THERE'S A LION IN THE WARDROBE [ ✦ ] Nettlepaw

[Halfsun]

The other kits from the different clans were sometimes fun to play with. She likes a few of them but of course, their were also kits she [i[didn't[/i] like thrown into the mix and sometimes she just wants to play one on one, she doesn't want so many others butting in and joining but she knows if she asks one of her siblings to play with her, all the other kits would be interested and want to play too. Halfkit couldn't help that she was so cool, that everyone wanted to be her friend. But man, it was exhausting sometimes. So she set out to find the first cat that came to mind when she thought of someone who was worthy as a playmate.

Nettlepaw. He hadn't minded when she had scared him, after all. He had played along, even, laughed. She already found him tolerable but the fact that he was willing to play with her in such a way despite being an apprentice now made her like him even more. He was cool, in her eyes, and she was not too terribly far behind him. Soon, they would be apprentices together, they would train together, sleep in the same den and share the same meals. It only made sense for her to try to get to know the cats she would have to beat in her quest to become the greatest ShadowClan warrior to have ever lived, so she seeks him out.

"Nettlepaw?" she coos as she draws nearer "I was just wondering... since you're such a cool apprentice... could you help me with my hunting stuff?" flattery is a trick that has never failed her before, and if she wanted to become the best in the forest she needed an early start to her training. It didn't hurt to have a little fun while doing it right?

// @NETTLEPAW

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[NETTLEPAW ♡]

Nettlepaw's blood buzzed with a certain thrill ha hadn't felt before. Boisterous banter with the other apprentices had kept the fire beneath his entertainer's nature burning, and never did he tire of joking around. From Nightswarm and other warriors he earned displeased looks every once in a while, but disdain rolled off his back like boulders down a cliff. What he knew was that he felt contented in most company, ShadowClan or not. He'd never leave the marsh- oh, for there was so much to love here- but that didn't mean he ad to be miserable while they had visitors. What a lousy host he'd be, then!

A cool apprentice, said Halfkit. Yes, that was the branding he'd like to blandish from the mouths of everyone eventually, but for now he'd brandish simply this designation. The grin set upon is snowy features was easy to give, easy to bear. It was a blankness and a fullness all at once.

"Oh, how did you know all I needed in exchange was a little something-nice said about me?" he giggled. Yes, yes... the flattery might be obvious, but that did not mean it felt bad. Out of a youthful mouth the intention was a little bit obvious, but he figured the words stemmed from somewhere genuine. Kits didn't bother being nice, because they didn't really have to be- they were loved unconditionally anyways. "Let's see your crouch, then. My expectations are up with StarClan."​

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[Halfsun]

Flattery, it seems, to have worked perfectly on the cinnamon furred tom. Just like she had thought it would. When he asks how she could have possibly known that such a maneuver would win his favor she laughs. "Because, silly, it's something that would work on me!" she teases good naturedly. Everyone liked to be complimented, Halfkit was just getting very good at exploiting her silken tongue in order to get things that she wanted, and right now she wanted to learn and also to play, to be moons ahead of her training before she even started it but also to have fun while she did it.

He asks to see her hunting crouch, tells her that his expectations are high and she cannot help it, she laughs again. "Okay okay, but you have to like pretend to be a mouse otherwise it won't work! You pretend to be a mouse and I'll be the fierce hunter who is going to catch you." how else were her totally awesome instincts supposed to kick in if she had nothing to hunt?

Regardless of if he actually plays along with her demands or not, she drops into her best mockery of the hunting crouch she had seen other apprentices practice in the camp occasionally. It is close to the real thing, but it is clear she is slightly off balance, that she isn't completely certain what to do with her paws, but she feigns confidence enough that if one didn't look too terribly hard they could be fooled into thinking she knows what she is doing.

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[NETTLEPAW ♡]

Pretend to be a mouse? Sounded fun, sounded doable. He was beginning to blossom into a master of performance, after all- and a mouse would not be a very demanding role. "Alright. Can't dare to risk it not working," he agreed with dramatic flair, crouching and scrunching himself up as minuscule as he could possibly manage. Shoving his nose into the dirt, he took a hefty huff of it, acting like a snuffling rodent in a way he hoped would make Halfkit giggle.

"Squeak! Squeak!" he shuffled around, spinning in a circle- out the corner of his eye, he saw her hunting crouch. Not too shabby at all- in fact, it was pretty impressive. But he was a mouse, he couldn't tell her that... what a shame! "Oh, I'm a lowly mouse with a kitten-claw-sized brain... I sure hope no fierce apprentices burst out of the shadows and steal me from this mortal plane...!" Oh, and it rhymed! Being a whimsical, dumb little creature was quite fun... too bad it was destined to be short-lived.​

penned by pin ♡​

 

[Halfsun]

Nettlepaw's attempt to make her laugh works, it escapes from her maw before she can stop it though she knows that if the cinnamon furred apprentice were real prey she would need to be quiet in order to catch him. For the sake of fun though she hopes he is willing to let the slip go. "Mice don't talk silly!" she calls out to him but it is clear by her tone of voice and the glint in her eyes that she is teasing, that she has found amusement in his words and that she was simply poking back before she 'hunted' him.

She gathers her hindquarters and with what is supposed to be a fierce yowl but comes out as more of a squeak she barrels into him, if her attack is successful they would tumble around in the dirt for a little bit before Halfkit would spring back up, hopefully on top of Nettlepaw. "Did I do it? How was I? If you were a mouse do you think you'd be like... dead?" she does not move to let him up but if he wanted, he could easily push her off.

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[NETTLEPAW ♡]

Mice don't talk silly! "How do you know? You've only ever seen dead ones," Nettlepaw giggled, still employing his high-pitched mouse voice. It's teasing right back- the employment of a shillelagh in your jaws, batting the banter back like airborne moss-balls. A war-cry spilt from her maw then, a squealing sound flooding from her- he could tell it was supposed to be something ferocious, and Nettlepaw made no effort to dart away from her grasp. He was perfectly content allowing her a small victory at his own expense.

He laid motionless under her paws, eyes rolling back dramatically. In a dramatic flair, he convulsed his body and let some melodramatic choking sounds scraps out of his throat. "So dead. The dead-est mouse you've ever seen." A confident assertion, of course. Why would he bother criticising her, anyway? He wasn't her mentor, nor a warrior, nor particularly interested in picking apart the specific foundations that made a perfect hunting crouch. "Oh, but I was a stupid mouse... maybe a smarter mouse would have lived... waaaauuuughhhhh...." ​

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