- Apr 3, 2024
- 30
- 7
- 8
'I wouldn't want mud on my face.' The moral dilemma of their actions just a quarter-moon prior had been on Wolfpaw's mind ever since. It was an endless cycle of justifications and double-downs, then, attempts to find empathy with the monster. 'Maybe I should've talked to him instead...' Was easy enough to believe, then, the tortoiseshell would do something egregious again and all Wolfpaw could think was 'I wish I could do more'. Talking to adults and listening when they believed the sepia wasn't had them conclude that there was nothing they could do other than continue training, something beyond frustrating when all that was on their mind was the coup. Either Skyclaw had noticed their heart wasn't in it, or it was some sort of strange revenge, but that day, the apprentice found themselves free from duty.
When their name wasn't called, they went straight back to the apprentice's den, back to the line that Bugpaw had drew in the sand, where one side would lay in fear and distrust of the other. With the others busy, they hoped they could have the place to themself, to not have to think about the division sowed by their new leader... think about the division sowed by themselves in rebellion against him. All too quickly they dipped their figure into the den, orange eyes widening as they came face-to-face with a pale torbie. Their ears flattened momentarily. "Oh, um... I wasn't expecting anyone else in here." Squirrelpaw was only slightly older than Wolfpaw, a moon at most, but they couldn't help but feel a twinge of envy. The other had had a chance at a normal apprenticeship for at least a moon - Wolfpaw had had one day.
Yet, the feeling dissipated quickly - normalcy once upon a time did not mean normalcy now and the other looked to be far from the happy-go-lucky figure they'd remembered. They wandered if Squirrelpaw would say the same looking at them. Wolfpaw's smile was angrier than it was before, jaded against the weight of the forest, but they held onto hope, however childish, that things would get better. They had to. There was an awkward elephant in the room the longer they stared, enough to make a wave-patterned paw scuff against the soft soil. Wolfpaw hadn't realised how desperately they wanted to talk to someone until they'd been granted the opportunity. "Are you... ok?"
@SQUIRRELPAW