pafp WOUNDED IN STRIFE | warrior code lesson

[SEDGEPOUNCE]

They start in camp. Scorchstorm's strict personality mends the fissures of his own forgiving nature; the bad to his veritable good cop. It was simple to put their heads together and formulate a good teaching plan, especially in the way that she eyes Bunnypaw like a hawk now that she's got semi-free reign of WindClan's vast exterior lands. Even so, it still shocks Sedgepounce to think that Scorchstorm is even old enough for an apprentice. As he turns to her now, he sees a scarred warrior, and not a stern-faced kid like he half expects.

"So...okay. Now that you two are learning how to be warriors, you've gotta abide by the Warrior Code," he starts. Solemn eyes burnish toward Bunnypaw and Buckfire, a small but dutiful audience. Buck, by nature of age and experience, obviously won't share a whole lot of training with Sedge's own apprentice, but the more scholarly parts of training are mostly the same. "They're a set of rules so...important, and universal, that all the clans agree to uphold them." He looks to Bunnypaw for any outward indication of recognition. She's probably somewhat familiar with the concept.

"We'll teach you to memorize them, but also to instill them in your day to day lives from now on," he meows, sparing an encouraging smile.

// @SCORCHSTORM @BUCKFIRE @bunnykit please wait for at least one person to post! :3c
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[SCORCHSTORM]

It's easier with Sedgepounce. Easier to teach, to figure things out, to have... confidence, she supposes, that she isn't setting Buckfire up for failure. She has always thought herself capable of being a good mentor, but thinking and doing are different beasts. And really, she is not sure that she should call herself anyone's mentor. The distinction between mentor and shadow are nebulous at best, but Scorchstorm is reluctant to claim a title she has not earned. She and Buckfire stand on equal ground, but the ground is shifting all the time. It is... difficult, she supposes, to know how to treat him sometimes. But it's easier with Sedgepounce, thank StarClan.

He used to seem so much older than she was. She remembers him on the journey, freshly Sedgepounce as opposed to Sedgepaw. When he had volunteered for the journey it had shocked her. He was so easygoing, cracking jokes like plover eggs, and then he'd volunteered for one of the most arduous quests that StarClan could think up like it was nothing. Like it was easy. Maybe he'd thought it would be easy, but they'd all learned quickly, hadn't they? He'd gone on the journey, and he'd come home, and then he'd disappeared.

Scorchstorm still doesn't know all the details, not really; Periwinklebreeze and Rattleheart (good StarClan, Rattleheart) had been the ones to find him first. All she does know is that Sedgepounce clung to life as ivy clung to bark, as burrs clung to fur, as claws to tender flesh. And he feels younger now, somehow. Maybe closer is the better word. Closer to her in age, but also in allegiance, and belief, and conviction. He's different from the cat she remembers before, but she's immensely glad that he's here now.

He kicks off their lesson and Scorchstorm nods along. She regards their apprentices (can she call Buckfire her apprentice?) with an even, piercing stare; a stare made heavy by the weight of her attention. It is a stare so heavy that it seems impossible to believe she is prone to daydreaming. The whole of her is intense and weighted, a great big marble statue; she does not smile when Sedgepounce does. Instead, she picks up where he left off, orange ear flicking idly. "The first code," she begins, "says that you must defend your Clan, even with your life."

A flick of the tufted tail. Scorchstorm allows it to sink in, then proceeds: "you may make friends from other Clans, but your loyalty must always remain with WindClan." And she thinks of Honeybadger, and of DuskClan, and of Rumblerain, each face unbidden, the ghost of blood in her mouth wholly undesired; she thinks of Thriftfeather. Is it in accordance with the code that the traitor is housed in WindClan's nursery now? The warrior swallows, keeping her gaze trained on the trainees before her. She cannot help the new edge that enters her tone as she asks, "Why do you think that is? When does it become dangerous to have friends in other Clans?"

𝐀𝐍 𝐀𝐍𝐆𝐄𝐋 𝐎𝐑 𝐀 𝐒𝐓𝐀𝐋𝐋𝐈𝐎𝐍, 𝐀 𝐋𝐈𝐎𝐍’𝐒 𝐒𝐈𝐋𝐇𝐎𝐔𝐄𝐓𝐓𝐄 ✧

• ooc.
  
• SCORCHSTORM —— warrior of windclan, mentored by sunstar & badgermoon . scorchstreak x badgermoon . littermate to rumblerain, frostwind, and luckypaw ✦ penned by meghan
  
  ✦ a broad-shouldered tortoiseshell with low white and dual-toned amber eyes. extremely loyal to sunstar and her family, and enjoys a deep connection to the moorlands
  ✦ demigirl / she they pronouns / lesbian / 17 moons & ages every 1st
  ✦ peaceful and healing powerplay permitted / underline & tag account when attacking
  —— will start fights / will not flee / may show mercy. fights honorably and with great ferocity. can tank a few hits, but is not the sturdiest cat in windclan. starts fights with the intention of finishing them permanently, but will not aim to maim or kill obviously young cats
  
  ✦ "speech", thoughts, all opinions are in character
  ✦ full biography — msg on discord for plots — toyhouse
  

• 

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[BUCKFIRE]

The brown tabby rolled his shoulders as he stood next to Bunnypaw, who was apparently the apprentice of the warrior opposite Scorchstorm. Sedgepounce was his name; he found himself slowly accumulating the names of the clan cats and tucking them away in the crevices of his brain. They were especially easier to remember after hearing them repeated so much throughout the day — Sunstar, Scorchstreak, Wolfsong, Cottonsprig... He sometimes can't believe that he himself now has a full two-part name. Buckfire had a nice ring to it, in his opinion.

The tom has heard of the Warrior Code by now and knows rough bits and pieces of it ( the rule about feeding others first before oneself was certainly something to get used to ) but it has never been explained at length to him. If there's anything that Buckfire dislikes, it's rules and being restricted by them, but maybe they'd be more of a guideline for him than anything else. Was bending the laws really such a big deal?

Triangular ears perk as Scorchstorm covers the first rule — defending WindClan with one's life. Not even for a moment does Buckfire realize what he's gotten himself into here; he doesn't consider the fact that he could be fighting tooth and claw one day to defend the moorlands. Then again, violence hasn't been an issue for WindClan since he arrived. "Well, y'all do a fair amount of squabblin', don'tcha'? I imagine things could get real awkward if your 'friend' is put up against you in a fight." The tabby ventures, wondering if his thinking was along the correct line.

𝐈 𝐊𝐄𝐄𝐏 𝐑𝐔𝐍𝐍𝐈𝐍𝐆 ✹ . + ˚ · 　 𝐁𝐔𝐓 𝐈𝐌 𝐒𝐓𝐀𝐍𝐃𝐈𝐍𝐆 𝐒𝐓𝐈𝐋𝐋

• 

• 

  a new warrior of windclan, buckfire is thirty-one moons. he is a ruggedly handsome tom, sporting lean muscle and a slightly taller-than-average stature. there is a nick in his left ear as well as a small scratch on his right lip. he smells of cotton grass and gorse.　✦

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[Paleface.]

---

PALEFACE ✧ LOYALIST​

✧ warrior of windclan // former kit and apprentice.
✧ cis male // he/him.
✧ bisexual // biromantic // monogamous.
✧ 19 moons // ages on the 1st of each month.
✧ windclan loyalist // follows the warrior code to the letter.
✧ played by @helly // tags ✧ toyhou.se
✧ speech is in "#aec5d0"

---

The large tom was coming out of the warriors den when he heard talk of the warrior code and his ears perked instantly; after all, it was one of the things that he excelled in. He followed it as closely as he could, and expected the same of his clanmates. Padding over, he sat quietly to the side of the bunch of his clanmates and waited patiently for a reason to interject his own bonafide wisdom into the conversation. He'd gotten into many spats and debates over the topic, so perhaps this was one way he could avoid such things from cropping up in his day-to-day but... he doubted it. The newly named Buckfire didn't seem all that interested outside of an outsiders curiosity.

Only time would tell, though.​

 

[SEDGEPOUNCE]

"That's part of it," Sedgepounce nods encouragingly. Buckfire, for all his newness to clan life, obviously has a good head on his shoulders to have survived as a loner so long—Sedge anticipates that he'll pick up Scorchstorm's teachings just fine. Bunnypaw was born in WindClan, raised in WindClan, but she's hardly older than a kit still. It strikes him, sometimes, how he's been pinned with the responsibility to teach her everything. That little life of her hinges on whether Sedgepounce can teach her well enough, and it's a harrowing thought.

"Your clanmates are the cats you live by, right? You feed each other, protect each other, take care of each other. You have a responsibility to each other." At this point, Paleface pads forth and receives a friendly wave of Sedgepounce's tail. The constant closeness of a clan is a comfort—there was a time when Sedgepounce felt this unquestioningly. "If your loyalty's split outside of WindClan, you might feel inclined to favor your friend on the battlefield, rather than your clanmate." It's an issue he's managed to avoid because, truthfully, it's the battlefield which he's avoided. Even when WindClan split, Sedgepounce was whisked away somewhere else. Stuck in a barred cage and kittypet stink while his clanmates fought one another.

This, for now, goes unsaid. The memory of it sticks uncomfortably against his teeth. Scorchstorm knows the struggle of it well, her pelt scarred by WindClan alone, and it begs the question—how far does loyalty go when it's your own clanmates you're fighting? Or even your own kin?

Sedgepounce pushes away the uncomfortably buzzing sensation that's clustered around his skull and straightens. "The second law is to never hunt or trespass on another clan's territory. Doesn't even matter if you chased a hare all the way to the border. If it's crossed, it's gone," he hums. A crooked smile crosses his maw again, inching forward in earnest as his mind slowly clears. "Sometimes you might find cats from other clans crossing WindClan territory, though. Do either of you know why?"
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[SOOTSPOT]

"That is a rather simple question, Sedgepounce," the tom's mew was accentuated with a little twitch of his whiskers, an all-too-sympathetic smile placating his muzzle. He nodded towards Bunnypaw and Scorchstorm, but on principle, his gaze did not even grace a strand of the outsider's fur. It was as if Buckfire wasn't even there, a ghost or a bad memory pushed aside so Sootspot could focus on a true WindClanner (trueer WindClanner, there was a flightiness to the tabby that made him untrustworthy, as if there was plenty that the other still had to prove).

He gave a harmless little flick of his tail before opting to explain himself. "The other clans care little for the sanctity of the warrior code. I have seen countless trespass and have been injured by some for merely asking questions. Either they are not taught it, or their minds cannot comprehend the lessons." Hopefully, the stranger would appreciate the question being answered for him. He slipped to Sedgepounce's side to offer a suggestion, tone light despite the gravity of his accusations. "You should ask him why he thinks WindClan might have forsaken this section of the code in the past."

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