THE SIXTH STATION \ growth spurt

[FERNGILL]

The sky was aflame with the wild paint-streaks of dawn, beckoning him from his bed. A yawn split Fernpaw's maw as he heaved himself to his oversized paws, bulging and bleary eyes finding the fresh kill pile as he emerged into the youthful daylight. His stomach growled as soon as his vision befell the pile... he'd not eaten yesterday, had he? Might be a good job to start the day off with something, even if it was just a minnow... if he worked while starving he'd never make any progress.

The ginger tom had never been particularly fond of eating in front of people; he'd always favoured secluded spots where no-one would join him, and he headed to one as he carried his breakfast- a little nook, cradles by the branches of a bush. It was small enough that he would just about fit in there with very little work.

Completely on autopilot, he strode toward his reprieve and was met with a whack to the face, one of the branched whipping him right between the eye. Fernpaw scrabbled backward all of a sudden, eyes wide in stupefaction as if he could barely fathom what had just happened. In the process he'd somehow managed to fall to his haunches.

The branch did not look broken, made lower by a snap or something. But... "I swear I used to fit under that just fine..." he murmured, bafflement clear upon his face. Over the moons he'd gotten used to being comically undersized, though... come to think of it, he found he'd been craning his neck a bit less recently...​

✦ penned by pin ✦​

 

[iciclefang]

Her brother had numerous quirks. Both of them, really, with their collections of bits and ends, Darkpaw with his pebble and Fernpaw with his sharp and bumpy nest. Every shiny object under the sun. She and Steeppaw, she likes to think, are of the more practical sort. When she'd been younger, she'd thought of that sort of silliness strictly as a tomcat thing; she likes to think she's learned better, but, well... none of the males in her family have managed to convince her otherwise yet.

She watches with some amusement as Fernpaw scrapes a minnow into his mouth and tries to pad into the hiding spot where he eats his prey. Iciclepaw never thinks twice about tucking into her fresh-kill into the middle of camp, grooming herself promptly, and then getting up to go do something else. Her brother likes his privacy, though, so she makes no move to approach him.

Until he's whacked in the face, falling abruptly onto his haunches. "I swear I used to fit under that just fine..." Iciclepaw lets out a snort of laughter, padding to him to make fun of him... except she suddenly realizes he is taller. Taller than her, even.

Iciclepaw frowns in genuine surprise. "When did this happen?" She lifts a white-tipped paw and raises it, as though to measure Fernpaw from his ears.​

[ PENNED BY MARQUETTE ]​

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[LILYBLOOM.]

From her spot in camp, Lilybloom watches as her brother picks a minnow from the fresh-kill pile and takes it to one of his more secluded spots to eat in private. Some might have found it odd, but Lilybloom is used to it by now, just seeing it as another of his quirks.

She thinks nothing of the situation until he gets whacked in the face and stumbles backwards in surprise. A snort of laughter erupts from her sister, and Lilybloom had to admit she was smirking a little. Like her younger sister, she pads over to speak with her brother, who is very insistant he uses to fit. Next to her, Iciclepaw holds a paw against their brother, measuring him ears to tail. As she does so, Lilybloom can understand why her sister was so surprised. Fernpaw used to be so small, fairly undersized in comparison to his littermates. "When did you start getting so big, Ferny?" Lilybloom smiled fondly, looking her brother up and down. Her green eyes flicker between the two of her siblings. "You're both getting so big now," She said wistfully. Lilybloom could still remember the day when her younger siblings had been born, tiny and defenseless. Now look at them, they were almost fully grown. "You'll be warriors soon."​

 

[RAVENSONG]

Ravenpaw had formed an unlikely, somewhat stable connection to Fernpaw. Although the ginger apprentice was unsightly, his temperament was kind and Ravenpaw felt more comfortable around him than a handful of the other apprentices.

Ravenpaw was naturally tall, thanks to his mother's half, so most of the other cats stood a little below him. He dwarfed Fernpaw in that manner, but it was difficult to note the passage of time and change in one day. Alerted by the commotion, Ravenpaw slowly approached the siblings, eyes flickering over the way Iciclepaw held her paw up to test the height.

"If that's the case, then congratulations." Ravenpaw smiled with one side of his mouth. He could afford to be happy with his friend. Yes, friend, perhaps.

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[dovethroat.]

Though perhaps it would be improper to refer to Dovepaw as Ravenpaw's shadow, there was no denying that he tended to tag along with the other apprentice, especially when it came to such social outings as this. If he was not with Ravenpaw, chances are he was not doing anything at all. That was a little bit embarrassing, though, to grapple with, so he tended to not think about it in such an in-depth manner.

That did not mean the idea was silenced in his mind, though.

He was the same age or younger as everyone present, and yet he had not gone through such a fabled "growth spurt". He was an apprentice of middling size, if that. One could even call him small. Short. One of the two.

Making an odd sort of humming noise, Dovepaw's gaze tracked over to measure where his eyes fell on Ravenpaw's side. He came up a bit shorter than he would have liked, he thought with a huff.

[⋆]​

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[FERNGILL]

His head whipped around at the sound of Iciclepaw's laughter- Lilybloom too was closing in. Oh, great. Two out of three sisters to come and poke fun of him- but, whatever had been lingering in Iciclepaw's throat seemed to disappear. Incredulity took over for her, and it seeped into him as he answered her and Lilybloom's questions with a cry of "I dunno!" His oldest sister's surprise promptly died down however as she cooed with pride. He was still just a kit to her, he supposed- but he stood a little taller than a kit now. A lot taller. How had it taken him this long to notice?

He was not big by any means- still fairly slim and small, but his paws had seemed much bigger a few weeks ago, and... well, he felt like he looked a little more right today than he ever had. Like his body fit him, for once. As Ravenpaw approached, he offered his friend- his friend- a toothy smile, and- was it Dovepaw, behind him, would too receive a glance. "I thought I was gonna be, like- tiny forever!" A cheery chime, he bounced to his paws again, ugly pond-water eyes glimmering with the starlight of happiness. This could mean a real change was coming. That he'd finally start catching up.​

✦ penned by pin ✦​