Mentor; Friend [closed]

ooc; I'm placing this thread on the day of the Gathering so we don't accidentally make any paradoxes. :)

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Clovertwist returned from the dawn patrol with a speckled robin held in his teeth, a happenstance catch on the mission to re-mark the border of Fourtrees in preparation for the Gathering that night. The sun had risen and the green moors were glimmering with life; the WindClan camp into which Clovertwist entered held life, too, but even from a distance he could still hear the sounds of sickness. Maybe he was mistakenly being optimistic, but it almost sounded like it had eased slightly since the night before... hopefully that was good, not bad. As the silver tabby strode into camp, he spotted his distinctly dappled apprentice, Eaglepaw, up and about. "Hey, Egglefaw," Clovertwist meowed, muffled around the robin in his mouth, and he waved his tail to welcome her over to him. He sat down his bird as she approached, purring, "Hope you don't mind I didn't wake you up to come on the dawn patrol with me today; I kinda thought you might need the extra sleep for the Gathering tonight." He smiled at her.

Eaglepaw smiled at her mentor as her name was called. "no," she called. "I don't mind! I have a feeling that tonight's gathering will be interesting if nit having some fighting it in gathering what has been going on between the clans this past moon." she stated uneasily.

Clovertwist welcomed her with a soft chirp, sitting down on a patch of grass. He nodded in solemn acknowledgment of her fear and replied, "I think you're right. I'm not very interested to find out, but, well, I couldn't stay home after whatt they did to Finchstar at the last Gathering." Clovertwist patted the ground. "Come sit and share this robin with me! We can talk about it."

Eaglepaw padded up to her mentor purring. "Thank you Clovertwist, not many others are willing to share in this time of trouble." she spoke very plainly and frank with her mentor. She felt as though he could be trusted, with almost everything.

Although Eaglepaw didn't see Clovertwist with a romantic eye, she saw him as an other mentor, someone to look up to when the times where troubled, and tough as in this situation.

She flicked her tail and sat beside her mentor. "Most don't really know me at all, in the fact that I am part of this clan." she said a little ruefully as she took a bite of the robin.

The silver tabby tom watched his apprentice approach with a smile, ears flicking at her wisdom. "My dad always said the same thing," Clovertwist replied, settling himself in comfortably while Eaglepaw did the same. He nudged the bird in front of her while she spoke of her feelings of isolation within the Clan. "A lot of our Clanmates are... well, a little preoccupied right now, and I hate how we never just sit and share tongues as a Clan anymore. We're all too worried of stars and shadows - as well we should be, I suppose, but it doesn't make it any less lonely." He checked that she'd finished her bite before scooting the bird back towards himself and taking a nibble. He chewed thoughtfully.

Eaglepaw flicked her ears forward after she had swallowed the bite. "You never really talk about your parent's much, where they wonderful? Who are they?" she asked curiously. She had learned that her own parent's were pure clanborn, but had not wanted her. She was pure Windclan, but felt as thou she was all rogue. She sighed and scooted the robin slowly towards her and took another bite. "I never knew my paretns." she said with her mouthful of bird.

ooc; Graybriar is a character whose roleplayer retired, so the character sort of became an invisible NPC for a while. She is basically just a queen/elder who stays in camp, but most characters who never roleplayed with the real character wouldn't be able to know that. ^^ She is dead as of the end of the Treason on High sitewide plot, but in this thread she'd be sick but still alive.

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Clovertwist half-chuckled as Eaglepaw asked about his parents, chewing his bite slowly. "My father's name was Barleytuft - my mother's name is Graybriar. You might see her around since you're an apprentice, you'll have to help out in the elder's den and nursery and medicine den sometimes. My, uh... My father died this past leaf-bare of whitecough, and my mother hasn't taken it well," he explained after he swallowed. His ears flicked; Eaglepaw had taken a bite of the bird and murmured she didn't know her parents. Clovertwist's stomach twinged with pity. It was a sad story; he'd heard it from gossip that her parents hadn't wanted her. How any WindClan cat could not understand the value of love and family after all this time was disgusting to the tom, but he was so young... Could he judge? Maybe. Maybe not. He would just focus on giving Eaglepaw some of that love she was missing.

Eaglepaw leaned over and licked her mentor's head like a mother kit would lick her kits. "Well, your mother at least still has you." she pointed out to her mentor, "And I am sure that your father is watching over you from Starclan....he doesn't seem like the kind of cat that would be part of the rightous few." she commented.

The silver tabby warrior angled his head slightly when Eaglepaw leaned up to give him an affectionate lick, and he smiled at first at her reassuring words. He looked more solemn at the final words about Barleytuft and the Righteous Few, though. "No, he wouldn't be," Clovertwist agreed. "He was a good tom. He believed in following the warrior code, but he believed in love like Finchstar did, and he believed in family. He really loved me." Clovertwist leaned aside, nudging Eaglepaw, and he purred, "He'd have loved you, too. He'd have thought you were a good WindClan cat."

Eaglepaw smiled at this when her mentor said that his father would've approved of her being a Windclan cat. "Clovertwist," she asked kina hesitantly. "What is it like being a mentor?" Even though she was still an apprentice herself, she had seen around the camp the kind of pride that new mentor's carried. Even the older mentor's, the one's who had multiple apprentices still seemed to be proud. She was wondering what it was like to be proud of a young cat, and maybe even looked up too.

Clovertwist blinked when his apprentice said his name, and when she asked what being a mentor was like he responded "Huh," and pulled the bird back towards himself, taking a bit and chewing it thoughtfully. "I like it so far," he stated through his mouthful of bird. He swallowed and continued, "It's different from just being a warrior - it's almost like being an apprentice again, actually. When I got my warrior name I didn't have to get up every day for training or check in with someone every day. I tend to let Olivestone or Raventail know if I'm gonna be out of camp long anyways, but I don't have to. It's exciting, but kinda nerve-racking, honestly?" He looked aside at Eaglepaw and bumped her good-naturedly as he said, "If I don't teach you everything right then I could endanger you or the Clan, y'know? It's a lot of responsibility, but it's pretty cool, too. What do you think about being an apprentice?"

Eaglepaw shrugged and took the bird back, biting into it. "Well," she said mumbling around the mouthful. "I am on my way to becoming a warrior." she pointed out and then looked at Clovertwist. "I also like having you as a friend and being out training with you, even if you do get bossy every once in a while." she said cheekily.

Clovertwist looked to Eaglepaw as she shrugged and considered her own answer. He laughed at the response she gave, whiskers quivering with amusement. He quieted a little, smiling more genuinely at her kindness - until she ruined the moment. The silver tabby warrior snorted and rolled his eyes, chuckling. "Yeah, I am the bossiest. I'm bossier than Finchstar ever was to me," he conceded, eyes growing glassy as he thought of his deceased mentor - gone before his fair time.

Eaglepaw rolled her eyes. "Yes, you are really bossy, but compared to the other mentor's your not actually half bad. I hear the other apprentices moan and complain that their mentor's make them clear our the nursery and the elder's den and such and so forth. You've never had me do that." she said happily.

Clovertwist's ears flicked and eyes focused on his apprentice as she confessed he wasn't as bossy as some mentors. He raised a brow to hear talk of what other mentors had their apprentices do. An impish, toothy grin flashed across his face, and he teased playfully, "Careful, you might give me ideas!" His knotted tail flicked, and he took another small bite of bird and added through the mouthful, "Actually, I probably should make you do a little more of that - I'll make your fellow apprentices jealous, they'll make you sleep on your own." He chuckled in amusement as himself.