[copperface]

A delicate pink tongue lightly rasped over Copperface’s soft tortoiseshell pelt, small pieces of leaves falling from her pelt. Small rays of light shone through the leafy canopy, warming Copperface’s pelt. It was a beautiful day, a small breeze rustled through the overhanging branches, rays of light shining against the few leaves that remained on the oaks and the small twigs that were shaken from the canopy as they cascaded down, landing lightly on the soft earth. Mild and comfortable, the forest buzzed faintly with life, small mice rustling through the dead leaves, and birds chattering and chirping above. The large oak tree to Copperface’s right lightly brushed against her pelt as she moved, adjusting her position, trying to remove a large burr from her plush underbelly. As the burr came loose, Copperface spat the combination fur and seed to the ground, along with the rest of the burrs that lay around her. Giving herself a once over and finding herself acceptable.

Beside her, a small squirrel sat limp and lifeless, it was scrawny but an acceptable size. Copperface hardly though it was worth it. After all, this squirrel had been what caused Copperface to squeeze her thin frame through a patch of burrs only to receive a scrawny rodent. The limber she-cat found herself partially tempted to eat her catch herself, she had been the one to catch it and it was barely a hardy meal. But a part of her warned against it. Even though Copperface never put much weight on the warrior code, it had never been something, along with Starclan, that she put much stock it. Then again, it was the code, and she shouldn’t break it.

Plucking the limp creature from her paws, Copperface gripped the squirrel in her sharp maw. A musky, smell washed over her as grey fur brushed lightly against her nose. Camp was only foxlengths away. Copperface easily slipped through the entrance of the den, her pelt lightly brushing the thorn wall. Padding towards the fresh-kill pile, Copperface set the squirrel atop the few prey animals that made up the pile. Nothing seemed to catch her eye as she gave the pile a once over, instead, she strode to the edge of camp, setting herself in a small patch of sunlight, feeling the sun warm her pelt comfortably. Copperface’s eyes closed as she slowly slipped into a light doze before hearing pawsteps reach her. “Can I help you?” the she-cat asked, her delicate voice smooth as honey.

---

416 words
@open

[BADGERPAW]

* b a d g e r p a w
oh don't you dare look back, just keep your eyes on me

Badgerpaw’s heart was fluttering strangely in his chest—it felt more like nervous tremoring than proper beating. He supposed that any cat that was ready to take on the world and make a new name for himself—(Badgerpaw! His name was Badgerpaw now!)—would feel the same way. It was strange waking up without Kitestorm pressed against his side, and somehow oddly lonely without the she-cat around. Then, he remembered, that she hadn’t really ever greeted him in the morning. Whenever he woke up she liked to look the other way, like ignoring him would eventually make the ground swallow him whole. Sometimes he’d been afraid that it would too.

Now was different though! Sure all the cats in the apprentice’s den had their own chores and duties, but Badgerpaw had things to do as well! Surely he would bond with his mentor—he’d do his very best to make sure she was proud of him—and he would become a warrior that ThunderClan could be proud of. So he took a deep breath, and told the nervous way his heart was beating that it needed to stop. This was a new opportunity, he could take life by the whiskers if he just tread the right path.

This was how Badgerpaw had started his day—which had consisted of ghosting around camp entirely uncertain as to what he was supposed to do. He thought of asking an older cat, but the idea of having to ask a cat where he was supposed to be was so embarrassing that his thick pelt felt hot at the mere thought of it. So instead he’d padded around trying to at least appear busy, and cheerfully saying hello to any cat that happened upon his path. It wasn’t a bad day, exactly, to be doing this. The weather was nice, and it leant the Clan a sleepy air.

But I want to be doing something, Badgerpaw thought, flexing each toe in turn. He didn’t care if it was nasty chores (if he got to pick ticks for Jayleaf he could ask him for some stories!) or if it was seeing the territory. He just didn’t want to be padding about camp like a weird shadow. The apprentice twitched his ears and cast a longing glance in the direction of Copperface.

Well, the least he could do was talk to his mentor! Paws prickling with nervousness—what if she decided she didn’t like him?—the black-and-white apprentice padded carefully to where she was resting. Badgerpaw’s heart twisted suddenly. If he’d bothered his mother when she was relaxing she’d have threatened to claw his ears off! Or even to just sit on top of him…

Guiltily, the apprentice jumped when he was addressed by his mentor. “Oh! Just—hi Copperface! It’s me, Badgerpaw!” Okay admittedly that was probably obvious, the apprentice’s back fur twitched nervously and he barreled onward. “Can I sit with you? And maybe talk with you? I probably shoulda come over sooner, I slept really well in the apprentice’s den! How’re you?”

word count, 511
copperface

[bramblestar]

streaks of sunlight danced their way through the naked branches above, lighting the forest floor up rather than simply dappling it as it quite often did during the greenleaf moons. hazel eyes emotionless as usual, the large tabby tom made his way down the ravine, heading back towards thunderclan's camp. mornings out were becoming more and more frequent as the realization he no longer really had a family within the clan began to set in. he had his parents, which he was very grateful for, but there was a certain hole within him they could not fill. previously he'd had quite a few flings, but his most recent left the most painful wound. the pain that came with thinking of mothstep quite was comparable to the pain of him taking thorns and rubbing them in a fresh battle wound, or a deep cut of the sorts. trying to push thoughts of her from his mind, bramblestar picked his walk pace up to that of a trot, being careful not to twist a paw while heading down the ravine, before bounding off towards the camp entrance. although he wasn't returning with any goods for his clanmates, he had checked up on the thunderpath, which he felt would suffice for now.

shrugging his way through the thorn-lined tunnel, bramblestar grunted slightly, still not numb to the thorns picking at his thick pelt after so many moons of entering and exiting the camp through the very same tunnel. as he emerged into the clearing, he sighed softly. all was at peace, exactly the way he prayed it would be. peace was pure bliss, but unfortunately, it could only ever last so long. riverclan was beginning to recover from their moons of occupation by the coven, and bramblestar knew he'd be an idiot to turn a blind eye to russetstar and any potential plans to regain the sunningrocks. blinking a few times, the dark tabby leader sat down next to the tunnel, and wrapped his tail neatly over his large paws. with his ear perked, bramblestar allowed himself to scan the camp briefly, looking for something that caught his attention to deal with. he wasn't the most social cat on the block, but he figured he could start making an effort to be more of a leader of the people, rather than hiding in his den sulking all day or taking solo strolls through the territory at random hours during the day.

as his gaze came to rest on copperface and badgerpaw, interest lit up slightly in his usually emotionless hazel green eyes. apprenticeship was a magical time for most young cats, and the bond between apprentice and mentor was often one that lasted for quite a long time. deciding the pair looked interesting enough to venture over to, bramblestar slowly rose to his paws, smoothed out his slightly ruffled pelt, and padded his way across the camp to join his two clanmates. dipping his head respectfully, he sat down a few tail-lengths from the duo, as if asking permission to join the two of them. wrapping his tail over his paws once more, the leader opened his maw to begin speaking.

"i hope i'm not interrupting anything, i just came by to see how things were going with you two?"

548 words
tags: copperface BADGERPAW

[copperface]

There was no need for Copperface to open her eyes, she knew who had approached her as the first words left the long-furred toms maw. Badgerpaw. The young tom had been entrusted to Copperface only several days before, it would now be her job to train him, make him into a warrior, at least, that was what being a mentor was supposed to be. A single yellow-green eye fluttered open, calmly watching the young tom stutter and awkwardly attempt to make conversation. Even without both eyes, Copperface could tell the young cat was nervous, anxious even. The way he spoke, his posture, it all pointed to the obvious, and while Copperface was a particular talent when it came to reading others, it didn’t take an expert to decipher Badgerpaw’s outlying emotion. She wondered if he was like that with everyone, or if it was just her, his brand new mentor.

Copperface couldn’t help but feel drawn to the young tom, he seemed so genuine, something Copperface didn’t get much of. Everything he said and did was that of honesty, at least from what she could tell. The same could not be said for the tortoiseshell pelted warrior, everything about her was a lie, her face a mask for what, not even she knew. Her inner emotions were shrouded in mystery, cloaked in lust and manipulation. No one ever knew what she thought, sometimes, she even fooled herself. A light warmth fluttered faintly in Copperface’s heart as she looked upon the young cat. “[smear:D7C6B6]I suppose we may converse, but don’t lie too close,[/smear:9C6A3A]” She mewed smoothly as her head lifted a small distance from the ground, her tail lightly brushing over the ground beside her.

As her mouth parted slowly, the approach of a different feline interrupted. Copperface lifted her head, adjusting her position, drawing a long limb under her body, allowing the other to lay outstretched. Her yellow-green gaze traveled to the face of her leader. He had been the one to assign Badgerpaw to her, the reason, Copperface did not know. She was far from a skilled warrior, nor was she a hard worker. If anything, Copperface was lazy, doing just enough to get by, no more, no less. She wondered why Bramblestar thought it a good idea to assign the young cat to her, she had almost failed her assessment not many moons ago, nearly refusing to battle and being only just shy of running from the training hollow and into the bushes. There was nothing about Copperface that screamed mentor, if anything, everything about her warned away from being entrusted with any sort of tangible responsibility. The honor of mentorship was one of the biggest. This concern would not be voiced aloud, of course, Copperface only gently curled her tail by her side, watching her leader through bright orbs.

“[smear:9C6A3A]Not at all, a leader is always welcome among his clanmates.[/smear:D7C6B6]”

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481 words
bramblestar ,, BADGERPAW