pafp FLOWERS PILE UP — gift

[GRAVELSNAP]

Going to a gathering surrounded by fewer clanmates than usual had been unnerving, but somehow they had managed to survive it. At least this gathering was more interesting the last one they’d gone to. ShadowClan, ThunderClan, and RiverClan had all shown their true colors—hypocrites seemingly intent on razing their own clans to the ground, all for what? Pride? It makes no sense. Gravelsnap has heard tales of the Great Battle, and the way things are going they can foresee themself being dragged into another one.

But the gathering was not all bad. They’d spent time socializing, for once, rather than sitting alone and glaring at any well-meaning cat who approached them. They’d spoken with Snailstride and a surprisingly kind ThunderClan cat—Crowflower, that was her name. She’d given them both a branch from a tree, laden with pale blooms that the black-patched warrior had never seen before. They don’t plan on keeping the flowers, no matter how pretty they may be.

Who would enjoy such a gift, though? Perhaps one of the younger cats of the clan, as Crowflower had suggested… but although their tiny cousins are in the nursery, Gravelsnap still avoids the den like it’s blackcough. Which—to be honest, the nursery is probably a breeding ground for disease. An apprentice might still enjoy the scent of a few flowers to their nest, or might allow them to dry and act as pretty possessions, additions to a collection. The flowers certainly don’t suit his own collection of rocks and pebbles.

Their target—or rather, respected clanmate and chosen recipient of their secondhand gift—is the first cat they spot across the camp, with a pelt of blue and white to match her mother. She is also, alongside Cottonpaw, one of the most tolerable of her siblings and her peers. Bluepaw tends to remain calm where other young cats are excitable, bouncy. So Gravelsnap trots over to the apprentice, settling the branch gently to the ground before their paws. Step one, complete. But now what? What are they supposed to say? Hazel eyes are wide, unblinking as they stare at the younger cat. Is it too late for them to turn and walk away without saying anything? "A gift for you. You’re the most tolerable apprentice I know," they finally say, and it nearly sounds like a question to their own ears.

// pls wait for @BLUEPAW
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[ DEATH OF A DREAM ]​

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[BLUEFROST]

Even before Gravelsnap's warrior ceremony, the black and white moor runner had done his best to avoid the youngest in the Clan. Bluepaw has never minded Gravelsnap's aversion to kits. After all, warriors and apprentices have duties. Her own mother had not spent the first three moons of her kits' lives in the nursery with them.

Thus, Bluepaw's eyes are round with surprise when the young warrior approaches her with something clutched in his jaws. A bit of branch from a tree, not something he could have procured in WindClan territory. At the very end of it, a cluster of white blossoms dangles sweetly in the breeze.

"A gift for you," he says matter-of-factly. "You're the most tolerable apprentice I know." Bluepaw's expression becomes reverent. The blooms are such a soft shade of ivory, reminiscent of the palest tones of her fur, and when she leans down to brush her cheek against them, she delights in the silkiness of the petals on her cheek. Such unexpected beauty brings a smile to the young she-cat's face.

"Thank you." She meets Gravelsnap's eyes without blinking, though she stays with her nose pressed to the flowers. "These are lovely. Perhaps I can wear them when I'm not in the tunnels..." Privately, she despairs again. Underground, no one could see how lovely she would look with these blossoms caught in her fur...​

[ PENNED BY MARQUETTE ]​

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[Periwinklebreeze.]

STEADY THE RIGHTS AND THE WRONGS
periwinklepaw | 09 months | demi-boy | he/they | physically easy (pacifist) | mentally easy | attack in bold #ccccff

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The sight of gravelsnap, jaws laden with a flowering branch, is odd enough that it would have caught periwinklepaw's attention regardless of the fact he cannot help but search out the older boy. Stunned by the sight, he cannot help but give a slow blink, uncertain he's not dreaming. He almost wants to laugh at how awkward the black and white feline looks - out of place, carrying this gift - but any humour drains from him when he watches him interact with bluepaw. He knows they re not the best of friends, their relationship tumultuous and filled with ups and downs, but to hear that a tunneler barely out of the nursery is more tolerable than him hurts in a way that he wishes it didn't. He doesn't even rank as tolerable in his 'friends' eyes... Something he has no name for and would rather ignore coils tightly in his stomach, leaving a bitter taste in his mouth and a frown on his face, before he quickly schools his expression, wiping away the hurt as quickly as it arrives. He's quick to pad over, ignoring his bitter thoughts, and giving a smile to bluepaw that doesn't quite reach his eyes. "th-those will d-definitely look pretty on y-you! he agrees kindly, and he does mean it.
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[GRAVELSNAP]

The apprentice seems surprised, but accepts the flowering branch with grace. He watches as she rubs her face against the flowers, lifting her gaze to his as she thanks him for the gift. Or for the compliment, maybe, but he assumes she enjoys the flowers more. "You’re welcome."

Periwinklepaw chimes in, says that the flowers will look pretty against the she-cat’s blue and white fur. Unbidden, the image of them covered in flowers springs to his mind—Gravelsnap doesn’t respond for a moment, caught off guard as he is. He blinks, stunned, but manages to recover without looking too stupid. "Maybe I’ll find you some flowers, too, Peri," they offer, flicking an ear.

After a few heartbeats, they allow a grin to settle onto their muzzle and turn their attention back to Bluepaw. "You’re right. It’s just too bad nobody would be able to see them in the tunnels." Truthfully, he doesn’t understand how tunnelers do it. Wandering around in a pitch black, confined space doesn’t sound fun at all. In fact, it sounds horribly frightening. "At least your nest can look nice while you’re gone tunneling," he suggests with a placid raise of a scarred eyebrow.
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[ DEATH OF A DREAM ]​

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[Petalpaw ★]

Petalpaw watches from a distance, his blue eyes peering over the ridge of the tunnel entrance he has settled in while he works up the nerve to creep out and get something to eat before he's done much substantial today. The guilt gnaws him along with the hunger, but he feels like he's going to burst if he remains beneath the earth a moment longer. The lilac tom pulls himself up, dirt sliding off his back and head and filtering down as he shakes to rid himself of it; his immediate impulse to go and groom himself until his tongue is a plaster of earth but he notices the flower gift given out of the corner of his eye and can't help but focus more on that than his dirtied misery. Gifts. Gifts were an excellent way to make friends, but sadly he had not considered it himself until this moment. He'd given Sunflowerpaw a gift once, but no one else.

He turns to the side and sees the small pile of long tall grass reeds, golden edged and lit by the sun and though he knows they are just material to patch dens and make nests he can not help but find them alarmingly pretty in his moment so he smiles and grabs a mouthful; the thin blades pinch at the corners of his maw and he struggles to not salivate over them as the tickling sensation begins but he manages to wander over to the other apprentices and Gravelsnap with most of his prize in tow. One by one Petalpaw dispenses them, a long slender golden reed placed before each present with Gravelsnap recieving an extra long one for being older. Like a blade of grass, he shot up. Petalpaw hums to himself, amused at his own thoughts that he sadly could not share and wriggles in place.
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[BLUEFROST]

Bluepaw turns to Periwinklepaw, one of the senior apprentices. The smoke-faced tom stutters that the blossoms would look pretty in her fur, and she turns her small, polite smile on him next. "Thank you, Periwinklepaw." The blue-gray she-cat entirely misses the look of jealousy that flashes on his face; even if she had noticed, she likely would not have perceived it to be toward her.

Gravelsnap tells Periwinklepaw he'll find some flowers for him, too. Bluepaw turns to examine the dark-pointed apprentice for a moment. "Something darker, so it doesn't blend in with the light parts of your fur," she mews, giving her unsolicited opinion as though it's fact.

Petalpaw's approach almost startles Bluepaw. The pale tabby is silent as ever, pawsteps soft as whispers upon the earth. She turns startled emerald eyes on him. He has three golden-edged reeds clutched in his jaws. She watches him distribute them equally: one to Periwinklepaw, one to Gravelsnap, and one for herself. She sees him wriggling and laughs at it. "Petalpaw, we can't wear the reeds, can we?" Then she looks serious. Perhaps she can. Cats use them to weave nests and to patch the nursery... perhaps they're more useful than they seem. After a moment of consideration, she looks Petalpaw squarely in the eye and says, "Thank you for the gift. I'm in your debt, both of you."

A strange thing to say, but Bluepaw does not find it strange. That's how her mind works. If a cat does something kind for her, she must find some way to repay the kindness.​

[ PENNED BY MARQUETTE ]​

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[GRAVELSNAP]

The blue and white apprentice chimes in in response to Gravelsnap’s offer to get Periwinklepaw some flowers, stating her own viewpoint on which flowers would look best on the black and white apprentice. Something darker, to blend in with their fur. Gravelsnap commits Bluepaw’s opinion to memory—their gaze darts away from their friend’s monochrome pelt, embarrassment filling their chest. Thankfully, Petalpaw is there to offer a reed to each of them, distracting Gravelsnap from their dilemma.

For a few heartbeats the moor runner simply stands there, staring down at Petalpaw’s gift with narrowed hazel eyes. This is the second time they’ve received in only a few days, and accepting such things doesn’t seem to get easier the more it occurs. "Oh. Thank you." They glance over to the blue and white tunneler as she questions whether they can wear the grass in any way. "I’m sure we can find a way," they say with a shrug, nudging at the reed offered to them with a black-toed paw. It is an oddly shaped thing to attempt to tuck into their fur, but perhaps they will find a way. Or maybe it would find good use as a part of their nest.

Bluepaw thanks both Petalpaw and themself, claiming that she’s in their debt; Gravelsnap tosses his head with an unimpressed huff. He hadn’t considered the idea of gifting clanmates things simply to make them feel as though they owe him something. It’s as the ThunderClanner at the gathering had said—she hadn’t gifted him the flowers simply for something in return. The point of a gift is that it is given without expecting anything in return.

"Debt?" He snorts, shaking his head. If Bluepaw were a ThunderClan cat, or anyone other than a WindClanner, then Gravelsnap may actually hold their gift over her head. But she is a clanmate, and a tolerable one at that, and so the warrior offers her a small smile. "If you truly feel like you owe me, then find me a rock that looks like you someday." Now that the tunneler is an apprentice, she’s old enough to be included in his battle plans. Bluepaw needs a rock, a blue and white one, so he can properly represent her in his strategies.
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[ DEATH OF A DREAM ]​

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[BLUEFROST]

Gravelsnap seems to find the idea of Bluepaw being in his debt funny, for he snorts and shakes his head. The young she-cat tilts her head to the side, a question blown wide on their delicate features. Isn't that what a debt is? Perhaps she's misunderstood the meeting. But then he smiles, and he tells her to repay him, she can find a rock that 'looks like her.'

Bluepaw's nose crinkles, but only slightly. "A rock? How can a rock look like a cat?" She blinks, thoughtful. She can't picture it in her head, but perhaps she can enlist someone to help. Someone who is better at that sort of thing.

After a heartbeat, she inclines her head again to Gravelsnap in an exaggerated curtsy. "I will find you such a rock, then," she says, her voice solemn. With a wave of her tail, she excuses herself and pads away, wondering who she should ask to help her find the fabled stone.

// out; also sorry this is 20 years late <3​

[ PENNED BY MARQUETTE ]​