Hunting for Sparkpaw (closed)

Watching as Sparkpaw made her way back to him with a rabbit in her jaws, a smile grew on his muzzle, not from her success, but from her ignorance in bragging. Daisyflame, having grown up and matured over the years, tended to not be crass in return when faced with a cat like the apprentice, but he just couldn't help himself. Besides, a little taste of her own medicine wouldn't hurt any-cat.

"Good job," he began with a dip of his head. "I hate to break it to you, but that's a rabbit, not a mouse. They're quite common and usually hunted by WindClan. Maybe you should go tell Finchstar about your kill instead," the large tom chuckle, standing up and giving his pelt a shake. "'Cause it looks to me like you're a pretty big rabbit-brain," Daisyflame hissed playfully, his tail lashing back and forth.

Sparkpaw's yellow eyes widened. So this big-eared swamp mouse really wasn't a mouse after all? It was called a rabbit? And they're common? All that bragging she had done just moments earlier.... For the first time in her young life, she actually felt quite embarrassed for her stupid mistake. Of course she wouldn't have caught a brand-new species of prey! The Clans have lived in these territories for hundreds of moons!

Feeling incredibly hot under her fur with embarrassment, Sparkpaw narrowed her eyes at Daisyflame with a soft snarl. "Sh-Shut up! How do you expect me to know it was a rabbit anyway? I'm not some dusty ol' WindClanner! Thanks for not doing your job in telling me that rabbits even existed in ShadowClan territory and humiliating-- I-I mean!... J-Just shut up, alright?" Feeling absolutely mortified now, tears beginning to prick the corners of her eyes, Sparkpaw snatched up the rabbit in her mouth and began to stalk away rapidly, trying to keep her tears from falling. She had been exposed in her moment of weakness; the last thing she needed was to be further exploited by having her mentor see her cry. Stupid Daisyflame! How dare he make fun of me like that? I didn't know any better, no cat ever told me!

Well, so much for not hurting her feelings. He should've assumed a she-cat as snarky and defensive as her actually had low self esteem in herself, and now he felt awful for what he'd said. He never meant to hurt her feelings, nor make fun of her ability to differentiate rabbits from mice, and seeing one of his own apprentices so distraught wasn't something he'd ever really experienced before.

Somewhat baffled at what'd happened, the large warrior stood still and blinked a few times before realizing that Sparkpaw had already begun to head back to camp. Picking up his kill, Daisyflame loped past the apprentice and skidded to a half in front of her, blocking her path. "H-hey, I'm sorry," he mewed, a worried frown on his muzzle as he dropped the mouse at his white paws. "I was only kidding. You seem to jab jokes at cats all the time, I thought you'd understand," he explained. He wouldn't blame her if she hated him, but the least he could do was apologize.

Slowing to a gradual stop as her mentor approached to apologize, Sparkpaw let go of her large prey; it was beginning to put a strain on her neck anyway. She wanted to snap back at Daisyflame, tell him that he shouldn't have gone teasing her the way he did. But her defenses were still fragile. She knew that if she tried fighting back, she was just going to break down again. Besides....

He was still family.

Daisyflame had been her grandfather's best friend, and during the end of Scorchstar's life when he had lost his own mate, the two became closer. It was a little funny thinking of Daisyflame as an adopted grandfather in that light, and she still found it to be weird that her grandfather had even swung that way at all, but at the end of the day, all that mattered was he was still family. She shouldn't be acting this way towards family.

"...It's just tough, y'know?" she began, not looking up from where she stared down at her paws. The tears had stopped for now, but she knew they would begin again soon. It wasn't easy for a cat as prideful as her to open up, but her father's lessons of expressing your emotions rang in her ears. "I'm the daughter of Thornstar, and the granddaughter of Scorchstar, two of the greatest ShadowClan leaders to have ever existed. I feel like I constantly need to prove myself. They've done great things, so their kin should, too. I was so proud when I thought I had discovered a new species of prey; when you told me it was nothing but common WindClan prey...." She shut her eyes tightly, tears squeezing free and dropping on her black paws. "How am I supposed to live up to my family's legacy if the best I can do is common rabbits?"

Listening to Sparkpaw, he understood where she was coming from, seeing as though he'd been just as excited to gain his warrior name when he was her age. Not to mention the fact that he was also the immediate kin to a great leader and great warrior as well, so the pressure had always been weighted on his shoulders to live up to their name.

After a few moments of contemplating what to say, Daisyflame let out a soft sigh. "Not every cat starts out as an esteemed warrior, leader's kin or not," he began, a smile on his muzzle. "And trust me, I'm not just saying that to make you feel better," he pointed out, a hint of playfulness in his husky tone. "I'm the son of Littlestar and Mudfoot, two of the greatest cats to ever walk the marshes. When I was your age, all I wanted to be was an amazing warrior as they were, but I realized that I can only be as good as myself, not them," he pointed out. "It may take some time, but if you follow the warrior code, and stay loyal to your family and clan, such respect and dignity will come naturally, I promise," he mewed.

Lifting a paw, he playfully bopped his apprentice on the head. "While rabbits are common for WindClan, I never said they were common for ShadowClan," Daisyflame pointed out with a chuckle. "You did well today. Now, let's bring our prey back to camp before the clan starves."