pafp WE DANCED BAREFOOT IN THE GRASS [ ✦ ] chasing a butterfly

[Bluepool]

No matter what is going on in WindClan at the present moment, life continues on. Patrols needed to be attended to, the fresh-kill pile needed to be stocked and no matter what Bluepool intends to live. So she goes about her business as usual, despite the gnawing sense of dread that hangs over them like a sinking sun over the moors. She takes out patrols, she trains her apprentice, and most importantly, she refuses to allow the melancholy of recent times to bring her down.

Golden hour sweeps over the soft rolling hills, turning WindClan's territory into a dream-like landscape. It is in moments like these that she can appreciate the true beauty of the world around her and she stops at the top of a hill to soak it all in, wind tugging softly at her fur and carrying with it all sorts of scents. A rabbit to the west, a twoleg and their dog moving through the fields of horseplace, far enough away from them that it poses no threat. She closes her eyes and soaks it all in, allowing herself to just be in the moment before the rest of her patrol catches up to her. She was always moving so fast.

When she opens her eyes, a butterfly dances past her vision and immediately she drops into a hunters crouch. Like she is a kit again, she bats at the fluttering creature. It flits higher into the air, desperate to escape her claws though her intention is not to kill it. Still, as it dives away from her she finds herself perusing, laughter on her tongue as she bounds into the heather after it. "Im gunna get yoouuu!" she proclaims as it flies in a circle around her, as if it knows they are playing some game and is playing back. She spins around in circles until she feels dizzy and collapses into the dust, giggling at her own foolishness. The butterfly alights on the top of her head where it perches while she tries to regain her senses.

// please wait for @FEATHERPAW

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[FEATHERSPINE]

The territory was beautiful, but Featherpaw saw it as useless to pause and fawn over. It was pretty, and that was a fact, but- she needed to focus on her training. Already had he fallen behind, jostled from his home and forced to be a late apprentice, despite how ardently he had prepared for it. Now he was here, yet- it felt as if he wasn't moving fast enough. Hunting was easier, a kill had been made- he was faster now, built with more stamina...

But Bluepool didn't even care. It was a bitter thought, and arose as soon as he saw his mentor bounding after a butterfly like some sort of kit. Why, why did she think there was time for this? He was fine, making fine progress, but fineness wouldn't ensure his life, it wouldn't craft him into the perfect protector. Being average wasn't good enough, and he couldn't excel without the guidance of his mentor. One who was now doing nothing but wasting time.

"You're embarrassing yourself," Featherpaw hissed, absolutely taken aback. Her bewilderment was a sun-sharp flicker in her gaze, a shard of ice in the lantern-yellow. Her jaw only dropped further as Bluepool dropped to the ground. "Did you buh... buh... bang your head?" Anger was ill disguised in the bristle of Featherpaw's back fur. What an utter wast of time- he should squish that butterfly, and hit Bluepool in the face while he was at it.​

✦ penned by pin​

 

[GRAVELSNAP]

It’s strange wandering the territory without their own apprentice at their side. They hadn’t noticed just how much Thriftfeather had become a part of their daily life; without the younger tom at their side, Gravelsnap feels as though something is missing. The black-patched warrior tries not to appear nervous as they walk alongside Featherpaw and Bluepool, but they’re sure that their tense posture and slumped shoulders isn’t helping their case. At least the mentor-apprentice pairing makes for good company—when they aren’t butting heads, it seems.

Featherpaw berates her mentor for being embarrassing while Bluepool spins around and around until the flops onto the ground. "Bluepool, what are you doing?" They take a hesitant step toward the she-cat, head tilted quizzically to the side. "The butterfly isn’t prey." They hate to agree with the bad-tempered apprentice, but they do wonder whether the she-cat has bumped her head on something, somehow. Why else would she think that chasing a butterfly is necessary?​

[ you put the fun into dysfunction ]​

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[Bluepool]

Red fur appears over the rise, sun shining down and surrounding her apprentice with an ethereal glow. It would be a beautiful sight if not for the permanent frown that seems to cross her face. 'You're embarrassing yourself' he says and Bluepool lets out a laugh and when she does the butterfly indignantly flits off of her head, she watches it go for only a moment before turning her attention back to her apprentice and her patrol mates. "Funny, I don't feel embarrassed" she says, smile still present on her face even when Gravelsnap appears and asks what she is doing.

Weren't these cats supposed to be young? Weren't they supposed to be full of life. "I'm just having a bit of fun, living a little. You two should try it some time!" maybe if they let go and enjoyed themselves every once in awhile then it wouldn't always be such doom and gloom to them. That was the problem with today's youth, she thinks. Things had been hard for so long, they didn't know that life was also meant for more than just work. "If we cannot let go and enjoy ourselves every once in awhile, if you spend your whole life working your tail off and focus solely on just survival every single day, then have you ever truly lived?" she asks, her voice growing serious for a moment, her eyes narrowing and her scrappy tail flicking behind her furiously as an idea comes over her. A wicked smile blooms on her face. "How about we race? Last cat to make it to horseplace has to clean the fresh-kill pile when we get home!" it had not been picked through in a while and shes certain there's a particularly rank piece of prey rotting in there somewhere based off the smell that had assaulted her nostrils this morning. With little other warning she quickly shouts "OKAYREADYSETGO!" then takes off, laughter pealing from her lips as she runs.

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