pafp WHO WAS IT THAT PULLED THE TRIGGER? [🐦‍⬛] spar gone wrong

[LAVENDERPAW]

ooc - permission given to powerplay!! cw for ptsd flashbacks, depictions of a panic attack and discussion of past abuse. the start is marked with a ✵

It begins like any other sparring match with Puddlepaw. Even though she's taken a life now, Lavenderpaw still gives them both the indulgence of letting her circle him for a while if she so wishes. It's a comforting normalcy he wants to offer them both, after the upheaval in the wake of her first kill. But they're both distracted. Distraction leads to accidents.

They're almost of the same height, despite Lavenderpaw being older, so he has to reach to cuff her upside the head. It would have been a harmless decision were Puddlepaw not as tangled up in her own mind as she is, off-kilter, not fully here. Later, when his mind has cleared, he'll reflect that a part of her must still be standing over that ThunderClan apprentice's lifeless body with empty eyes. She's not well. It makes her sloppy.

She ducks with a speed that impresses him for a split second -- but then her claws dig into the soft flesh where his foreleg meets his torso, and a spike of sheer panic stabs through his entire body.

✵ He's a kit again. Freshly orphaned, his Nonna is the only adult he has, her claws are piercing his underarm as he squeals in pain. He doesn't understand what he did, why she's hurting him, until she pins him and stares into his eyes: This is the only way to love in the wild. Betrayal, confusion, fear, it's Puddlepaw standing in front of him, he can see her as clear as day, part of him knows it's only her -- but he feels like it's Nonna. Please stop. Please stop. Please stop.

Lavenderpaw reels back from her, his chest heaving. "N-no -- I'm sorry, please --" This is the only way to love in the wild. It's not his fault, she's the one who hurt him, but he's done something wrong, he wasn't good enough, he squealed when she told him to grit his teeth and bear it. "Please --"

Vision blurs, and Lavenderpaw is gone.

"Get away. From him!" The voice is Lavenderpaw's, but the smoothness is gone, replaced by guttural hostility. Flattened ears, a tense defensive posture. "Back. Back! He can't do this again." He has to protect him. It's what he was made for. He blinked into existence one day, Lavenderpaw's will to live personified, and shouldered the worst of the pain and fear. The young molly standing in front of him is a threat, one he'll incapacitate and escape from if necessary.

A commotion breaks out -- strangers to him, gathering around to gawk at Lavenderpaw's pain. His claws flex. Should take out. Their eyes! Get away from us! There's too many of them, but he readies himself for a fight anyway.

ooc - he's finally here. my boy!! @Puddlepaw

✵

LAVENDERPAW. ㅤBIOGRAPHYㅤ/ㅤTOYHOU.SE
✦cis male (he/him)ㅤ/undetermined sexuality, padding after stonestrike
✦ㅤ9 moons oldㅤ/ㅤages realistically, every 16th of the month
✦ㅤapprentice of shadowclan for 3 moons
✦ㅤrosa x thymeㅤ/ㅤraised by his nonna
✦ㅤmentoring n/aㅤ/ㅤmentored by halfsun
✦ㅤpenned by solaireㅤ/ㅤmessage aurumbones on discord for plots!

lavenderpaw is a small, spiky-furred black smoke tom. the pupils of his sunlight-amber eyes are ringed in icy periwinkle. his paws and the bridge of his nose are startlingly white against his dark pelt. the tips of his ears are frostbitten, and a thin scar is visible on his forehead above his right eye. his clanmates know him as a reserved, solitary shadow around camp.

 

[Puddlepaw]

It feels stupid, to be allowed the curtsey of circling Lavanderpaw. She knows real battle now, actual conflict. She shouldn't be allowed to do this, part of her thinks to complain but deep down she knows it's to be nice. And it is that, nice. To act for a moment that things are the same, and yet as she circles him she mistakes marsh for a forest flooring. The slight spritz of rain to be that of spittle from someone nearby, crouching and hissing. Her mind isn't all here, as she finds to keep happening since that fight. The timing is off and for a moment it feels too real, the cuffing of her ear carries a concern that shouldn't be there.

They move simultaneously, claws reaching out to stop and instead meeting that of soft tissue. She retracts them almost instantly, there is friction which no doubt worsens the jolt of painful memories. Something the non-empathic apprentice can truly understand, instead she focuses on landing. Backing away so he might not try to retaliate, though there isn't time before he himself reels. "What?" Why is he apologising? shouldn't that be her doing right now? "No, Lavenderpaw" she sighs, a bitter remark left on her tongue, the same she had given Myrtlepaw. She knows what she's doing- gives herself time to stop it. "Do not apologise, that was my blunder" a fawn paw digs at the ground awkwardly, she does not apologise often so she feels out of practice.

The she-cat approaches, in an attempt to maybe try and persuade him? Comfort? No that doesn't sound right. "Lavenderpaw-" Someone else speaks, someone she doesn't know. Wholly unfamiliar yet wearing the skin of Lavenderpaw still. She flinches as if she's been struck, reeling from the revelation. A thoughtful frown finds her maw as she remains where she stands. "It was an accident" she isn't yelling, yet it's an active above her normal dull tone. A bitter part of her regards him poorly, if he didn't want to risk injury then why offer to spar? Did he think her to be weak? There's that slight lash of a tail that indicates that she's upset yet she forces herself to be neutral.

"What are you talking about?" The confusion in her voice is genuine, surely it's still Lavenderpaw. Her attention never diverted from him, there's no way he could have been replaced by some identical twin. ​

​

The song is loud and beautiful and I am so very afraid

PUDDLEPAWㅤBIOGRAPHYㅤ/ㅤTOYHOU.SE
: ̗̀➛ㅤfemale (she / her)ㅤ/ㅤunknown sexuality
: ̗̀➛ㅤ07 moons oldㅤ/ㅤages realistically, every 8th of the month
: ̗̀➛ㅤapprentice of ShadowClan for 02 moons
: ̗̀➛ㅤSister of Buzzardpawㅤ/ㅤApprentice of Wormwatcher
: ̗̀➛ㅤpenned by Juiceㅤ/ㅤmessage Ouijeejuice on discord for plots!

A slick rosette fawn tabby / rosette black tabby chimera. Quiet and calculating, struggles being able to describe or identify her own or others emotions. All opinions are IC as she can be quite harsh in her judgements.​

​

 

[Halfsun]

Halfsun watches in silence, her mismatched eyes locked onto the sparring apprentices, tracking every movement with an unwavering intensity. Every shift of weight, every mistimed strike, every faltering step—she absorbs it all, dissecting Lavenderpaw's technique with a critical eye. Her lips press into a thin line, her gaze narrowing as she notes the flaws in his form. He fights well, but not well enough. He needs to be sharper, more controlled. Stronger.

Across from him, Puddlepaw moves with a wild, unrefined energy—her strikes heavy and reckless, burdened by something deeper than mere frustration. Halfsun doesn't need to guess what it is. She knows the weight that sits on the young she-cat's shoulders, the quiet horror that lingers in her bones after taking a life. A part of her knows Puddlepaw shouldn't have to carry that burden so soon, but pity doesn't stir in her heart. Halfsun had learned young—far younger than Puddlepaw—that survival meant accepting the reality of death. If it was their life or yours, hesitation would only ensure your own downfall. Still, that kind of thinking has no place in a sparring match.

She is momentarily distracted as a clanmate mutters something in her direction. Irritated, she turns with a sharp hiss, "Quiet. I'm trying to—" Then a cry pierces the air. The scent of iron follows in its wake, flooding her senses, and the world sharpens into startling focus. "What?" The word tumbles from her maw, more breath than sound, as she snaps her head back toward the scene. Lavenderpaw stands defensively, breath coming fast, and Halfsun's heart clenches at the tension in his posture. Back. Back. He can't do this again. Panic and confusion coils in her stomach, a sharp and burning thing, but she tamps it down before it can take root. She moves, stepping forward with purpose, closing the distance between them.

"It's alright, Lavenderpaw. I'm here. We'll get you to Marbleleaf." Her voice is steady, even as she brushes past Puddlepaw without so much as a glance. She isn't sure if the wound was an accident or an act of carelessness, but either way—her claws never should have been out in the first place. "Puddlepaw." Her tone is firm, leaving no room for argument. "Go find your mentor and tell him you need something else to do for the rest of the day." A flick of her tail dismisses her. Whatever lesson Puddlepaw hoped to learn from this match was over.

( ˚₊· ͟͟͞͞➳❥ ) smile for me when you set me free

• 
  
  
• 
  HALFSUN SHADOWCLAN WARRIOR; SHE / HER ; SISTER TO APPLEJAW, ASHENFALL, SWANSONG, GARLICHEART, AND LAURELGRIN ; MENTORING LAVENDERPAW
  

  A tall and well-toned she cat with a long half-and half pelt, one side being a dark blue tabby and the other a bright cream, split by a pool of white at her center and travelling up her face like flames she is fire and ice simultaneously swirling into one. Her eyes are a mismatched shade of blue, with one being bright like the daytime sky and the other dark like the depths of the river.

  ✦ Difficult in battle + a skilled fighter
  

 

[RAINBOWPAW]

✎ Rainbowpaw had been on the sidelines absorbing the battle techniques shown by both of the apprentices and his ears angle forward as he makes a quiet mental note of it all, he could see that Lavenderpaw's mentor is there as well and he watches as claws make contact with skin. The two-toned tom blinks the surprise out from his gaze when the older apprentice begins to overreact which causes his eyebrow to raise in the slightest and a frown seems to pull at his lips as he wonderss what will happen next. The older tom starts to talk funny and refer to himself in the third person does it cause him scrunch up his snout in further confusion, he doesn't know what the issue is with the dark tom but he seems to be a broken fellow. Oh, how unfortunate of Halfsun to be cursed with such a broken little apprentice instead of someone less tattered and ruined.

The older molly seems to be quick in dismissing Puddlepaw of which he thinks is quite unfair, surely, his peer hadn't meant any true harm towards the older apprentice and it makes him think if the other was so fidgety over a mere spar... Well, how would he be able to handle a real battle? He wouldn't and surely, Lavenderpaw would simply become another bloodied body on the battlefield that the clan would mourn. A real shame. Rainbowpaw's keen enough to keep these hurtful thoughts to himself simply seeing an opportunity to take the chimera molly for himself so that the two of them could train togethre again, if she bared teeth or brandished claws at him, he wouldn't flinch and would simply call it an accident as it is in this situation.

He'd return the favor and call it even then the both of them would march off to Marbleleaf's quarters to ensure the wound didn't get infected or lick it clean with their tongues and hope it doesn't kill them. Of course, they wouldn't be fatal blows... They're partners in crime, allies, and have settled on a truce. The monochrome tom pushes himself to his paws as he nears the scene but his copper eyes are focused on Puddlepaw as he ignores both the pathetic apprentice and his truly unfortunate mentor, his voice may be blunt but the words are a hint sweet like honey dripping slowly from the comb "Come along, Puddlepaw."

His fluffy tail brushing against her flank lightly to coax her forward to leave this pitiful creature and his mentor in favor of sparring or training with him instead "Let's go train together," Rainbowpaw wouldn't let her wallow in any further guilt than she needed to especially when the only other adult present seemed to be so blind, she had been distracted for a heartbeat, what did Halfsun know? Nothing. The large tom's certain that his mother wouldn't mind having the fawn and night furred molly training alongside him anyways, he doubts that she would argue about it and would encourage it if anything.

☄. *. ⋆

RAINBOWPAWㅤBIOGRAPHYㅤ/ㅤTOYHOU.SE
✦ㅤcis male (he / him)ㅤ/ㅤasexual biromantic, taken by n/a
✦ㅤ6 moons oldㅤ/ㅤages realistically, every 8th of the month
✦ㅤapprentice of shadowclan for 0 moons
✦ㅤternstar x snakehissㅤ/ㅤbrother to cornflowerpaw & ivorykit
✦ㅤmentoring n/aㅤ/ㅤmentored by ternstar
✦ㅤpenned by BossTaurusㅤ/ㅤmessage bosstaurus on discord for plots!
✦ "speech", thoughts, & attacking ; uses his large size to try and overpower his enemies, he currently doesn't have a set fighting style
a large, longhaired black maine coon moggy w/low white and a pair of brown eyes

 

[VELVETDUSK]

VELVETDUSK

HE/HIM SHADOWCLAN WARRIOR

The splayed wings of a magpie brush against Velvetdusk's paws as he lingers on the sidelines of the spar, his catch momentarily forgotten at his paws. His Clanmates' collective inclination of violence had been one of the more difficult adjustments to make when he joined—the fierce protectiveness of their borders and quickness to unsheathe claws had unsettled him. But slowly, Doveswoop had made it clear to him that the goal of their bared teeth wasn't to hurt one another—it was to protect each other, keep the insular unit of the Clan safe.

He had adjusted better after that; still, it is difficult to reconcile the necessity of keeping their claws honed with his disinclination to do it at all. Perhaps by watching the two bright young apprentices spar, he'll learn something. Velvetdusk lets his magpie slip sideways at his feet, settling back onto his haunches as the two duck and swoop and cuff with appreciable skill. Puddlepaw's sloppiness goes unnoticed—if anything, he only sees the respectable power driving her strikes. Perhaps too much power.

Mildly, he begins, " Do you think— " Halfsun meets him with a sharp hiss, and though Velvetdusk's lashes flutter with a hasty, surprised blink, he gives no snappy reply. He wouldn't anyways, but the sharp smell of copper and the guttural snarls in the air are enough to distract them both. Distant as he is from his Clanmates, he has little experience with Lavenderpaw, but even he can see that the dark tom's sudden hostility is unexpected.

" Woah. " The round slope of his voice is as slow as Halfsun's reaction is fast—the pale tortoiseshell lunges forward in the time it takes him to blurt his reaction. Rainbowpaw, too, breaks from the crowd and makes for Puddlepaw's side—just as fast as the situation had gone sideways, it warps back. As per usual, Velvetdusk finds himself standing awkwardly amidst a herd of more assertive cats, waiting to handle the aftermath.

" I'll come with you, if you'll have me, " he volunteers, turning in a white-tailed swish to meet Halfsun and Lavenderpaw. He tilts his head, ears settling forward, his face open and honest in its intentions. " I've been meaning to stop by her den anyways. "

ooc:

—

accordion

Velvetdusk is a small, sweet-faced cat with a feathery black, cinnamon, and white pelt and dark, imploring brown eyes. His left ear is gone nearly to the base, and he has claw scars over his left eye and high on his right temple.

Sickle x Isabela / younger brother to Sebastian
mentored by Doveswoop / mentoring n/a
15 moons old as of 2/1/2025

penned by dejavu