TO ASHES AND BLOOD | viperpaw

[SOOTSPOT]

I accept the challenge.

He had not paid much attention to Snakehiss' kittens, the clan had been too forgiving of their father's sins, the idea that they were separate whilst he was forced to wear his mother's pelt nauseating to a heart that seldom stirred for much. That simple phrase from Viperpaw made Sootspot decide he did not like his new apprentice. He had put off a conversation with him for days, wrestling with the two futures he had in mind for the tortoiseshell - even now, he had not made up his mind whether it was worth sculpting Viperpaw into greatness or tossing him aside like a botched creation.

Snakehiss' death had given him... not quite empathy, but opportunity; emotional fragility was easier to work with than blind heroism.

"I understand we have not properly talked. Though he was not in your life for long, a piece of you died last moon - I did not wish to push you." Sootspot stood at the Tunnel entrance's edge, studying his apprentice's reaction with an appropriately cordial smile. No one had seemed happy for him to get another apprentice, it made his blood boil and claws curl into the soil. 'They don't deserve the devotion I show them.' Isolation cut like a knife, deeper than ever now that he knew his kittens were growing up and would have less time for him. When love retreated further and further into the very marrow of one's being, it became all too easy to convince oneself that the fear a crown brought was the only way to become something. "Will you be distracted now?"

/ @VIPERPAW
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[VIPERPAW]

*+:｡.｡ Viperpaw wasn't surprised by Sootspot's avoidance - evildoers, even those currently not doing evil things, would always gravitate away from the forces of good! And Sootspot, for as loyal as he seemed to be to Windclan now had the propensity for badness in him. After all, Viperpaw knew all about his stint as his mother's right-hand man! He was named after his tyrannical mother, too, so surely her blood coursed...evilly...through him...could blood do that? Probably! Either way, the point stood that Viperpaw would fix him and bring him to the light, but only when he was ready! After all, one shouldn't just yank a weasel out of its burrow by its tail - that'd just lead to a scratched-up face and an angrier weasel!

Viperpaw, thus, was more than a little excited when his weasel-mentor poked his nose into the sunlight and finally came to talk to his new apprentice. Sitting up straight, he met the man with a glowing, toothy smile and prepared his little it starts with baby steps speech...Only to flinch,
"Um, no. It didn't." The words feel dry on his tongue, spoken careful and quiet, "My dad...I grieved his death when he got himself exiled. I've had plenty of time to get over it." Did a part of him die when Snakehiss's body was recovered? Viperpaw...didn't think so. He didn't want it to be so. He...wasn't sure if that was a good thing or not.

But you know what is a good thing?

"BUT THAT'S SO THOUGHTFUL OF YOU TO WORRY ABOUT ME!" Viperpaw suddenly shouts, a lightning bolt of energy on a dry afternoon. He curls his tail amicably, bumping his shoulder against his new mentor's as he cries, "You're practically already there! Guess there won't be TOO much for me to teach you! BUT ILL STILL TRY!" he snickers, trotting a few steps ahead.

"Distracted? ME!? NEVER!" he exclaims, whirling back around to face Sootstar's son, chartreuse eyes aglow with determination, "IM READY TO LEARN WHENEVER! Ill be the best apprentice you'll ever have, just wait!"

*+:｡.｡ Updated 10/11/24

• "SPEECH"
  
  
  GENERAL:
  ☁ Viperpaw
  ☁ DFAB— He/Him
  ☁ 10 moons
  ☁ Son of Snakehiss and Berrysnap
  ☁ Brother to Rowanpaw, Snakepaw and Privetpaw
  ☁ Windclan — Tunneler's apprentice
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  COMBAT:
  ☁Physically easy | mentally medium
  ☁Attack in bold white
  ☁ None currently

 

[SOOTSPOT]

He tilted his head curiously at the immediate shift in his apprentice, blinking as if studying a well-worn book. 'Predictably, you are uncomfortable when discussing your father.' It was useful to know that Viperpaw's everything was likely caused by an absent father figure, momentarily, he was reminded of Downyfur, the loyalty she held to him because he'd been able to be what she lacked. When his eyes refocused upon the tortoiseshell, they couldn't help but twitch - he was an excellent actor, but he may have found a limit to his talent with this apprentice - it would be an insult to call him a son when his real one had so much more potential.

A sudden yell confirmed his theory, his ears swiveling back and his nostrils flaring. He took a deep breath and forced a smile upon his muzzle, counting to ten within a rattled head. "I care about my clanmates," Sootspot said, not caring about his clanmates. His limbs stiffened as shoulder bumped into shoulder, an awkward cough escaping him, a jolt of anger piercing his heart as he was left to consider what in StarClan's name a child could teach him. 'Already there for what?' Curiosity was the only reason he hadn't introduced Viperpaw to the waters of the gorge by now, that, and it would look bad on him for a new apprentice to die so soon.... but Stars... could he really wait 6 moons to be rid of his new sidekick?

He swallowed the most poisonous of his words behind a stare and unpleasant daydreams, only to be reminded of the woeful present he was in as Viperpaw declared himself to be the best apprentice he'd ever have. 'You are a speck of rot upon Downyfur's bloom. You will never be better than her.' "That remains to be seen," he purred as stress relief, slipping past the tortoiseshell and into the tunnels where he wouldn't have to see his face. There was no doubt the other would follow, StarClan was not merciful enough to send a cave-in to separate them.

"What do you already know about being a warrior? I need to know if I have any hopes of teaching you something new." Already, he regretted the question.
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