The Smoke at the Back of My Mind (Closed for IceStorm)

Goatpaw's seemingly heirloom white pelt shimmered in the breeze, its hairs being teased along by the soft, comforting wind, that came naturally to her. Her longanimity was absolutely spectacular, a sight to see at the least. However, one cat was on her mind: The tom known as Smokepelt. He was an obvious choice for deputy, the son and kin of the leader and Goatpaw's mentor. However, she enjoyed the way his muscles rippled beneath his pelt, his gentle words and fascinating demeanour. She would always admire him, and when she felt her cheeks growing warm, she almost leapt out of her pelt. He was walking over to her.

She would believe their interaction to be eristic, with him rejecting her, and her clumsy ways, her snow white coat not yet groomed. She backed away when he approached, an awkward smile covering her muzzle. "Hello, Smokepelt," she meowed, sitting down with her fur fluffed.

Smokepelt had been enjoying the day when he decided to go on a solo patrol. The gentle breeze that blew across the moor, the soft dirt bellow his paws, it was all perfect. Unfortunately, he knew that life would most likely never be this peaceful again, for something tragic always came up. Whether it was a clan mate dying, or something happening among the clans, nothing was ever truly normal. In fact, now that he thought about it, what was normal? His mate had been missing for several moons, he was raising five adopted kits, one of which had gone missing a moon or two ago, and now his father was gone. Could life get anymore depressing?

Lost in thought, the tom barely noticed the she-cat that was sitting a fox length or two in front of him until her voice snapped him back to reality. In front of him sat Goatpaw. "Oh, hello Goatpaw," he meowed, faking a smile towards the apprentice. He didn't really know her that well, but she was Ashstar's apprentice and seemed pretty nice. "How are you?" he asked, walking up to the she-cat.

OOC: Tbh I thought I had a plan for him, but kinda don't... so this might work out, but no promises, okay?

Goatpaw stepped up diligently and gave a dip of her head. "Good," she mumbled, even if it wasn't completely true. She was worried about her mentor, and she would never cease to. She took a seat, as to not seem too anxious when communicating with the grey-and-white tomcat.

Smokepelt knew that the apprentice wasn't all that "good," but decided no to pry. Sitting down next to the she-cat, he looked up to the clear blue sky and gave a sigh. "I wish life was always this perfect," he meowed softly.

Goatpaw's fur bristled with embarrassment as the tom sat down next to her, not wanting to make any wrong moves. "Yeah," she replied softly, deciding that even though it was rough-edged, her life was alright.

Feeling somewhat awkward just sitting in silence, he decided to start a bit of conversation. "So, how is training going?" he knew that the apprentice hadn't been doing as much training as needed with Ashstar in her state, but maybe Goatpaw was finding other ways to train.

"Uhm, well," Goatpaw paused for a moment, blinking, not stopping to think that what she might say next must be obvious. "Ashstar's pretty much stopped training me, but that's okay," Goatpaw's dark incarnadine eyes glimmered. She hoped Ashstar's state would get better, not worse.

Smokepelt felt somewhat bad for the apprentice, not being able to get her proper training, so he hatched a plan that would hopefully lighten the mood. "Well, I was thinking of going on a quick patrol and do some hunting, want to come along?" Maybe he'd be able to train her a bit, and hopefully catch some prey to take back to camp.

Goatpaw nodded somewhat more brightly, stepping swiftly behind Smokepelt. "That sounds great!" She purred, following the tomcat.

Padding towards the Thunderpath border, his tail held high and a weird happy feeling in his gut. It felt nice to be with a clan mate who was quiet and nice like him, especially since he wasn't very good at starting conversation. "So, what do you know about the Thunderpath border?" the deputy meowed softly when they reached the border, and watched as a monster zoomed by. Those horrible creatures were the reason that Icestorm became crippled, and he'd never feel remotely safe, even when he wasn't too close to the path.

"Hmm. They separate us from ThunderClan and ShadowClan, and stinky monsters run along its sleek black pelt?" Goatpaw defined, tone more questioning than informing as she spoke to the tom. She sat down, tilting her head at the multicoloured monsters that raced unstoppably down the shady track.

The tom gave a nod, glad to hear that Goatpaw knew info about the dangers that were just outside WindClan territory. "Perfect," he meowed with a smile. "Many cats have lost their lives to this horrible smelling path, so always be careful," he added in a somewhat stern tone, knowing the true power that the monsters held. Turning his head from the path he turned back to Goatpaw. "How about we do some hunting and you can show me your amazing skills?" he mewed with a chuckle, starting to genuinely have fun spending time with the apprentice.

Goatpaw nodded, scuttling alongside the large, sturdy tom. As they walked forwards, a few thoughts popped into Goatpaw's head. "How's it like being deputy?" She asked.

Smokepelt padded next to Goatpaw and pondered her question for a few moments before replying. "It's going pretty good," he started. "In all honesty, it's not like I have more power than any other warrior, and I do almost all the same duties as them. But in a way, I feel like the title helps me to uphold my part in the clan, and I will always help in any way I can," he meowed in his usual soft voice, hoping it wasn't too much for the apprentice to absorb.

Goatpaw's ears seemed to dip into the cold air sweeping around them, jutting white triangles with slightly rounded edges. For a strange reason, she seemed to understand the taller tom. She nodded, her legs stretching each in front of the other as they headed down a short dip, and it was brought right back up again. Goatpaw felt warm inside with the deputy. "I see," she said, seemingly more orated than a normal sentence should be. She felt somewhat stronger.