Even You Cannot Avoid (Prompt) Pressure

[Shinebug]

Shinepaw had been single-minded since recovering from yellowcough. Sick and tired of spinning his wheels, the boy had dedicated himself to training, trying to become the best apprentice (and hopefully soon, warrior) possible. As the shaft of sunlight stood up, shaking off snow with nothing to show for his efforts, he began to wonder if his work had been for nothing.

Shinepaw was on a hunting patrol, joined by a handful of warriors and apprentices. Leafbare was not kind, and none in the group were doing particularly well, but the anxious tom couldn’t help but think that his lack of skill was more a determinant than the weather. The apprentice sat down for a moment, trying to steady himself as he began to spiral, attributing more and more of Thunderclan’s woes to his own personal failures.

“Excuse me, Shinepaw? I don’t think I’m doing this hunting crouch right. Could you show me how?”

The sudden voice of a stranger brought him back to earth, and sky-blue eyes flicked in surprise towards the source. It was another apprentice, much younger than he was, trying to set their paws right. Shinepaw didn’t know the other cat well, which made their request for aid all the more strange. “Um, I don’t - er, I think -“ Shinepaw began to look around for someone to save him, hoping a competent cat would materialize who could actually help the other. Alas, it seemed the two were alone for the moment.

With a sigh, Shinepaw picked himself up and began padding towards his peer. “Double check with your mentor the next time you see them, okay?” The cat would add the disclaimer before he began, afraid he might lead this young cat even further astray. “Um, bring your left paw a bit closer to your body, I think. And try and align your two back paws more.”

Gradually, Shinepaw felt his nerves began to slip away, and the anxious cat actually started having some fun teaching the other what to do (even if it was only the basics). Any patrolling cats stumbling on the duo would find the two practicing together, Shinepaw giving hesitant advice with a smile plastered across a sun-drenched maw.​

 

[freckleflame]

freckleflame had been there when shinepaw had been apprenticed. he wasn’t much younger than her, but the time since she’d been named a warrior was quickly fading into memory as she found her independent paws. she was assigned patrol, patched camp walls, reapplied scent markers ; today, she wanted to see if she could spot any activity out on sunningrocks, where the mice and water vole tuck and hide from the onslaught of weather in small, cracked crevices. she did her job, and that made her happy, even if the leafbare chill threatened to take her right off her feet sometimes. the wind whipped her fur in each direction, so she takes to the undergrowth, letting the natural protection of thunderclan’s fern and gorse fauna to protect herself — stepping through the ice - laden grasslands, old bramble tugging at her coat when she hears them.

the woman steps from her shroud just as shinepaw gets into it — beams and instructs to his little heart’s content. amusement glitters in the pits of sea green eyes, but watching him, she couldn’t help a small glimmer of pride from kindling low in her chest, ” look at you, shinepaw! bonafide warrior behavior right there. “ she aims to slap her thick tail against shinepaw’s flank, friendly and boisterous, letting her gaze fall to the poor apprentice just trying to get their hunting crouch down. she was no help, quite the opposite — but the warrior grinned anyway, ” this’n here won’t steer you wrong — flycatcher’s worked on him long enough, i should be askin’ him for advice, too. “ and if she was putting it on thick, it certainly wouldn’t hurt the apprentices self esteem.

𝚈𝙾𝚄 𝙼𝙰𝙺𝙴 𝙼𝙴 𝚂𝙼𝙸𝙻𝙴 -`☀︎´- 𝘗𝘓𝘌𝘈𝘚𝘌 𝘚𝘛𝘈𝘠 𝘍𝘖𝘙 𝘈 𝘞𝘏𝘐𝘓𝘌 𝘕𝘖𝘞

• i.
  
  
• 
  
  
• 
  
  FRECKLEFLAME 𖦹 . LESBIAN, SINGLE. SMELLS LIKE SUN - WARMED OAK AND EARTHY MUSK. SIXTEEN MOONS. FRIEND & SISTER TO MANY. NAMED A FULL WARRIOR OF THUNDERCLAN ON 8 / 3 / 2023. PENNED BY ANTLERS --------
  
  f. she / her, daughter of sunfreckle and rabbitnose. large cream - ribboned tortoiseshell with seaglass eyes. larger than life! shades of vibrant russet, dousing swathes of shadow and interwoven with ribbons pale cream come to drape like licks of flame over a thick, broad - shouldered figure. unspecified maine coon heritage born of sunfreckle's kittypet background shows itself in large, round paws and tufted, long - furred toes set upon thick, tabby - splotched limbs. a characteristic lack of personal space leads her to a slouching, touchy posture, often inclined to lean or bump against her peers, all while bearing a wide, bright - eyed grin. she seems to sing confidence from every laugh, every word.. that can't all be for show, can it?
  

  prone to bouts of explosive emotion. all opinions are solely in - character and during these times, often untrue or said only in anger.

  
  

​

 

[DUSKBIRD]

It was absurd, having authority over Shinepaw. It wasn't as if they had ever been the best of friends, but they had spent enough time together (as apprentices do) that the joy of earning his name had quickly evaporated into a sense of mystification. A what am I going to do now? that he couldn't shake off. Was he going to take his own apprentice in a few moons? Teach them everything that Nightbird had taught him? It would be entertaining, he thinks, to pass on this suffix once more. A long line of birds in ThunderClan, each destined for their own sort of flight. That was what he was supposed to do now. ThunderClan would succeed together. They were all a part of that. Of course, thinking that way is most surely also a product of being a ThunderClan warrior. He'll embrace it.

"Shinepaw's just being humble, that's a great stance! I'm sure your mentor will approve." Not that they shouldn't check with their mentor, but like Freckleflame he decides to lay it on a little thick. With others, that could lead to disastrously large egos. For Shinepaw....it might just make him a little closer to average.

𝐅𝐎𝐑𝐆𝐄𝐓 𝐒𝐓𝐀𝐑𝐃𝐔𝐒𝐓  ╱╱ —𝐘𝐎𝐔 𝐀𝐑𝐄 𝐈𝐑𝐎𝐍 〚 12.04.2023 〛 ————————

• OOC. —
• 
  BLAZESTAR x LITTLE WOLF, UNAWARE OF HIS FATHER. SIBLING TO SKYCLAW; "HALF" SIBLING TO BURNSTORM, MOONWHISPER, HOWLFIRE, FIREFLYPAW, MORNINGPAW. MENTORED BY NIGHTBIRD. NEWFOUND THUNDERCLAN WARRIOR.
  
  TH ╱╱ A LANKY CHOCOLATE TORBIE, AMBER EYES.
• "speech"

​

 

[Shinebug]

When Shinepaw hears Freckleflame’s words and feels her tail against his flank, he can’t help but stiffen up. Scared, acting like he’d been caught doing something wrong, like sneaking out of camp or stealing extra prey. The boy takes a half-step back, instincts telling him that the she-cat’s honeyed words were silver-tongued sarcasm. It took a moment for it to register that it was Freckleflame speaking, though, and fear of a veiled insult was replaced with embarrassment for thinking the kindly warrior would ever do something like that to him.

As Freckleflame’s words pierced the barrier of Shinepaw’s insecurity, the boy felt the warm - and rare for him - feeling of pride wash over sun-dappled fur. The apprentice was not adept at accepting compliments, though, and the mention of his mentor gave the ball of nerves an easy out. “Oh, that’s - that’s very nice, thank you, but you should really be praising Flycatcher. He’s a great teacher…” The anxiety-ridden extrovert shuffled his paws as hypocrisy split his feelings on the situation. On one hand, receiving praise and attention for all his hard work felt nice. On the other, the risk attention brought made the boy want to
bolt for the nearest border.

A silent sigh of relief leaves Shinepaw as Duskbird turns the conversation back towards the apprentice he was instructing (with another helping of praise on the side). The boy’s attitude towards compliments was like ice cream: a little was good, but too much made him feel sick. “I think it’s better to be humble instead of overconfident…” The shaft of sunlight mumbled, slightly more comfortable with talking back to Duskbrid since they were the same rank not so long ago. Still, his rebuttal comes with the caveat of a small smile lighting up sun-drenched features.

“Thank you both, though. I-“ Shinepaw wanted to speak on his anxieties, to ask the two to assuage his fears. Sometimes it felt like he’d be an apprentice forever, or that all of Flycatcher’s training was going in one ear and out the other. However, the people-pleaser didn’t want to dampen the mood. “I…I hope I can join you in the warriors’ den soon.”​

 

[WHITELION]

make peace with your broken pieces .
︶꒦꒷♡꒷꒦︶

“You will be a fine warrior, Shinepaw.” He rumbled, coming to a halt with a low sweep of his tail, golden hue crinkling. “I’m certain, of it.” He added, repeating words he said long ago. “Do not fret, for those compliments are well earned and perhaps FlyCatcher deserves praise, but it is you who did it, is it not?” He prodded further, helm lowering with a crinkled gaze. ​

​

thought speech​