private MOVING PAST THE FEELING \ pumpkinpaw

[TWITCHBOLT]

Plucking up the courage to start his first day of training with Pumpkinpaw was a little more difficult than Twitchbolt had anticipated. In the darkness, huddled against his mate's side, he'd thought constantly- constantly- about the first day he'd spent with Doompaw. The glimmer of accomplishment in the calico's eyes when he managed to scale the tree- the boisterous time they'd had. Maybe climbing straightaway wouldn't be the best thing for Pumpkinpaw- but truthfully, how was he to know?

The sun set a bright blanket over the frosty earth; Twitchbolt wandered toward the apprentice's den, attempting to catch Pumpkinpaw's attention. When he did manage to catch Pumpkinpaw's eye, he instinctively murmured "Time to get, get started, Pumpkinpaw," before remembering that his new apprentice couldn't hear him say it. Scrambling for a solution, he began to back out of the den, indicating his apprentice to follow.

The beckoning of a crooked tail in their sightline had apparently been all the encouragement Pumpkinpaw had needed. The moment Twitchbolt had indicated it was time to leave camp, his apprentice had started eagerly traipsing off. Of course, constantly worrying about safety- especially when it came to apprentices- he had streaked after it, olive eyes shot wide. If anything happened- anything, on his first day with a new apprentice- he'd never, ever, ever forgive himself. So forward did he bolt, attempting to try and halt Pumpkinpaw in their eager tracks.

\ @PUMPKINPAW ​

penned by pin ✧​

 

[PUMPKINPAW]

―|―――――――――――――――――|⤙‹ (( ☽ )) ›⤚|―――――――――――――――――|―

The morning was cold, Pumpkinpaw near snaking into Springpaw's nest to snuggle with her for warmth and tucking its paws close while the sun struggled its way up the horizon, chasing away the darkness slowly but surely.

At one point during the night it had whined, pressing its face into its sibling's dark fur. It still hadn't seen Roseblaze, and despite its attempt to get up and go to the nursery, Springpaw urged it to stay put, so it did. Did they do something wrong? Was she mad at them?

...Pumpkinpaw missed her.

It was still asleep when Twitchbolt peered into the den, a nudge stirring it from its slumber and a groggy head lifting to peer up at the owner of the paw. It was the cat it had bumped noses with in the middle of the crowd. Pumpkinpaw blinked, peering about the den before looking back. He mouthed at it, paused, then backed away and indicated he wanted it to follow.

At first they let out a noisy whine, evident displeasure, but after a second prompt and a second whine, curiosity and obedience got the better of them and they dragged themself from their nest to follow. The kit paused only once to rub at sleep-bleary eyes, but dutifully trailed behind the larger chimera as they crossed camp.

The two of them approached the camp's exit, and Pumpkinpaw froze in its tracks, Twitchbolt only gaining a few steps before he had stopped. That wasn't a place it was allowed to go. It didn't want to get in trouble like last time it had mistakenly tried.

Yet after a bit of coaxing it slowly crept out with him, glancing back all the while for an upset expression fired its way. The two of them escaped the confines of camp uninterrupted. Having been angled back nervously, its ears slowly straightened. The world before the two opened, and it wasn't long before its neck was craning around, nose flaring with wild sniffing.

An idea dared to poke at the back of their mind, the thought that maybe this was Twitchbolt telling them they were finally allowed to go where the biggest cats went. beyond the walls of camp. With it came a surge of excitement, head snapping to look upward at the warrior before returning to the expanse of pine trees that was SkyClan territory.

Pumpkinpaw's eyes seemed to sparkle, and with an eager wiggle shivering down its body, the apprentice took off like a bolt. Only moments later was it being stopped in its tracks, the paw scrambling to bar its path sending it to a skidding halt until it bumped into the warrior.

Confused and somewhat hurt, round eyes turned up to him as if expecting an upset expression. He didn't look mad, though, he looked worried, and once again its ears tilted back. It shuffled a few steps backward uncertainly, unsure of what to make of it.

​

―|――――――――――――――|⤙‹ (( ☽ )).....

☾⤙‹ (( ooc -☽- info )) ›⤚☽

• // OOC​

• 

• ― (( pumpkinpaw )) of skyclan, sibling to springpaw ; npc x npc
  ↳ its/they/any pronouns, doesn't care about gendered terms
  ↳ AGAB undefined ; intersex ; gender unlabeled, it does not yet understand the concept
  ― currently 4 moons old, ages every 1st
  ― completely deaf. unlikely to understand anything said with words alone.
  ↳ this is a known fact among skyclanners, but unlikely to be known by strangers
  ― likely to respond to situations based on the expressions of others.
  
  a scruffy, shorthair chimera kitten that is a distinct and striking combination of glossy black fur and bold red stripes. it has bright, mismatched yellow and copper eyes. for its age, pumpkinpaw is of average height. it smells of dry leaves and springpaw.​

 

[TWITCHBOLT]

Right, well- not the best start, they'd already collided. Pumpkinpaw looked up at him with what he could only assume was betrayal aglimmer in their eyes, and- and he was completely lost on how to solve it. How, how to communicate that seeing sights also involvd sticking by his side? Carefulness? All kits knew was that the outside was exciting, not that there were dangers within it, untold and unimaginable. He could only hold its gaze in silence for a few long moments, as his brain scrambled to some semblance of a conclusion. Something, anything...

Twitchbolt's face looked thoughtful, and then held a layer of concentration. His snow-gloved paw motioned to point at Pumpkinpaw, and a mahogany paw gestured to himself. Then, he brought both paws together on the ground, side by side- and began to walk, motioning again for Pumpkinpaw to follow. "Let's stick together," he said, to fill the space... useless noise, really. It flooded from him regardless.

A kinked tail draped low to the ground, and he kept his pace, hoping desperately that this time Pumpkinpaw might not barrell fully ahead, but would know to stay close.​

penned by pin ✧​

 

[PUMPKINPAW]

―|―――――――――――――――――|⤙‹ (( ☽ )) ›⤚|―――――――――――――――――|―

It watched, nothing short of intently as Twitchbolt's face morphed in time with his thoughts, and the uncertainty on its own only deepened. Maybe it had done something wrong? Pumpkinpaw found itself wracking its mind. Had he been testing it for something, only for it to blunder its chance? Was it going to be sent back to camp so soon? But I don't want to!

A desperate keen had been about to rise in its throat when Twitchbolt beat it to it, seemingly startled when a pale paw lifted to point at it. Then it recoiled, and the other, darker paw lifted to point at himself. Its brows furrowed when he then placed mismatched paws close together to begin to walk. The older chimera then motioned for it to follow, a gesture it already knew well, followed by mouthing.

Their urge to cry had been washed away as they fell in just behind his shoulder, replaced with thoughts of the display they had just seen. It was elaborate, in a way they weren't used to seeing from others... save for Springpaw, but they usually understood what she wanted. You and me, together, follow... It made sense, it was just odd.

His effort at instruction seemed to have worked, and Pumpkinpaw was gazing up at him in a mixture of thoughtful confusion. It was allowed out of camp, but it had to stay close to him. Were they going somewhere special?

Together they walked, itself near brushing against its mentor's leg seemingly in effort to take the request seriously. It wanted to stay out here and explore. It didn't want to go back to camp.

Something caught Pumpkinpaw's eye, and they slowed a few paces before catching up and hopping on three legs to desperately brush at Twitchbolt with a noisy series of whining hums escaping a parted maw. Only once he'd looked its way did they point at something a few fox-lengths away. They strayed a few steps, hesitated, wandered back. There were a few icicles drooping from a particularly low-hanging branch, catching some shreds of sunlight and scattering it upon the snow.

​

―|――――――――――――――|⤙‹ (( ☽ )).....

☾⤙‹ (( ooc -☽- info )) ›⤚☽

• // OOC​

• 

• ― (( pumpkinpaw )) of skyclan, sibling to springpaw ; npc x npc
  ↳ its/they/any pronouns, doesn't care about gendered terms
  ↳ AGAB undefined ; intersex ; gender unlabeled, it does not yet understand the concept
  ― currently 5 moons old, ages every 1st
  ― completely deaf. unlikely to understand anything said with words alone.
  ↳ this is a known fact among skyclanners, but unlikely to be known by strangers
  ― likely to respond to situations based on the expressions of others.
  
  a scruffy, shorthair chimera kitten that is a distinct and striking combination of glossy black fur and bold red stripes. it has bright, mismatched yellow and copper eyes. for its age, pumpkinpaw is of average height. it smells of dry leaves and springpaw.​

 

[TWITCHBOLT]

When Pumpkinpaw made a point to stay at his side this time, Twitchbolt's eyes flooded with surprise- surprise that he cast elsewhere, because he didn't really want his apprentice to see him shocked that it had listened to him. The astonishment was soon replaced by pride- they'd done it, they'd communicated something between each other, which was... which was certainly a start. Pumpkinpaw did well with visual cues, with acting, then... and Twitchbolt had no idea what his capability was there, but he'd try. It was the least Pumpkinpaw deserved, the least any apprentice deserved- a mentor that actually cared.

It helped that he had a good example.

Side by side they walked- the silence was squirming for Twitchbolt, but he tried to let himself relax into it. Birdsong faded into the background- he tried to let himself focus on scents and sights, all that his apprentice would have. Mahogany-and-white fur spiked up a little when a noise chirped beside him- it sounded panicked, hurt for a moment, or... or just pointing at something, apparently.

Twitchbolt followed their gesture to a... a regular tree-branch. Snow dusted the pine-needles, but it shone with encasing ice, spears pointing down, the frost fashioned into points. Icicles- had Pumpkinpaw never seen icicles before? Were they really that remarkable, or anything good at all? They'd bash you on the head, or you would get your tongue stuck to them...

But really, they weren't dangerous. And this was Pumpkinpaw's day to get acclimated, and they weren't as eager to fight as Doompaw had been, so- this lesson could just be about learning to walk aside one another, learning what Pumpkinpaw liked and what it found interesting. Twitchbolt beckoned them, padding over to the icicles and leaning forward to touch a trembling pink nose to them, attempting to explain without words that it was alright to touch. "It's r-really cold," he said- and then made a point to shiver, trying his best to illustrate it to his apprentice. THey were here now, though... he'd let them do what they liked. ​

penned by pin ✧​

 

[PUMPKINPAW]

―|―――――――――――――――――|⤙‹ (( ☽ )) ›⤚|―――――――――――――――――|―

To its delight, shown in the way its tail raised high into the air and its eyes gleamed, Twitchbolt agreed to its request. There was clear energy in the way it seemed to quiver upon their approach, hurrying a few paces forward only to pause and impatiently wait for him to catch up.

The first thing the older tom did was touch his nose to them, and barely a heartbeat had passed before they were doing the same. They didn't need to see his shiver, even as they caught a glimpse of it; their own was genuine. It was cold like the snow! Why was it see-through? Water was see-through too, though.

Pumpkinpaw's nose had been dampened by the brief touch to the ice, and they lifted a paw to rub at it, then glanced to Twitchbolt. He seemed okay, patient, even as he watched them all the while. It was all the encouragement they needed to circle around the odd formation, even stooping their head to swipe their tongue over it once, twice, three times. Wet. Then it really was just like the frozen stream in camp! What was the ice doing here?

A gleeful rumbling purr had risen in the kitten's throat, face close to inspect the way the light shone through it. Another bright look was fired the mentor's way. Then it rose onto its hind paws, leaning and buffeting a smaller one. It snapped in half rather than breaking off entirely much to its disappointment, and it fell softly into the snow.

Pumpkinpaw stooped to scoop up the frosty spear in its mouth, a giggly hum in its throat by the time it turned back to Twitchbolt and returned to him as if to show it off. Already its mouth had grown cold, and a drop of water dripped from its chin in the ensuing melt. Displeased by the feeling, its expression crinkled, and the icicle was dropped to the earth with an odd uegh.

​

―|――――――――――――――|⤙‹ (( ☽ )).....

☾⤙‹ (( ooc -☽- info )) ›⤚☽

• // OOC​

• 

• ― (( pumpkinpaw )) of skyclan, sibling to springpaw ; npc x npc
  ↳ its/they/any pronouns, doesn't care about gendered terms
  ↳ AGAB undefined ; intersex ; gender unlabeled, it does not yet understand the concept
  ― currently 5 moons old, ages every 1st
  ― completely deaf. unlikely to understand anything said with words alone.
  ↳ this is a known fact among skyclanners, but unlikely to be known by strangers
  ― likely to respond to situations based on the expressions of others.
  
  a scruffy, shorthair chimera kitten that is a distinct and striking combination of glossy black fur and bold red stripes. it has bright, mismatched yellow and copper eyes. for its age, pumpkinpaw is of average height. it smells of dry leaves and springpaw.​