- Aug 7, 2022
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CUZ I DONT REALLY LIKE ANYBODY
"Again."
Jaw clenched in irritation at the command, the fur along his neck and shoulders prickling up into little spikes from which his namesake was deriven. It was a subconcious habit of his, something the towering youth had little control over, and at this point it was probably a familiar sight to Thistleback. Despite his obvious agitation at being ordered around like he was some kind of dog, the blue and black tabby didn't argue. Seldom did he. Quill was very much aware of the fact that he never sounded particularly nice even when he was meaning to, and he was smart enough to know he lacked the discipline to curb his attitude when he was feeling like this. So, he usually said nothing at all, holding his tongue completely in favor of body languages. Often Thistles words were met with shrugs, nods, tail lashes, or spiked fur, physical answers and acknowledgements unspoken, but at least he was getting a response instead of being frozen out entirely, something Quill had considered doing several times since the first morning he was flipped out of his nest by the older tom.
So he simply nodded, the movement stiff with forced patience. He couldn't risk another fight, Blazestar would exile him for sure, and Deersong wouldn't forgive him for setting claws on her mate. Though, to be perfectly honest, Thistleback would likely tear him apart, so he wouldn't have to worry about exile or the shecats disgust.
His muscles and claws were already sore from having tried twice already, and as he stared up at Tallpine the crossed his mind that maybe Thistle was hoping he'd fall and break his neck, and the thought brought the ghost of a smirk to his lips in a moment of macabre humor.
The muscles in his hind legs tensed as he crouched, and he sprung up to hook his claws into the bark of the tree easily enough, pulling himself up to the first branch and steadying himself. Pushing all other thoughts aside to focus on the task at hand, Quill began the ascent.
From one branch to another the tom lept, claws sinking cleanly into bark with each jump. This low the branches were sturdy but spaced out, holding his weight easily but calling for more power and exertion. The cold air made his throat burn each time he pulled in a breath, heart thudding in his chest from the effort. He was tired, having already tried this multiple times before, but he kept going. Maybe he just wanted to get Thistle off his back by finally meeting his standards for this activity, or maybe he was grimly curious about weather he'd actually fall, but the tabby kept going, a sliver of satisfaction seeping into him as he surpassed the branch he'd made it to last time.
He didn't look down to see how high up he'd actually gotten, but the branches around him were beginning to grow closer together and thinner. It made jumping to them easy enough, but they swayed beneath him each time heavy paws caught them and hauled his weight up to balance atop them.
OOC- Okay, so for development stuff I needed to make a thread showing that Thistlebacks training these past few weeks has actually been helping to improve Quill balance and precision. As some of you know he was struggling hard with his growth spurt for a bit, feeling too big for his body and tripping/falling all the time. Well, I rolled for it earlier today and Quill got a 9/10 for overall improvement in those areas, so the boys finally starting to feel himself lol
Obligatory tag for @ThistleBack , since this takes place during training. Please wait for them to reply first! With a 9 out of 10 I imagine Quill managed to make it at least a decent way up, but Thistle can overall decide how far he got and weather its acceptable to their standards. Either way though, his technique has noticeably improved from when they first started training together. Yay! Development!
skyclan - male - 8 months - bisexual - homoromantic - single - very tall tabby tomcat with broad shoulders
