Hurry hurry, what a mess [c]

Sunpaw was having some… unpleasant revelations.

For one thing, he didn’t like to be alone. The emotions that he’d barely been holding back before his argument with Rookpaw were flooding him now, swirling with the anger and hurt he still felt about Rookpaw. He’d always had Rookpaw, and to a certain extent Larkpaw too. They were his only consistencies in the rocky moons after all three of their parents had been taken away from them. It was profoundly wrong to not be speaking to Rookpaw.

For a second thing,  Sunpaw didn’t have many friends. He had Brookstone, who he liked a lot! But she was his mentor, and a senior warrior with lots to do besides being bothered by her apprentice, even if she was always very nice to her ‘little fishy.’ He had Toadlegs, but Toadlegs had moved on without him to become a warrior, which was fine, but Sunpaw certainly had no idea where that left their friendship. He normally had Rookpaw, but… again. They were still friends! Sunpaw certainly thought so! He… he hoped so. But… He didn’t know how to talk to them right now. He. Used. To have Twistpool, whenever Rookpaw was occupied with their brother.

Normally, Sunpaw had no problem making friends. But he’d been making such a steady wreck of every relationship that he had, and he felt so twisted up inside, that the thought of approaching someone new only to be rejected was completely unbearable. With all of that, that left…

Willowpaw.

Sunpaw hadn’t spent a ton of time with her, but he knew her, he considered them friends, and he’d been sharing a den with her and her siblings for moons now, between the nursery and the apprentice den. She was pretty, smart, and cool, and Sunpaw frequently wanted to hang out with her. Like Rookpaw, however, she was usually occupied with her siblings, or otherwise busy. Which, he wanted to get to know the rest of her litter too, but the thought of talking to all of them at once when he only sort of kind of knew them made him feel downright queasy. (Especially since Wrenpaw… intimidated him.)

But here was his chance. It was mealtime, and yet he didn’t see Wrenpaw, Mistpaw, or Tinypaw immediately at Willowpaw’s side. He also didn’t see Willowpaw actively seeking out Perchstar. He felt a little shy, a feeling he was frankly, deeply unused to, but he. Was. Sunpaw. The. Daring. And he was tired of eating alone!

Sunpaw scooped up a piece of prey from the pile and approached Willowpaw as she ate. “Hi,” He said shyly. “Would you like to eat together?”

Willowpaw

Willowpaw was not the most sociable of cats. She knew that she should try to be. She was a newly-named apprentice, the daughter of the leader, and apprentice to one of the most senior warriors. It would not do for her to be a wallflower. Yet…she still struggled to find an excuse to seek out anyone for conversation.

Thankfully, she did not have to make the first move today, as Sunpaw approached her. She had not spoken with him much since their last conversation as kits, but she was glad that he chose to approach her anyway.

“Hello Sunpaw,” she greeted with a nod. “I would enjoy company, thank you.” She had her own fish that she had taken from the pile, and so they settled in together. “How are you feeling today?”

RiverClan • Apprentice • She/Her • 20 | 60 • #6abcde

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Sunpaw’s shoulders relaxed as Willowpaw greeted him and accepted his invitation. He moved to sit beside her, setting his fish down in front of him. He chose a smaller one, since he didn’t have much appetite these days. “I’m okay!” He said with a small smile. Willowpaw had the unnerving ability to see right through him last time they spoke, and they hoped this wouldn’t be the case again. He didn’t even know how to explain what happened with Rookpaw.

“How about you? How’s training been? Your mentor is… Stormdance, right? Brookstone mentions him from time to time.” He took a bite of his fish, fluffy tail swishing from side to side.

Willowpaw

Willowpaw nodded and began to eat. “Yes, Stormdance. He is a very skilled warrior. I was uncertain about him at first. I really wanted to be mentored by my mother, and was disappointed when I received Stormdance instead…but he is nice. I’m happy with him as my mentor.”

She looked at Sunpaw and considered mirroring the question back at him and asking about Brookstone, but…well. It didn’t seem like that was really the thing on his mind. She knew that he had been upset for a while now because of the loss of Twistpool, but this feels like something different.

“Did something happen?” she asked, as to-the-point as usual.

RiverClan • Apprentice • She/Her • 20 | 60 • #6abcde

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Sunpaw noddled along as Willowpaw spoke of her mentor. He could understand wanting to be mentored by your mother. If either of his parents were still here, he probably would’ve wanted to be mentored by them too. If Twistpool had not been an elder, Sunpaw would’ve certainly been begging to have him as his mentor. But none of those things were possibilities, so he hadn’t given much thought to it before.

He was opening his mouth to comment something-- express sympathy or understanding-- when Willowpaw once again cut through his defenses. Sunpaw was left sputtering. “Uh- well- well--” He swallowed and shook his head, letting out a baffled laugh. “How do you keep doing that? I swear I’m acting completely normal and then you just,” He makes a gesture with his paw and makes a slicing sound effect. "Cut right through me."

Since there was clearly no use lying to Willowpaw, Sunpaw settled back down and answered honestly, “I just got into a fight with Rookpaw the other day, that’s all. We’ve…never fought before, and we haven’t been talking. It’s making me sad, but I don’t know how to fix it. But it’s okay! We can keep talking about mentors and stuff. I’ll figure it out.” He didn’t want Willowpaw feeling like she had to fix his problems for him.

Willowpaw

Willowpaw tilted her head, listening to Sunpaw’s sputtering, surprised response. Acting normal? Cutting through him? Well that wasn’t really what she was trying to do. “I do not mean to startle you or anything. But you do not smile right when you are upset. Of course I am going to see if it is because of anything I can help with.”

When Sunpaw explained, Willowpaw nodded along. She hummed and rested her chin on her paws as she considered the situation. Her tail waved. “No, I do not mind this subject. It is hard to figure out a solution to your own problem. Getting help is always the better thing to do.” She looked back at Sunpaw, light dancing in her pale blue eyes. “What did you fight about? It must have been serious, if you two never fight.”

RiverClan • Apprentice • She/Her • 20 | 60 • #6abcde

Credits: code inspiration - 1 2 |  image 1 | image 2 | image 3