It's no fun hunting alone (For Holly)

Curlypaw crouched low to the ground, hiding in the shadow of a tree. An ignorant lizard was just of of leaping range to catch. She stepped forward two steps, and the lizard suddenly bolted. The young apprentice sprinted after it, but in vain. She had let another piece of prey escape. And it was because she was too loud again. The gray she-cat let out a heavy sigh. How was she supposed to know that she was too loud when she could only hear at half volume? It wasn't easy at all, she knew that. But being the stubborn cat that she was, she didn't get help. She had not so politely refused every offer some cat made to join her on her hunting trip, under the false assumption that being alone would help her. But unfortunately, in her past experiences that had been true. The one time she had been being "helped" by some cats, she had had to stay in the medicine den for a day with a terrible pain in her head. Plus, she was naturally stubborn.
Shaking her head, the gray tabby decided to try again. But when she scented the air, the found instead of prey that she smelled, she scented a clanmate. Oh no, this was going way to much like the last time. Adrenaline speeding her movement, she managed to scramble up to the first branch of a tree a few tail-lengths away. Not having been taught how to climb trees or having been born with the talent to do so, that was about as high as she could get. But she stayed their, hoping whoever it was wouldn't notice her.

Lilacpaw watched a fellow apprentice hunt, and approached slowly from the shadows.
Slipping out from them to reveal herself, she said softly, "Do you mind if I join you?"
It got rather lonely when she went to explore, and the thought of company made her happy.

Oh no. Silently praying to StarClan to get her out of this mess, Curlypaw jumped down from the tree to face Lilacpaw. This apprentice was definitely younger than she was, and seemed to remind her way to much of Crowpaw. Deciding that she didn't need this cat to be hanging around her when she was trying to hunt, the tabby she-cat looked her straight in the eye, blue eyes firm.
"Look, the last thing I need or want is someone tagging along after me, thinking they are helping by making me not lonely, but actually just getting in my way. So please leave, whatever your name is," she said irritably, kind of just assuming that this cat was like the other cats who asked to join her.

Well, there went her hopes for someone to talk to.
Lilacpaw paused. "Helping?"
She wasn't of the assumption the apprentice before her was helpless.
She had been asked to leave, however, so...
"It's Lilacpaw, whatever yours is," she informed the older apprentice, feeling regret as soon as the words left her mouth, before walking away.
Not very far, however - she wanted to see what this cat did next.

Curlypaw didn't quite know to respond to the first thing that Lilacpaw said. Half of her assumed that she was trying to play a fool, trying to make her feel bad enough to accept her company. The other half of her wondered if instead of helping, this other she-cat was thinking that joining her for hunting would benefit her in some way. Neither part of her even considered that she might have been authentic.
"Well bye Lilacpaw, I'm Curlypaw by the way!" the gray tabby apprentice called after her, then turned away. She didn't appreciate that cat´s sharp tongue, and was now even more glad she turned her away. She scented a bird, and followed its scent. Then she halted when she saw the creature. It was a thrush with a broken wing, stuck on the ground. It was kind of sad really. It once had the majestic power of flight, and was now stuck on the ground. It was like how she felt. She was a cat who should have been able to hear well, but was stuck half-deaf.
"Did you send this StarClan? Is this a sign that is supposed to make me feel bad about myself?" she muttered, not realizing that she had said it out loud.

"Why should you feel bad?" Lilacpaw asked, forgetting that she was supposed to be in 'stealth mode' at the moment.
True, Lilacpaw had watched her attempt to hunt - but they were apprentices. They were meant to be learning, not good at everything.
Part of her wanted to apologize for what she had said moments earlier, but there would be time for that later - at least, she hoped so.

"What in- Hey! How about you just forget you just heard that, okay? It's nothing," Curlypaw replied defensively. Of all things that could have happened, why did Lilacpaw have to hear her say that? Not only was it humiliating, it also made her feel worse about herself. In a split second decision, the gray tabby shot out her paw and killed the bird with a quick blow to the neck. She put it out of its misery, she didn't miss an easy catch, and she got food for her clan. It should have put an end to the source of her misery. But it only made her feel worse. Was she destined to become like a piece of fresh-kill, carried around helplessly by whatever cat it pleased?

"It's not 'nothing', or you wouldn't care," Lilacpaw declared, sitting calmly nearby. "And you shouldn't feel bad, even if I don't know why you do."
She was forcing herself to shove her paranoid thoughts of everything that could go wrong right now aside.

Curlypaw was uncomfortably thrust back into reality by the other cat´s words. Yep, it was official now. Lilacpaw was just as much of a try-hard helper as the rest. It didn't matter if it was physical or mental, it was still trying to force her to be helped. Unfortunately, she didn't feel like talking about her self doubt in front of a practical stranger.
"Okay, let's say that you're right. Why do you care? Don't you get that I don't need your help?" the gray apprentice asked. Hopefully this would make the other cat just leave. But that was definitely pushing her luck.

"You're my Clanmate. I'm supposed to care about you," Lilacpaw said simply. "If you don't need help, then you don't. I don't see what about me wanting someone to talk to has to do with you needing help, anyway."
She wasn't really aware that she'd said that last bit out loud.

"Well, thanks I guess. But I don't need someone to talk to right now, so go find a different cat," Curlypaw said uncertainly. Mumbling, she continued; "I'll talk to you later if you want."
By now, she was able to tell that she was wrong. But admitting it was the last thing she wanted to do. She looked down at the dead thrush at her paws. She wondered if birds had their own version of StarClan, and if that bird was flying there now. Maybe letting go of the past was how she made a better future. The she remembered that this was just a bird, not some sort of omen. Well, maybe sometime she would talk to Lilacpaw, but make it seem like her own idea.

Lilacpaw nodded, realizing she'd probably gotten Curlypaw to talk enough, and slipped back into the shadows to chase after something or other that she'd seen - she didn't want to come back to camp empty-pawed, after all.

OOC: This was a very awkward first encounter. This can be the end of the topic, we'll make another one when ready.

IC: Curlypaw watched as Lilacpaw ran back into the shadows of their clan's namesake, and sighed softly. Her big head had gotten in the way of her finding someone like Cedarpaw. She still didn't know for sure that she wasn't just a smarter Crowpaw, but if she was she did a good job of hiding it. Picking up the saddening bird in her jaws, she began trotting back to camp, not feeling like hunting anymore.