NOW I KNOW HOW JOAN OF ARC FELT 𖦹 scalejaw

[ASHENFALL]

˚⊹₊‧ 𖦹 Ashenpaw had no intention of learning anything new today, despite the best efforts of Shadowclan's finest. Snakefoot may have sniffed this out on him that morning, it would explain why he handed him off to Scalejaw for the day. He complained about prey not sitting right in his stomach or something, not even attempting to act sick in any convincing way. This would have been all fine and dandy for Ashenpaw—he didn't care for the tom in the slightest—but damned Scalejaw and her upstanding work ethic had him sore and cranky enough to want to crawl back into his nest, despite it only being barely past sunhigh.

He growled, muddy and scuffed, as he pulled himself onto his paws after what had to be the dozenth failed attempt at diving beneath his opponent. Ashenpaw's feathery tail lashed behind him angrily, pale amber and blue eyes glinting to meet orange. He hated this. He hated having to try time and time again to do a move he clearly wasn't able to pull off. Scalejaw must've been able to see how shitty he was at this, she had to have just been making fun of him at this point. He hated glaring up at her and seeing her thoughts plastered all over her face. Weak, slow little Ashenpaw! Oh, what a waste of potential that a deputy's kid couldn't even figure out a simple battle move!

"I'm done with this," Ashenpaw huffed, "You win. I'm shit, obviously, and too slow to do the stupid dive. Now can I go?" He was tired of embarrassing himself.

FOLLOW THE TIDE ˚⊹₊‧ 𖦹 ‧₊⊹˚ WITH THE MONSTERS ON YOUR SHOULDER

• OOC: @scalejaw
• 
• 
  — ashenkit . ashenpaw
  — trans male. he/him. 6mo apprentice of shadowclan
  — gay ; single
  — longhaired muted blue torbie with heterochromatic pale blue and amber eyes
  — smells like rainsoaked ferns and swamp milkweed
  — “speech”, thoughts, attack
  — fullbody by tropics
  — penned by eezy
  — currently in an era of grief and anger, approach with caution. all ic opinions!

​

 

[scalejaw]

—————————————————【 she/her | menacing 】————————————————

【◈】Snakefoot had to practically bribe Scalejaw to take this lesson. She wasn't in the habit, nor mood, of trying to teach apprentices. Not right now, not while Chilledstar was taking a (mandatory) siesta, and not while Halfshade had just passed and left four new mouths to feed. The pressure on the border was bad enough, but if Scalejaw wasn't out daily, she'd lose out on her normal catches. A grunt left her as she slammed her mental back into the lesson, avoiding Ashenpaw again. Seriously, what was Snakefoot teaching this kid?

Orange eyes locked with Ashenpaw. While she liked to remain as cool as possible, there was a hint of irritation in her eyes this round. And, what felt like the eighteenth time since they left camp for the training grounds, Ashenpaw was moaning. Bitchin' and moaning. She resisted the urge to roll her eyes and stood straight again, her own tufted tail flicking with frustration. "You aren't done until I say we are." Her tone left no room to argue- perhaps if there were some less immoveable then Ashenpaw. "And stop calling yourself names."

She'd be damned if the lesson wasn't finished on her terms, though.

"You will continue to practice. You do not get better without practice." Scalejaw lectured, her jaw flexing with some hint of disdain. It was swept away in an instinct, that cool and unbothered look replacing her features. Scalejaw knew damn well she wasn't going to be easily beaten. The kid had too many tells, and Scalejaw considered herself just a hint too good. "One more time. Don't move unnecessarily- you're wasting energy, and giving me indications of what you're going to do. Cool, controlled, calm." She had said that last line about a dozen times- after each leap. Maybe a final time would drive the nail into Ashenpaw's head.

She opened her mouth, then hesitated speaking momentarily. Scalejaw's ears twitched as she spoke. "If you're good enough to knock me over once, you can knock Snakefoot over a hundred times. Sound good to you?" Scalejaw reminded. That wasn't necessarily true, but she'll be damned if an apprentice's most formative moons were spent squandering around, and the rest catching up.

"yuh"

[penned by dallas].

​