*+:｡.｡ Wrathpaw had always found humor in his name. After Laugh, Joy, and Love, he liked to think his mother wanted to name her next batch of kits after the less traditionally appreciated emotions on the spectrum, as a way to honor them. After all, cats experience a lot more than just happiness, one should appreciate all that their hearts have to say, even if it's not always the most fun. Every emotion has an important role in our lives, including wrath.
Still, it was pretty funny that Wrath- had been given to a gangly, sickly kit, then a naive, good-natured apprentice. For a fun conversation starter, Wrathpaw quite liked his name. He felt it gave him strength like his prefix held the spirit of a triumphant warrior who fought with his whole heart and soul before taking his place watching over this three-legged tyke. Still, Wrathpaw never believed that he'd embody the name himself one day.
He couldn't imagine ever getting to the point of being so angry he became
wrathful.
As of late, Wrathpaw had been slowly growing more and more into his ears and paws, trading lankiness for a more muscle physique. He was by no means a power house, but he wasn't a kit that could be easily tossed aside anymore. When he'd been invited to join a mass sparring session with other apprentices, Wrathpaw had been overjoyed! Each match had been worth studying, as Wildheart had instructed, and diligently the boy committed every move and counter to memory. But as he watched the fights progress, he couldn't help but throw glances at Roaringpaw.
The older apprentice always got on Wrathpaw's nerves, even when he said nothing at all. He wonders if the lazy kitty-pet is even taking any of this seriously at all, what with that dazed look in his eye.
Probably dreaming about kitty-pet food, he smirks, wondering if Briarsong would laugh at the joke if she'd been here. Wrathpaw was content, however, to continue keeping his distance from the older apprentice. He didn't see a point in wasting his time talking to the older boy who didn't seem to take his blessed life as a Thunderclanner seriously. Life goes on...
When it was Wrathpaw's turn to step up, his opponent's name was announced a second after his.
Wrathpaw almost groaned aloud when he saw Roaringpaw step up to the stand. Him, really? This whole time Wrathpaw had been planning to tell Briarsong all about how awesome his spar had been, hoping to impress her, but there was absolutely nothing cool about defeating a kitty-pet. They may as well just put him in the ring with a mouse! Still, for the sake of politeness, Wrathpaw grits his teeth and bows his head politely. When he looks up, Roaringpaw finally abandons the fog in his eyes, but the way he glares at Wrathpaw leaves the younger cream tabby's fur ruffled.
The fight begins, and nothing goes as planned.
Roaringpaw was no easy cat to defeat, and before long Wrathpaw found himself panting and hissing as he struggled to get the older tom off him.
He's just more experienced! he tries to soothe himself, but frustration claws rivulets into his throat, hating the way the older tom doesn't let up. He hadn't even been paying attention to the other spars, why is
he so good!?
Anger feels hot and sticky. It makes his ear tips and face burn, coupled with the heat already scorching the back of his neck and muscles, Wrathpaw fears he's about to combust in flames at any moment. It's an uncomfortable feeling that makes him almost want to whine with despair, for as useful as the burst of adrenaline-fueled energy is, it's all impulsively expunged into useless kicks and swipes that don't land - or is Roaringpaw just quick to avoid clumsy strikes? Wrathpaw doesn't want to give him the credit! Screw him!
Wrathpaw didn't want
lose.
But the boy has no choice in the matter when one wrong shove later, he exposes his neck and - he lets out a yelp when paws skim his throat. Rolling to the ground, Wrathpaw immediately throws up his paws to grasp at his neck, but he doesn't doubt the lack of injury. This is a claws-free spar, after all. Still, had Roaringpaw's claws been unsheathed, it could've killed him. With that, there's no denying the spar's conclusion:
Roaringpaw won.
Chest heaving, out of breath, and out of mind at the defeat, he stares at his shaking paws. Losing to a kitty-pet...he can already hear Briarsong and the rest laughing at him now. The tips of his ears burn, and his chest squeezes. He knows how awful his friend's laughs can be, and it fills him with a freezing terror.
When he looks up, he sees a taste of the mockery already. Contempt in narrowed eyes, standing triumphant over the pathetically small and useless Wrathpaw, a worm to be stepped on, a mouse with a broken leg to laugh at. You can't be a Thunderclanner if you're a burden.
Until he blinks and sees Roaringpaw again for what he truly is.
The ice in his chest splinters, digging into his lungs until his wheezing breaths cease entirely. Head light, the tom feels his body move before he can think to command it - and he doesn't mind. Crouching low he watches Roaringpaw turn his back on him as if he's nothing, splinters digging ever deeper. This is
his fault! If he and his stupid kitty-pet friends would stop muddying Thunderclan's blood, everything would be better! If Roaringpaw would just stop
existing, then life would go back to how it used to be! Cats would be nice to Wrathpaw again, his friends would have nothing to laugh at him for, and Thunderclan would be
safe!. Fire tastes metallic on his tongue, heat rising from the force with which he's gnashed his teeth, rage building. He's
not going to lose his friends thanks to a kitty-pet, not one as smug, stupid, and selfish as Roaringpaw!
Wrathpaw is a true Thunderclanner!
And he'll prove it.
Kicking off against the dirt, Wrathpaw
aims to barrel into Roaringpaw from behind, unsheathed claws digging into Roaringpaw's shoulders as he tries to bite down on the older apprentice's scruff.
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GENERAL:
♡ Wrathkit
♡ DMAB— He/Him
♡ 9 moons — Ages 1 moon every month real-time
♡ Brother to Lovelight, Joywing, Laughblossom || Pridepaw, Merrypaw
♡ Thunderclan — Kit
♡ Mentored by Wildheart
COMBAT:
♡Physically mediocre | mentally easy
♡ Attack in bold #4a59ff
injuries: None currently
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