greenfields kissed by the sun - tree climbing

[Howlfire]

Once, Howlfire could remember not knowing what to do with herself when it came to climbing. In ThunderClan, she hunted more on the ground, stalking through the undergrowth alongside her mother in their brief time as mentor and apprentice. When in SkyClan she made a conscious effort to practice the skill more, testing out the feel of the bark beneath her claws, seeing if she could pull herself up the tree, seeing if she could leap between the branches with ease.

It had taken some time and effort - and falling from a tree when under Dawnglare's supervision - but she was quite confident in her abilities. She wasn't the best climber in the clan and certainly would never claim to be, but she would definitely rank herself among the better climbers. She could not wait until Hawkpaw had recovered so she could start taking her daughter climbing, or at least seeing if she had an affinity for it, before urging her into the lofty branches. Howlfire is not alone in her climbing today, and when she hears movement nearby, she acknowledges the other with a small dip of the head. "How high up do you think a cat has ever managed to climb?" She asked, eyes flicking up at the higher branches above their heads.​

 

[HUSHPAW]

tags! ₊˚✧ ﾟ. hushpaw rarely leaves the camp these days. she had been an apprentice for one full moon, but due to rising tensions with other clans, blazestar's death, and a handful of troublesome rogues, she had been personally advised not to leave camp alone. hushpaw makes an agreement to this promise, and thinks now as she follows howlfire to a rather large tree, that her end of this promise was still technically upheld. hushpaw thinks that the political climate at the moment is akin to watching a stick of dynamite lit from both ends, waiting for it all to blow up on a relative time of peace. maybe blazestar's death was the explosion? like one, his death had sent ripples of grief felt throughout the whole clan. she could feel it, everyone was reeling from the death knell of what had been a great era of leadership.

lost in the thought the dilute molly disturbs a bushel of ferns by trampling it underneath her feet. howlfire, who she had previously been stalking on quiet footfalls, dips her head in the direction of the young apprentice, seeming unsurprised that she had company. was she really that loud? hushpaw steps out of the dense forestry into the clearing, looking sheepish. at howlfire's remark, hushpaw tips her head to acknowledge the full horizontal scale of the tree. she had been in the company of great climbers her whole life, and she had no doubt that somebody had reached the very top. "maybe the very top?" hushpaw airs in a quiet, mouse-like voice, her stature shrinking with uncertainty of how stupid that suggestion may be. she had never seen skyclanners in action, but she had definetly heard stories of how they could soar from tree to tree, a feat seeming only possible for birds. hushpaw briefly thought how cool it would be to have wings, to rise above the horizon till the earth beneath her gave way to space, and she could meet her silver-pelted ancestors.
​

 

[APPLEFROST]

Unfortunate that bird nests would be near guaranteed not to have any eggs right now. It had been moons and moons since she had brought home an impressive egg to break and share with her sister, an uncommon treat for SkyClanners. Still she vainly peered into any and every nest they came across, hopping from branch to branch with careful grace only to fall into disappointment every time.

"The tallest huh..." Applefrost murmured as she mirrored Howlfire, looking up to the pines canopy. "The branches start to become too thin and spread out the higher you go, if only we were a bit smaller." Powerful legs to kick and climb only benefitted for a cat to go so high. "Hmm. Not much reason to go so high anyhow, the birds we eat aren't going there."

"Speech"​

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I KNOW SHE LIES ALONE, SHE'S MY CALLER​

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[Howlfire]

Hushpaw suggests that maybe a cat had climbed all the way to the top. "I think it would depend on the tree," Howlfire mused, flicking the apprentice a warm smile. "Although I could imagine only the most intrepid of climbers daring to go so high." She couldn't imagine climbing that high herself. It seemed as though there would be a few too many risks involved in both getting up there and coming back down. Applefrost's response is much more realistic and Howlfire nods along to the older she-cat's words. "At the very least, the view would be nice," Howlfire mused. "You could probably see all the way to ShadowClan and beyond."​