the real thing — twitchbolt

[DOEBLAZE]

// retro to dog attack! @TWITCHBOLT

The queen made her way across camp with nervous pawsteps; she'd promised herself that now that the kits were old enough to be left for longer times under the watchful eye of her fellow queens, she would try to get to know her Clanmates more. If she was inclined to warriorhood, which she was, she'd want to know them—and a good way to start conversation and learn about being a warrior was to ask one of their own, right? Her pale green eyes sought out one pelt in particular: the twitchy young warrior who'd behaved kindly to Drowsykit, which was already a good sign in Bobbie's mind.

Worried about interrupting the cat's free time, Bobbie's white-splashed paws stopped hesitantly in front of the scruffy warrior; she pushed her poor memory to recall his name—Twitchbolt, that was it. A bit of an odd name, perhaps, but wasn't her own? She stood a polite distance from the cat and mewed quietly, "Uh, hello. I'm Bobbie—and uh, I wanted to kn-know what it's like to be in a real battle? I sort of assumed y-you'd know ..." The lilac queen mewed with an awkward laugh, shifting on her paws. Stars, she was already regretting this a bit—it felt so awkward just approaching cats she didn't know like this. Hopefully he was as nice as he appeared.
​

 

[TWITCHBOLT]

Twitchbolt had never particularly chalked himself up as approachable. He'd certainly not been in his youth, a whirling apprentice with a fickle temper and a heap of unresolved annoyances. Daisyflight had eventually whopped him into som sort of shape, though- her patient but not lenient training had been what he had needed to learn to stick up for himself and to understand what an actual connection was supposed to be. Even then, though- he'd not broken away from the idea that something about him was fundamentally wrong. Like he had to earn the good relationships in his life, to deserve them-

So, when Bobbie approached him, he appeared to short circuit for a few moments. Wide olive eyes stared blankly for passing seconds, the amber-flecked one spasming with jittering surprise. She was talking to him. Like- actually. Coming up to him and asking for advice, which was- was not the way he was used to it all working. Eventually, though, Twitchbolt managed to snag a hold of his unravelling sense and reel it back in, winding it back together again. "Uh- oh, yeah, I've... I can tell you that. I'm, uh- Twitchbolt." She probably knew that already. He'd known her name. Why had he said that? "It's uh... a lot messier than a spar or training or anything like that. It's hard to... to remember battle moves and stuff, because there's so much happening, and- and you can't take too long to decide."

Battle was indeed one of the harder scenarios that warriors trained to deal with. It was one of the reasons that they trained for so long- to really ingrain that muscle memory, to hone your instincts. "But- you get... get trained to focus, to ... yeah, remember all those moves. It's hard, but... you learn to keep your wits about you." It was a rambling description, but- to punctuate it, a closed-mouth smile wobbled across Twitchbolt's lips. "If that, um... all makes sense." ​

penned by pin ✧​

 

[DOEBLAZE]

The queen waited somewhat nervously for the few seconds the warrior appeared to just sort of freeze up, staring blankly ahead with one brown-splashed eye twitching. Ah, perhaps this had been a bad idea after all—she knew the warriors inherently had less free time than her, and she didn't want to disturb that. She's relieved when he begins to speak, easing her tense nerves, and the queen seats herself with a polite glance to listen. Bobbie's pale green eyes are attentive and she listens with interest—her kits would be facing battle one day, and hopefully she would be as well, scary as it sounded.

Bobbie is more than a touch intimidated by the explanation—it sounds chaotic, difficult, but apparently with the correct training you can handle it fine. She's hoping one day she can receive that training, join battles, be able to protect the Clan as it has protected her. The lilac queen returns his smile hesitantly, nodding, "Sure, I think I g-get it. Not to keep taking up your time, but, um, what kind of th-things do you all learn in your training? If you don't mind my asking."
​

 

[TWITCHBOLT]

Twitchbolt relaxed a little as Bobbie confirmed she understood, and didn't... stare at him slack jawed, scream or run away in fear, cursing at him for scaring her so much. It was... a chaotic explanation of a chaotic scenario, but he would stand by previous words under interrogation. With the right training, anyone could learn to handle it.

The bicolour tom found her apologetic manner, sensitive to how much time she was taking up, sadly relatable. "Nn-no, it's okay. I- I know I don't really... look it, but I like talking to people." A genuine smile wobbling upon his lips punctuated his words, making his sincerity clear. Humour danced a little in his wide eyes. It was honestly true; it had taken him too long to learn that he enjoyed company, but- before Quillstrike had inserted himself into his life, before he'd been apprenticed to Daisyflight, he hadn't had much for good company.

"We learn... moves, through sparring and... and, practice. Like- my mentor taught me a lot about- about how to use the environment to my advantage. Kicking... sand in eyes and stuff. Or dirt." He wouldn't dump too much information on her all at once, spiralling into everything he had ever learned or would ever teach. It would be... intimidating, probably. That was the last thing he wanted to be.​

penned by pin ✧​

 

[DOEBLAZE]

Her nerves, leaping as always, are soothed a bit by the genuine if shaky (how relatable) smile upon the bicolor warrior's face and his words. It's odd, but it almost calms her a bit to be around another cat with the strange start-and-stop speech habit that often slips unbidden into her own words; it doesn't annoy her from other cats' mouths as much as it does from her own, she finds. Bobbie's happy to hear he enjoys conversation; perhaps she really can start making some friends besides the other nursery queens. Even if it makes her nervous, she herself likes to talk to other cats, to make friends—SkyClan offers a new variety of company she can keep, potential friends in a Clan so large she certainly still hasn't met everyone.

"Oh, wow," The queen's mew is soft but her eyes are wide with interest; she'd never thought of that sort of thing, but then again she'd never fought anyone either. Well, she hoped she'd be learning, even if her track to doing so might be a bit warped by the strange timeline of joining the Clan as an adult and raising her kits. Sparring and practice—well, she's certainly seen over her couple moons here how apprentices can go from squeaking kits to at least capable cats in the matter of a couple moons, although she supposes she won't have many virtues to begin with. No battle experience, and her small frame means she'll probably be having a harder time against the many hulking warrior her own new(ish) Clan and surely the others possess. She continues, tone lighter, "That sounds ... well, sc-scary but fascinating. I've certainly seen how pow-powerful apprenticeship is. It's like it turns kittens into better f-fighters and hunters than me in a matter of moons!"
​

 

[TWITCHBOLT]

It seemed the small kinship between them over stuttering anxiety and nervousness had, ironically, made both of them a little more comfortable. Unbeknownst to them both, they shared a kinship in annoyance over their own stammering speech. Twitchbolt's namesake twitches often irritated the bicolour tom more than they irritated anyone else, and that internalised frustration with himself was probably a contributing factor to why he short-circuited every time someone so much as told him good morning. It felt- odd, still, for someone to look at him with genuine interest, to seem truly as if they were listening to it.

By all means, it should not have felt strange by now. He'd plenty of friends, some extremely close. Why, why, why did it still feel so unbelievable?

He smiled genuinely despite the odd whirring in his mind about the why of it all, the reasoning behind something that was likely no deeper than a puddle. "It- you know, I've never really... looked at it that way," he murmured, tone light and thoughtful. "Like- I dunno, it's just always been my norm.. and it never sss-seemed powerful. But you're totally right." He meant it. It was amazing, in hindsight- the way any volatile kitten or shy child could eventually become capable of more than they could have fathomed mere weeks prior. Wide eyes lifted to look at her, then. "So- when, when your kittens are apprenticed... you're gonna train to be a warrior too?"

He knew Blazestar must have offered her the choice; and why would she be asking, if not? Immediately Twitchbolt felt a little stupid for wondering aloud, worried that she might take it as if he was expressing some disbelief in her. ​

penned by pin ✧​

 

[DOEBLAZE]

The lilac queen's rounded ears flutter attentively as the twitchy warrior speaks; she enjoyed to hear what other cats thought of her ideas, even if they were often rather stupid. Especially in relation to SkyClan—sometimes it felt as though the Clan's youngest wildborn kit knew more about it than she did. Twitchbolt's tone is thoughtful as he speaks, mulling over the idea; that'd he never thought of it that way surprised her, but she supposes it's all about what was normal to you. After all, Bobbie muses, she knew all too well there were cats in this forest that wouldn't just be surprised but openly disgusted with those who'd grown up wearing collars and eating kibble.

She's brought back to herself a little by his question; is she going to train to be a warrior? Bobbie recalls her walk with Blazestar earlier, their chat, and nods decisively; she glances away, unsure of whether his tone carries curiosity or disbelief. She wouldn't blame him for the latter; one look at her soft frame and slow movements betray the truth her scar-flecked pelt does not, that she has never been a warrior. The tabby gives hesitant voice to her thoughts, "Hopefully, once they're apprenticed, y-yes. Um ... Blazestar said that I could, that'd he'd h-help me." She pauses at this last, a delayed realization; unsure whether Blazestar would want her to divulge such things before they were official.
​

 

[TWITCHBOLT]

Her answer was silent but soon in arrival, a nod of affirmation that implied she did not particularly care to weigh her options. It was likely something she'd already thought about- being part of a Clan meant making those sorts of choices. Wide eyes fluttered closed with stuttering blinks as she spoke, head slightly tilting to the side. Blazestar had spoken to her, then, as he'd thought. Of course. Why would the leader not know what was going on? But- but, there was no harm in pondering, was there? Making conversation. Nice conversation, really. With someone who would eventually be a fellow warrior.

Blazestar said that I could, that he'd h-help me. Ears angled in interest; it probably wouldn't be a formal apprenticeship, Bobbie dressed up with the name Bobbiepaw, but it'd be of the same ilk. Probably. "Oh! Hey, then you've- you've got a good ss-start," he said, suffering from a twinge of the neck-muscle halfway through his words. Stupid twitch, he thought, and what level of self-berating it was- whether it was on a first-name basis- was lost to him in the heat of the moment. "One of my- my best friends, Butterflytuft, was trained by him. She'll- she'll tell you, you're in good paws." ​

penned by pin ✧​