pafp I STRUT MY STUFF + roughhousing

turtlepaw

it's hard to make the good things last ✦
Jan 29, 2024
57
14
8
i'm in the in between, honey

In the wake of the war against rogues (a battle Turtlepaw had NOT been apart of), there had been a sort of electricity in the air. Whether it was in jubilation or anxiousness, she couldn't tell. Either way, it had her muscles twitching. No amount of patrols or training with Snakeblink seemed to do the trick. Even her denmates had noticed her nighttime chatter had ramped up. The number of "shut up" and "go to sleep" chirps she had at bedtime had increased.

After the morning patrols had ceased and cats basked in the midday sun, Turtlepaw couldn't find rest like the rest of her clan. She paced around the groups present, stubby tail twitching. No one seemed to want to make eye contact with her.

Turtlepaw wasn't stupid. She knew she could be... a lot. She couldn't help it. Something in her chest always seemed to swell and her paws needed to move. Usually, this energy was displaced onto her sister, Eelpaw. Tonight, her sibling was nowhere to be seen and the apprentice could feel that little ball of energy growing, an ill omen for anyone vaguely her size.

Her pacing had become a stalk, looking for anyone able-bodied. Foxtail? No too big. Robinheart? I don't think I could win that one. Turtlepaw was not usually a picky cat, but couldn't help herself in this moment to find the perfect wrestling partner.

A black and white pelt caught her eyes and the apprentice dropped into a hunting crouch. It had been getting better under Snakeblink's watchful eyes. Her paws didn't move as much, and her backside actually stayed still... mostly. Pouncing into the air, the tabby crashed onto Duckpaw, wrapping her forelegs around her neck. Turtlepaw shifted her weight, attempting to flip the other apprentice from their lounging position.


// please let the victim ( @DUCKPAW ) respond first!
 

tags! ₊˚✧ ゚. the war has been a few days past now, and duckpaw had been focusing on her mental and physical recovery. she had made it out unscathed for the most part, however a patchy bruise had just started to yellow the tissue around her neck from where prickles had essentially punched her with his entire body weight. when she spoke, she noticed that her vocal cords were slightly hoarse. all that paled in comparison to some of the wounds the other warriors had brought back with them...willowroot being nearly on her death bed. while the riverclanners had emerged victorious, it had been a hard fight ... and her first fight ever. she shivers when she thinks about how close to death she had really been. prickles had her pinned like a doll, and had wished death upon her before carrying out his assault. if it weren't for carawaypaw's intervention, she would've surely suffocated. duckpaw gets a bit tearful upon reviewing the memory. she really needs to remember to find carawaypaw later, and thank her denmate for essentially saving her life. there is a slightly detached manner about the way she stares into space now and rubs the bruise on her neck, like she was stuck in that terrible moment in time where she had nearly lost her life. what would all of her suffering have been for? just to be snuffed out before she'd barely begun?

duckpaws thoughts are cut in two when she feels two limbre legs wrap around her neck. immediately she is transported back in time. duckpaw cries out, her screams echoing around the campgrounds, as she is flipped through the air and onto her back. its prickles! hes come to finish the job! hot tears stream down her face as she is pushed back into a now familiar position. she is about to lash out viciously with unsheathed claws when she stops to take in her attacker. turtlepaw? duckpaw halts, the sadness and panic morphing into confusion ... and then anger. the anger was so intense, and so powerful she saw nothing but red. duckpaw let out a little cry and pushed out with white paws in an attempt to force the rowdy apprentice off of her, she gave a little extra oomph through strong, stocky legs, being less gentle than what might be seen as usual rough housing. "get off me!" duckpaw nearly howls as she does so. ​
 
𓆝 . ° ✦ "Get off me!"

It was when she was just returning from patrol that the cry rang out. The screams of her apprentice was like ice water in Mosspool's veins. Duckpack's voice had a desperation that she had only heard before in the heat of battle, and it terrified her. All other thoughts left her mind, replaced with the sole instinct to protect her young charge.

Dropping the prey she held between her jaws to the ground, she turned to lock her gaze on the scrabbling apprentices. Her eyes narrowed. Though she did not know how it started, she could clearly see Turtlepaw on top of her apprentice and the tears streaming down Duckpaw's face. Sudden outrage surged through her. "HEY!" Her voice boomed through the camp. "BREAK IT UP!"

She stormed toward the pair, cats parting before her to let her through. With each step she took, her fur bristled more and her tail lashed.

If the scuffle hadn't stopped by the time she arrived on the scene, Mosspool aimed to grab Turtlepaw by the scruff and lift her off of Duckpaw in a single deft motion.
 ° .  . ° 
  • ooc:
  • challenge-3-moss-png.1191
    MOSSPOOL — SHE/HER・ 12 MOONS ・ WARRIOR & RIVERCLAN ・ PENNED BY @empyrean !
    Longhair black tabby with deep green eyes. Mosspaw is a very tall molly, standing a head above most cats her age. She has a slim, willowy physique with subtle musculature built up from a lifetime of constant training that lends itself well to swimming and running. Long, thick brown fur falls over her form with tabby patterning across it. Her eyes are a vibrant green, and shine with a bright intelligence and confidence.
 

Trailing quietly behind Mosspool with a limp fish between her jaws the molly halts upon overhearing a desperate cry boom throughout camp. Soft periwinkle eyes grow wide, snapping in the direction of the two apprentices just as her fellow warrior made a beeline toward the pair. Likewise, Sablemist forgoes her catch, choosing instead to remain hot on Mosspool's heels. Craning her neck she noticed tears streaming from Duckpaw's eyes but aside from that no one looked hurt. Her initial shock wanes, giving way to utter bewilderment as she glanced from Turtlepaw to Duckpaw and back again. "What on earth happened?" She asked with knitted brows, easing to a full stop.
≖≖ riverclan warrior / seventeen moons old / she/her ≖≖
 

i'm in the in between, honey

Turtlepaw was young. It was something she could not deny. She was grateful to have been made an apprentice when the Warrior Code allowed it. The confinement of the nursery, the watchful eyes of the queens, the strict bedtimes - it was all too much for Turtlepaw. The freedom she was allowed as an apprentice was just that: freedom. For her, being an apprentice meant shaking off the mundane life of a kit - wake up, play mossball, get bathed, etc. - and training herself to become a fully fledged warrior.

Standing over Duckpaw now, paws placed on her opponent's chest, Turtlepaw wore a lopsided grin. That was easier than she thought! Maybe she was closer to becoming a warrior! Turtlepaw didn't see the sheer confusion and panic on Duckpaw's face. Instead, she braced for the apprentice's retaliation, closing her eyes tight in sheer excitement. Paws slammed into her chest, sending her skidding backwards to stand on the tuxedo cat's lower stomach. That was good! she thought, taking a breath to shake the dull pain spreading through her breast bone.

"Get off me!"

The cry shocked Turtlepaw's eyes open. She scanned the camp, expecting to see another tussle that turned too rowdy. Surely it couldn't have been Duckpaw, right? Her fear solidified when she looked down and saw Duckpaw's face, confused and angry. No one had ever been angry at Turtlepaw before. Annoyed, sure, but rage was a new emotion directed at her. Heat races to her ear tips and paw pads, hot embarrassment.

Before she could get a word to Duckpaw out, her scruff was yanked backward. Kit instincts, still fresh in her 5 moon old mind, made her body go limp and her limbs fold inwards. She felt silly. Her rump touched the ground, but this cat had her grabbed as if she were a small kit again. Mosspool's voice was hard to forget. The stern she-cat seemed to be everything Turtlepaw couldn't even try to be.

Sablemist appeared next, eyes scanning between the two apprentices. Turtlepaw's ears flattened to her skull in even more hot shame. She knew how this looked and it wasn't good.

"I wasn't doing anything!" She cried, her voice a near whine. "I was just trying to practice!"





 
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