TOUCH ME, MIDAS \ ashenpaw

[NETTLEPAW ♡]

Hunting was beginning to come quite naturally to Nettlepaw. Despite his bright pelt that rather stood out in the swamp's shadowy undergrowth, his paws were light and Nightswarm was teaching him to use them well- when he didn't catch prey, it was because of this rogue infestation. There wasn't any prey to find. Upon snowy features his grin sat effortlessly, clamping around a small frog- it'd be enough to feed a couple kits, at least. Rasping his tongue over one snowy paw, a realisation flickered in Nettlepaw's mind- there was another apprentice on this little hunting expedition, wasn't there?

Ashenpaw was a little older- one of Applepaw's siblings, one of the deputy's children. Where did that, by default, put him on the pecking-order? The popularity-list? Nettlepaw knew being the son of the medicine cat made him somewhat important- important enough to be paid attention to, at least. Thoughts of bloodlines didn't settle very long in the cinnamon tom's head, though... thinking about expectations only made him squirm a little.

It didn't take long for him to find the other apprentice- through the flesh of his prize, Nettlepaw offered a shiny grin. They'd not been far away from each other, it turned out. Didn't look like Ashen had picked anything up himself yet, though...

\ @ASHENPAW !!​

penned by pin ♡​

 

[ASHENFALL]

˚⊹₊‧ 𖦹 One of Applepaw's siblings and one of the deputy's children indeed. Ashenpaw was acutely aware of the so-called pecking order of the apprentice social hierarchy, its thorny vines wrapped themselves around him in the form of lingering eyes and whispered shreds of gossip. A deputy's child was privy to closer scrutiny in the way of talent, many among the masses of nasties would love to be afforded the chance to snicker at watching him fail. This, Ashenpaw was quite aware of. He wondered if the others knew this too, or if he was simply cursed with a uniquely keen eye.

He found little use in paying much attention to where all the others found themselves on the ladder. If pressed he would give a scoff and say with pride that he simply hated everyone equally, and oh wasn't he quite the egalitarian for it? Besides, he found that there was no bloodline that existed yet that made one immune to unbearability. So long as he himself sat comfortably near the top, what did he care about those who squabbled beneath him?

Ashenpaw was no natural at hunting, he was able to catch something small at least in the previous months of his apprenticeship, but the dropping temperatures combined with their recent thief problem led to him returning with empty paws more often than not. Either that or Ashenpaw had simply gotten worse at hunting. Which he could believe. Anyways...

"Someone's pleased with himself," he approached with a lazy stride and a half-sneer tossed easily at the younger apprentice—empty-jawed, as expected. Ashenpaw still had his extra couple of moons of growth on his side, it seemed, as he looked down his nose toward the brightly-hued little furball. Something glittered behind his half-lidded nonchalance—envy. Of course, the air-brained little bugger before him would be graced with the luck to have a frog hop right into his paws... He didn't have to look so smug about it when even the most experienced hunters weren't catching enough prey. "One whole frog? I'm impressed... Keep that up and the whole clan will be feasting from your paws for a moon...!"

FOLLOW THE TIDE ˚⊹₊‧ 𖦹 WITH THE MONSTERS ON YOUR SHOULDER

• OOC:
• 
• 
  — ashenkit . ashenpaw
  — trans male. he/him. 6mo apprentice of shadowclan
  — gay ; single
  — longhaired muted blue torbie with heterochromatic pale blue and amber eyes
  — smells like rainsoaked ferns and swamp milkweed
  — “speech”, thoughts, attack
  — fullbody by tropics
  — penned by eezy
  — currently in an era of grief and anger, approach with caution. all ic opinions!

​

 

[NETTLEPAW ♡]

Nettlepaw wasn't oblivious to the twist of a sneer on Ashenpaw's face, though only when he noticed it did he become conscious of the fact he'd just shown off. Not a likeable trait, was it? His smile was half-lazy, half-apologetic as he placed the frog onto the ground- though as Ashenpaw began to lather mock praise onto him, Nettlepaw decided to play along. He took a large stride forward, posing himself as if he were a great hero basking in the light of grovelling.

"Ah, thank you, thank you," he purred, faux-confidence shining from him so bright it only looked like the joke it was at second glance. He was sure he'd get all the genuine praise he needed from Nightswarm, later... but this was a little more fun than just being congratulated, and swiftly sent to replicate his success. "To hear this from you, Ashenpaw, means the world." There lay no hidden nastiness in his tone, but certainly a layer of sucrose that was too saccharine to be serious.

Earnestness gleamed in his eye not too long after. "It's just luck, really," he said, and he was not quite sure why he was trying to downplay it- when it was a good thing, when he was proud of himself. It felt like the right thing to do, though- because he was not sure he even wanted genuine praise.​

penned by pin ♡​

 

[ASHENFALL]

˚⊹₊‧ 𖦹 While Ashenpaw was used to being met with sneers, rolled eyes, or general disdain from those he teased, this particular victim met him squarely with a jest of his own. He was nearly taken aback—in all honesty, he expected Nettlepaw to have as little humor as the likes of snobby stick-in-the-mud Applepaw. Instead, the cinnamon apprentice puffed out his chest to bask in his faux-saccharine praise. The ghost of a smile quirked upon his face as his flash of bitterness cooled off to something less sour. Finally, someone who could stand to take a joooke, he had thought Shadowclan was filled to the brim with just a bunch of wet logs, so maybe Nettlepaw's good humor could prove him to be more useful than some of their more dull-eyed peers. "Anytime," he rasped, "It's the least I could say for Shadowclan's most prolific hunter."

Ashenpaw returned to his baseline of something akin to rote boredom and he rasped a tongue to his chest to brush off a stray pine needle as he looked at the younger apprentice's catch for a moment longer. Nettlepaw's attempt at humility was dismissed with an uninterested flick of an ear, "Oh I'm sure. Shadowclan's a place where luck goes to die, probably, so count yourself double-lucky for that. But anyways, Wonderboy, you should show me your winning hunting crouch, perhaps teach one of the lowly preyless a thing or two about it." Really, he was just bored and wanted another opportunity to find something to make fun of in his new companion, but who could say, maybe he was a prodigy crouch-and-jump-er... Doubtful. But an entertaining thought nonetheless.

FOLLOW THE TIDE ˚⊹₊‧ 𖦹 WITH THE MONSTERS ON YOUR SHOULDER

• OOC:
• 
• 
  — ashenkit . ashenpaw
  — trans male. he/him. 6mo apprentice of shadowclan
  — gay ; single
  — longhaired muted blue torbie with heterochromatic pale blue and amber eyes
  — smells like rainsoaked ferns and swamp milkweed
  — “speech”, thoughts, attack
  — fullbody by tropics
  — penned by eezy
  — currently in an era of grief and anger, approach with caution. all ic opinions!

​

​

 

[NETTLEPAW ♡]

Most prolific hunter. Nettlepaw snickered- it was nice to have someone to bounce off of. Someone who knew he was joking and could joke right back. Because yes, maybe what Ashenpaw often came out with was tinged with the spice of sarcasm, but it was humour even in its dryness. He could appreciate that, and did visibly, a smile swift to occupy his face in genuineness and glimmer with satisfaction at their verbal rally.

What Ashenpaw said next- other than calling him Wonderboy, which made him laugh- sounded a lot less like a joke. Did he actually want that? Nettlepaw didn't like to do things other people didn't want him to do- which seemed like it would be an obvious trait. But it all stemmed from that leeching force in his brain, telling him tirelessly that he needed people to like him. And a way to do that was to follow with their whims, and Ashenpaw was looking at him expectantly.

"Well, you just..." Nettlepaw clicked his tongue. The words did not flow to him as easily as they had mere moments before. "You just..." Trailing off again, the cinnamon-and-white tom figured that explaining it was not the way to go. "Like this."

He demonstrated, dropping into a fairly passable hunting crouch, but he'd done very little to explain how he'd gotten into it. Immediately aware of his lack of talent in this area, Nettlepaw snorted, attempting to shrug off the small failure like raindrops running down his back. "Oh, I'll be a mentor in no time." ​

penned by pin ♡​