private LOOKOUT LANDING [♱] SNEEZEPAW

[SHARPSHADOW]

Today is not a particularly nice day. Nor is it particularly safe one, given Forestshade's report from the other day, but if she stopped whatever she had to do on account of anything lurking within ShadowClan's territory... they'd all be starving, and her apprentices wouldn't be able to take down so much as a falling leaf. Today, she would just be clinging to Sneezepaw like a burr. Sneezepaw, and only Sneezepaw, before Halfpaw could go and infect him with her... Halfpaw-ness...

" So... " Amazing start. It's a bit of an adjustment, going from her stilted words within ShadowClan's confines to now being the one more or less expected to lead conversation. His pelt bristles uncomfortably— but that's normal. " It's a good time to be six moons right now. Frogs are everywhere. " She flicks her ear in passing to the numerous signs of frogspawn as they pass. Toads hopping, the sound of frogchirp, she's sure that distant splashing sound she could hear were tadpoles having a grand old time in the marsh.

They come to a stop when they find a frog that she arbitrarily deems... stupid looking. Between them and the prey is enough space for them to murmur to each other, though Sneezepaw couldn't exactly afford to be careless either. Tail deadened, instead he makes a bold gesture to it, swinging her muzzle. " There's our... uh, goal. " A proper mentor wouldn't say things like um, or er. She resists the urge to shake out her pelt, instead clenching her teeth, and with it, her embarassing habits.

" Today, this loss may not cost you, but in Leaf-bare, it would cost you everything, " he warns lowly. It's what her first mentor had told her. It's what Smogmaw's plump belly would likely want her to teach. " So don't take this lightly. " Dull eyes sharpen upon a brown tabby pelt. " Cats are depending on you. Show me your crouch. " Look at him... mentoring. If he wouldn't have Halfpaw buffed out in time, maybe he could show Sneezepaw to Mosspool, instead.

Oh, but then— she can hear Mosspool's voice raking over her ears— Needed a do-over, did you? I'm sure they got a more capable warrior to take on Halfpaw... No, no. They would both be fine. They would both be better than fine. They had to be.

// OOC: my dumbass forgot to tag @sneezepaw​

 

[sneezepaw]

Sharpshadow was a wonder. She was a curious being, an enigma. Sneezepaw thought her intriguing and fearsome all in one - a cat whose antisocial tendencies spun mystery, but was also cause for caution.

Sneezepaw is, mostly, oblivious to the dangers outside of camp. Despite the warnings of predators, and despite his brother's return home a moon ago, beaten within a tail-length of his life. He is a dreamer, after all - his expectations of the world outside camp are high and attractive, his world a big story-tale laid out for him, one romanticized page after the other. Predators and dangerous cats, of course, are not in his book as immediate threats - he is as scared of them as he is of any nursery tale made to remind him to behave. And behave he will, to the best of his abilities, as always. They would not touch him, he believes, so long as he was a good apprentice.

Throughout his time spent observing Sharpshadow and trying to gauge as much about his mentor's personality as possible without actually engaging the ghastly thing, Sneezepaw has more or less adjusted to his awkward speech and bristling pelt. The empathy in him forgives it, while some deep selfish part that he thoughtlessly suppresses wishes he had someone more confident to mold him into the warrior he wants to be. Like Singepaw's mentor, Pipitclaw. Sneezepaw would never express his grievances, though; if there was anything he was good at, it was holding his tongue in the face of even the most troublesome bothers.

Today's lesson was hunting, and like Sharpshadow points out, it seems to be a well enough day for it. The rains and new bug life had brought frogs aplenty. If he listens closely and tunes out his thoughts, Sneezepaw can hear them all around. In recent times, he feels he can't remember a time without the chirps and ribbits of marsh toads.

Sharpshadow pauses, and with him, Sneezepaw falls still. He follows his mentor's gaze towards a particularly odd looking frog, some tail-lengths away, in all its spindly-legged and flat-headed glory. It seems completely oblivious to the cats' presence, lounging lazily while its throat expands and contracts. Sneezepaw knows what must be done, before it's even explained. He's been waiting for hunting lessons since he was a kitten - he's played through this scenario in his dreams far too many times to count.

Cream-colored paws flex against the plush ground underneath, only subtle enough to not greatly disturb the ground that the frog shares. If not for Sharpshadow's daunting warnings, Sneezepaw would have been bounding towards the frog already, treating it like a plaything as he did with any stray frog before he was old enough to leave camp - before he was old enough to know better. It takes great restraint not to tune his mentor out completely and run with his playful instincts.

Instead, Sneezepaw holds still and nods his agreement. On command, the tabby lowers himself to the ground, recalling his kit days of mock-hunts and shoddy attempts at crouching taught by older kits or apprentices. He remembers the way their chin lowered to the ground, haunches tense and ready to pounce, and tail hovered just high enough to maintain balance - and he replicates it in a way he feels must be perfect.

But, the thin undergrowth below tickles his belly fur, sending involuntary twitches through his pelt. The tip of his tail sways back and forth, occasionally sweeping against the marsh floor. His arms and legs fidget restlessly, not used to holding his weight in such a precise position for this long. It's hardly better than the hunting crouches he learned in the nursery, but nonetheless, Sneezepaw looks up to Sharpshadow with his hopeful round eyes. "Like this? Am I doing it right?"
​

CHARACTER INFORMATION — ♡ ˗ˏˋ ꒰ ♡ ꒱ ˎˊ˗ ♡ — OUT OF CHARACTER

• sneezekit SNEEZEPAW
  ━━ APPRENTICE of SHADOWCLAN | 6 MOONS ,, ages every 2nd
  ━━ DUCKSHIMMER xx NPC | SIBLING to SINGEPAW and SWALLOWPAW
  ━━ MATE to none | PARENT to none
  ━━ MENTOR to none | MENTORED by SHARPSHADOW​
• 
  
  
• speech is #ffcc8a​

 

[SHARPSHADOW]

Sneezepaw looks at her in a way that Halfpaw probably never would, and she isn't sure which one of them to be upset at for it. The both of them, maybe. The both of them was easiest to do. Sharpshadow's attempted hardass persona falters when she looks at him, face morphing into some amalgamation of confusion and just-ate-carrion. So she doesn't know if her answering, " No, " is just the right amount of stern or not. Rainshade had never spared her any sort of levity, but then— she never cared what Rainshade thought. But then, she didn't like anyone very much, and there was some merit to what she had said, since Sharppaw had lived long enough to be Sharpshadow.

This mental battle would maybe be revealed by the squinting of her eyes, and exactly which type of frown that she wearing at the moment. Whatever that is, she didn't know. At least Sneezepaw didn't seem the sort to loudly point it out, unlike other apprentices he knew.

" It's not the worst in the world, though, " she amends. But then, if he coddled any apprentice too much, they'd just end up another failure, or another cold body. He straightens himself. " But it isn't good enough. Stay there. "

He observes Sneezepaw's crouch with the scrutiny of a viper, jaw ticking with every inaccuracy noticed. Funny, Sharpshadow has never had to worry about a tail that moves to much. " Square your shoulders, " with a narrowed glance, he says. " Keep your tail still. If you flick it against any clump of reeds on accident your hunt's basically finished. " Expectantly, he looks on.​

 

[sneezepaw]

Not the worst, she says. Not good enough.

I can be good enough, Sneezepaw thinks. Sharpshadow's voice is stern, but not cold. It's the voice of a teacher, of someone who wants him to be good enough. At least, that's what he tells himself - what he believes. There's no telling of the inner workings of his mentor's mind, not even when he gazed upon him like a scrawny piece of prey examined for its worth, or when her words come out sharp and narrow.

It's one of his first hunting lessons, so he won't be perfect. Then.. why does he feel disappointed that he's not? Sneezepaw's best quality (to himself) is masking the negativity with a tough smile and marching forward. It's all he can do now to swallow his exasperation when he's told how to move, and when his body struggles to hold.

He's squared his shoulders, and focused on his tail. But it seems, with his focus narrowed down, there's always something else twitching in his anticipated body. His ears, his whiskers, the way his mouth feels inclined to chirp and click as he stares down the frog. It's better, but is it enough? Sneezepaw looks up at the shadowed feline again, with the same big hopeful eyes as before. Though his skinny legs feel as if they could buckle under the weight of his body at any moment, he must remain steadfast. There's frogs to catch! "Now?" he inquired hopefully.

​

CHARACTER INFORMATION — ♡ ˗ˏˋ ꒰ ♡ ꒱ ˎˊ˗ ♡ — OUT OF CHARACTER

• sneezekit SNEEZEPAW
  ━━ APPRENTICE of SHADOWCLAN | 7 MOONS ,, ages every 2nd
  ━━ DUCKSHIMMER xx NPC | SIBLING to SINGEPAW and SWALLOWPAW
  ━━ MATE to none | PARENT to none
  ━━ MENTOR to none | MENTORED by SHARPSHADOW​
• 
  
  
• speech is #ffcc8a​