half a week before the leaffall - [russetpaw, open]

[Swiftheart]

"Half a week before the winter," the chill bites before it comes, "and I'm a child of the pleasure" that he brings before he runs. Swiftheart padded through the center of the camp, nimbly dodging the bodies of late sleepers on her way to the fresh kill pile. She had been away this morning from the camp as a daily personal event--to go and feel morning sickness secretly. She still hadn't told anyone except for Stormstar, Ashfeather and the medicine cats that she was expecting kits. She wanted to stay on warrior duties for as long as possible before she would be confined to the nursery for over six moons. The short-furred pale she-cat didn't have long before she would start showing, but 'til then, she was certain nobody suspected a thing. She wasn't doing anything wrong, but Swiftheart was the sort of cat who was rather bashful about telling others about things like this. Before she would be unable to do so anymore, she needed to get in as much training as possible with her apprentice, Russetpaw. If she could get the dark ginger tom's progress quickened a bit, and if he showed more talent and potential than expected, then he could even be made a warrior before she would have to temporarily resign from her mentorship. If that didn't happen though, it wasn't the end of the world, and Stormstar would find another good mentor to take up Russetpaw's training. But personally Swiftheart hoped she could see her first apprentice through to his warrior ceremony. Swiftheart paused at the fresh kill pile, which was decently stocked with rabbits and a few birds and mice, and picked out a rabbit for herself. It was her favorite prey. Mouse was second place, but rabbit was always the best to her. Usually she would always share a rabbit with Ashfeather as she always had during their apprenticeship, but today she was ravenous enough to eat it all--to feed more than one cat. Swiftheart hungrily tore into her meal until she was left nibbling the last bits of meat off its powerful hind legs. They say that Windclan warriors all have powerful, thick hardened paw pads and hind legs, like the rabbits they prey on. It was mostly true for the most part for all Windclan warriors as far as Swiftheart knew. Even she had started out with soft, delicate paw pads as an apprentice. Many moons of racing over the tough, hard packed earth in Windclan's territory had turned her own paw pads into something that could probably walk on bramble unscathed with ease, and a kick from her hind legs was surprisingly painful in combat. This was one of Windclan's unique traits besides running fast that made it a clan of fighters equally as formidable as the warriors from all other clans, and Swiftheart couldn't feel more proud to be a Windclan warrior. It was one of the reasons why she enjoyed being a warrior so much and wanted to keep at it for as long as possible before it came time for her to gift her beloved clan with kits. Swiftheart had eaten as much meat as could be found on her rabbit, even snapping and grinding its bones into marrow matter, until there were only the bones of the rabbit's hind legs and skull left. She gathered them together and took a quick errand outside to bury them near the dirt place, then returned and washed her paws for a quick moment before padding around to find Russetpaw's sleeping form. She knew he could be a handful and didn't always get along with the other apprentices, but she expected he would be enthusiastic about training as he usually was. Swiftheart raised a paw and gently prodded the ginger tom's shoulder, meowing into his ear, "Wake up, Russetpaw. We're going to continue your training today." Swiftheart stepped back to give Russetpaw some space and wait for him to wake up. "After you get something to eat, we can spend most of today training until you're tired." She purred with a smile. ;D ★ 677 words ★ Russetpaw tagged

[Mintfeather]

A silver tabby and white tom and an off-white spotted she-cat were crouched over the carcass of a rabbit, the two taking turns taking a bite from it. The spotted warrior pushed the rest toward her brother and stared off into the distance, her thoughts on something, or maybe even someone. Cloudfang looked at his sister for a moment before sighing and finishing up the piece of prey. The days they ate together, Mintfeather had been doing this, and the tom knew he wouldn't be able to get her to eat anything more. The two were quite close but even Cloudfang didn't know what was on his sister's mind lately. He had an idea, after hearing some whispers, but he didn't want to think on it until Mintfeather told him herself what was going on.

"Why don't we train our apprentices together today?" Cloudfang offered, bringing his sister back to now. He looked her over and noted that she was starting to loose some weight. Sure, that wasn't that uncommon for cats that lived in Windclan, but Cloudfang knew his brother and he knew this wasn't the normal weight loss from running. This was because she wasn't eating as much as she used to. He knew there was nothing he could do about it but he really hoped whatever was bothering her was resolved soon.

Blinking, the white spotted warrior turned her head toward her brother when he spoke to her. It took a moment but his words finally registered to Mintfeather. She smiled and nodded. "Sure. Let's go get them now." Unfurling her tail from around her paws, she stood up and stretched before heading toward the apprentices' den. The noticed another warrior, waking up her apprentice. "Good morning Swiftheart." Mintfeather said as Cloudfang found their apprentices to wake them.

Words || 312
Tagged || Swiftheart || Sand || dylan as Creampaw || Russetpaw

[dylan]

Creampaw - 488 Words
Tags: People that tagged me.
Notes: This should be interesting.

Most of her days were spent inside the nursery lately. She had limited herself to one night a week in the apprentices den, and her kits were with one of the permanent queens in the nursery during that one night. This way she had at least some socialization with those her age. This particular night had been one spent in the apprentices den. Nights like these were usually spent being restless. Without two bundles of fur next to her, she was a bit anxious. Who would have thought that big, bad Creampaw would have gone soft? Each time she had awoken, her eyes had drifted to the nursery as if she could see through the barrier to her kits.

She was awoken by pawsteps in the den, and had ignored them when she realized they were making their way to Russetpaw. Not her today, or just yet. But it wasn't too much longer that she heard pawsteps again, this time belonging to two additional warriors. She let a yawn escape her mouth and got onto her paws. She was already awake, and would spare Cloudfang the trouble of having to wake her and his own apprentice, who just happened to be one cat she didn't see eye to eye with well. Creampaw shook some of the dirt from her pelt as she spotted her own mentor chatting with Swiftheart. It seemed as if half of the mentors/apprentice pairs would be training today. This could be interesting. Her eyes drifted to the nursery as she nodded toward Cloudfang and headed to the other two she-cats.

"Good morning Mintfeather, and Swiftheart."she mewed politely, looking at each she-cat. Her attention though, now was focused on her mentor. "Mintfeather, would you mind if I go check on the kits before training? I need to let them know I will be gone for today so they won't worry. And maybe take some freshkill to them?" Her eyes were bright as she spoke. Just thinking about the kits gave her eyes that extra sparkle in them. She hoped she would be able to at least see them for a brief amount of time. After all, it seemed as if the other two apprentices were taking their time. Creampaw knew that her time with her mentor was precious and limited, so she wasn't dare wasting a moment, and if they did have a few moments she at least need to make sure her kits were alright. And to think that this was the same apprentice, that a moon ago wouldn't even ask permission, she would just do it, not even caring about repercussions. Creampaw would have just passed right by her mentor and went straight to her destination, with zero explanation. Her voice had also softened, and she didn't seem to be quite so loud.

[Russetpaw]

Russetpaw had been having a very pleasant dream, in which he was stalking a rabbit. The sun was warm on his pelt, and the wind gently blew at his fur. Just as he was about to pounce his prey, he felt a small paw prod at his shoulder. Groaning, the tom opened his eyes slightly to see the figure of Swiftheart, his mentor. The she-cat whispered into his ear and told him that they were going to continue training today. The ginger tom was instantly awake, and sat up quickly, his fur messy from sleeping. Swiftheart told him that he could get something to eat before they headed out to train for the majority of the day. Russetpaw's yellow eyes glowed with excitement. "Awesome!!" He blurted out, jumping onto his paws and squeezing past his mentor out into the Windclan clearing. The air was chilly, and the tom felt his fur fluff up a little. It had been a few moons since he had first started his training, and although he didn't like to wake up super early, he was always excited when it came to training. Swiftheart had seemed a like preoccupied lately, but she was still a very good mentor. The apprentice looked up to his mentor in more ways than one. She was very smart, and always knew how to get him in a good mood. She wasn't just a mentor to him, he felt like she was a big sister to him, or something along the sorts.

Shaking his head out of his thoughts, the ginger tom padded to the fresh-kill pile. There was a few things to choose from, and because he was more excited than anything, Russetpaw decided on a good-sized mouse. When he was excited his hunger always seemed to disappear, but after training he was always starving. Grabbing his mouse, the apprentice made his way back to Swiftheart. He noticed the warrior Mintfeather talking to his mentor, and watched as Creampaw approached the two she-cats. The cream-colored she-cat was just about Russetpaw's age, and he remembered clearly when she had been brought to the Windclan camp. Right now she had a lot of responsibilities, mainly her two younger siblings who were still little kits. The apprentice wasn't even old enough to have her own kits, but she was certainly a good caregiver to Aspenkit and Juniperkit. Although he often didn't get along with other apprentices, Creampaw was nice. He hoped that she didn't dislike him. Nodding greetings to the other cats, Russetpaw settled down close to his mentor to eat his mouse. Once he was done, he looked up at Swiftheart expectantly, smiling wide.

Words;; 441~!
Notes;; It feels good to rp with Russetpaw, I haven't done so in forever xD
Tagged;; Swiftheart, Mintfeather and Creampaw~
Muse;; Excellent! :3

[Swiftheart]

"Half a week before the winter," the chill bites before it comes, "and I'm a child of the pleasure" that he brings before he runs. "Good morning, Swiftheart." Swiftheart jumped a tiny bit in surprise as Mintfeather came out of seemingly nowhere and greeted her. Usually Swiftheart was well aware her surroundings, but she had been thinking a lot. She steadied herself and gave the other warrior a friendly smile, nodding her head and meowing, "Good morning, Mintfeather. Are you and Cloudfang going to train your apprentice too?" She ventured a guess. Maybe they could train all together, and their apprentices could practice together, which would likely be good for all of them. As long as Russetpaw behaved of course. Swiftheart's gaze followed the silver warrior, Cloudfang, as he gathered both his and Mintfeather's apprentices, Sandpaw and Creampaw respectively. "Good morning, Mintfeather and Swiftheart. Mintfeather, would you mind if I go check on the kits before training? I need to let them know I will be gone for today so they won't worry. And maybe take some fresh-kill to them?" Swiftheart gave a friendly nod to Creampaw as Mintfeather's apprentice greeted them. "Good morning, Creampaw." She mewed in return. Seeing Creampaw, though she was an unusual case of rank, made Swiftheart think about how in a couple moons, she would be a queen in the nursery sharing the den with Creampaw's adopted kits. But as of yet, as far as Swiftheart knew, the clan had no idea she would soon be a queen. She was aware of how much Creampaw seemed to enjoy her life as a queen, and wondered if she too would feel similar feelings about life as a queen. Until then, Swiftheart wasn't sure what she thought about it, but at least she did know she loved serving the clan as a warrior. Swiftheart turned her attention back to Russetpaw who was now groaning as he woke up from her gentle prodding. As she predicted, he was hyped up at the mention of training. She purred with amusement at his cute enthusiasm as he happily meowed, "Awesome!" She stepped back to let him go get something to eat from the fresh-kill pile. Swiftheart saw that now it appeared several mentors were planning on training their apprentices today. She was also beginning to feel a bit excited for possibly a large training session. While Russetpaw nibbled on the mouse he brought back to eat near his mentor, Swiftheart smoothed out her fur, wind ruffled from her morning walk in Windclan's territory. squeezing out words with low muse x'D ★ 407 words ★ Russetpaw, Mintfeather, Cloudfang, dylan as Creampaw tagged

[Cloudfang]

"Good morning Mintfeather, and Swiftheart. Mintfeather, would you mind if I go check on the kits before training? I need to let them know I will be gone for today so they won't worry. And maybe take some freshkill to them?" Mintfeather turned to look at her apprentice when Creampaw spoke and purred, nodding. "Sure, of course. Why don't you do that and then eat some yourself. You will need the energy for today."

She watched her apprentice leave and then turned back to Swiftheart when the other warrior spoke. "Good morning, Mintfeather. Are you and Cloudfang going to train your apprentice too?" The silver and white Bengal feline nodded. "Yeah, Cloudfang thought it would be good to train together today, let the apprentices see different techniques and train with one another. Since you are going to train with Russetpaw too, why don't we all go together? Along with any other warriors who want to train their apprentices today."

Cloudfang continued to try to wake up Sandpaw, his apprentice.


Muse || Not very good.
Words || 172
Tagged || dylan as Creampaw || Swiftheart || Russetpaw || Sand as Sandpaw

[dylan]

Creampaw - 286 Words
Tags: Swiftheart, Cloudfang, Mintfeather, Russetpaw
Notes: Yeah..short post I know. Sorry guys

Creampaw had watched as one of the other summoned apprentices had awoken and had grabbed himself something to eat. She gave a quick nod to him as she waited for her answer and smiled at Swiftheart’s greeting. She felt a twinge of guilt not really speaking more to these cats, but right now her mind was clouded with the thoughts of the kits. If they slept okay, if they would be okay for a little while so she could go train, and if her little clone would try to follow her again.

The second she was given permission to go see the kits, she was off in a flash, barely even getting out a ‘thank you’ before rushing to the fresh-kill pile and trying to decide what to grab for the kits. She fished around the pile and spotted a decent sized rabbit. This would be plenty for herself and the kits. Grabbing the creature quickly, she set off to the nursery only to be attacked by two furballs the second she entered. Creampaw had missed these two. She gave a lick to both of their heads and motioned with her tail for the two to follow her.

The creamed-furred apprentice sat down just outside the nursery and placed the rabbit down, beginning to section it off for the kits and herself. She saw the two fluffballs make their way out of the nursery and found a kit on each side. Creampaw purred, it seemed as if she had been missed. Giving each kit their share of the rabbit, she grabbed the last part for herself and began to eat slowly, savoring the sweet few moments with the kits as they chattered on about their night.

[Sand]

Sandpaw just stretched out her legs in her nest. It was quite large due to the apprentices growing body. She kept her body stretched out as she let out a large breath through her nose. The apprentice was once again back asleep. She was still getting used to the new mentor change because her old mentor had disappeared and never came back. She was quite mad at him for that and if he would return his face back on the clan she would make he knew what her thoughts were. But Sandpaw knew that she was slightly taking out this anger on her new mentor. It wasn't his fault at all he got stuck with her. Sandpaw knew that the leader Stormstar probably had a hard time picking out a new mentor for her. The light ginger she-cat was known for her sassy attitude and mouth that never seemed to shut up. Unless she was sleeping that is. Which is probably a good thing until you tried and to wake her up.

She felt the prodding of a cat she just laid there and let the large tom poke her. Sandpaw knew that it was Cloudfang trying to get her up for the day but she was quite comfortable sleeping right now and she wasn't going to let him ruin that for her. She heard as the other mentors and their apprentices left the den. By the scents it was Creampaw and Russetpaw. She really didn't want to spend the day with Creampaw. She really didn't like the she-cat all that much and someone had to put that super sweet, suck up in her place. Sandpaw just then heard the voices get softer and then it was just her and Cloudfang. She then laid there for a few more moments. At this point Cloudfang was still trying to get her up. She just opened an eye her blue gaze landed on the white tom. She just then smiled and said, "I felt like a little bird was poking at me. But I get up to just see you." Then she just stretched out her body a bit more before getting to her paws. She then stood up and started groom her short striped fur.

Words: 599
Tags: Cloudfang
Notes: Welp Thats Sandpaw