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[Minkpaw!]

Stars above, when we're not being ravaged by yellowcough or being threatened by rogues it is so boring here. The young apprentice laid next to the river bed, puffing out her cheeks in a painfully slow exhale. Her tail lashed behind her, leaving a scattered imprint in the snow. I could reorganize Ravensong's herbs. Or sneak up behind Pikesplash and give him a heart attack. Ooo, I could leave dead animals in one of the apprentice's nests. Someone had done that to Robinpaw a moon or two ago, and it was the most entertained Minkpaw had been all week. Unfortunately all her current ideas were surefire ways to get Smokestar breathing down her neck. Now there was a cat who hated fun. Except for that patrol where he soaked those rotten WindClan rats. StarClan, why couldn't I have been on that patrol?

Minkpaw's ears twitched, crunching snow alerting her to a couple of her clanmates passing by. The young molly twisted her head around, blue eyes glittering as they locked on one of her fellow apprentices.
"Hey, she called. "Who do you think could stand in the river the longest before their paws freeze off?" Her smile was bright, oddly piercing. "I bet most cats in camp couldn't stand it. The record's probably, probably like 30 seconds or something."​

 

[robinheart]

Think of the devil and he may come, except Robinpaw was far from devilish and well, not a he. But the tortie was coincidentally part of the passing patrol as Minkpaw pondered such ways to find entertainment in her day. Though what would entertain Minkpaw was far from entertaining to Robinpaw (she would know given she was the victim in the dead robin prank). That being said the older apprentice does stop to give her attention to Minkpaw’s query.

What was the record for standing in the river during leafbare? Robinpaw didn’t know but frankly she imagined it was more than 30 seconds. “I’d say a seasoned warrior could stand in the water for a few minutes before their paws became too cold,” she muses as she takes a few steps over to the younger apprentice, “after all, you probably need longer than 30 seconds to fish in these waters.” A somewhat clever smile tugs at her maw for thinking of that point.

 

[Minkpaw!]

It might have been awkward speaking with Robinpaw if Minkpaw felt any sort of guilt over her thoughts on the older girl's misfortune. The closest thing she felt was pity, mixed with a heavy sense of superiority. She wears her insecurity like a scar across her face. Everyone can see it, everyone knows about it. Of course someone was going to use it to hurt her; she makes the rest of us look weak. Minkpaw slept quite soundly knowing that none of the other apprentices knew her well enough to hurt her in such a way. The young molly grinned pleasantly as Robinpaw thought on her query.

Her expression twitched as the older apprentice demolished her poorly thought words. Flea brain! Of course the record would be more than 30 seconds. A future dry paw kit could probably stand in the water longer than that out of pure stubborn will. Well, how could Minkpaw have been expected to know that? She wasn't self-hating enough to stand in frigid water on purpose. There was plenty of prey to hunt in RiverClan's sections of wood and hollows during the winter. She preferred land hunting anyway. Something about stalking the little creatures, completely oblivious to her presence was rather... exhilarating.
"Well... Well yeah, of course it's more than 30 seconds, I wasn't being serious," she meowed, unable to keep the huffiness from leaking into her voice. What's she smiling for? Don't think you're better than me, Robinpaw, with your bleeding heart just... bleeding everywhere. "I'm- I'm sure you're right, Robinpaw, someone really good could stand in the water for ages, probably." Despite her nasty thoughts, Minkpaw wasn't quite stupid enough to mouth-off to an almost-warrior, and certainly not in public.

"But I don't know if I'd bet on another warrior. Some of the other apprentices are, determined," Minkpaw went on, and her smile became close to genuine once more. "What about, say, Nettlepaw? Annnd, oh, Foxtail! I bet Nettlepaw could stand that water longer than Foxtail could." Nettlepaw was one of the more stubborn apprentices to date. Minkpaw could absolutely imagine him standing in the chilly shallows, resolutely staring at nothing with his unseeing eyes. And Foxtail? He trained as a drypaw. I bet the thought of touching the river makes him sick or something. The absurdity of a comparison alluded her entirely.


/please do not mind her stinky thoughts Robin is best girl <3[/b]​

 

[LILYBLOOM.]

Lilybloom listens with an amused expression as Minkpaw and Robinpaw discuss who could stand in the river the longest. It was an interesting question and Lilybloom was inclined to agree with Robinpaw's response. "I think Smokestar, Lichentail, or any of the lead warriors could stand in the river the longest," Lilybloom mewed, adding her own opinion to the conversation. All of them seemed like they had a good affinity for the water and could give it a good attempt. "Truthfully, I think any determined warrior or apprentice could stay in the water for a few minutes at least. Maybe even to the point where their paws do actually fall off!"​

 

[carawaysong]

-ˋˏ ༻✧༺ ˎˊ- carawaypaw listened with twitching ears as minkpaw and robinpaw discussed how long someone could stand in the frosty water. mostly, she was uninterested. who cared, like really? standing in the could didn't make a good warrior, at least she didn't think it was a requirement. maybe she'd have to pester nightfish to find out.

the tabby was ready to turn and leave, find bumblepaw and share what she had heard. minkpaw's suggestion halted her, nettlepaw, seriously? her nose scrunched distastefully. "nettlepaw? oh, get real. he'd be screeching in under five heartbeats." truthfully, she didn't know, but giving any sort of merit to that tom was out of the question.

she listened to lilybloom's insightful response, nodding thoughtfully. it would make sense for the council members to last the longest, they were the best of the best after all. "i just don't see why anyone would even want to try, though. why risk freezing your paws off in the middle of leafbare?"

‎‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎┌── YOU&#039;LL LIVE FOREVER 《✧》 DOWN UNDER WITH ME ──┐‎

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  CARAWAYPAW ✧ she/her, apprentice of riverclan, six ☾'s
  ➺ carawaypaw is a pretty longhaired silver tabby with green eyes and a long, lithe frame. born into riverclan, she loves her home and has a deep rooted desire to defend it.
  ➺ willowroot x poppysplash ↛ sister to bumblepaw, tidepaw, mosspool, and hazewish
  ➺ peaceful and healing powerplay permitted / / underline and tag when attacking ↛ see battle info here
  ➺ penned by vayle ↛ @vayl3 on discord, feel free to dm for plots.

​

 

[Minkpaw!]

Lilybloom had added her take, bringing up lead warriors and Smokestar. If Minkpaw were a sensible cat she might have admitted that any of those cats made far more sense. However she was not, only managing to turn and groom a spot on her shoulder to hide the heat burning her face. If Smokestar tried that would be cheating. His paws probably, probably have nine lives too or something. He wouldn't count, obviously. As the older molly went on Minkpaw turned back to her, expression somewhat fixed as she nodded slowly.
"Right, it's about willpower. The cat with the strongest will could stand in the river the longest, whoever that is." It would definitely be me, she mused silently. I bet I could will so hard that I wouldn't even feel the cold! She wasn't going to try and prove it, but who needed proof when you just knew?

Her gaze flicked to Carawaypaw, who'd been eavesdropping for a few moments now. She looked rather bored, sending a flash of irritance into Minkpaw's belly. If you're so bored, then why are you listening? Just as the thought crossed her mind Carawaypaw suddenly strode over. Her eyes widened for a moment, wondering if the younger molly had heard her thoughts. No one can hear thoughts, mousebrain, that's why they're thoughts! Her attention sharpened as the younger apprentice began making a fuss over Nettlepaw's inclusion in the discussion.
"I am being real. I bet he could stand in there longer than you," she cooed, bright eyes flashing alongside a quick grin. Carawaypaw voiced Minkpaw's earlier thoughts as to who would even bother trying, but it was a trivial matter to the lynx point. Warriors and apprentices alike did ridiculous things all the time in the name of pride with enough goading to get them started.​