Catching Up on Lost Time

(taking place just before the Thundering winds topic, it's just a small hunting thing to accelerate Moth's requirements. This would have happened sooner but life is an issue so I hope this isn't crossing any lines. We'll avoid discussing any issues that may cause a paradox)

Pebbles crunching beneath Thornbriar's heavy paws, the she-cat paced about their makeshift camp. The kits were currently spending time with that apprentice that seemed to be taking so much interest in them, so she had a moment to herself.

And for some reason, she didn't know what to do with it.

Any other day, she'd have a clear goal in mind, but lately she hadn't been able to focus. Grief tugged at the corners of her mind, and she hated how it was threatening to render her useless. She needed something to do... something to prove to herself that she was still the warrior she'd fought to become.

Her eye flicked to the temporary fresh-kill pile.

Noting the lack of prey, Thornbriar immediately spun and padded off to locate her apprentice.

---

Wasppaw sat beside Mothpaw silently, her gaze fixed on the surface of the lake.

She knew she should be speaking with the apprentice, making small talk or... saying something at least? But she couldn't bring herself to try.

How could she? Words didn't come to mind anymore. She'd approached the Shadowclan she-cat to try and comfort her, but instead all she'd managed to do was sit beside Mothpaw and shuffle her paws awkwardly.

This was stupid... she shouldn't have even tried.


Pain lanced through the tortie's chest at the sudden thought and it took all she had to not gasp at the feeling. Tears stung her eyes, but she blinked them back quickly. She wasn't about to let Mothpaw see her cry. That wasn't fair to her...


The silence dragged on, Wasppaw tucking her tail more firmly around her petite paws and subtly turning her face away from her fellow apprentice.

The strife tearing at her was cut off abruptly by heavy pawsteps approaching the apprentices at a rapid pace, followed by a harsh, gravelly voice.

"Mothpaw come, we're going hunting."

A curt nod from the Shadowclan queen was Mothpaw's only answer before the large she-cat began walking away from the two apprentices... unsure of how to handle Mothpaw's current mood when her own was already so... torrential.

Wasppaw hadn't been expecting the sudden interaction, but she'd been expecting the invitation to tag along even less. Eyes wide with startled confusion, the tortie hesitantly glanced between Thorbriar's massive, scar-laced back and Mothpaw, who still stood beside her. "U-uh... s-sure, I'll come along..."

A long, awkward pause filled the silence between them before Wasp got to her paws and spoke again, her words clumsy and uncertain. "You're um... Mothpaw, right? I've heard your name a little bit since we got here... I think I saw you at the gathering?"

"Y-yeah... it's Wasppaw." Gah, was it normally so hard to talk to a cat her age? Wasppaw's pelt warmed in slight embarrassment at the memory of her first introduction to the clans, recalling how those stupid Skyclan apprentices had got in her face...

The thought made the slightest flicker of fire flare up in her chest.


Turning her soft blue gaze back to Mothpaw, she smiled awkwardly "Yeah, hunting is fun, but I don't have a lot of experience with it... and uh... fun? I like ice sliding! But there isn't any ice anymore... Oh, and I like fishing! That's fun!" She grinned, then motioned towards the large warrior that was glaring back at the two from a good distance away. "We should.. probably follow her I think? She looks like she's getting annoyed. Anyways, how about you? What do you super spooky Shadowclanners do for fun?"

Wasppaw was off not long after Thornbriar had told them to go for it. She already knew she was bad at hunting, but she wasn't a bad fisherand so with that in mind she immediately began to head for the water. Wading in till the cool liquid lapped at her belly fur, the tortoiseshell began scanning the water for any odd movement.

It wasn't long till she spotted one and she stilled herself to wait for the perfect moment. Her paw hovering just above the water, she struck with lightning fast claws the instant the fish made the mistake of drawing too close. She almost missed, instead clipping the fish's tail rather than it's side, but with another swift strike she had it in her grasp.

She scooped it up quickly, sinking her teeth into it's shimmering scales and lifting her head high to show off her catch. Scorchclaw would probably be offended by such a sloppy catch, but thankfully he wasn't anywhere nearby.

Watching the two hunt, Thornbriar wasn't surprised to see her apprentice return first. Pride flickered in her chest at the sight of Moth's clean catch. However, she was surprised by the dark furred she-cat's question. "Swanpetal?" Why was she interested? Thornbriar shifted uncomfortably. She didn't like admitting that she was relatively close with the Riverclanner, but at the same time it didn't feel right keeping the information from Mothpaw. "She's Wasppaw's mother... a Riverclan cat. I met her long before you were born."

Wasppaw approached not long after, her legs and belly soaked with lakewater as she plopped the still twitching fish down at Thornbriar's feet, clearly proud of her catch.

The massive she-cat cringed at the sight. Fish... did not look appetizing in the slightest. It didn't help that the Riverclanner hadn't killed it yet. "For Magpiestar's sake, but the thing out of it's misery. Didn't Scorchclaw teach you better?"

"Oops... sorry. Forgot!" Wasppaw did as she was told, mumbling a clumsy thanks for giving it's life for her clan before ending it's life and sitting back on her haunches.

Taken aback by the complete shift in mood, Thorn internally groaned. Now she understood why she was wary of sharing her and Swanpetal's friendship with the black tabby. "... Yeah, right. On that note."

Not bothering to finish her sentence, the warrior immediately began to stride away from the two apprentices. She wasn't about to stick around that. Besides, she'd be needing to bring something back as well and she certainly wasn't about to return empty clawed.

Before long she caught sight of her prey and dropped into a practiced crouch. The toad ahead of them was busy resting atop a smooth sun-warmed stone, oblivious to the approaching threat.

Dashing forward she had the plump little amphibian in her grasp within moments. It squealed in panic, but it's cry was quickly cut short with a swift snap of her jaws over it's neck.

Taking a moment to look the newly caught fresh-kill over, she nodded in satisfaction and picked it up. Padding past the two apprentices, she nodded to them. "Let's head back. Good work today, kits."

Frowning at the warrior's use of kit towards her, Wasppaw scooped up her fish and trotted after Thornbriar.

"H-hey! I'm not a kit!"