private I THINK SHE KNOWS &. private

[BUZZARDPAW.]

I SAW A PHOTO, YOU LOOK JOYOUS​

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buzzardpaw was a bit restless. call it whatever you wanted, but she did not want to be stuck in camp all day, it was exhausting and quite frankly? boring. she was an apprentice now, and there was things that she wanted to do. buzzardpaw stares at her sister's sleeping form for a moment. parts of her tells her to wake puddlepaw up, to go ahead and bring her along– but she doesn't want to bother her. her ears twitch and she spin on her paws and carefully navigates out of the apprentice den. her nose twitches as she turns her head up to look at the night sky before huffing and slinking out of the camp.

his memory always serves him well. he doesn't really forget. so he continues on his walk, occasionally picking up cool sticks and leaves he finds amongst the snow, and tucking them into his fur. he makes his way to the carrionplace, nose twitching. huh. he knows he supposed to be careful of the rats, but would it really be bad if he just got one? he's starting to get hungry. he has to remember what he's been taught– he knows it's not a lot he hasn't really been an apprentice for too long but enough that he knows what to do when hunting. he's just got to be careful, right?

their ears twitch back and forth as they find a lone rat. it's not too big, but it certainly could be a formidable opponent that they're not sure they'd easily be able to take down if they don't do this right. they watch the creature at first. if they do this correctly, they'll have no problems. go for the throat. something vague they remember hearing. alright. they are careful be precise, grabbing the rat's neck in their jaws, crunching as fast as they could before picking it up and moving away. they can't risk other rats having heard it's squeals.

it finds a nice little spot to eat, tearing into the deliciously moist flesh of the rat, a broken purr coming from it. it's quiet, either way, but it is having the time of its life. it doesn't know why shsdowclan doesn't eat more rats. it likes them. it's tongue draws over it's bloodied muzzle, looking up at the sound of snow crunching nearby. it's eyes narrow at the figure that stands above them. it's head tilts. huh.

"uh. h...i."
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[JAGGED.]

WHY HAVE YOU FORSAKEN ME?​

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tw for misgendering

fuck, he was hungry. winters are always so rough for him, and he knows this much. he's never been the most skilled in hunting, and perhaps that's why he was so good at the art of manipulation. to easily sway someone else to do his dirty work for him, meant that he didn't have to worry about doing it. but he didn't have anyone like that right now, and he hadn't eaten a proper meal in days. he can feel his body getting weaker and weaker. he's gotta find something. he'll be damned if he dies out here before he's filled his purpose in this life. his tongue draws over a scarred muzzle before he tastes the air, nose twitching with a curious perk of his ears. oh, how curious indeed. most do not venture around at night, especially in a place of such illness and filth hanging around, and yet– he can so very clearly smell something. dead grasses, bones, and rot. all in one. the scent of blood follows after, and it leaves him gently smacking his lips together. whatever that was, it smelled inticing enough for him to investigate. something tells him that this will indeed work out in his favor.

as he approaches, the younger cat looks up at him, big wide eyes filled with nothing but curiosity and a certain aloofness. she's not frightened by his sudden appearance, and even greets him. huh.

"well hello, there. nice little meal you got."

he begins to circle the kit, and buzzardpaw finds herself only blinkking slowly with unamusement. quickly, whoever this is, is becoming boring to her, and jagged can see that he is not capturing her attention. not until buzzardpaw actually fully looks at him.

"you l...ook like shriketalon."

buzzardpaw knows that black and white cats are common but there is something very specifically similar about the two that buzzardpaw can easily place. jagged seems surprised by it, perking his tail up with a sly grin.

"oh? you know my daughter, then?"

buzzardpaw nods.

"you are s...upposed to be the...ir dad?"

jagged only hums in response and buzzardpaw's head tilts at that.

"then w...hy do you ca....ll them y....our da...ughter? they're n...ot a molly."

jagged only rolls his eyes, gently reaching out to pet the kid on the top of his head.

"shrike is my daughter. i'd know. I'm her father. i know her better than she knows herself. but what is she to you, hm, little one?"

"my fr...iend. and m...entor."

jagged only laughs, making buzzardpaw stand up straight with a look of confusion on his face. why is he laughing?

"friend and mentor, huh? well. any friend of my daughter's... say. you're in that shadowclan, huh? so you've got plenty of practice hunting and all of that jazz?"

"yes."

buzzardpaw answers and jagged purrs. he stops right in front of the apprentice, looking at the partially finished rat.

"good. then you can catch another. I'm gonna go ahead and take this off your paws for you. don't they teach you that your elders should eat first? I am an elder, in this case, and I'll be eating first."

he moved to take the rat and on instinct buzzardpaw uses a clawed paw to smack the other's paw away. jagged seems taken aback before a sinister smile creeps on his face.

"oh, i see. my daughter has yet to teach you manners. don't worry. I'll just go ahead and teach them for you."

with no more warning than that, jagged barrels into the young apprentice, knocking them off of balance. they don't have time to recover or even think about what's happening before teeth come into contact with their scruff and they're yanked rather hard, and tossed away from the rat. they collapse to the ground and without a chance to get up, claws dig right into their scalp. jagged only tilts his head to look down before snorting.

"learn some respect, and perhaps you wouldn't be in this position. and just in case you decide to forget about what I've done,"

he moves to claw buzzardpaw across the face, all the way down her side and stepping back and away, cleaning the blood off of his claws. he picks up the rat and turns back to the other with a grin.

"thanks for the meal, kid."

and with that, jagged is gone into the night, with little trace of himself left behind.
​