my baby's a sailboat captain .. intro

[heathermoon !!]

A trail of feathers followed behind the apprentice as he returned alongside his mentor, Robinfang. The pair were coated in a layer of dirt from dragging themselves through the tunnel, but Heatherpaw had felt full of energy from the trip. An entire hunt, solely in the darkness. Relying on his senses alone, hardly a lick of light to guide them as they navigated beneath the ground.

The Tunneler looked proud with each holding a catch for themselves, though his apprentice was quick to leave the older toms side to drop his prize at the paws of one of the warriors. He took a small step back, trying to shuffle all the fallen feathers in a pile next to them. "I hope you don't mind. I overheard you saying you needed to bring feathers to the graveyard." His voice was low and grumbly, as if embarrassed of his own kind gesture. It had been an insistence on his mentors part, encouraging him to do something for his Clanmates. Help teach him unity in the Clan or something along those lines.

While he prepared for the warrior to release him, the dirt that settled in his fur began to irritate the back of his throat. Heatherpaw's nose twitched until suddenly a loud sneeze burst from his amw, sending the neat pile of feathers flying all about. He glanced up as one landed perfectly on the warriors snout, and at once his lips curled up into a smile.

Don't dare laugh. His mentors glare said from across the hollow. Heatherpaw firmly placed a paw against his mouth to stifle any sound, dipping his head to amend any obtainable respect.​

WINDCLAN APPRENTICE ✦ RED MACKEREL TABBY ✦ 7 MOONS ✦ TAGS​

 

[WOLFSONG]

──⇌•〘 INFO 〙 Feathers to the graveyard? He stares at the tunneler apprentice for a moment, his memory slightly frazzled by the recent murder of Tigerfrost. Ah, I had mentioned needing feathers to Sunstride for turning Tigerfrost over to the soil. I hope his spirit will not mind this frivolity come time for the ceremony. Swallowing, he nods to Heatherpaw. "Thank you, Heatherpaw. I meant to fetch them myself, but I was...distracted. This should be more than—"

A great sneeze cuts his comment short, feathers sent up into the air in a multi-colored plume, and Wolfsong's nose twitches beneath a gentle, tickling descent. It settles there with comical ease, and he blinks twice, after which he notices the apprentice's facial features quivering. His own mouth takes on a tremor, and the corner of his remaining eye creases as a laugh of his own builds before finally rumbling in his chest.

He laughs until his belly hurts. He does not think it is because it was truly so amusing, but because there is much that weighs heavily and this— it weighs nothing at all. "You have a sneeze that could carry a bird through the sky," he teases, once his laughter's ebbed. "Come, let us gather them again— and do try to point your mouth elsewhere if you feel another."
​

 

[PEONYBREEZE]

✿ — "Bless you," comes the low voice of Peonypaw from somewhere behind Heatherpaw and his mentor, fetching the feathers trailing behind them. Nothing should go to waste.

The graveyard - he sorts through his mind in an attempt to figure out just why feathers were a necessity for it, but Wolfsong's answer acts as a vague explanation, at least in the sense that somebody truly had asked for them. Peonypaw nods to the warrior as he pats the pile he gathered.

Peonypaw's nose twitches, looking over Heatherpaw one more time. His fur is dirty and the scents coming off him in waves suggest it's not due to simple neglect. The tunnels; Peonypaw has yet to venture in deeper, leaving him with little experience and understanding of it, but his curiosity and need to impress the Clan far outweigh fear. "How was it? The trip in the tunnels, I mean."​

❝ I DON'T WANT TO RUN — JUST OVERWHELM ME ❞​

 

[sparkspirit]

The warriors of WindClan weren't as intimidating as he'd thought as a kit. The older he got the more sense they made, most of the time– maybe it was Weaselclaw's teachings, or maybe just that he's lucky enough to be mentored by one of WindClan's best, but he doesn't see them as anything to be scared of or to rally against. Once upon a time he had thought of imaginary injustices, of standing up tall in the face of horrible things. A silly thought and a silly dream. The lessons brought to him by cats that had never adjusted to this clan. He loves them, he loves them, he loves them dearly, and yet he knows they weren't always reasonable warriors. And if he was to prove himself better, he would have to work for it. But that doesn't mean he's not still childish at heart sometimes. Softness hadn't fully left him.

With Heatherpaw's face quivering and Wolfsong's finally breaking to a laugh that shakes the very sky above them, open-hearted in the midst of the clan's pain, Sparkpaw can do nothing but join in. He snorts and snickers, his head ducked towards the fur of his chest as if he might hide it all from sight and keep to his stoic ideals. "I'm surprised you didn't blow him away!" he tacks on in agreement, stumbling closer in his laughter to press a friendly side into Heatherpaw's dirtied one. "I'll help you guys." Though Peonypaw is quiet and distant as he gathers what had fluttered too far, the apprentice's ears prick up at the question. None of them here had been so deep within them as Heatherpaw– he'd love to know the same.

˗ˏˋ〘  OOC 05.20.2023 〙´ˎ˗

• ooc: —

• sparkpaw, sparky. dmab male, he - him - his.
  ──── apprentice of windclan. loyal to windclan and weaselclaw.
  ──── 06 moons old. born on 12.15.22, and ages 85% real time.
  ──── echolight x elmbreeze, adopted by yewberry. brightfam.
  
  a long-limbed, trim sterile tortoiseshell tom with mostly black fur splashed with the occasional orange. he has a singular white mark on the back of his neck, as if he had been bitten there. has a fresh scar across the bridge of his nose.
  
  

  

• "speech"

​

 

[Badgermoon]

The bicolor tomcat rasped his tongue over his scarred chest: a meditative gesture as well as a practical one, tracing the gnarled mess of pinkish-gray tissue with a sandpaper touch. He watched from a few fox-lengths away as Heatherpaw presented feathers to Wolfsong and promptly sneezed on them. Badgermoon's eyebrows rose as the golden lead warrior exploded into laughter and he let out a low chuckle of his own, amused by the mishap but unable to stop thinking about the reason for those feathers. Kid's lucky it's Wolfsong...somehow I doubt Sootstar or Tigerfrost would be as...oh. but of course, the white-faced chimera was with them no longer. Never again to reprimand an apprentice or glare with his fiery eyes. Of course, that's what the feathers were for. Of course.

The deputy's ink-speckled paws took his weight again as he stood and took a few steps closer to the little group, attention on the sneezy apprentice. "Can you do that on command? I think you could knock a few ShadowClanners clean off their paws with one well-timed sneeze." he inquired in his typical lighthearted way, though the tight line of his broad shoulders and the darkness in his yellow eyes suggested it was far more artificial than usual.​

 

[Petalpaw ★]

He had been calmly trying to twist a few sticks together in an attempt to make a gift for Tigerfrost's grave but was having a poor time of it. In his head he imagined they could be woven together to make the same shape the once proud lead warrior's stripes did upon his back but he wasn't doing a very good job of it and was wondering if just getting some nice flowers and nesting material would suffice when the sneeze sounded. Petalpaw had been facing away and it gave him just enough of a start he jumped, paws snapping his twigs beneath him as he tumbled forward onto the project and put his final efforts to rest. Right, flowers it was. The lilac tabby raised his head to turn and look back with both eyes wide in alarm only to hear the soft muffle of laughter and joking remarks that made clear it was only a harmless sneeze. He wanders over, taking a stand alongside his brother with a silent grin in face of the other cats there before spotting one of the wayward feathers and springing forward after to chase it and help reclaim it for the pile.
​

 

[MALLOWPAW]

A small chuffing noise announces Mallowpaws presence as the small molly trails behind Petalpaw, her brows pinching together in mild confusion over the scene unfolding before them. She had always thought that flowers or other handmade trinkets were more suitable for a grave, but feathers? Maybe whoever heatherpaw was mourning liked feathers, or Tigerfrost. She allows a soft sigh to trickle past her teeth, it was truly a tragedy what happened to that warrior.

Mallowpaw doesnt let the sadness linger in her gaze for long, with a quick shake of her head her face falls back into its natural stoicism. "Why feathers?" she asks curiously, delicately nudging one away with the flat side of her paw.

"speech"​

​

 

[heathermoon !!]

Wolfsong's laugh washed away any bit of tensions the apprentice had. He is not in the amount of trouble he anticipated, and Robinfang seemed to relax as well. With his mentor leaving him to tend to other time sensitive matters, Heatherpaw remained with Wolfsong to help clean up the mess he had made. His ears went flat while he was teased for his clumsiness, but he didn't take it harshly. "Yes sir." He followed the warriors guidance, pausing only to look at Peonypaw and rest that had gathered.

Had he been that loud? Heatherpaw hadn't imagined he could cause such a commotion, but it looked like the mishap had brightened a few around him. Tigerfrost's death had truly weighed heavy on their shoulders, more than he thought it would. He hadn't realized how many were so close to the deceased lead warrior.

"It was dark." He mumbled his answer to Peonypaw. "When you get far enough down, it starts to smell like rain. We went far enough that sounds felt... heavy. No echo, if Robinfang was more than a few paces in front it was hard to hear if he spoke. But you can hear your own heartbeat, can feel the tremors in the tunnel walls." Heatherpaw swallowed, twitching his tail dismissively. Deciding there wasn't anything else to say.

Badgermoon's jest was enough to make Heatherpaw want to roll his eyes, but he steadied himself. They were all in a good mood, he would take that prize. "As soon as I figure that out, sir, you'll be the first to know. You think Sootstar will make me a warrior early if I scare one back into swamp water like that?" He halfheartedly resigned to joining in on the jokes, plucking a stray feather that landed behind his ear.

His response to Mallowpaw is a bit gentler than the words he shared before. An honest answer. "My mom says that feathers can help them soar to the stars. That way they can meet StarClan. But, maybe Wolfsong needed them for a different reason."​

WINDCLAN APPRENTICE ✦ RED MACKEREL TABBY ✦ 7 MOONS ✦ TAGS​

 

[PEONYBREEZE]

✿ — Peonypaw snorts at the warriors' comment upon that enormous sneeze. Had he been paying less attention, or - StarClan forbid - deep in his dreams, his soul would've left his body after such a startle.

He stays where he is as he notices Petalpaw and his own train of thoughts. Thanks to spending almost all their days together, Peonypaw is familiar with how his brother thinks and how he gets around being so very quiet. Peonypaw waits for him to turn around to give him an amused smile; something more or less only reserved for his family. "Nice catch."

Mallowpaw's arrival brings more questions to poor Heatherpaw's plate, and Peonypaw would feel sorry him if not for the curiosity burning. Why feathers, indeed? His tail lashes lightly over the one feather that his sister is focused on, intent on keeping it flying.

"That sounds peaceful," Peonypaw remarks upon the explanation of the tunnels, fully aware that most of his Clanmates tend to think differently, at least as far as he knows. Even the tunnelers themselves return with haunted looks or bristling fur sometimes. Little fear sits in Peonypaw's belly about the whole ordeal. Sootstar has deemed him fit for the job, and that means he will simply have to excel at it.

If Sootstar makes you an early warrior, rabbits might as well fly... His strict leader is not one to be lenient or haphazard, but he doesn't take away Heatherpaw's hopes about it.​

❝ I DON'T WANT TO RUN — JUST OVERWHELM ME ❞​