private PRELUDE TO ACT II + ashpaw

[iciclefang]

Iciclepaw sleeps restlessly, their makeshift camp in the Beech Copse unfamiliar to her, the sound of the river rushing a constant pounding behind her eyes. She can't sleep, and when she peers outside the entrance of the half-den, she sees the moon has just begun to rise. There's a scent of rain on the air, though the night is warmer than most have been.

She shifts in her nest, mind whirling with all that has happened recently. With the horrid feeling of watching Cicadastar plunge into icy depths, of seeing him lifeless on the ice after Houndsnarl had pulled him from the freezing waters. The yowl of terror from her mentor, reminding her of, of --

Where is she? No more room in the fake nursery -- for that's how she feels -- for Ashpaw, but she spots a fiery ginger pelt in a nest not too far.

Iciclepaw rises to her paws and pads to Ashpaw's nest. She gently pushes her nose into the other she-cat's plush red fur. "Ashpaw? Are you awake?" Her voice is hushed. "I'm going to take a little walk... not too far. Can you join me?"

She'll wait for her denmate to rise before exiting the sloppy excuse for an apprentice's den. The night air is cool but breathable. It's thick and wet with impending showers, but it's dry for now, and Iciclepaw takes a deep, cleansing breath. She throws a look Ashpaw's way, eyes narrowing. "How are your wounds? I don't want you re-opening them just to go on a night stroll with me."

How frightened she'd felt, seeing Beesong and Gloompaw escort Ashpaw back to camp, swathed in cobwebs, eyes bright with victory despite her battle injuries. "I did it," she told the Clan, and she had -- she had chased the fox away from their territory. She hadn't needed Willowroot or Smokethroat or herself to save her -- she'd done what any warrior would have, and Iciclepaw's fear had melted away to pride.

She thinks again of Smokethroat's hoarse screech, desperation piercing the air. "CADA!" She shudders. If it had been Ashpaw under the water, would she have jumped in?

She looks at her flame-pelted companion and thinks, Yes. I would.

All she says is, "Haven't fought anymore foxes, have you?" She stretches, some of her back muscles still sore from the den collapse in camp, her paws scraped from treading bracken-colored water and bits of spiky debris. It's nothing compared to a fox, is it?

She walks easily with Ashpaw, two small silhouettes under a bright silver moon, the pounding floodwaters a symphony behind them.​

[ PENNED BY MARQUETTE ]​

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[ashpaw!]

"I'm okay, Icy, I'm fine — " She's already up, barest ache from scars just forming but nothing that'd stress Beesong out too badly — she's following, biting back a grin as she remembers a very tiny Iciclepaw. That Iciclepaw had been just as uptight, scolding a very tiny Ashpaw for sneaking out of camp, a little rivalry that had barely formed before becoming something... different.

She trips a little making her way out of the den, and flushes beneath her fur when her fumbling pawsteps put her even closer to Iciclepaw. Iciclepaw, smelling of pinecones and salt — Iciclepaw, mottled red and black and white, the most beautiful coat Ashpaw has ever seen. She backs up just as quickly, cheeks burning. "Uh — ah — sorry!" she whispers as they steal out of the makeshift den. She tries not to flinch from the starlight, keeps her cool as much as she can because this is Iciclepaw. Basically the coolest apprentice in the clan. (Heh. Coolest. Because icicles — yeah.) Now is not the time to be her usual dumb dorky self!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

And it's not the time for an ... episode ... either. She wants to glare at the stars — if Spiderfall ruins this for her she's going to lose her mind a second time. And what would she have to fight to get it back then? What's scarier than a fox — a badger? A dog? She'd die! She can't smell pinecones and salt if she's dead!

So no more losing her mind and no more six-month character arcs and no flashbacks and only this, here, right now, the prettiest girl in the whole world right in front of her. In front of her. Ashpaw.

How'd she get this lucky...?

Realizing she's zoned out, Ashpaw shakes her head, blinking back to herself. Iciclepaw's been lost in thought too, it seems, and Ashpaw finds herself worrying. She worries so much about her clanmates, especially clanmates as anazing as Iciclepaw, who has been through... a lot, lately. They all have. The den collapse ... Cicadastar falling into the ice, the way Smokethroat had —

No, no. Don't — don't — don't think about that, Ashpaw tells herself firmly. She doesn't want to bring this moment down. She walks beside her friend, a purr starting up in her chest as the flooded river rages close by. She snorts at the calico's comment — "Nooo, no more of them. I think someone would demote me right back to being a kit if I got out of camp alone again... Beesong was watching me like a hawk."

She turns the question back on Icy. "What about you, fought any foxes? I wouldn't put it past Smokethroat to make you fight foxes." She pauses a second to think, then grins. "Wouldn't put it past you, either. Bet you could kill — like — five foxes."

She's at least half joking, but — well, there is a part of her that sort of feels like Iciclepaw could do anything. So. ​

—— " i found gold in the wreckage "

✦ ooc ✦ character information ✦ recent events

• your honor the baby is in love
  
  
• - 8 month old orange tabby with green eyes
  - apprenticed to lead warrior willowroot
  - crushing hard on iciclepaw
  - happy-go-lucky, mischievous, hardworking
  - very friendly, but defensive of riverclan!
  - "speech"
• - KICKED FOX ASS
  

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[iciclefang]

Ashpaw is the sun to her moon, bright and warm, exuberant where Iciclepaw hides all in careful silver shadow. The tortoiseshell notices her companion has lost herself in thought, and she clears her throat gently. She knows Ashpaw is prone to lapses -- lapses in confidence, in the present. Her phantom is dark-pelted, lurks in Ashpaw's nightmares and in her mind, and Iciclepaw would give anything to chase him away.

To flay him alive. Her eyes narrow, almost imperceptibly. Is she capable of such violence? That monstrous foxheart is gone, torn to shreds by Cicadastar himself, but if he had somehow lived, somehow showed his face to Ashpaw again... she cannot bear to think of it. She would kill, or she would die trying.

"Don't think too hard," she says, but it is not a jibe. She does not want her friend lost -- and she visibly relaxes when she sees the glassiness fade from Ashpaw's brilliant green eyes. "Well, someone should be watching you like a hawk! If I had time, it'd be me." Is that comment too... obvious? Iciclepaw clears her throat again, diverting her gaze.

After all, Ashpaw doesn't need her to protect her. Ashpaw is capable. The tortoiseshell apprentice flashes her a rare smile. "Smokethroat would have a tough time fighting a fox himself these days," she says dryly, but with good humor. "No, this is something you've got me entirely beat on."

She blinks at her friend, the smile turning sly. "Once you're all healed, you should show me those deadly fox-fighting moves. I'll use 'em against Smokethroat and tell him you taught me." Her laughter is brittle and sharp like her namesake, but something glitters in it, like sunlight off the surface of frozen water.​

[ PENNED BY MARQUETTE ]​

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