.Fleeting || open

It felt odd to be moving across the territory without Alligatoreye’s watchful eye. Each paw pressed into the soft ground with the upmost care, bright eyes flicking left and right, ears pricked and ready for the slightest sound. The quiet had Littlepaw’s muscles tense, ready for just about anything that could jump out at him. Unlike many cats, he hadn’t spent his last moon in the territory exploring. Not at all. He went out with his mentor, or his father and that was that. However, standing out of the entrance of the camp, across the water from it in face, had his heart fluttering in his chest. It was a crucial step however if he was ever going to get his skilled refined to a level that would make Magpiestar proud.

The grey and white tom paused, reaching down to lick his chest a few times, furious at the nerves that buzzed like bees in his chest. You’re being mousebrained, calm down! He scolded himself with no compassion, no mercy given to his issues. He needed to be stronger, in mind and in body, and being scared of everything that jumped out was not the way to do anything. A few more heartbeats into the silence, and he pressed on, forever carefully as he continued away from the camp, toward the fields. There were trees there, shade he could practice his balance and speed in peace under. Of course, a few remained scattered around the camp itself, but that wasn’t where he needed to be. He needed to be away from eyes, alone and focused.

He was barely a few steps forward when the sudden squawking of a bird, the frantic flutter of feathers, and a sudden ginger and white shape slammed into life and motion. It say his head leapt into his throat was an understatement. Littlepaw immediately flung himself back, leaping a good mouse-length in the air, backward, his fur immediately bristling up as on point as it could, his ears slammed flat against his head, a squeak on his tongue and eyes wide, staring straight forward as the ginger and white shape fell from somewhere in the higher branches. A few frantic heartbeats later he figured out who it was, and panic struck. StarClan he didn’t leave camp to see a clanmate fall from a tree and die. He was stuck there, panicked and in shock, that it didn’t process that Rookpaw was entirely fine for a few more moments, when she’d scrambled back onto the branch.

Littlepaw blinked, and frustration rose gain. Why did he think she was going to get hurt that badly? It was just a tree. Okay, they weren’t SkyClan cats, tree climbing wasn’t their thing, but by StarClan. “Ro-Rookpaw! Are, Are you okay? Um!” He tried to flatten his pelt, giving hist ail and few quick lashes, but his fur refused to sit flat. Hesitantly, he edged forward toward the tree. “That, that looked really painful. Sh-should I get Nettleheart?”

Rookpaw’s sudden reaction had the tom’s pelt immediately back on end, her sudden rise in size enough to get a little squeak out of him. StarClan what was that reaction for? “Oh, Littlepaw! You scared me, Lit, you did!” Scared her? How did he manage to do that? Littlepaw didn’t scare others, they were the ones that had him jumping out of his fur. The grey and white tom’s ears lowered as she shuffled his paws that little bit closer together, trying his best to force the fur along his spine flat. Littlepaw took a deep breath, carefully taking a few more steps forward as Rookpaw explained about failing to catch a bird, he gathered the same Magpiestar that fluttered and squawked indignantly down at them.

The tom’s gaze moved to the bird, studying the creature for a long moment. Birds were funny creatures, sitting there full of voice and moving through the air like it was the water. He supposed they were the equivalent of fish for the sky, moving without a care in the world except for the currents. “Oh, no, no that’s much ok Littlepaw, don’t tell Nettleheart.” Rookpaw had his attention again, and he offered her a small, timid smile in return paired with a nod of his head. Okay, well, if that was what she wanted. Though it really had looked like it would hurt badly from where he’d been standing. “Have you ever tried to catch them birds, Littlepaw?” Catch them? Littlepaw blinked at the ginger and white she-cat, before glancing down t the feather, his ears flicking back momentarily, tail tip twitching.

“I’m no good at climbing those trees, but that there bird keeps waking me from my naps, see? So I tried to catch him, but it didn’t work no good, did it?” Littlepaw shuffled his paws, offering another small smile. “You got close, though, you got a feather, right?” he meowed quietly, reaching out a paw to gently prod the black and white striped shedding. He looked at his paws, ears pricking up, and forcing himself to stand a little straighter. “I… I haven’t tried to climb a tree before. But, um, maybe together if we get high enough, we can chase it away, at least?” He wasn’t sure they could catch up, but… “Maybe with the two of us we might have more success with the catch?”

That was a thing other clans did, right? The ones that actually ate birds? Littlepaw couldn’t even think what a bird would taste like, they so rarely turned up in RiverClan’s fresh kill. But, he was willing to give it a shot! His whole trip out of camp had been toactually make progress with his training, right? He turned his bright gaze up with Rookpaw, and gave another little nod, as if confirming what he’d said. Okay, she was… always a little more boisterous than the cats he liked spending time with, but a clanmate in need was something he had to learn to help with. He wanted to help with. So, Littlepaw turned his attention to the tree, studying the bark carefully. “How did you climb it the first time?” he asked.

Well, at least she seemed happy about his help? If the purring was anything to go by. That he could feel good about at the very least. Absently, Littlepaw pawed at the ground, claws unsheathing and digging into the soft solid. Even so, trees were… not something he was entirely sure about scaling. The tip of his tail twitched behind him, green eye scanning from the roots up to the branches. If he was going to do this thought was needed. Thought and focus. He just had to work through it. Rookpaw’s words helped somewhat as she appeared at his side, and suddenness of it was enough to make him twitch slightly, claws digging harder into the ground. Get a hold of yourself, Littlepaw. Come on.

“I dunno. I just climbed. It’s like swimming, but going up insteads-a forward. One paw in front of the other, ya? But gotta keep them claws out, Littlepaw, and up and up you’ll go!” Okay, claws out, paddle-run he guessed? Rookpaw moved, and he followed her carefully, attention immediately focusing on her movements as she dug her claws into the wood. Okay, that didn’t seem too bad. But, there had to be a better way than just going from the bottom. “And then you just, dunno, keep goin’!” Littlepaw started to back up. What if he made a run for it? He could no down throw himself higher than starting from scratch. Hadn’t Alligatoreye mentioned something about running giving you more power in an attack or something? Moment-something?

Well, it was worth a shot. “Okay, um, well, um, look out?” He meowed toward the ginger and white she-cat, as he finally came to a halt several fox-lengths away. Littlepaw flattened his hears against his head, and forced his tail still. One, two… The grey and white tom launched himself forward, paws hitting the ground hard and throwing him forward in several long strides. It felt like the tree was approaching too quick, his heart thudding in his chest. This has got to be the most mousebrained thing you’ve ever done, Littlepaw. Slamming his paws into the ground, the apprentice launched himself upward, hitting the tree barely a whisker above Rookpaw.

He didn’t let himself wait any longer, his claws were out, and digging into the bark, the speed propelling him with a little more ease up the trunk a few more mouse-lengths, before it faded, and immediately he snapped his paws out, claws digging into the bark, and hanging on for dear life. The bark rubbed against his belly, limbs spread eagle, and body trembling. Oh man, what had he done. “Thi-This was less terrifying in my head!” He meowed down, a slight squeak to his voice. Oh boy. Littlepaw forced himself to stay looking upward. The nearest branch wasn’t far away. He just had to… Carefully, he reaching up a paw, gripping with the other, much like Rookpaw had shown. The moment it caught, he lifted up the other, and pulled.

This strength was nowhere near developed enough for the movement, but he persisted. Letting go meant falling, and he had no intention to become a ball of limbs on the ground. So, he forced himself upward, doing his best to ignore the pain that was starting to stretch across his muscles. Practically dragging his belly up the trunk of the tree, eventually, his paws reached the branch, and the moment he hooked one paw onto it, he let his hind legs relax, barely getting the second paw there in time. However, he did, and after a heart-thudding moment and a loud squeak, Littlepaw found himself hanging from the branch, but there. With a grunt, he hauled himself up, throwing one limb over it completely, before a hind leg, and unceremoniously hanging himself over both sides of the branch, his chin hitting it with a small thud. It was solid, he was there, and if Littlepaw knew one thing for certain, it was he never wanted to climb another tree in his life.

“I- I think I’m alive. But, my limbs feel like fresh honey, like they’re about to leak away from me at any moment.” Not the most articulate thing he’d ever said, but, Littlepaw couldn’t find it in himself to care. With one eye, he looked down toward Rookpaw, and swallowed. The ground really was a fair way away.