mirrorball | prompt; trying to hide collar

[robinheart]

Kittypet. An insult she has heard muttered under many breaths, more recently spat her way by Nettlepaw after her unfortunate dead robin prank, and all in all a thorn in the tortoiseshell's side. Robinpaw wasn't a kittypet, never wanted to be a kittypet, but fate had sealed her doom with a crimson collar around her neck from one single mistake she made moons ago. And how often had she tried to remedy that mistake? Frayed edges and general wear and tear proved that the apprentice was not content in her woven prison. She tugged and pried, gnawed and cried trying to remove the collar. Trying to free herself of a scarlet letter that caused others to feel such scorn.

The prank still feels raw in the apprentice's mind as she settles by the river, her tired eyes and defeated posture reflected back up at her in the water's surface. Nettlepaw's words ring loudly in her mind, the phrase kittypet repeating over and over and over and over and over again. It is deafening and Robinpaw squeezes her eyes shut with a whimper to try and drown everything out. She wants it to stop. She wants... she wants to be treated fairly, to be treated as she treats everyone else. When had the multicolored molly insulted a clanmate or tried to pick a fight? When had she looked with malice upon another RiverClanner or thought so little of them? She cannot recall ever being so cruel. So why was she being met with perceived cruelty?

It's your collar, she tells herself, slowly opening her eyes once more to her reflection and gazing sadly at the accessory around her neck. Cicadastar collected her from Blazestar at the border, told her she was a RiverClanner and would not turn tail and run, and she obeyed. She plucked ticks for moons, cleaned nests and collected moss, protected the queens and kits when the rogues invaded... yet her collar still set her apart from her clanmates and kin. She would never be free until she was freed of the mark of her early apprenticehood mistake. And so she took a step back and dug her paws down into the pebbled shore of the riverbank. She winced at the leafbare hardened ground as it fought back, scraping shallow wounds on tender pawpads as she dug deeper still. She just had to reach mud - or something mudlike. If she couldn't remove the collar then maybe she could cover it? Maybe the earthen tones would hide the scarlet accessory and give others pause before they called her a kittypet.

Maybe, maybe, maybe...

It was all worth a try. And as she found malleable earth, Robinpaw sloppily tried to wipe it into the fabric of her collar. She tried to cover the sins of her past in earthen paste so she could go one day, maybe two days, feeling like she was atoning for her mistake and being recognized as a true RiverClanner. Anyone who would happen upon her now would see the desperation in her eyes and the muddied mess of her paws as she worked hard to coat her collar and neck in the river soaked dirt just so she could be treated like everyone else.

 

[Moonbeam]

Through the moons that she'd gotten used to seeing Robinpaw around, Moonpaw has enjoyed her presence. She knew about her past and why she had the collar on - it wasn't for lack of trying - but she also somewhat understood the clan's hesitance around her while wearing the thing. It was a sign of twolegs, a sign of kittypets, a reminder that she'd been taken and then ran to SkyClan instead of home with that thing around her neck, and it was a rule that they weren't allowed within RiverClan and that as soon as possible she'd have to get it off.

Only way she could see that happening would be if Robinpaw went to SkyClan for help - maybe they had tips - or went back to the twolegs that had put it on her in the first place but until they became smart enough to speak cat there was no real way Robinpaw could do that safely so instead Moonpaw chose to ignore it the best she could. Whether the other apprentice had that around her neck or not she was a RiverClanner through and through and the white moggie wasn't going to ignore that.

"Do you want help?" Moonpaw asked as she came upon the river, head cocked and a soft smile on her maw. She saw the desperation in the way the other moved, the look in her eyes. "What if you put some of the little plants that are on top of the water over it? They'll die in the cold anyway." She chose to treat this as normal for now, attempting to brush against the other and sit by her side. Even if she couldn't stop the others from talking about the fabric around Robinpaw's neck or keep them from putting prey in her nest as cruel pranks she could still let her know she was there for her in the best way she knew how - helping, warmth, and the pressure of a clanmate by her side until she either got annoyed or gave in.

I WISH PLANT LIFE ꕥ WOULD GROW ALL AROUND ME

• 

• MOONPAW formerly Ratpaw || NPC x NPC || sister to Rowanpaw || apprentice to Ravensong.
  -- She/Her || 8 moons old, ages every 17th
  -- smaller than average, small rounded ears. SH white masking cinnamon torbie with orange eyes.
  -- soft-spoken, often found humming, tries to comfort others by smiling

​

 

[CRASHINGTIDE]

The grumpy felidae had been out by himself, walking the shoreline - a place where he felt at peace. The tabby hadn't been much for resting lately. Crashingtide noticed the apprentice, digging into the earth and hiding her collar. The tom sighed and padded forward. "Don't." He stated as he approached the apprentice. He had been unaware of Nettlepaw and their unkindness towards the apprentice. The last time he had interacted with this timid being, it had been less than kind in itself. The large figure went to stand in the mud, seeing the desperation in her face.

"You don't need to be ashamed." The raspy, deep voice of the tom came through crystal clear. "I don't right know why yer tryin' to hide yer collar."

He went to sit in the mud, it caking his hind quarters. He looked to Moonpaw and then looked to Robinpaw once more, his optics narrowing slightly as he continued. His voice was strong again as he continued to speak. "Hiding yer collar isn't going to change the past. It ain't gonna change the way cats see ya. Yer timid nature is what their goin' for. Ya gotta gain some respect for yerself and see yerself as what ya are. Stop tryin' to make yerself different from what ya are. Ya were a born RiverClanner who got captured by twolegs and now ya came home. Ain't anythin' to be ashamed of. If it helps, maybe I can try and help ya get it off. But hidin' it ain't worth yer time."

He grew quiet again, waiting for the apprentice's response. His eyes rested on Robinpaw. The power of hatred was strong and Crashingtide knew it. It could make or break another cat. He rose to fight against the pain, but Robinpaw seemed to be doing the opposite. Crumbling under the weight of it. Crashingtide knew he had to help, but it was difficult when he himself wasn't the friendliest of creatures.
​

RIVERCLAN ✦ WARRIOR ✦ 26 MOONS ✦ BROWN TABBY​

​

 

[Petalnose]

Collars were a peculiar thing to Petalnose. It was a claim twolegs put forth, a marker almost it seems. However, her temporary stay in Skyclan taught her that many embraced it. Many were proud of it. They wore it around like feathers and flowers that were twined in fur for decoration. She believed some even clung to it in memory, that they still loved their past lives pampered and pet. Some even lived in half loyalty in Skyclan. It was awful in her eyes.

Luckily, it seemed Robinpaw did not want to embrace it and prance around with it. It seemed as if it was a burden. Her mixmatched gaze blinked in curiousity and shifted to Moonpaw as she suggested a coverup. It could be enough. But it could also become irritating she assumed.

Crashingtide insisted on embracing it, leaving it on display for all to see. Petalnose didn't seem to agree, a quirk of her brow in bewilderment. The apprentice would continue to get bullied throughout her life. A ruin of fur was a possibility as well. It was a marker for passing twolegs to collect the poor thing back. Atleast, the tom suggested taking it off. A hum of agreement passed through her lungs, "I can try as well, you know. It shouldn't be on forever. Pasts should be set behind; they shouldn't stick with you."

Tags​

 

[robinheart]

Robinpaw startles initially at Moonpaw's presence, though the multicolored apprentice is quick to calm her nerves at the sight of the other. Moonpaw has been kind to Robinpaw - a potential friend rather than a foe. Amidst her desperation filled eyes glimmers gratitude for the medicine cat apprentice as the other offers a suggestion to use foliage to help cover up her collar. Even the subtle brushing of fur and gifted smile earn Moonpaw a slight smile of her own, though it is easy to tell that Robinpaw is uncertain about physical affection though her touch starved frame does appreciate the gesture. "I could try that, I guess," she murmurs, citrine gaze settled on the river plants before being beckoned to the hulking frame of Crashingtide as he made his approach.

His words and actions take her by surprise. Gruff as they may be, the apprentice would have never guessed he would offer such well meaning advice. Certainly she could try to embrace a tougher lifestyle - she could shed her timid nature if she really truly tried - but that was all easier said than done. And being called a kittypet time and time again for her collar was not doing her any favors in gaining confidence. She felt like Sisyphus forever cursed to make progress pushing her guilt laden boulder up a hill only for it to be knocked away and roll back down. Could Crashingtide not see her struggle? Or was this his way of trying to eliminate her boulder altogether? Regardless, the molly stares blankly at the ground where she once dug, her procured mud covered by the large tom as he physically puts a pause on her efforts. "I thought if I could hide my collar then no one would call me a kittypet anymore. I-I'm just so tired of it being a mark of my past when I've been doing everything I can to prove myself," she admits softly, timidly despite his pep talk. Though his words may not take effect right away, they definitely were sinking in and making a mark on her tender heart.

As for Petalnose, the lead warrior repeats Crashingtide's offer of helping remove the collar altogether - a task Robinpaw has tried but never found success in doing. However these are two skilled warriors and maybe even with Moonpaw's aid they could finally rid the tortoiseshell of her scarlet letter? Robinpaw looks to Petalnose with a glimmer of hope and then looks again to Crashingtide and Moonpaw. The mud is thick and uncomfortable where it clings to her fur and collar. It is a temporary band-aid but now there is an offered solution. She should take it. So Robinpaw nods shakily. "Can we try to take it off then? I would really to finally be free of it."