giving chase // intro

[ARCHIVEDnoia]

"Wait! Get it, get it!" a young voice cried, in search of the nearest ears who could pick up on her slightly-raspy tone. The matter was hardly one of urgency, or even emergency, but rather, her attempts to try and capture a little cricket- much like her own namesake- who was already rapidly bouncing and dashing its way out of her reach. The little girl was already well over the minimum age for an apprentice, at almost five moons, but her build made her only slightly more than that of a kitten. At least her fur had grown in, soft and silky in comparison to the kitten-fluff she had truly had just a moon ago; but her gait was short and clumsy even as she gave chase. In the end, the cricket won, and she groaned as she flopped onto her belly, out of breath. "I was so close that time!" she whined, pouting in the direction of her long-lost prey. But just as quickly as her mood had seemed to sour, her ears swiveled up as her gaze lifted towards the nearest person. "I was, wasn't I? I was really close that time!" she seemed to realize, a grin all at once lighting up on her face as she slowly made her way back up to her feet. ​

 

[ROOSTERSTRUT]

Ah, to be a youth again. Some would remind Roosterstrut that he was still young himself, barely past a warrior's age, but it was times like these when he missed the naivety and innocence of kittenhood. Making your first kill was your only worry in the world, as was impressing your mentor in training or picking the ticks off of elders. Being an adult was so overrated, in his opinion. Cricketpaw seemed to be having all of the fun in the world just by chasing a cricket!

Unfortunately, the insect had slipped from the young apprentice's reach, leaving her empty-pawed and disappointed. Ah, Roosterstrut knew that feeling well; didn't everyone? There were always many missed tries before landing your first-ever kill, and boy, did that moment feel glorious. "Sure was!" The young warrior chirps in an attempt to console the disheartened she-cat. "Don't worry, those bugs are always hard to catch. Just wait 'til you sink your teeth into a frog or a bird." Roosterstrut offered, knowing that there were bigger and better things to look forward to in her training.​

— * ✰. ooc information recent events * ✰. —

• 
  
• 
  ✰ ROOSTERSTRUT
  —— amab, uses he/him pronouns. sixteen moons old. warrior of shadowclan.
  —— laid-back young adult who utilizes humor and fun in order to distract from serious matters. he is a decent warrior, though he hesitates to take risks.
  —— link to tags. @ on discord for plots.
  
  roosterstrut is a vibrant orange tabby tom with pale green eyes. he stands at a height ever so slightly above the average. his fur is long and whispy and his tail is especially reminiscent of a rooster's. he sports a signature, goofy smirk and a mischievous glint in his eye.
• 
  

​

 

[FERNDANCE]

A pair of large, emerald eyes watched as the little cricket hopped away. Instinct told Ferndance to chase after the insect and bring it to her clanmates with pride, luckily, she was able to forego those thoughts by the time that Roosterstrut comforted the little apprentice. The ticked tabby glided over to the pair, a gentle smile upon her maw. It would likely be some time before Cricketpaw got to 'sink her teeth' into a frog or a bird, she didn't know ThunderClan's land well, but the former didn't seem like it'd be well suited to the dryer forest, and the latter... Fern had no idea. "Or a cat..." She eventually interjected, knowing that the promise of combat was on the horizon more than the promise of a meal. It was unfortunate that both couldn't be shared equally, she liked her food and she liked her fighting, alas, the Stars had cursed their gloomy land. She held hope that things would improve. Ferndance's head slowly tilted. "Perhaps that won't be fun... cats are far more wriggly than frogs or birds..." Her paws kneaded against the soft earth, her level, calm tone betrayed by the amused glint in her eye.

"Just kidding. I don't hunt cats." She clarified, letting her humourless joke settle before continuing. "If you ever need help with your techniques, I am able to lend a paw." If it was faux pas to offer a young apprentice training in spite of them having a different mentor, Ferndance didn't recognise it. Her own training had been done by a mother, a father, an auntie, a grandmother - there was much to learn from everyone, not just the one individual you were stuck with for nine moons. Relaxing on her haunches, the messy-furred warrior quietly began playing with the burrs stuck to her forelimbs, ready to interject when more discussion was prompted.


​

 

[ARCHIVEDnoia]

"I know!" she chirped cheerfully, matching Rooster's own happy tone with ease as she hauled herself the rest of the way back up to her paws. "I didn't want to eat it! Well... probably not right away," she added in a slight mumble after giving it a second of thought. "But I wanted to see it! We have the same name, you know," she stated, as though it weren't already obvious. "Did you see how fast it jumped? I bet even a frog can't jump that fast! If... we even see a frog. I missed that one too." And yet this, too, she was willing to brush off with a small shrug.

Or a cat... Ferndance interjected, and for a moment, Cricketpaw's eyes darted towards the figure, a truly mischievous idea forming in her head. It glossed over into her eyes and made her whiskers briefly twitch as she, with all the willpower that a little girl could possibly muster, shoved it back down into her body to keep her paws still."Uh-huh," she sounded instead, no more than a slight chirp of her voice as she nodded along with the rest of Ferndance's sentiment - even her attempt at the joke.

But even that was too long for the little girl's patience in the moment of what she knew in her heart of hearts was an amazing joke. With the twinkle in her eye brightening, she turned slightly and pounced at Ferndance, making an attempt to close her mouth around her ankle, with no pressure to even bite it with any true intent. "You're right! Much easier to catch a cat," she nodded sagely, her grin brightening before she erupted into giggles.

It took her another few moments to stop and loop herself back around to what Ferndance had even been saying, staring at her for a while as she quite literally filed through the information in her head. "Oh, right! I don't think Vultureshriek would really mind. Can you show me something now?"​

 

[leechpaw]

—————————————————————⊰⋅ ✿ ⋅⊱—————————————————————​

A rustle of foliage and within a heartbeat afterwards slipped out a lanky black shape, fond eyes entrapped by a small cricket sitting upon her paw, carefully balanced upon her bone-thin legs so she didn't frighten the finicky insect away. Leechpaw had heard Cricketpaw's shrieks, having made her way toward the others before the small bug had found itself on her path and, subsequentially upon her paw. Excited, she'd hobbled her way until the current moment, standing infront of the three other cats and looked up at Cricketpaw and the others, excitement and wonder gleaming in her dark, dreamy eyes. "He wanted a ride... sadly, I don't think I was going the direction he expected," She softly said, humor tinging her soft melodic voice before raising the small bug upon her inky paw up to Cricketpaw's eyeline, her smile growing more. Leechpaw liked bugs. She liked bugs alot and was constantly doing her best to be as friendly to the small little shapes as she could be so they'd feel safe for her. But this... this marked something more to her. "I think... I think this is the first of the season! Mom used to tell me they all died during leaf-bare so," Despite how soft she spoke, it was clear this was exciting, "Maybe leafbare will be over soon! That's good, right?"
​

—————————————————————⊰⋅ ❀ ⋅⊱—————————————————————​

 

[Magpiepaw]

He had watched the chase with utter delight, wide blue-violet eyes locked on the insects jittering and hopping movements that so mimicked how he himself maneuvered around in the world. Magpiekit moved like water tumbling over an uneven surface, he followed the flow of his own momentum and swayed as a branch would in the wind yet did not divert from his course. It was cold and his paws did not enjoy being stomped about in the slush and muck of the earth around them but he followed dutifully along behind Roosterstrut with his head bobbing up and down and his uneven gait sending him snout first and then tail first into the muck back and forth as he stumbled; nothing had deterred him yet. The brown tabby was warm, so once they had stopped walking Magpiekit would slowly wind himself through tall tree-like limbs to perch himself between the tom's forepaws and lean into the side of his leg for both the heat and to help him keep his balance. Cricketpaw, named after the very bug she chased. Rooster was an animal he didn't know, Ferndance was a bowing plant that jittered in the wind in her mannerisms; speaking claims only to immediately deny them. Most cats suited their names, he didn't want to even consider Leechpaw's for it was both mordibly fascinating and a little too macabre for his blissfully cheerful thoughts today and his friend Maggotkit was already a lot to swallow at times.
Starlingheart had named him, he was named after a bird with glossy black feathers like his own coat-a bird just like her. He even had a second name Pitchstar called him specifically: Garbagekit. Both were gifts he treasured, but most liked Magpiekit and so its what he preferred.
If he studied crickets, would he learn more about Cricketpaw. Things to consider for future fortune telling.
"Can I...play too? The cricket chase game."

​