camp I JUST SPEAK IN FUTURE TENSE (apprentice hangout)

[butterflytuft]

// Feel free to have your apprentice be the one who fell from the branch, or the one who helped Butterfly catch them! Please make these an apprentice, not a kit, as I don't want Butterfly getting in trouble for climbing with a kit LOL

Although leaf-bare has been brutal so far, the young tortoiseshell is blessed with a thick pelt to protect her from the elements. Even still, she trembles upon the branch she's lounging on, teeth chattering. She's half-tempted to retreat to the apprentice's den, to call it a day and sink into her nest and try to keep warm. But her denmates are here, and she's trying to fit in. Sure, she has friends, but how close can she really be to them if she takes any excuse to run off? So, she crouches here, clinging to the lowest branch on the tree that many other apprentices are hanging out on or around (it's the highest she can manage to go). They're talking about what their mentors taught them earlier in the day, and through her shivering Butterflypaw is listening politely. She's having fun - that's new for her. Usually, these social scenarios make her too anxious to even speak. But oh, she just laughed at someone's joke and she feels so normal! She's about to open her own jaws, perhaps throw out a joke of her own, when-

SNAP!

A yelp quickly follows the sound and she looks up to see one of her peers falling along with a broken branch. A dead branch - Blazestar told her to look out for those! She gasps, but instead of cowering or freezing, she lunges. Teeth fasten into the apprentice's scruff as they fall by her branch, her claws sinking into the bark to keep her steady while a forepaw reaches out to try and snatch the cat across their torso. Fortunately, the apprentice on the branch next to hers had the same idea and when she looks up, she sees them helping her to pull their denmate to safety.​

 

[Strawberrypaw]

Strawberrypaw is a relatively decent climber already, par for the course in SkyClan afterall! While she sometimes struggled with going too high and looking down, throwing herself into a dizzying state of panic, she had gotten a lot better at simply lounging atop the spindly limbs and could even say she enjoyed it a lot too; there was something mystical about being able to look down from a bird's eye view and feel safe atop the lofty throne of branches.
When she first started to climb she had an entire ordeal about it, too scared to go much higher than a tail-length and she imagined she wasn't the only apprentice who felt that way at first either. Butterflypaw had probably been the one among their peers to fall behind the most in that regard! She remembered hearing of the fox that took one of Blazestar's lives, how even the risk of death had not urged the tortie upward into the safety of the trees; but now look at her! Just like Strawberrypaw she found her own groove, a little slower than most but they all got to the same goal in the end so what did it matter. The cream and cinnamon apprentice smiled once at the other before turning her attention back to the discussion, eager to hear who had learned what for that day; someone had just gotten finished explaining how their own teacher had walked into a tree that day and the laugh that escaped her had the branch beneath her paws tremble lightly, bits of bark flaking off from the movement, inspiring her immediate response.
"Should've named him Barkface then, huh?" She asked, tickled by her own cleverness and shifting her paws to get more comfortable when the world suddenly tipped down. Her branch had broken, rotted from the inside in such a way she'd not realized and had very suredly been taught to look out for, her stomach lurched as she slid forward and then swung briefly in the air; a horrified and shrill gasp escaping her, before she's snapped back upward before she could plummet down to the ground in a heap.
There was a chance that the fall would not have killed her, but it was not a gamble she would have been very happy to make so she gratefully and quickly accepted the help back upward, clambering and clawing onto a more sturdy branch where she could squeal her fright in a tittering mew, claws sinking into the wood beneath her for support.
"I didn't check the branch! I've got bee's for brains today!" Strawberrypaw's eyes watered slightly but she did not cry, blinking back the mistiness caused by the surge of adrenaline she'd been forced to process, "Butterflypaw! Did YOU grab my scruff? You saved me! I almost went SPLAT!"


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[Fireflyglow]

WE'VE BEEN DOIN' ALL THIS LATE NIGHT TALKIN' ✧​

Nestling in the trees was all he could do to avoid the reality of the ground. Green was just so deadly, but he has no way of getting past the issue when he couldn't even face his clanmates. He didn't understand why they all pitied Snowpaw, gave him more grief-stricken glances than the ones who lost family. Fireflypaw can't find it in himself to hate Snowpaw, not when he knows it was a mistake- but he still blamed the tom. The sound of a branch cracking catches his attention, tearing him from his half-blind daze only to watch the shadowy pelt of Butterflypaw move to catch the cream-dipped fur of Strawberrypaw before she could turn into flattened vulture food on the ground.

They didn't need another apprentice dying again.

"Nice catch, Butterfly." Fireflypaw praises the molly with a neutral expression, not finding the heart to smile right now. It would come, with time. Though, he did enjoy being in the presence of his fellow apprentices. He stands up then, paws moving only to halt. Back, go, back, go- Four times. He repeats each step, frustration growing in his bones because it didn't feel right until the fourth time. He shakes out his fur, the shiver of disgust in his bones making him quake. Though, he soon jumps onto another branch to look down at Butterflypaw and Strawberrypaw, turning to the other apprentices.

"You guys can get higher, right? I want to be closer to the sky."

I want to know what it's like to be so high you could only breathe the air and trees.​

 

[COSMOSBLOOM]

Cosmospaw is a rare sight among the apprentice get-togethers. The gossip that's shared between those younger than him is often difficult for him to keep up with - who's who, and all that - but, today he finds himself among the branches too; a needed distraction from the somber atmosphere below the tree the group of apprentices find themselves in.

And, though he doesn't add much to their conversation, he's having fun just listening in on their silly stories, he thinks. It's as if nothing matters, up here. As if the tree is their safe haven.

He listens on as one of the apprentices talks about their mentor, tells a tale of how the warrior had run into a tree. He gives a small chuckle at that - an odd thing for a warrior of all cats to do - though finds himself pondering the next apprentice's joke. Barkface, she says he should be called, and... well, it would make sense, right? Such a name? Fits the whole... clan name ordeal and...

Snap!

The jokester's branch gives way, and she begins to fall. Butterflypaw is quick to grab her, but he's uncertain that his training partner can manage to pull the apprentice up on her own. The snow-furred tom lunges forward as well, wrapping a paw around the tumbling feline to help steady her as Butterflypaw pulls her up. Cosmospaw lets go of the cinnamon-pelted feline once she's steadied, thanking the stars that the two of them were able to bring her back to safety.

"You should be more careful, next time!" he tells her, worry present in his words. They didn't need more tragedy happening, after all. Another apprentice speaks, one of Blazestar's kids. Though he speaks praises, grief is ever-present in him. It hurts Cosmospaw's heart.

"She did good, didn't she?" he speaks of his training partner, looking back at the tortoiseshell. She acted so fast in catching the falling apprentice, Cosmospaw couldn't help but be proud of her. She was learning!

Blazestar's kid hops up onto a higher branch, and Cosmospaw's heart almost stops. Watching, waiting for the branch to snap, but it seems he'd chosen a stronger one than the last. Higher, the kid asks. So, Cosmospaw answers, leaping up onto the next sturdy branch above him. "I'll go with you."
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[subarupaw]

.·͙*̩̩͙˚̩̥̩̥*̩̩̥͙　✩　*̩̩̥͙˚̩̥̩̥*̩̩͙‧͙ .​

Subaru likes climbing! It's as easy as scaling the little weird looking trees that his twoleg got for him and he wants to go higher, right up in to the sky before theres a loud resounding CRACK and he squeaks in surprise. He's too far up to help as he scrambles to look over, eyes wide as he spots Butterfly catching Strawberrypaw, the one who had been ironically cracking a joke just a couple seconds ago. "Look at you go, Butterflypaw!" she had been so quick with it too! It had been amazing and Subaru is still in awe! Except, he giggles really quickly. "Maybe we should call you Barkfall instead." its light-hearted as he blinks warmly down to Strawberry.

Then Firefly and Cosmos speak up next, Firefly speaks with a blank face and Cosmos praises her which makes Subie nod. Firefly wants to go higher and Subaru beams. Finally! He wanted to go higher, too! "I'll come with too! I wanna reach allllllll the way to the clouds, I wonder if they taste like anything." and with that Subaru prods at the next branch and when hes satisfied with the way it holds his front paws weight he leaps on to it. "Are you guys down there coming?" ​

✦ ★ ✦​

 

[HOUND]

Ugh, why had he let himself get convinced to come along?. Sure, he know how much everyone in this clan loved climping but this was beyond rationallity to climp this far when they barely had any experience. Strawberrypaw had almost fallen off from the branch too!, and they wanted to keep on going?. Fierypaw grimaced having played along this far since he wanted to have friends and be a part of something here but this was going to far for his own liking. " I think you guys are being very stupid right now!. I think we should stop before anyone gets seriously hurt!." He just had to be the voice of reason, the one who had to ruin the fun by telling them why they shouldn't be stupid anymore!. What if next time Butterflypaw didn't catch the next cat who fell?.

Fierypaw was the one further down hesitant to climp any further than this. He shouldn't have come along to begin with to let himself get dragged into this knowing from the very start it was a bad idea. Yet here he was dragged along by his denmates stupid ideas when he could be down there safe at the ground instead.



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[butterflytuft]

Butterflypaw grunts with the effort, but with Cosmospaw's help she's able to get Strawberrypaw steadied on the same branch as her. She pants, blinking wide-eyed at her. "Are- Are you okay?" She mews worriedly, her own legs trembling with adrenaline. But Strawberrypaw only turns to her, her own moon eyes mirrored on her face. Did YOU grab my scruff? You saved me! Did she? Butterflypaw never saves anyone. She hesitates, ears pricking up in realization. "I...guess I did." She sounds as surprised as anyone here!

Fireflypaw mews his praise, and she lifts her gaze to meet her friend's but his usual grin isn't there. His expression is empty, it has been since his sister's death. She manages to offer him a small, grateful smile, unsure of what to say. It's then Cosmospaw who brags about her and Subarupaw echos him, and she feels her ears heating up with embarrassment. She ducks her face sheepishly, unused to having any sort of attention on her. "Oh, it was nothing," She assures quietly, voice still a hush but she can't hide the smile on her face. Praise feels good. She did something right.

Fireflypaw suggests they go higher and the others follow suit. "I'm good here, in case anyone else wants to fall again," She jokes softly, a rare smirk of amusement on her muzzle. Fierypaw calls up anxiously, telling them to come down. The she-cat blinks curiously down at him, caught off-guard by his insistence. "It's okay, Fierypaw. You can stay down here with me." She never does go higher than the lowest branch, after all. Some SkyClanner she is. Besides, what can go so wrong when so many warriors are around? ​

 

[BEARPAW]

"NOBODY TEACHES YOU TO WALK WITH OPEN HANDS"​

If you had approached Bearpaw only a few moons earlier with the prospect of climbing a tree recreationally, she probably would have laughed, would have waved it off as some silly idea more befitting a squirrel than a cat, but now? Well, now, after having spent some time getting up to speed here in Skyclan, she's proudly perched upon a branch - not too high up, mind you, only a tad above the lowest of the branches, but up a tree just to hang out with some other apprentices nonetheless. So far, she hasn't done an especially great job of really connecting with the others, generally keeping to herself, but this opportunity seemed too good to pass up, even if it was a bit nerve-wracking to show off her climbing skills around the others. Certainly she wouldn't be as good as the others, but luckily for her they seemed pretty content to stay fairly low, low enough that Bearpaw hardly has to worry about not being able to make it as high as the others. And hey, she's not even on the lowest branch! Pretty good, really, even if she's more focused on that fact and keeping steady than she is on the actual conversation at hand, which was the whole point of hanging out with other apprentices rather than just practicing climbing on her own.

So focused on not falling, she almost misses when another apprentice really does fall, left only to gape as Butterflypaw and Cosmospaw both work together to catch Strawberrypaw, saving her from what quite possibly could have been certain doom. Suddenly, she's not feeling quite secure so high up off the ground, looking down at the broken branch, though the others don't seem to share that concern, Fireflypaw wanting to go higher. Others move to follow, and Bearpaw's torn - on the one paw, every new branch is an opportunity to fall, and she can't imagine that they'd be lucky enough to catch someone twice today (plus, she's on the larger side of those gathered - no guarantee she wouldn't end up dragging someone smaller down with her), but on the other paw, she doesn't want to embarrass herself by not following after them, as if she's scared of going higher. She's a Skyclan apprentice, right? Surely she can handle getting a little closer to the sky. And yet, only one branch higher does Bearpaw climb before she's stopped once again, watching her fellow apprentices move quickly and efficiently skyward, leaving her in the dust. "Uhm, maybe I'll stay down here, too..." she echoes, swinging back around to look at Butterflypaw and Fierypaw. It's not that she can't go any higher, or anything - rather, it's that she can't go any higher so quickly. The way that the other apprentices take so naturally to the trees, almost instinctively knowing which branches are safe and which aren't? That doesn't quite come to her, not yet, and she's not exactly ready to hone that skill with such an audience present.​

✦ ★ ✦​

 

[Strawberrypaw]

Once she had smoothed her fur back down with a few well-placed licks to her shoulder and side the cream and cinnamon apprentice gave a quick shake of her pelt before scooting back onto the limb properly rather than clinging to the trunk itself, her mismatched eyes honing in on Cosmospaw humble as ever and Butterflypaw sheepishly embarrassed by her daring feat but it was well-deserved. She needed to be better at checking branches before she scrambled on top of one of them but she'd been so caught up chasing the others up the tree.
"I could just smooch you both but you'll have to accept a really enthusiastic nod instead I'm afraid!" She was too young for smooches and also she'd only want to smooch Butterflypaw which wouldn't be fair to Cosmospaw who was very nice and deserved praise too; he just wasn't her type.

Subarupaw's comment made her other ear fold backward to mimic her forward folded one but she took it in stride despite the embarrassment of her fumble. "Nooo, don't throw my bad joke back at me-that's not fair!" Barkfall? She would absolutely die with that name-it was so boring and she loved hers too much to let it go-it matched the rest of her family. As quickly as the incident occurred it was over and it was back to their usual foolishness and avoiding their duties as apprentices were won't to do, she watched Fireflypaw's dour expression as he urged them to move up further and while a few cats joined him she was shaking her head no, "I think one near death experience is enough for me today, thanks!" Thankfully the tortie apprentice would be staying down with her, as well as a few other apprentices who both shared her sentiment on avoiding further accidents. "I have to stick by Butterflypaw, who else will rescue me? Will you rescue me Fierypaw? Bearpaw?" She asked, teasingly as the other insisted she'd remain to play hero once again if necessary. Fierypaw called them dumb for going up higher but she didn't share the sentiment, she just didn't want to make a fool of herself again and Bearpaw seemed even more hesitant than the rest of them.


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