push and shove // intro

[.Antlerpaw]

isn't it exhausting
always rooting
for the villain?

Everyone was so excited about the ceremonies-- granted, she had been too when she was that age, but now she was almost a warrior. Her assessment was coming up. She would be an adult soon... and she couldn't wait. She had so many plans. So many goals for her life. She would rise, and rise, and rise, and... win. She would always win. Antlerpaw would never lose if she could help it, never back down from the challenge that life presented to her, and most definitely not from a competition.

Antlerpaw pushed her way through the throng of clanmates that gathered around the apprentices den. The newly named apprentices were moving in and she had to make sure that her things were in their place and nothing was moved, that nothing was wrong. The bi-colored apprentice turned her blue gaze on one of the small things that they had allowed to become a part of their ranks and narrowed said gaze ever so slightly. "What are you doing? That's my nest. You can't have it." She hissed, swiftly moving to block the view the other had of her nest. It was hers. No one else can touch it.
​

walk "talk." thought
penned by helly​

 

[SMOKESTAR]

There were a few new apprentices to the den, soon to be among them were his own kits this moon but for the time being they were still sleeping in the shared nest in the willow den. He would be resuming his duties soon, both bittersweet and something to look forward to. Despite his earlier apprehension and his mild panic at the idea of parenthood he had settled into it far more easily than expected despite the fact his kits were quite the oddities only emphasized by their 'unique' names; among them Beekit being the most normal title. Yet somehow the one Cicadastar seemed less fond of, a fact that had not gone unoticed yet he remained silent on. Grief was handled differently by many cats, you could never tell who was still mournful and who not.
His brisk walk around the camp to keep his legs strong and his thoughts from building up, was swiftly interupted by a shrill hiss of a sound and the sound of movement from within and his dark head leaned down to poke inside curiously.

"What's all the noise about in here?" His single orange gaze lands on Antlerpaw, puffed up and hissing defensively and he frowns at the girl, "Antlerpaw, what is going on?" It wasn't uncommon for apprentices to get into fights and mischief but he expected it to be productive if they did have to fling paws at one another; they could do it in training.
​

 

[.Antlerpaw]

isn't it exhausting
always rooting
for the villain?

The newly-made apprentice she was interacting with shook their head and turned away, muttering something about 'this is so not worth it' and disappearing into the crowd of excited apprentices and proud parents. The ceremonies themselves made sense to her, but it was the commotion afterwards that always puzzled her. They were able to take care of themselves now that they were apprentices, that was the whole point of growing up and moving out of the Nursery. If they still needed their mommy to hold their paw when they moved to a different nest then they didn't deserve respect. That was just how Antlerpaw thought, how she saw such things and how she would continue to see such things. She doesn't ask for help. Why would she when she could just do it all herself? Relying on others is weak and she was not weak.

At Smokethroat's voice the apprentice swiftly turned with ears forward and a pretty smile on her face. "She was tryna take ma nest, 'mokethroat. Had ta tell her off, yeah?" Antlerpaw lifted her blue gaze to meet the deputies, her smile still plastered on her face, and sat down in a guarded position in front of her nest so that no one else could interfere with her possessions.
​

walk "talk." thought
penned by helly​

 

[SALTSTING]

Saltsting had never shared the enduring excitement of the other apprentices. Perhaps it is a lack of those to share in his pride. The day of his apprentice ceremony, there had been none to cheer for him, no mother or father for him to return to and sit beside. Only himself and whatever his own body contained. Choosing a nest had been similarly straightforward. In fact, he had not taken one already made at all. Perhaps this means that he should agree more with Antlerpaw than any other. Their experiences certainly seem most aligned to one another– instead, however, Saltsting feels only disdain for all of them. That their commotion had stirred their nursing deputy of all cats only furthers his displeasure.

It does not show on his face. No more than usual, at least. His impassive gaze is cutting as he joins the throng of new apprentices and the deputy himself, standing near his side but a respectful half-step behind. Even in this, Smokethroat's word superseded his own. "I am not certain that was necessary," he tells Antlerpaw as if she should not already know. "There had been a much less disruptive path to take."

 "𝘐 𝘋𝘖𝘕'𝘛 𝘊𝘈𝘙𝘌," 𝘐 𝘚𝘈𝘠, 𝘊𝘈𝘙𝘐𝘕𝘎𝘓𝘠, 𝘈𝘚 𝘐 𝘊𝘈𝘙𝘌 𝘋𝘌𝘌𝘗𝘓𝘠  ╱╱ 8.08.2023 ˊˎ＜

• ooc: —
• ✦　　. 　 ˚　.  SALTSTING. FORMERLY UNDECIDED. HE - HIM OR THEY - THEM. YOUNG WARRIOR OF RIVERCLAN. SEXUALITY ﹖ PENNED BY REVELATIONS.  ——
  
  
  ——  a black smoke with low white and dark brown eyes. his purebred father lent him much of his structure, with the oriental shorthair's characteristic angular features and large ears alongside a tall, lean frame, yet it is his mother's genes that rounded him out, adding strength to his shoulders and toughness to his paws. a kittypet and a colony cat, and saltsting is something entirely new.
  

  ✦ IMPORTANT NOTE. saltsting is touch averse and very vocal about it. icly, riverclanners should be aware of this. repeatedly touching him without the necessary comfort level will leave him with a poor opinion of any character.

• "speech"

​

 

[Mosspool]

Mosspaw, as usual, agreed with her elders. "Saltsting is right, there is no to lose your temper." She chastised , giving her sister a look. Really, she could not imagine acting so childish over a simple nest.

Of course, she too wanted to make sure that no one messed with her nest. She was presently sat right beside it, making sure that none of the newly named apprentices messed with it. There was a particular pride she took in keeping it neat and tidy and she was not about to let that get disturbed. In her mind though, the difference between her and Antlerpaw was that she had not hissed at anyone over it.​

 

[iciclefang]

Oh, she does not miss the apprentice’s den. Childish competition had always been rampant, especially with her noisy sister and the other cats who could not keep their mouths shut for all the fish in the river. The tortoiseshell’s eyes glimmer with amusement as she approaches. Smokethroat is handling the situation in his normal taciturn fashion, of course, and Saltsting and even the girl’s sister are vocal about their disapproval.

Though her expression remains neutral, Iciclefang murmurs, “Well… the new apprentices have to learn somehow, don’t they?” She gives Antlerpaw an appraising look, though she says nothing more.

✧ INFO.

•  
• 
  — iciclekit . iciclepaw . iciclefang
  — she/her ; warrior of riverclan
  — lesbian ; single
  — short-haired tortoiseshell with white and ice-blue eyes
  — “speech”, thoughts, attack
  — penned by Marquette
  — chibi by Pin

​

 

[.Antlerpaw]

isn't it exhausting
always rooting
for the villain?

Antlerpaw stared at the three disgruntled opposer's to her possessive hold of her nest-- her own sister was not turning on her? How dare she! She was literally guarding her very own nest anyhow, so what right did she have to judge Antlerpaw for doing the same?! "Yo're literally guardin' ya own nes' Mo'paw! Ya can't talk ta me abou' losin' ma tempa' ya mousebrain!" She taunted, ears flicking in annoyance at her sister's impudence in the whole thing. Family wasn't more important than clan apparently, even when it was only small grievances and situations her sister seemed to care more about Smokethroat's opinion than anything else.

She stared at the other's that had now joined them, shaking her head in a small bout of anger and turning her now fluffed head towards Iciclefang. She nodded her thanks for the support and smiled at the appraising look.
​

walk "talk." thought
penned by helly​

 

[Mosspool]

Mosspaw's eyes narrowed at her sister's harsh words. Even when faced with the simplest of critiques, Antlerpaw jumped immediately to insults. Typical. Honestly, she could be such a kit sometimes. From anyone else, such baseless name calling would have been an intolerable transgression. For family she was willing to forgive it somewhat.

"I am not the one hissing in other apprentices faces." She shot back coldly. If anyone bothered her nest she would simply tell them, firmly, that they could not do that. Then, if that did not work, she would perhaps go get a warrior to assist her, but she saw no reason it would not. Whatever happened, she would never resort to simply snapping at whoever got too close. She was far too grown up for that, unlike some people.​

 

[Hazewish]

TRAVELER, YOU HAVE BEEN WARNED (AND NOW YOU MUST GO) ⋆⁺₊⋆

Nest placement doesn’t really matter all that much to Hazepaw — especially not now that they’ve lost their nest neighbor with Catfish’s silent move to the other side of the den. If they’re crouched near it today, it’s not out of protectiveness: they couldn’t care less where their nest is. If it’s not next to the den’s wall, they’ll simply walk over a few tails on their way out, and that’s their denmates’ problem, not theirs. Not: it’s simply that they’re sulking. About the aforementioned disappearance of Catfish’s nest from the vicinity of theirs.

As such they watch their sisters’ argument with no small amount of skepticism. Antlerpaw has always been pretty… territorial, and Haze can sympathize with wanting to snap at Mosspaw, but it still sounds disproportionate.

”Trivial,” they hum, dubious. It’s not like anyone was stealing Antler’s dinner or anything. It's just a place to sleep.

They glance at the three warriors that joined in on the argument, wondering if any of them will intervene. Iciclefang looks like she approves, but then again Hazepaw is pretty sure any younger apprentice trying to steal her nest would get their entire face clawed off for their trouble, so it’s hardly surprising…

[⋆]​

​

 

[SMOKESTAR]

What in the world was this apprentice even saying, he could barely understand her but what he did understand was Antlerpaw was being a little menace over, as Hazepaw put it so simply, 'trivial' matters. Iciclefang joins him, he glances briefly at the tortie by his side and remembers fondly a time when she just barely reached his shoulder and constantly trailed along at his heels dutifully; if only more apprentice were like his former one, then he wouldn't be here having to sort out some nonsensical arguing over nests. Thankfully, it was a simple fix...
"Antlerpaw, you can assert yourself without screeching like an owl." It was annoying, the need to constantly yell and scream about as if that got anything done and it was hopefully something she'd grow out of, "Saltsting is right-" Not to stroke the younger warrior's ego but he'd said it the same way Smokethroat might have, "-solve your problems with less fuss."
​

 

[Squishpaw]

Squishpaw agreed with Hazepaw, Saltsting, and Mosspaw (the deputy himself had shown up, which sent Squishpaw huddling in her nest), but she still felt a great deal of sympathy for Antlerpaw. Squishpaw wouldn't fight over her nest - she was too interested in pleasing others for that - but Squishpaw had grown to feel a level of comfort and safety in her spot she would be loathe to lose. Squishpaw also felt some unpleasant emotion she couldn't name, for it was too much of a mix of all, rising up within her as Antlerpaw found herself beset on all sides. Trivial, Hazepaw said, sparking a glare from Squishpaw in the other apprentice's direction.

Squishpaw couldn't think of anything to say. As mentioned, she was intimidated by the crowd and hardly considered herself any sort of wordsmith. She did start rummaging through her meager collection of pretty things in her nest, however. Perhaps she could offer a gift to Antlerpaw when this was all over, a sign of camaraderie. Something that could improve Antlerpaw's heavily protected nest. I bet she has really high standards, Squishpaw thought, and tucked her shoulders further into herself. She didn't falter from her assigned task, though, even though her ears were flattened to the top of her head.​

 

[.Antlerpaw]

isn't it exhausting
always rooting
for the villain?

She stared near dumbfounded by the overwhelming amount of hostility from both her clanmates and her family. Hazepaw, as always, remained indifferent, while Mosspaw just had to open her huge honking maw and tell everyone and everything about Antlerpaw's shortcomings. "Right, 'cause ya ain't ev'a done somethin' like this, right 'osspaw? 'Cause ya so high and migh'y?" She hissed, tail lashing while she was all but clobbered over the head with a ten thousand pound mallet of 'we don't like you' and 'get out' spiraling out of control. "Uhuh. Sure." She took a turn in her prized nest before lying down with an angry scowl on her dark face. Why were they so awful to her? She'd all but hissed at one cat! Who had been going for her nest! What was wrong with protecting what was hers?
​

walk "talk." thought
penned by helly​

 

[Hazewish]

TRAVELER, YOU HAVE BEEN WARNED (AND NOW YOU MUST GO) ⋆⁺₊⋆

Pulling themself out of their own messy nest, Hazepaw steps over Squishpaw, ignoring the other apprentice’s glare, to reach Antler’s side. Their boisterous’ sister reaction has them feeling… A little bad, mostly because they don’t like to agree with Mosspaw too much and besides their moms like it when they all get along.

They carefully do not touch Antler’s nest, instead sitting right next to it and extending their neck to bump their nose against her side roughly. ”Fierce,” they say, voice just a bit mocking with a thread of genuine admiration. And it’s true: of the three siblings, Antlerpaw is definitely the scariest one. Her aggressive defense of her own nest definitely proved that.

[⋆]​

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