camp Saying Prayers In The Streetlight (open)

[Shinebug]

Dull sky blue eyes stared at the ground as Shinepaw padded into camp, returning from a hunting patrol with a decently sized mouse clamped between his jaws. Since failing his assessment, the shaft of sunlight had been as quiet as the prey he was holding. Every day, an anxious mind kept wondering what his clanmates thought about him getting held back, and made normally loose lips clamp shut.

It wasn’t a matter of trying to keep it a secret. Anyone who knew the boy’s age would have noticed the conspicuous absence of his name at the last meeting, after all. Shinepaw just didn’t want to talk. He didn’t want to do much of anything, really. It was strange, being held back hadn’t lit a fire in the boy’s belly, instead it seemed to have done the opposite. The ball of nerves wasn’t training any harder than usual or attempted to correct what Flycatcher criticized, he was just following routine, day after day.

A now-rare spark of emotion came from Shinepaw as he deposited his catch, and flaming ears flicked at a voice behind him. “Hey, good hunting today! To be honest, I don’t know why Flycatcher held you back.” It was a warrior, one he didn’t know well. The words were an attempt at comfort and consolation, laying down honeyed praise to try and bolster the boy’s spirits. However, as Shinepaw noticed the two fat squirrels his peer had just deposited, that was not how the words were taken.

Shinepaw grew shaky, silently grabbing a vole to eat and quickly rushing to the edge of camp, sitting down and trying to compose himself with a few hasty breaths. No tears were visible, but from the boy’s demeanor it was clear that they were threatening to emerge. ​

 

[Icepaw!]

[ ༻ 🗲 ༺ ] Icepaw had been looking for Shinepaw, the poor tom the apprentice had chosen to pester a ton or follow about ans perhaps that was due to the toms anxious denotations or gloomy look that made Icepaw magnetize to the other, and this was no different. Soon as he spotted Shinepaw dart off to be on his own Icepaw quickly followed after him, orange eyes on the others before standing to loom in front of the other, his tail raise hi in greetings and a warm smile glowing on his lips, unaware of why Shinepaw was so upset.

"Shinepaw!! Let me join you! How was hunting today? And training with Flycatcher? You gotta tell me" and off the tom went bothering the poor tom who had probably sat in the corner to be alone and cry, but not one Icepaw's watch as he was too determine to befriend the ball of anxiety.

‎‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎┌── The moon will sing a song for me I shine only with the light you gave me ──┐‎

• 
  "speak""Thoughts"
  
• 
  Icepaw 🗲 He/Him , apprentice of Thunderclan, 8 moons.
  ⭃ Tall blue silver tabby with high white and orange eyes
  ⭃ Cloudflame x NPC
  ⭃ peaceful and healing powerplay permitted (ask first) / / underline and tag when attacking
  ↛ see battle info here
  ⭃ penned by Ryn ↛ @/Rynnaro on discord, feel free to dm for plots.
  

​

 

[Mothfur]

♪ Like a moth to a flame ♪ ---- Mothfur did not really like younger cats due to maturity, but to watch the apprentice run off upset after a comment from another sparked a fire in him. It was unlike him to get up as quick as he did, catching the surprise of some clanmates around him. He made sure to walk up close to the rude warrior to express how he thought of the comment with a quiet, but a fiery growl.

He grabbed some unique feathers he found just the day before and headed toward the young tom, "Hey there bud!" he spoke with his mouth full before placing the feathers beside the apprentice. "Mind if I join you? ... I'm actually not giving you a choice," he laughed jokingly, "I saw what happened and I wanted you to have these." Mothfur felt like he could relate to the tom, some snarky comments were given to him when his father/mentor died, almosting leading to him being held back.. "Nice catch by the way! I got to see a glance when you came in."

Mothfur being friendly? A rarity-! his clanmates might call it. The tom was known to be cold, and being friendly to someone younger to him was a surprise to most. He wanted to keep his "unfriendly" history, but couldn't let what happened to Shinepaw slide.
​

 

[Shinebug]

As Sky-Blue eyes struggled to contain their own tears, sun-drenched fur bristled in surprise at a sudden (and very insistent) voice. It was a bit sad, really. If Shinepaw was still like he was as a kit, he and Icepaw would doubtless be the best of friends. Unfortunately, the infinite fire that the apprentice once possessed felt snuffed out, and it seemed Icepaw was trying to relight it with their own.

Unfortunately, Shinepaw seemed determined to douse it with water. “We did some crouches. I caught a mouse.” A melancholic tail flicked towards the prey pile where his catch still sat, seemingly determined to answer any question with as little words as possible. “Why do you care?” In the ball of nerves’ mind, it was a fair question. After all, who would want to know the goings-on of a failure?

There were a few more deep breaths as the boy nibbled on his meal, and he felt imminent tears fade away as he grew a bit calmer. However, Sky-blue eyes flicked over to the prey pile just in time to see Mothfur’s exchange, and the boy felt bad all over again. He didn’t want anyone to get in trouble because of him, but as the warrior approached the anxious extrovert kept his mouth shut.

Mothfur was a barrage of noise and praise, cheery and chipper when Shinepaw wanted nothing of the sort, just company for his misery. Still, the shaft of sunlight felt a little flutter in his chest when the warrior presented the feathers. Unfortunately, after hearing his better’s compliment, the feeling was snuffed under the weight of his own cynicism. “Are you making fun of me?” He asked softly, paw hovering a few inches over the feathers.

It was what Shinepaw fully believed was happening behind his back. A veneer of kindness to hide hatred and disdain for Thunderclan’s resident laughing stock. No one had mocked him, no one had called him a failure, but the boy was convinced that it must be happening in secret. “I only caught one mouse. I could’ve - I should’ve - caught more.”​

 

[Mothfur]

♪ Like a moth to a flame ♪ ---- Mothfur paused after the apprentice asked if he was making fun of him, he was sure he wasn't. He gave Icepaw a quick glance with confusion and back at Shinepaw with a long pause. Mothfur felt bad for the young tom, criticizing his hard work when leaf-bare already made hunting nearly impossible.

He shook his head with an attempted smile, "Oh that was a compliment! It has been hard to bring anything back to camp now that it's leaf-bare... To find a mouse that size, during this time, is something to brag about! the tom laughed, attempting to cheer up the apprentice.
​

 

[Icepaw!]

[ ༻ 🗲 ༺ ] He doesn't quite understand Shinepaw's reaction. Both Mothfur and him had only come over to show some form od support but it seems the older apprentice took it negatively. "You're training underneath the furure leader of our clan, I think that makes you super cool!" he expressed before smiling at the ither and glancing at Mothfur who had to explain his kind gesture was a compliment and Icepaw nodded in agreement. "Perhaps you could show me sometime?" they offered in attempt to reach out to the other. He couldn't get around why Shinepaw was acting like how he was. Sure it might of been hard to be held back, but Shinepaw seemed to be doing well and might have a chance of becoming a warrior next moon.

‎‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎┌── The moon will sing a song for me I shine only with the light you gave me ──┐‎

• 
  "speak""Thoughts"
  
• 
  Icepaw 🗲 He/Him , apprentice of Thunderclan, 8 moons.
  ⭃ Tall blue silver tabby with high white and orange eyes
  ⭃ Cloudflame x NPC
  ⭃ peaceful and healing powerplay permitted (ask first) / / underline and tag when attacking
  ↛ see battle info here
  ⭃ penned by Ryn ↛ @/Rynnaro on discord, feel free to dm for plots.
  

​

 

[Shinebug]

It took a while, but eventually a flame-scorched paw lowered, covering and taking in the feathers presented to him with cautious care. Shinepaw was confused. The ball of nerves couldn’t fathom why these two would show sympathy to him, and assumed it was some elaborate, mean-spirited joke. However, Mothfur’s relentless optimism caused the slightest hint of a smile to cross a sun-drenched maw. Maybe some cats could still stand him? Maybe, just maybe.

“I-I don’t like to brag” He mumbled the response eventually, a little life coming back to the tomcat’s voice. “I’m worried that if I brag, I’ll get content and stop trying to improve. I don’t want that, I guess…” A shade of red adorned orange cheeks as Shinepaw realized he’d been holding the feathers tight to his chest. The boy released his iron grip, relieved that they weren’t damaged. “I’ll put these in my nest. Thank you…”

Icepaw speaks next, and the mention of Flycatcher has the boy feeling bad all over again. “Flycatcher is great. He’s the best mentor I could ask for, but It didn’t matter. I wanted to make him proud, more than anything, but I couldn’t.” Shinepaw was spiraling once more, and a noticeable edge crept into his voice at Icepaw’s request. “You - You should ask someone who knows what they’re doing.” The apprentice nodded to the warrior sitting next to them. “Mothfur would be better than me.” ​