meet him inside — smokestar

FOXTAIL

FOXTAIL

weep, little lion man
Twoleg Invasion [Spring '24] RiverClan Lead Warrior Spring Prompts [RC '24] Winter Prompt Event ['24] RiverClan 10K
Nov 25, 2023
153
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Despite the rogues being gone... the young warrior still feels on edge. How can he not, after his eyes laid upon the bodies of warriors and apprentices, and then later a very wounded Lichentail? He knows that the life of a warrior is never easy— food, shelter, and safety isn't always a given. He should be grateful that there's enough prey to go around, and that he has comfortable nest to sleep in. But safety... his mind can't stop itself from thinking back to Lichentail. Eelpaw.... helpless... Apprentices will die... Her hoarse, strained voice shook him to the core— he doesn't want Eelpaw to die! Whether it be from a rogue, or an enemy warrior. At first Foxtail was keeping her in camp as the rogue situation got worse, but it didn't stop after that. She's still so small, He tried to tell himself today, after sending Eelpaw off to the elders den to groom their pelts. ...I should give it some more time before I take her out again. What if there are some stragglers lurking about? He has to absolutely make sure the rogues are gone.

He starts to pad towards the camp entrance, when a fellow warrior pads after him. The other warrior is far older than Foxtail, wearing battle scars like a trophy; more experienced in every way. This warrior steps in Foxtail's way, and Foxtail comes to a stop, blinking in slight confusion. "Do you need something? I-I was about to go hunting," He asks, and the older warrior nods. "Smokestar wants to speak with you. He's waiting in his den for you." The older warrior's tail swishes and points to the towering willow tree at the edge of camp, Foxtail feeling his heart beat in alarm. Smokestar wants to speak to him? ...Was he doing something wrong? With a shaky nod, Foxtail pads through camp, green olive eyes locked on the willow tree.

With a gulp, the nervous warrior pops his head into Smokestar's den. "S-Smokestar, may I come in?" He mews, and waits for his leader's response. Once Smokestar nods, the young warrior steps into the den, his tail drooped low to the ground. "...Y-you wanted to speak with me?"
​

𝐨𝐨𝐜 —— 𝐚𝐛𝐨𝐮𝐭
  • @SMOKESTAR
  • 76983326_NimpdpqQcHTVZW3.png

    credit to skaicraft (via insta) for the artwork <3
  • Foxtail
    ​
    warrior
    warmhearted
    timid
    experience: trained
    backstory: tbd
    biography: [HYPERLINK]
    credit to rai for the mini & tropics for the icon <3
    cisgender male [he / him]
    eyes: green
    pelt: cinnamon/chocolate
    fur length: long
    parents: dawnflower and redfur (riverclan npcs)
    17 moons
    ​

​
 
—————————————————————⊰★⊱————————————————————

This wasn't something he'd planned to do nor wanted to, but it was worth doing all the same.
"I did, Foxtail. Sit." His tail flicked, gesturing to the ground near where he sat, his nest was in dissarray - he was in the process of cleaning it out and he'd kept finding more and more little pebbles littered about it, gifts from the kits who wandered in curious.
"I've decided to reassign Eelpaw to another mentor. I apologize, but regardless of how you feel she is an apprentice and needs to be trained. She is the last of our apprentices at three moons, going forward I hope you will be less hesitant to train your apprentice. I understand the fear, but the worst thing you can do to them is not train them and they are left struggling and unable to defend themselves properly."
He was not exactly fond of the six moon rule established, but he'd had no real reason to argue against it and the additional moons teaching kits to swim in the shallow pools by the nursery were something he genuinely liked the idea of - but they had never had issues with young apprentices before, they had all managed and developed into proper warriors despite the early start, if anything this put them behind.
"I will not have our apprentices coddled, they are not your kits to coo over. They need to learn to fight, to hunt, if they are not taught then they will fail. They will not be able to survive. It is not up for debate, I will assign you another later." Hopefully Foxtail would not be so sheepish about a six moon old and will actively mentor them - if not he would not permit the tom to have another again. He thinks of Willowroot's first apprentice, babied and allowed to sleep in the nursery, ending up falling behind. He thinks of Ferngill who had a soft mentor in Mudpelt, failed his assessment and earned his name far too late. No, Smokestar needed the mentors of the clan to pick things up, to push harder but obviously not hard enough to break a cat. The severity of it had lessened over the moons and he doubted this would be an issue again with the six moon start. But it was an issue now still.

✘ I've got a reputation and a name to uphold. ✘ Ruthlessness is mercy upon ourselves.
  • OOC can go here.

  • 57913530_r2t3y4lghl4FDra.png
    Smokestar
    —⊰⋅ Leader of RiverClan
    —⊰⋅ He/Him
    "SPEECH", 'THOUGHTS', ATTACK
    —⊰⋅ Black tom w/vitiligo & one orange eye.
​
 
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The young warrior sits nervously, wrapping his fuzzy tail around his front paws. He can feel his heart racing in his chest, as he uncomfortably sits inside the den. He doesn't pay attention to Smokestar's messy nest, his olive green eyes stick onto Smokestar— and it feels like hours go by before his leader speaks up. "I have decided to reassign Eelpaw to another mentor." His heart drops at the first sentence alone, his ears pinning back to his skull. He doesn't dare to speak up as Smokestar continues, and the young warrior hangs his head in shame. Deep down, he knows that Smokestar is right. He was coddling her too much, he should've brought her out in the territory now that the rogues are gone. But instead? He sent her off on some apprentice chore. Originally, it started out to keep her safe from the rogues who lurked in RiverClan territory, but it mixed with his fear of her being so young. ...He can't exactly be sure if he would've been just as nervous if Blazestar didn't implement the new code, it's too tough to think of what his thoughts would've been in a different scenario.

He's right. By trying to protect her, I'm holding her back from being properly trained, He thinks to himself, wanting to dig his paws into the ground. He was doing her more harm than good to keep her in camp now; what if they were ambushed? How would she protect herself from danger? Can he even recall a moment where he hosted a battle session for her? He looks back up to Smokestar, ears still pinned back as the older tom continues. It isn't fair on her to be held back because of his fears. He can defend himself, StarClan forbid, but it's an unlikely story for her.... at this particular moment. Hopefully, she'll be able to receive her warrior name in time with a new mentor.

"I-I understand," His voice shakes, with a nod of his head. He does feel slightly surprised that Smokestar isn't barring him from getting another apprentice. Hopefully he can prove himself later when the kits in the nursery are old enough to become apprentices. He wouldn't want to let Smokestar down again. "...I'm sorry for disappointing you," He mews with shame, Smokestar trusted him to be a mentor to Eelpaw. He was supposed to train her into a fine warrior, but what did he do instead? He treated her like a kit. "I-I hope I can make it up to you later." He won't fail his next apprentice. He will refuse to let that happen a second time.
​

𝐨𝐨𝐜 𓆝 𓆟 𓆞 𝐚𝐛𝐨𝐮𝐭

  • 76983326_NimpdpqQcHTVZW3.png

    credit to skaicraft (via insta) for the artwork <3
  • Foxtail
    ​
    warrior
    warmhearted
    timid
    experience: trained
    backstory: tbd
    biography: [HYPERLINK]
    credit to rai for the mini & tropics for the icon <3
    cisgender male [he / him]
    eyes: green
    pelt: cinnamon/chocolate
    fur length: long
    parents: dawnflower and redfur (riverclan npcs)
    17 moons
    ​

​
 
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