making a friend (closed)

A cool breeze ran through Hazelpaw's soft fur as he licked white paws clean from any traces of grime, having recently returned from an attempted hunt. Yawning, he began to slick down his long, puffy coat, laced with dirt and brambles; droopy eyes and slow, clumsy movements made the lack of sleep he had gotten the night before fairly obvious. His brain seemed to be lagging behind his body, and he had just about scared off any prey he came across. With a groan, he lifted himself up and stumbled towards the apprentice den, deciding a nap would do wonders, when a sudden obstacle in his path made him halt. Unfortunately, though his legs stopped, the rest of his body didn't, and, teetering forward for a moment, collided with the ground with a huff. He forced his eyes to blink open, and looked up at the cat who he'd almost crashed into. Was that.. Hailpaw? He didn't know the she-cat well, but she seemed nice enough. At least it wasn't a warrior. With a lopsided grin, he began to speak, still sprawled out on the ground.
"Nice to see you."

Being distracted as usual, Hailpaw had only seen Hazelpaw at the last moment. For some reason, her paws remained stubbornly rooted to the ground even when she tried to move them. Just when she had thought the two of them would collide, the brown apprentice somehow ended up tripping on thin air. Gazing down at her denmate's sprawled out form, she blinked in momentary surprise. Uh... was he okay? Apparently he was, for Hazelpaw soon lifted his head and spoke as if nothing had happened. He was clearly still lying on the ground, though. The fluffy she-cat allowed her maw to twist into a small smirk. "Oooh, that was real smooth."

Despite the sarcasm in her tone, it was not really Hailpaw's intention to be mean. She crouched down by Hazelpaw with a curious gaze. "Are you okay there, Hazelpaw?" She asked cheerfully. "You are Hazelpaw, right?" Apart from the fact that they shared the same den, she knew next to nothing else about him. Come to think of it, this was actually the first time they had even spoken to one another.

OOC: pardon the delay

Hazelpaw winked playfully, deciding to play along. "Yes, I'm renowned for my, ahem, charm; legend says sometimes I even manage to not fall over before speaking." Abruptly lifting himself up and shaking his thick coat, now covered in a thin coating of dust, he stared at the she-cat. Apart from a slight ache in his paw, he was fine, though a bit dazed from the sudden fall. Wait, who was he talking to again? Oh yeah, Hailpaw. Or was it Sleetpaw? He took a second to process what she said. "I'm Hazelpaw, yeah. You're Hailpaw, right? Don't think we've talked before?" Tilting his head, he strained to remember any past conversations with this cat; yeah, definitely not. However, spring-green eyes glistening with confidence masked any possible shyness he bore, and a subtle grin gave off a feel of comfort, as if he had talked to this she-cat before. "Well, there's a first time for everything, right? Wait, that's probably not how the quote goes.."

Hailpaw settled back on her haunches, flashing the other apprentice a lopsided grin. Despite the fact that this was their first proper conversation, she had a good feeling about this tom. He had a sense of humor--an essential component to any cat Hailpaw could befriend. "I think I've heard of the legend." She stated with mock solemnity. "So, you were the one it spoke of." Leafstorm might or might not have ordered her to change the elders' bedding a while ago. The reminder niggled in the back of her mind, but she casually squashed it. He had never specified when she had to get started. The elders could always wait a little longer. There were more interesting things to do right now. Her long, feathery tail flicked against the sandy ground. "Nah, I don't think we've ever talked before." She affirmed in a cheerful tone. "Or maybe I just have a bad memory?" Welp, not like it mattered. "I'm ThunderClan's one and only Hailpaw. Pleased to make your acquaintance, Hazelpaw!" Come to think of it, it would have been rather awkward if she had gotten his name wrong. "Oh wait, aren't we already acquainted? We share a den and all. Do denmates not count as acquaintances?" Tipping her head to one side, she made a thoughtful expression. "Ahh, nevermind. If we're already acquaintances, let's just be friends, shall we? It's better to have more friends."

Hazelpaw nodded in agreement. "Yeah, friends sounds good. Such an honour to be acqainted with the one and only Hailpaw," he joked, before snatching a worried glance towards the warriors den. Had anyone seen him bringing back his earnings (e.g none) after his miserable attempt at a hunt? He'd certainly be scolded for just sitting here and chatting. Turning back to Hailpaw, he instead brought on a different topic to discuss. "What's your mentor like? I've got Blizzardshine; she's pretty nice." It was a bit bland, but he didn't have anything else to talk about. Perhaps he could've mentioned something about Lichenmask or his curse upon the sun, but after some quick consideration he decided that the subject.. wasn't a great idea to discuss among someone you're speaking to for the first time. Besides, maybe something would come out of speaking about mentors; maybe she'd be able to share the best hunting grounds or whatever.

Struggling to keep a straight face, Hailpaw tossed her head back. "That's right. It's an honor granted only to those worthy, so you'd better appreciate it." A tad narcissistic, perhaps, but Hazelpaw could tell that she wasn't being serious. In reality, her words were mostly a joke. Mostly. At the mention of mentors, the white she-cat pricked up her ears. "Oooooooh, Blizzardshine!" She exclaimed. Her sparkling yellow gaze turned to Hazelpaw. "My mom is your mentor? That's so cool! You said she's nice? I bet she is! She's always nice. Did you know that she used to be ThunderClan leader? Her name used to be 'Blizzardstar.' You have a former leader for a mentor! She was leading ThunderClan during the Sunningrocks war. It was around that time that she met my dad." Feathery tail lashing from side to side, the fluffy apprentice had begun to excitedly ramble. "She once--" Fortunately, she caught herself before she could go on for too long. Oops. If it were up to her, every cat in the forest would hear of the greatness that was Blizzardshine. What were they talking about again? Mentors? Hastily bringing the conversation back on track, she continued a little awkwardly, "M--my mentor's Leafstorm. He's a great teacher, but we don't do as much training as I'd like. I really want to learn more battle moves. I guess I get bored easily. Isn't it great being an apprentice? There are so many things we can do now that we couldn't do as kits. What's the best part about being an apprentice for you?" Hailpaw had been talking at a fast pace, but she suddenly drew to a halt, looking expectantly at the brown tom.

ooc: sorry if this post's a little later and shorter than normal, i'm stressed out with work atm

Hazelpaw, a little dazed, tried to remember what she had asked him amongst the other information. Ah, yeah, apprentice shenanigans. "Well, I think it's really just the thrill of finally being able to do more than just play in the nursery all day. Once that wears off, life gets kinda tedious, with taking care of the elders and all that. I can't wait till I'm a warrior; not that I'm very close yet." He stopped to think for a moment. "It's kinda like a cycle, ya know? The grass is always greener on the other side of the border, as they say. Though I can't understand how being a warrior could be boring.."

Hailpaw nodded along solemnly. "I feel you. Having to take care of the elders is a major pain. You know what they say, the elders have done their fair share of the work when they were warriors; doesn't make it a pleasant job, though. I can't wait for freedom!" At this point, something seemed to occur to the stocky she-cat. Her features practically lighting up, she leaped to her paws. She faced Hazelpaw, wide grin spread from corner to corner of her maw. Whenever she wore such an expression, nothing good was bound to happen. And nothing did. "You know what my favorite part about being an apprentice is? The fighting! Isn't the battlefield so exciting? I've already gotten into quite a few scuffles. I haven't lost once. What do you say, shall we have a sparring match? I want to see how strong you are!" Her gaze, as it took Hazelpaw in, was full of expectancy. She looked so excited that it wouldn't have been a surprise if she were to start bouncing up and down at that moment.

OOC: no prob