delusions of grandeur [lambpaw]

Sometimes you just had those days. You know the kind - the ones that pressed in on you from all sides, that feel hefty and heavy upon your shoulders and dragged you down into the bog below. Unfortunately, Lambpaw was experiencing one of those curdling sour days right about now. The freedom of SkyClan woods no longer seemed vibrant and brimming with mystery as he trudged through its mossy depths, head hung low and tail dragging limply behind his slouching form.

He just needed a break - from Maplepaw, from his friends, from SkyClan in general. He needed to be free of their presence, as much as it hurt him to admit. It wasn't their fault, per se - it was mostly him, lamenting over his future, trying to find his place in the world, and failing to see where his pawsteps would ultimately lead. A heavy whoosh of breath escaped his flared nostrils as he slumped down to the earth, twirls of leafy green foliage coming to rest upon his thick tabby and white pelt.

The silence that followed was eerily peaceful. A family of mice skittered past, though Lambpaw hadn't it in him to strike them down. One of the babies, a tiny grey furred runt, struggled along behind, and the apprentice - in all his forlorn, pubescent glory - couldn't help relating to the little scamp. "Yep. I know that feeling, lil' guy," he murmured, as the runt finally managed to scamper down its burrow. Yeesh, he was pretty boring today, wasn't he?

And that was when he arrived.

"Well, well, well! If it isn't my favorite apprentice! Hello, Pinepaw!" Will always had that way of materializing out of thin air, and it never failed to frighten the living wits from Lambpaw. A paw slipped out from under his form, and he scrambled back, hackles raising threateningly and a growl throbbing low in his throat as he took in the sleek fur of his newly made acquaintance. "What do you want this time?"

Lambpaw would be lying however, if he denied the special treatment as making him feel somewhat special. Because, truthfully, he liked being called Pinepaw; he liked the slick way in which Will spoke to him, and he liked that of all the cats in SkyClan, he was the one the loner had chosen to talk with. The fact remained however that this was a stranger trespassing on SkyClan territory. Lambpaw's lips curled back into the beginnings of a snarl. "You're not supposed to be here. This is SkyClan land. Get out."

alpine

((finally got here omg))