camp foxglove ― intro

[leechpaw.]

..... Any other cat might have commented on what a beautiful day it was. The sun at its peak still burned in the sky despite the onset chill, warming the earth beneath wherever its rays touched. Birds chattered in the distant trees, and even a few fish dared to breach the water in a flicker of glistening scales. It was an afternoon for anyone to enjoy.

Except Leechpaw, of course.

The sullen young cat lurked in the shade of a bush, paws tucked close to his body and disheveled tail flicking back and forth as he watched the rest of those in camp with narrowed eyes. Isolating himself from others, he pictured himself to be an outcast, rejected and ignored. Even if a fellow apprentice walked by moments ago and cheerfully greeted him. He hadn't said anything, instead twitching his whiskers in vague acknowledgement and skulking off to the shaded spot he occupied now. If anyone asked him, it was a miserable day, with his dark fur trapping what little heat in the air there was and the birdsong starting to give him a migraine. On top of that, he didn't even sleep for most of the night, jolted awake by a night terror. He could complain about a whole list of awful things; for now, he flopped down, setting his chin on his paws.

As morose as he wanted to be, not even he could resist natural instinct. His back bristled with an itch that refuses to leave ― and a particular patch of sunshine in the grassy outskirts of the camp island was really calling his name. Glancing to assure himself that nobody was watching, Leechpaw crept from his shadowy bush, only to flop down cheek first on the sun-warmed ground. At first he only rubbed the side of his neck, before completely giving in and dropping down to roll onto his back. He wriggled like an oversized fluffball of a wooly caterpillar for several seconds, white front paws dangling limp in the air when he was content. The apprentice fell motionless with his eyes shut in rare relaxation, belly-side-up like a dead fish if not for the occasional wheezy huff from a slightly-parted. He'd get up in just a moment, before anyone could see him vulnerable. Hopefully.​

 

[Minnowpaw]

( ♬ ) Minnowpaw was a cat that was very easy to forget she was around, mainly due to her silence and how she had seemed to perfected blending into the background. So when Leechpaw entered the same shadow as herself, the she-cat was frozen with panic.

S-Should she say something? Tap his shoulder to let him know that she was there. In her anxiety-ridden panic, the opportunity was lost as the tom cat moved towards a sunlit patch and began to roll around in the dirt to scratch an itch. She watched with curious copper hues and for a rare moment, a genuine smile of amusement would grace her silver-snow features.

She would remain where she was, watching and enjoying watching her normally gloomy denmate take a rare moment to relax, but should he open his eyes and spot her she would freeze up once more before giving a rather pathetic wave of her paw in greeting. Though she wouldn't blame him if he just scoffed and walked away. ​

( BUT I WATCH YOUR EYES AS SHE; WALKS BY )