Nothing Critical ✘ Sasha

[PRICKLES]

*+:｡.｡ Agreeing to go to war was a big promise. Much bigger than scrawny Prickles could theoretically hold up. After his big declaration to get involved, he couldn't help but lick another patch of fur bald as he fretted about how much he was investing into this little mission of theirs. Weren't, like, colony cats super mega tough? Once upon a time, Prickles himself had even considered asking to join, but he'd been warned off it when the rumors said the clan cats turned their noses up at anyone above the age of teet-sucker. Damn! Imagine getting rejected before you could even ask all 'cus you have the audacity to not be adorably small and - probably brain-washable!
Brainwashing!
Teeth and claws how scary!
What'd they do, stick their claws into your skull, scramble your brains?! Dunk you in their water until you tasted death enough to never ask questions again! AAAHH And he was supposed to fight psychos like that!? Scratching the back of his ear ruthlessly, Prickles would whine aloud, "If I knew how to fight I wouldn't be beggin' for scraps!" AH! Wait a tick! He knew someone who knew how to fight maybe...maybe...

Tapping his chin, Prickles would look around nervously. Investment, investment...that means sacrificing something for the chance of something in return - if he wanted information, he'd have to give something up. Ough...he'd been saving this for later but he supposes if it meant getting some life-saving tutelage then it'd be worth a shot.

In a matter of moments, Prickles was searching the dilapidated fishing shack for the tabby ticked molly who'd once rubbed elbows with the dreaded clan of river-territory hoarders. When he spots her, he quickly stumbles his way to her side, keeping low to the ground lest she think he's here to cause trouble. "U-um ah - hi, uh hello! I'm Prickles, I uh- never caught your name, b-but I'm sure it's a good one - anyway I was hopin' if you uh have some time, c-could I ask you some questions about the colony cats you used to live with? I-if that's not like, a sore subject or nothin' ah - I have a trade!" He hesitated a moment, needing to remind himself the importance of this investment, before reluctantly pushing forward his prized possession.

"Food! Look, there's some still in the bag, saved 'em for a rainy day ah um a friend said they're called Cheetah-toes! They're pretty good" he looked at the chips, for a moment overcome with a watery mouth as he opened the soggy bag of chips and caught the whiff of deliciously stale processed food. But quickly he shakes his head and shoves the bag forward, ignoring his rumbling tummy as he reminds himself, again, the importance of earning the woman's favor.

Scratching furiously at an itch behind his ear, he babbles one more time asking, "S-so will you tell me what you know? I kinda wanna be as ready as p-possible for the f-fight coming up - not that I'm not ready I could just be more ready and ah - ah - um, yeah" he finishes awkwardly, biting his tongue as he waits nervously for her answer.

*+:｡.｡ Updated 1/9/23

• 
  
  
• 
  
  
  
  GENERAL:
  ✘ Prickles
  ✘ DMAB— He/They — Bisexual
  ✘ 12 moons — Ages 1 moon every month real-time
  ✘ Member of the red water rogues
  
  
  
  
  COMBAT:
  ✘Physically medium | mentally medium
  ✘ Attack in bold #f35336
  injuries: None currently

​

 

[SASHA]

The cats here are still new to her, so of course there is some apprehension. There are cats such as Hush and Hazel that she can't trust. Something about them rubs her the wrong way. Can't let my guard down, unless I wanna end up dead. She has no doubts that anyone here would try to kill her or maim her if she did something that annoyed them the slightest bit. For that reason she is glad Deacon is here with her. What she is not prepared for is the opposite. A tom plops themselves by her side as if they are friends (they are most definitely not) and she has half the nerve to snap at them. What stops her is the fact that a brawl could happen and she's curious to see what this tom even wants.

Prickles as he introduces is... Well, she wouldn't say weak. Nervous is a better word to describe him, but looking at him brings painful memories. Prickles reminds her of a mixture of her friends back in Riverclan. She can see bits of Goldy and Kaede in Prickles. Despite the pain the uncanniness brings, it also provides small comfort. So much so that she shakes her head and chuffs, "Calm down kid, geez you make it sound like I'll beat cha up or something." The action is similar to her days of teasing Goldy, of simpler days. "Name's Sasha, and I got some time. Not like I'm doing anything right now. And how'd you know I lived with a colony first? Before joining Riverclan?" Amber eyes would squint as she scanned the tom from his tail all the way to the tips of his ears. I don't remember a Prickles traveling with us... Unless you had a different name, but I don't remember you at all.

Her cold gaze softens followed by a sigh, "I don't remember you, but yeah you can ask me some questions. Don't think I've forgotten about yer trade though." What... What am I staring at? Her confusion is obvious. The fact that Prickles called it food has her exasperated. I ain't ever seen no food like this. It don't even smell like it. "....Bag? Cheetah-toes?" Let it be known that Sasha had been born and raised in the wild all her life she has no concept of kittypet or twoleg things whatsoever. She does know what toes are and has eaten some, which reassures her a tiny bit that there is something edible here.

Whelp. He say's they're good and if I die then I guess that would suck, but who knows maybe it's the best thing ever. Sasha herself is quite unsure of how to eat it, until Prickles aids her by opening it. A strange scent fills the air, it is nothing like she's ever smelled before. By no means is it a foul smell, but it isn't a nice smell either. From what she gathers it is damp from scent alone. The bag is pushed forwards to her and an ear twitches at the sound of his rumbling belly. Regardless, she steels herself and proceeds to try and eat Cheetah-toes? It is difficult, the bag keeps moving and so she's forced to press a paw on it. However it makes a strange sound that has her flinch. Fur bristles. It takes her a moment to realize there is no danger.

When she takes her first bite of Cheetah-toes it is... Not bad! Yo this is really good! However, her mind snaps back to Prickles who is clearly hungry and moves away from it. He's young. Younger than her, so she pushes the bag? Towards him. "You're right it's pretty good, but I heard your stomach. Your hungry, right? Eat some, I'll eat what's left." No she is not soft or nice. Nope, not at all.

Prickles then asks to learn from her and she is surprised. No one's wanted to learn from me before. A wave of happiness shoots from her toes to her whiskers. "Hmmm... Dunnooo if I should." Before Prickles could retort she smirks, "Naw, I'm just kiddin'. You're too young to die in battle. Sure I'll tell ya. Can't have you dying in the first fight. Anyways, whaddya know Prickles? I mean you gotta know some stuff."

〤 take a good look

• 
  
• 
  — sasha / rogue / feminine pronouns / 25 moons
  — pansexual / single / looking / open to flirting and crushes
  — may powerplay minor harm / can powerplay healing
  — biography / @ on discord for plots

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[PRICKLES]

*+:｡.｡ Prickles gulps as the woman turns to face him. Sharp yellow eyes the color of bleeding tree sap pierce into his soul, and instantly he lowers his crouch, ears so flat against his head he wouldn't doubt they'd mold themselves into his skin! Any minute now, just like every other time his pathetic self tried to interact with those bigger and stronger than him, he'll receive a bashing for his efforts. Squeezing his eyes shut, he waits for the blow to come...
Only to blink open his eyes when she instead simply speaks to him. And it isn't yelling, or insults, or even telling him to scram instead she's - she's actually nice? At this, he fully looks up at her, shock widening his already saucer-sized gaze as she continues to speak to him like he's not a flea to flick off. "Hahaha, yeah that's crazy - I'm crazy! For thinking that you would, I mean - haha!" he cackles, a bit too loudly, a bit too obviously fake, a bit too obviously in relief. Pretending as if he hadn't been trembling in his boots the entire time, Prickles sat up, his nervous energy practically jolting him immediately into a stiff-backed position.

Sasha was her name. He didn't have a particular opinion about it, besides recalling that he'd heard colony cats usually having weird names - like two names squished into one...like Prickles-Red or Striped-Prickles...pretty dumb. But Sasha made more sense, quick and easy, as a name should be. His ears would perk up when she expressed having time to spare, only to immediately slam back down against his cranium when she took on a suspicious tone. "Ah - um -ah - well - no offense ah- Sasha but...you kinda still smell like them.." he pointed out nervously, wincing again as though expecting some sort of pushback - specifically a physical one - for his comment.

Prickles had yet to differentiate between the former specifically named 'colonies' and simply being a cat who was a member of a larger group of cats...a colony of cats. Prickles didn't know the difference between the Marsh and Ripple Colonies, nor did he know yet that Riverclan didn't consider itself a 'colony' per se but rather an entire clan.
Being a cat who was once a member of a group - colony, clouder, clan or what have you - was something he found fascinating. He'd always been on his own, and judging from his instinctive flinching one wouldn't struggle to guess why - so he wondered what it was like to be part of a 'group', especially when the benefits of joining a 'colony' was so obvious. I mean, Sasha had more pounds on any of the rogue cats, even the biggest and meanest, and it was leaf-bare!

"Wait - there was another colony before the River one?" he gasps, revealing his ignorance. He had heard rumors of battles and merges, but only very loose scraps of information. Again, he wasn't the most socialized guy. "Um - nah I wasn't ever part of any colony, just lived out and around..." he mumbles lamely, thinking bitterly of the few times he was chased off land by other loners - and colony cats...clan cats.

When she gave the go-ahead to ask questions, he immediately jumped at the opportunity. "Right! Yeah ok right yeah uh - how do your old group-mates fight? Do they like, go for the kill? They got any weak points?" he asked excitedly, nervously...fearfully, actually. He scratched furiously at an itch behind his ear, the thought of contending with cats as well-fed as Sasha already making his skin itch with fright.

But his nervousness is abated by the amusing sight of Sasha interacting with his cheetah-toes bag. He almost forgets his own hunger as he watches her reluctantly paw at the contents of his treasure, finding a nervous smile lifting his maw as she tries a chip for the first time. She even jumps in surprise at the papery crinkle of the bag! How funny! He actually finds himself snickering by the time she pulls free with a crunch and a swallow, her eyes telling him everything he needs to know about the value of his gift. "Isn't it great" he purrs, curling his tail over his back cheerily.

Then, she asks him a strange question.
"Oh uh - me? I mean, uh , we're all hungry right but y'know it's - it is what it is" he deflects, fearful she was about to demand he show her more of his stash - of which he had very little else to offer.

Then she suggests something even stranger.
"Eat some- me? you mean me? I eat some? I uh -but the trade -" he mewls weakly, only to blink back in shock when she doesn't seem like she's about to recind her offer to help him out. He studies her closely, confused and uncomfortably hopeful. "You're...kinda weird, Sasha - uh - if you don't mind me - uh - sorry, nevermind -" he chokes, quickly changing the subject by scooping his paw into the bag and fishing out a chip. He swallows it practically in one bite, and the stale crunch of it almost makes him melt. It's pleasant to feel his rumbling tummy satiated, even for a moment. He scoops out another immediately, watering mouth overtaking his sense of caution, only to find himself punished for his hubris as, through an awkward crunch, she shows a disinclination to offering her assistance.

He makes a comical scene as his ears are already drooping, horror filling his eyes with his cheeks ballooning from his recent chew. That is, until she takes it back, leaving him sagging with so much relief his belly touches the cold floor. "Maybe you're a little crazy, too" Prickles laughs - actually laughs and it...feels quite nice. He thinks he likes Sasha.

When she inquires about what he might already know, the patchy-pelted tom shrugs helplessly, "uh, I can bite? And claw - I don't normally get in fights and, well, I don't usually land a lot of blows when I do" he admits awkwardly, turning his head to bite at an itch on his shoulder.

*+:｡.｡ Updated 1/9/23

• Lets just...pretend this isn't a million years late ;w;;;;
  
  
• 
  
  
  
  GENERAL:
  ✘ Prickles
  ✘ DMAB— He/They — Bisexual
  ✘ 12 moons — Ages 1 moon every month real-time
  ✘ Member of the red water rogues
  
  COMBAT:
  ✘Physically medium | mentally medium
  ✘ Attack in bold #f35336
  injuries: None currently
  

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