Post by alee on Jul 26, 2016 4:28:20 GMT
The circumstances that led to Spottedpaw being separated from her beloved sister were rather uneventful, to say the least. There was no dramatic parting; no clinging on Spottedpaw's part to her poor sister's hind leg. Rather, the small tortoiseshell had ended up sleeping way past dawn - perhaps a side effect of her long excursion out in the marshes last night, when she'd padded along in her usual droopy mood, alone and tail dragging back in the dust. As amber eyes fluttered open to squint against the sunlight streaming through the bramble entrance, it took a few moments for the reality of what time it was to actually sink in.
At once she'd scrambled to her paws, her left side - where Blossompaw usually curled - feeling unusually cold and stiff. Oh fox dung! She'd missed her sister again. Ears curled back against her skull, whiskers trembling at the injustice of it all. Why hadn't Lynxchaser woken her up extra early? Oh, fox dung, as if that worthless pile of frog guts was any use as a mentor! Her lips curled back in distaste as she remembered one of their more recent training sessions, where the haughty tomcat had led her out deep into the depths of the bog. It'd taken her hours to groom the sticky stench from her paws!
Spottedpaw swallowed an exhausted sigh, as she crumbled into the mossy folds of her nest and fought another sweeping urge to fall asleep right then and there. Why did she even bother? It wasn't as if Blossompaw needed her much nowadays; no, her sister had it pretty well put together, with her vast array of friends and openly kind persona. She pushed away a small prickle of envy stinging at her chest, and just the fact alone that she felt jealous of her own kin had nausea swirling in her stomach. Siblings weren't supposed to envy each other; she should've been happy for Blossompaw, right?
Separation anxiety aside, the fact remained that Spottedpaw now sat alone. The apprentice's den felt hollow and empty, not a sound or snuffling snore uttered within its gloomy depths. Maybe she should just curl up and nap some more? It would practically be a miracle if Lynxchaser took her out training now. This time she couldn't swallow the heavy sigh as it flowed past her lips. Honestly, she really was quite the downer, wasn't she?
Well, whatever. Finding within her the strength to continue on (you must remember, she's the overtly dramatic sort), Spottedpaw trudged rather gloomily from her den, tiny muscles shifting beneath her shedding new leaf pelt. The Camp was quiet for a rather lazy afternoon, and the fresh kill pile was already dwindling in its amount. A skinny frog lay bare among a bony mouse and scrawny magpie, though neither seemed very appetizing. "Ugh," came the she-cat's annoyed mutter, folding her paws beneath her chest and scowling down at her 'vast' array of choices. "I'm so bo-o-o-red! Where's Blossompaw when you need her?"
"You look busy." The eerily quiet voice of Ravenshade startled Spottedpaw from her depressed reverie, and she cowered back, the dark she-cat practically towering over her with her long and gangling limbs. Ravenshade was young, though she reeked of intimidation, from how her lips remained set into a frown upon her unamused countenance, to how even the wind seemed to pause in its breath whenever she clung around. Spottedpaw narrowed her eyes to thin slits, though she quickly glanced away, unwilling to evoke the warrior's wrath.
"Where's your mentor? Off admiring his reflection as usual?" The way she delivered that attempt at a joke was dry, and her expression remained unchanged, which just terrified Spottedpaw even more. "Well, I suppose it can't be helped. Milkpaw! Get over here." Milkpaw? Spottedpaw vaguely knew her denmate by name, though she hardly ever spared him a passing glance.
"Instead of sulking about, why don't you go make yourself useful for once?" she said coldly, her tone as slippery as ice. Spottedpaw bit hard on her tongue, a vast array of insults already building heavy in her throat. What was Ravenshade playing at? Oh, the nerve of her! Hadn't she been an apprentice only two moons ago? Acting all superior, as if she were Clan deputy...!
"I'll be watching both of you," the she-cat continued on, her amber gaze brushing over Spottedpaw, and she had to quell a shiver at the seriousness that lurked deep within her bottomless optics. "Consider this an assessment. You're both not long off graduation, correct? Do well, and I may put in a good word for both of you with Rosestar."
And just like that, she began to briskly pad away, bounding through the bramble entrance to camp until the murky shadows had swallowed her whole. Spottedpaw's sharp gaze trailed after her lithe form, long after she'd disappeared, and the next words to escape from her maw were spluttered and rushed. "H-How dare she? Acting as if she's my mentor...All bossy and annoying and -" It was only then that she noticed Milkpaw, and with a small sniff she added, "and making me babysit too? Dear StarClan, why?"
She hadn't exactly intended to be rude - or, well, maybe she'd intended to a little. Spottedpaw did have the habit of blurting out whatever came to her mind first. And she wasn't quite the apologizing sort either. Her muscles relaxed as a rattling breath escaped her lungs, and dramatically she rolled her eyes. "Well, whatever. Guess I can't deny Ravenstar now. Wouldn't want to make her angry."
skyy and her socks
