The Start of a Friendship [Closed]

Mottlepaw was laying outside of the apprentice den, his eyes closed in peace even thought his short fur was fluffed against the cold leaf-bare air. His paws were tucked under him as his tail twitched, almost seeming asleep but his ears were perked to tell him if anybody was drawing near. While he adored his Clan dearly, ever since the fight he had not been the same kit he was - instead choosing to drift away from his Clanmates. He wasn't sure who he could trust and also simply didn't seen much of a point to it. He had little words to say to anybody - forming friendships seemed like a challenge to him and wasn't something he wanted to partake in. Instead, he would focus on his training and taking care of his Clan, even if he wasn't all that close to the cats in it.

The day had been filled with vigorous training- first a run to the Lone Stump and back, followed by a fierce battle training session, and the day wrapped up with a lesson over flushing rabbits out of their burrows- by the time they arrived back to camp, she thought her paws were about to drop off. After staggering over towards the Apprentice's den and dropping down beside Mottlepaw, Brindlepaw stretched out her sore form and twisted her head to lap tenderly at the freshly-healed wounds on her flank- finding the snow that both apprentices lay in to be soothing on both the dull ache of her tired muscles and the fierce throbbing of her wounds. After tenderly soothing her wounds for a few more moments, she finally allowed herself to relax and look over at the younger tom with curious eyes.

"Easy day, huh? Great Starclan after the workout Emberfall gave me, I feel like I could sleep for a moon straight." Brindlepaw grunted, ear twitching as her belly rumbled- she hadn't eaten all day; but with prey so scare that any measly morsels found went straight to the weakest, and the young and healthy often went to bed hungry. " Ashstar's your mentor right? How's training been with her so far?" She swept right on without waiting for the younger tom to respond- expecting his usual silence or short replies. Mottlepaw was never like their other denmates- whenever others stayed up chattering like Starlings, he was quiet and would rather sleep. She had grown to appreciate his quiet, witty company for the most part.

Mottlepaw's eyes had flickered open as the sound of paw steps crunching on the snow alerted him to the presence of a cat drawing near. He blinked as his den mate collapsed next to him without a word. After watching her carefully for a few seconds, he was about to shut his eyes again and relax when she spoke up. He sighed softly, having gotten used to how talkative everybody else was. Of course, he could recall those days when he was much the same but...It seemed almost impossible for him to bring himself to act like the happy kit he had once been again. "Training is going fine," he said bluntly, shifting slightly in the snow to relieve some of the pressure on his paws from how he was laying on him. He didn't want them going to sleep on him. His tail twitched in faint annoyance, feeling that Brindlepaw would want to try to talk to him. But...He supposed it was something he could deal with. After all, having somebody to talk to wasn't the worse thing that could happen.

"It must be hard having Ashstar as a mentor." Brindlepaw mewed, shrugging off the slightly dismissive tone that Mottlepaw had- noting that although he was prickly at times, he wasn't entirely unfriendly. Raising her slightly numb paw to her face, she began to wash her whiskers as she watched the splotched apprentice shuffle his feet, " I wouldn't be able to handle carrying the weight of the expectation that I have to be like her." Brindlepaw murmured half to herself, although her eyes hardened at the mention of the leader- would she ever want to be like Ashstar?

"Anyways, I've been curious as to whether or not you're as fast as everyone says you are." She chuckled, fluffing out her fur as the true chill of the snow and wind began to sink their claws into her skin. "Perhaps we'll finally be put on a hunting patrol together- although there's not much to hunt anymore." Brindlepaw commented, lifting her head to stare at the bleak, snowy landscape that surrounded the camp. Inhaling deeply, she tasted the air only to find that the air simply tasted of strong frost and rain- hinting at more snow to come.

Having Ashstar as a mentor...Hard? Mottlepaw paused to linger on that thought, frowning slightly. He had not been an apprentice long but Ashstar seemed rather nice to him. Sure, she seemed to worry over him and he wasn't very fond of that but then again he had never had a cat truly worry over him like that, with his mother dying in kitting like she had. His gaze flickered over to Brindlepaw, listening intently to her.

He...He wanted to be like Ashstar, truth be told. He could tell that that she was hurting over the battle like he was but she still did her best to act strong - doing what she could for her Clan but he was left unsure if he could be as noble and strong as she was...He didn't like the idea of fighting, could he ever put himself in her paws? "Its not that bad..."he finally said, a bit unsure of what he thought that carried in his voice as he drifted off. He didn't feel like many cats expected to be like her...But was he simply unaware of the pressure being the apprentice of a leader would put on him?

He blinked however when Brindlepaw expressed her interest in seeing how fast he was, his whole body growing a bit ridged as he watched her carefully. Did others say he was fast? He couldn't be sure but he did feel like that was one of his strengths - although it was hard to run in all of this snow. Mottlepaw shrugged, but did give her a faint smile. Brindlepaw did seem nice - at least she didn't seem to care much about his short and brunt responses. The idea of going hunting with her on a patrol sounded nice. "Perhaps," he purred with a flicker of his tail.

A sense of relief washed over her as Mottlepaw seemed to meet her friendly offer with a relatively affectionate response of his own- it was nice to know that he did still retain a sense of playfulness from his kithood. It felt good to know that there were others she could come to rely on aside from Smokepelt; a sense of comfort that she could perhaps at last be branching out to others within the Clan. Brindlepaw rolled onto her side as she listened to Mottlepaw, watching him with attentive eyes as he seemed to be deep in thought as well. "You might have an edge over me though- I'm still battered from that Riverclan apprentice who seemed to kick like a rabbit." She snorted, recalling the brutal battle with a fellow apprentice.

"Perhaps I can speak to Emberfall about hunting together once the snow clears up a bit more." she hummed after a few more moments of reminiscing over her humiliating loss to the Riverclan cat, tail flicking as she scanned the shallow dip in the moor for the calico pelt of her mentor- only to be met with the sight of a few other bedraggled Windclan cat's working to clear the snow from the camp. "Hopefully Riverclan is satisfied for now- none of us are in good enough shape to fight like that again, especially with such limited prey available." Brindlepaw thought, catching sight of still raw wounds on the bodies of some of her Clanmates, before briefly looking down at her own.

At the mention of the battle, his expression darken. He did his best not to dwell on those memories - hiding in the nursery as the sound of the fighting went on, only to come out when he thought it was over and witness...He blinked, his breath coming slightly faster as he did his best to shake off the memories lest he consume himself in panic. His gaze shifted away from Brindlepaw as he took a deep breath to calm his nerves. His ears prickled when she mentioned having Emberfall taking them both hunting. "That sounds great," he said with a faint purr - but it had little of the warmth it had moments before. His gaze followed hers, staring at the worn warriors. He was left confused on why RiverClan had attacked. Surely they knew how hard it would be for WindClan to carry on in this harsh leaf-bare with injured cats! His claws dug into the snowy ground, shaking his head. "Why did RiverClan attack?" he breathed softly, glancing at his paws.

Brindlepaw paused at Mottlepaw's question, watching with careful eyes as he flexed his claws within the snow. Why had Riverclan attacked? Did they truly believe that violence would solve violence? For all of the campaigning and speeches that Fishstar gave against condoning violence, she certainly seemed eager to spill blood, and Ashstar willing to spill the blood of her own warriors as well. "I fear that is a question with many different answers." She spoke softly at last, watching as Mottlepaw dropped his eyes to his paws- the realization that he would of still been a kit trapped safely within the stifling confines of the nursery, oblivious to all the events that had sparked the fierce battle dawning on her. "Some of our warriors did thing they should not of- cruel and unjust things. So Riverclan punished us all for their crimes." She murmured, heart twisting at the indirect mention of her kin.

"Regardless of why the battle happened, Ashstar made a decision that she thought was best and stuck with it, despite how damaging the consequences may seem now." She added in a much clearer voice, pushing away the nagging fears and doubts that rose like a silent tide; threatening to wash away the foundations that she built herself upon. Lowering her head to allow her chin to rest against her forelegs, Brindlepaw watched the younger apprentice with guarded eyes- she didn't know how much he truly knew and perhaps it was best to leave old wounds untouched.

His ears flickered up as Brindlepaw finally answered, his gaze leaving his paws slowly. Cruel and unjust things? Why would somebody do such a thing? His gaze shifted, searching the horizon for answers. Why was all of WindClan punished for the crimes of some cats? It-it...It seemed unjust. His gaze harden. An unjust action for an unjust reward - did RiverClan not realize it made them as bad as the warriors that had done this actions? He blinked out of thoughts when Brindlepaw spoke up again, turning his attention to her as he watched her lower her head to her paws while keeping her eyes locked on him. "I...I see," he finally said with a twitch of his tail, frowning softly. He blinked, feeling it was best to change the subject. "How has your training been going?" he asked softly, doing his best to sound interested. After all, she had asked about his, it seemed only fair to ask back.

Brindlepaw's eyes flashed with an emotion similar to sympathy as she saw Mottlepaw struggle to process the full meaning of her words- did any of Windclan truly understand the motives of the attack? With a gusty sigh, she continued to rest her head on her paws as she watched the younger apprentice with now tired eyes. At the turn of the conversation into more friendly territory and the mention of her training, Brindlepaw's ears perked up and her eyes glittered happily. "It's going very well, my Warrior naming ceremony should be any day now." She purred, tail flicking eagerly. "Although it looks like it'll be a cold ceremony, unfortunately." Brindlepaw added, looking up at the cold, crisp sky as she spoke.

Happy to change the subject and to hear that her training was going well, he smiled softly at the she-cat. While he had some doubts of if he would ever be able to be a true warrior with how much he detested fighting, he was sure that Brindlepaw would be a great warrior as he nodded. Having a cold ceremony seemed like a small price to pay when how important becoming a warrior was to their lifestyle. "I'm sure you will be a great warrior," he said with a flicker of his tail.

Uncertainty gnawed briefly at Brindlepaw's bones as Mottlepaw praised her, but another purr quickly forced itself into her throat to distract her from the nagging. Lifting her head up from her paws, she looked over at Mottlepaw, one of her paws shuffling slightly in the snow, "Hopefully, being kin to Smokepelt carries the expectation of being the perfect warrior." She joked, although she knew that ever since Smokepelt broke the Riverclan apprentice's jaw and the ensuing battle , Clan-wide opinion of him had taken an unsavory turn. "Although I'm sure Ashstar will whip you into a much better warrior at this rate." Brindlepaw murmured, casting her gaze towards their leader's den with a slightly irritated gaze that contradicted her previously friendly words.