private skin and bone - Batpaw

[BoneFang]

After the meeting, Bonefang had plenty of time to consider telling Chilledstar he could not have an apprentice. He did not trust himself, he did not want an apprentice hurt. He did not want his paws bloodied with a young child's innocence, even if it was not his paws, but another, or the jaws of a feral predator, or- He shook his scarred helm, icey blue gaze squeezing tightly shut at the images.

He would surely blame himself if Batpaw fell Ill with the sickness rampaging through the clans. He would blame himself if another cat killed him or gravely injured him due to poor training.

He had a tough mentor himself, but his father guided the mentors steps, demanded he be trained in a tough manner. And Bonefang could agree sometimes a tough training is what one needed. But there was supposed to be a mix of tough and leniency.

He would decide not to argue Chilledstars decision. They were the leader, and fought tooth and nail for that position. Figuratively, of course. Chilledstar, he felt, knew of his past. Knew of his history. And perhaps, they did not put that blame on him. To give one an apprentice was an honor, right? It meant they trusted him.

But he did not trust himself.

As he walked with Batpaw, he decided to break the silence finally. "We will be walking a while. If you wish, you may ride on my shoulders. Only for a break. Don't get used to it." His voice gravelly, but genuine. "What do you know about the territory? Or other clans surrounding us?"

He suspected nothing, but children were curious creatures. They asked questions, and probably heard rumours on what's around it. He was trying to understand where he needed to start and did not want to treat the child like an idiot.

@batpaw. //

 

[batpaw.]

"HEAR MY STOLEN LULLABIES"​

Batpaw is unsure what to think of his new mentor. The scarred warrior had never made much of an impression on him previously. He seems on the quieter side, at least. That was something Batpaw could appreciate. If Chilledstar had paired him with a talkative mentor, Batpaw might have considered asking them for a new mentor. That's what he tells himself, although he knows that in actuality, he wouldn't question Chilledstar's decisions like that.

Overall, Batpaw decides that Bonefang isn't so bad.

And then he offers to let Batpaw ride on his shoulders. Batpaw skids to a halt, staring at the warrior with utter confusion. "Why would I ever do that?" It's true, this is more walking that Batpaw has ever done in his life, but he would never dare to ride on another cat's shoulders.

He shakes his head, catching back up to Bonefang's side. If there's one thing Batpaw has always been proud of, it's his cleverness. If you asked him, he would say that he was far more clever than any of his peers. But unfortunately, he really doesn't know much about the clans. He had never cared much for them, so he hadn't asked that many questions about them as a kit. Snowfeather had taught him the basics of the other clans, and he had asked a few questions about how horrible their lives must be.

"Well, I know we live in a swamp. I know that there are four other clans, SkyClan, ThunderClan, RiverClan, and WindClan. I know that SkyClan is made up of kittypets." As he says the word 'kittypet', his lips form a slight snarl. Daylight warriors were one of the few things that he had endlessly questioned Snowfeather on. It was such a strange concept. What was going on in the SkyClan leader's head? How could they think that was a good idea? "And I know that ThunderClan lives in a forest, RiverClan cats like to swim for some StarClan forsaken reason, and somehow WindClan cats survive without any trees for shelter. Oh, and I remember there was that situation with that one ThunderClan cat who pushed the other one in front of a monster."

Speaking of the ThunderClan affair... he had learned several things about their clan during that fiasco, hadn't he? This was the perfect chance to show off his observation skills, wasn't it?

"ThunderClan's leader is some tabby named Howlingstar. She seems to be too tolerant of screw-ups in her clan. From what I overheard, the warrior who got hit by a monster should have been exiled long ago." Sure, she had exiled both cats involved in the situation, but wasn't it too little too late? If she had exiled the first warrior, none of this would have happened. "She also seemed as if she didn't want to cause issues with us. I think I heard that she brought extra medicine in order to make up for what Starlingheart used on her warrior." At this point, Batpaw is speaking wholly based on assumptions. In truth, he had no clue if ThunderClan wanted peace with ShadowClan. All he knows is that if he had been in her paws and wanted anything other than​

✦ ❄ ✦​

 

[BoneFang]

The dark furred warrior would shrug his shoulders. "I didn't want to anyways," he grunted in response. "But don't complain later when your paws are sore." It was meant as teasing, but it didn't portray well with his bland voice.

He was not used to entertaining children. Perhaps this was development for him. Or perhaps this was going to be a failure on him.

He wouldn't let it happen. He couldn't. He had a duty to make sure Batpaw would be a strong warrior. And he couldn't let him or Chilledstar down. But the what ifs kept repeating.

He listened intently on what Batpaw had to say about each clan, slowly nodding his scarred helm as he walked, but otherwise no motion on if he was correct or not until he was done.

He would start off with one clan at a time as he explained. "Correct, Skyclan is made of kittypets, but they still do have warriors from the Great war. But they still muddle their blood with whatever hides they can get, as if any clan can keep that many mouths to feed. Just an idea, but not the truth, sometimes I wonder if they run to twolegs to eat the dry pellets they feed the kittypets to survive." Some sort of chortled chuckle escaped him, then immediately stopped. "Skyclan is led by Blazestar. They are known for their skill at climbing. So when fighting them, watch the trees." He warned.

"Thunderclan does indeed live in a forest, and yes, Howlingstar does lead them. The story is that the tom in question horribly injured his apprentice. It baffles me as well why they decided to keep him around. I took would think he deserved what he got." He stated bluntly. "Thunderclan, I suppose, are built as fighters. And they don't like to start or cause problems from what I have seen." He shrugged his shoulders. "Watch the foliage and trees. They aren't the sneakiest, but they can navigate through the forest like no others. They're also the only ones that border us."

"Riverclanners are swimmers. They catch and eat fish, which I don't imagine is anything but scales and bones. I don't know much about them. They are led by Cicadastar. Being swimmers, watch the water closely. They're slippery like the fish they eat." The phrase you are what you eat really must have engrained into them.

"And then Windclan is led by Sootstar. They're fast, agile. They burrow into the ground. Keep your wits about you with those ones. Sootstar is... to put it simply, crazy. Do not get on her bad side."

He ran out of words to really inform the apprentice of more, but will fill in the gaps as they went, he supposed. His throat felt dry, not used to speaking as much as he just had. He absolutely hated it, but he had to do what he had to do to perform his duties as a mentor. Unfortunately.

But they were approaching the border by Carrionplace, and as they arrived, the aroma of the air quickly turned awful. Putrid smell that he wished he wasn't forced to inhale. "This is the Carrionplace. I do not recommend you to come here, yet and I mean that. Vile rats with infectious diseases will bite you and leave deep wounds. Worse than a mouse. These rats can get large. And their are sharp objects that will cut up your pawpaws. Many sources of injuries. I will take you one day, but you must be patient." His eyes were locked onto Batpaws own, brows furrowing. This was more of a warning than before. It was not safe for a child of his size yet.