their share, but perhaps it would do her some good to interact with those she hadn't in a while by joining the growing group near the fresh-kill pile.​

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[doepath ࿔]

One... two... three... four.... I think left here? Another one... two-

The press of fur against her shoulder makes the dilute she-cat recoil near instantly, hunkering down into a low crouch with ears flattened against her head. She'd messed up? How many times had she retraced her steps to try to make it easier to find her way around this accursed place? That was right! I'm sure it was- An ear flicks to hear the soft rise and fall of someone's flanks-

"Oh I'm sorry!" Blinking a few times in quick succession, sunray eyes scan at the indistinct cloud in she'd run into, offering a sheepish smile that begged forgiveness. She hadn't seen her... so stubbornly affixed to her own feet to notice the unpredictability of clan-mates wandering past.

"I didn't see you," she admits, appeasing grin turned to a sour frown to admit it. "You smell like earth... I couldn't recognize it. Have we met yet? I'm uh... I'm Doepaw." Picking herself up off the ground, the molly craned her neck to give her chest fur a few settling licks.​

 

[Softsight]

Softpaw let out a small gasp of surprise when another she-cat bumped into her, though she couldn't get a word in before the other was offering her apologies.

"Oh, you needn't apologize," Softpaw reassured the other apprentice, who she realized, now looking at her face, that she didn't recognize entirely. Had she really had her head up in the clouds that much lately that she didn't even know her own peers? "Doepaw. That's a nice name. I don't believe we have met before - I'm Softpaw." She introduced herself with a small dip of her head.​

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[skyclaw]

"The two of you are nearly blocking the prey pile," Skyclaw comments dryly as he approaches the two flustered she-cats. He has no real opinion on the new law. It doesn't affect him, after all - he's no kitten stunted by it nor no longer an apprentice threatened by it. He supposes if he thought hard enough, he'd be frustrated to wait another few moons for an apprentice of his own... but parts of him wonders if he'll ever be awarded one to begin with.

His tail twitches, amber gaze flicking between the two. Skyclaw recognizes that his tongue might've been too sharp for the softer two, and offers a, "Maybe keep your eyes up when you walk," to Doepaw (though his tone still errs on the edge of sarcasm.) A beat, and he asks, "Do either of you know if Roeflame's gotten something to eat yet?" His brother's mate can handle herself, certainly, but the apprentice's must know that she's to eat before them now, right?​

 

[doepath ࿔]

She practically blushes under her fur to have her name notated as nice... it's just a silly joke really. To say she looks like something far bigger and stronger than she is. A name her mother had picked in quiet theme with the rest of her siblings. Elk... Antler... Fawn.... Fallow. Silly really. But Softpaw... that is a nice name. One given with love probably, one that hoped for a good future rather than something as fickle as appearance.

She opens her mouth to respond when Skyclaw's flatness grates against her swiveling ears, turning with blotted vision to look at his vague direction. She can't help but grit her teeth at the suggestion to just 'look up' from her feet; what good would that do, when all that he was right now was a blob of blacks and oranges? How would that have prevented anything? "Y-Yeah.... good idea...." she mumbles, daffodil eyes moving to the ground again anyways, despite being told to do the opposite.

"I... don't know," is answered in a voice hardly above a whisper. Mostly she just waited for someone else to tell her it was okay to finally get something to eat. Wasn't like she was gonna be catching anything to make up for her own stumbling, fluffy paws.​

 

[PALEFIRE]

Palepaw had watched the clumsy interaction with casual interest from where she was perched in the sun nearby. She still had a little bit of time before her next training session, and was using it to allow her muscles to warm up in what little rays of warmth could be found in the damp during leafbare. Normally she didn't pay much attention to the meaningless conversations of her peers, unless they were specifically involving her, but she'd been unfortunate enough to have nothing better to do when she noticed Doepaw wandering sightlessly towards Softpaw. For a brief second she contemplated saying something to the newcomer, but decided to keep her mouth shut and see if the near-blind apprentice could figure it out on her own. Evidently, she could not.

When Skyclaw joined the pair and tersely commented on the fresh-kill pile, Palepaw grew a bit more interested in participating. The lilac-furred molly stretched languidly, digging her unsheathed claws into the earth as her back bowed, before trotting towards the trio. "Her eyes don't really work right now," she quipped cooly to Skyclaw, though her wary gaze was locked on Doepaw. She'd been there when Fallowpaw's littermates had been dragged back to camp, bloodied and battered from their own mother's claws. Typical. She still hadn't managed to shake her discomfort at sharing a den a pack of rogues, and preferred to keep her distance for the most part.

Sky blue eyes wandered over to Softpaw, who she had seen about the camp a few times but admittedly didn't know well. She spent most of her time training with Nightbird and the other older apprentices. "How have you been doing with this new rule, Softpaw?" Palepaw recognized that it wouldn't be long before the other she-cat was old enough to resume normal activities, but some of the other young apprentices had already proven they couldn't handle the wait.

 

[Softsight]

"Apologies." Softpaw apologized when Skyclaw commented on their surrounding the pile, and she took a few steps back, making sure that there was plenty of space around them for access to the fresh-kill pile. She felt slightly more embarrassed when she further had to say, "No, I'm not sure, sorry. I suppose it couldn't hurt to check in with her." She nodded, and looked over to Palepaw as she approached the trio.

"I understand it, and I abide by it," she said, and it wasn't a lie; she knew that her sister Vixenpaw wasn't as acquiescent to the tightened security of underage apprentices, but Softpaw had taken the rule in stride; she'd hardly had the chance to experience apprenticeship prior to the new rule being instated, so she supposed she couldn't miss what she had never really known. "If anything, I suppose this gives me more time to seriously prepare for proper training. As a kit, I admit I'd never really thought it would come so quickly."​