teaching, learning [closed]

((no worries, i can be late too lol))

He grunted at his apprentice's emphasis on his suffix. Truth be told, he didn't know why Spottedstar had given him the suffix, but he didn't really care. It was just a name. Redfall nodded as Firepaw inquired about the dirt. "Yes." He beckoned with his tail for Firepaw to follow him. "Come on, then." He chewed his lip, thinking about where to start. We're kind of near the ThunderClan border. May as well go along there. "Alright, we're basically at the edge of the territory right now, so we'll go along the ThunderClan border. You only need to learn the border markings here, because the Twolegplace is on our other side, and as long as you don't cross that big fence you'll be fine." Redfall started off towards the Fallen Oak, pawsteps thumping on the forest floor. He made no allowances for Firepaw to catch up. She's training to be a warrior, not a kit.

Ah, ThunderClan. Firepaw wasn't too familiar with the cats who shared most of SkyClan's borders; the most she knew was that they were... well, not SkyClan. Different and weird. Truthfully, the apprentice looked forward to learning more- she wanted to know why these cats were (as one of the kits had so astutely put it) icky and nasty, not just that they were. She opened her mouth to voice a question, but Redfall had already set off- and at a brisk pace, no less. And what was brisk for a full-grown warrior such as Redfall was downright gruelling for a small apprentice-- but as Firepaw padded after the tom as quickly as she could, she refused to complain. I'm going to have to get used to this, and today's as good a day to start as ever.

After a few minutes of travelling, the she-cat glanced over to her mentor, mewing; "So these other Clans-" - a brief pause, and then- "What are they like? And what do we do if one of their cats finds us?" (Somehow, Firepaw had a hunch she already knew the answer to that last one... she'd heard tales of border skirmishes, fights between cats of different Clans, but- hopefully it wouldn't come to that. She was just an apprentice, after all.)

Redfall was appreciative of Firepaw’s ability to keep up. He slowed the pace ever so slightly and continued, pelt slicked down in the Greenleaf heat. Both of their pelts were longer than usual, her more so than his, and he was a full-grown warrior, used to exertion. Battle training would wait for a different day. He glanced at Firepaw as she asked about the other Clans, and twitched his ears. “If they cross the border, fight. It’s likely they will. Most Clans are prejudiced and biased against SkyClan over something that happened just before you were born: the Righteous Few. I’ll explain if you haven’t heard. But, if they don’t cross the border, you shouldn’t cross it either. I have trouble. Most cats I’ve encountered have insulted SkyClan and I, so I attack. Don’t develop that habit.” The tabby warrior clammed up after adding, “We’ll do sparring in a few days.”

As they reached Fallen Oak, Redfall turned to his apprentice. Memories of the battle with Cedarheart flashed through his eyes. “This here’s the Fallen Oak. Smell that ugly scent? It’s ThunderClan. Remember it. Don’t cross over the oak.” He glanced in the direction of Highpine as he waited for Firepaw to inhale the scent.

The tabby gave a firm nod as Firepaw acknowledged her mentor's words, committing them to memory as best she could given the heat. "Drive off trespassers but don't go over the border- got it. And expect people to try and start trouble with me because of ancient history." That last part... well, she'd already picked up on the little glares that some of her Clanmates gave each other when they thought nobody was looking- but whenever she'd taken the time to pry, the topic was always quickly changed, her questions as unanswered as ever. Even if the strife that had befallen the forest was moons ago, the wounds it had left were still fresh in the minds of some. So as Firepaw paused and breathed deep the scent of ThunderClan, her mind wasn't quite as focused as it should've been-- but even so-

"That's vile!" she yowled, coughing and tilting her head away from the border to take a few deep breaths. "That's what ThunderClan smells like? All the time? How do they even breathe..." Oh, it'd take her days to get that awful stench out of her nose-- but no, she needed to keep her composure. This was part of being a warrior, after all. "At least it'll make it easy to find the border..." A pause, and the apprentice took a deep breath (of fresh, clean, non-ThunderClan-tainted air). "If you don't mind me asking, though," Firepaw mewed hesitantly, choosing her words carefully- Redfall was trustworthy and knowledgeable, but if word got out that Firepaw was asking questions about this kind of thing, and even worse, getting answers... well, that was a good way to end up on the wrong side of the wrong cats. "You mentioned something that happened before I was born. Something that makes the other Clans hate us. What happened exactly?"

((forumotion is deciding to yeet everything i write, sorry for short and late hrnkg))

So she was asking about it. He'd asked for this, but that didn't make the story any less painful to tell. Taking a deep breath, Redfall turned away from the border, eyes fixed on a nonexistent spot. "Well then. This is long, we'll walk back on the way." He never had a gift for storytelling, but this one hit close to home. "Righteous Few. Bunch of StarClan cats set on 'purifying' us - casting out everyone who broke the code. Well, Spottedstar kicks out codebreakers and stuff. So we only had one casualty. Firflower, maybe you heard of her. Anyway, Finchstar, WindClan's old leader, openly defied the Few. They killed him. All lives, stripped with a touch. After that, this WindClan kid named Morningpaw did this rebellion thing. The Few found out. They didn't like that. So, this one Gathering, we went there. I was an apprentice. The Few were there too with a bunch of other nasty supporters. We fought. Morningpaw's in some sort of coma half-dead thingy, don't ask me 'bout that. Anyway, when I say we fought... SkyClan didn't. One of the Righteous Few's leaders, Owlstar, ugh." He shivered, remembering the feeling of his star-forsaken tail wrapping around his back. That snake. "He was gonna kill Sunflower. He gave us two options: fight for the Few or Sunflower died. It wasn't real. He would've killed him anyway. Spottedstar left. The only thing he could do without killing Sunflower. But a few warriors stayed anyway. Didn't matter. Other Clans never forgave us." Green eyes glittering now, he looked down at Firepaw. "You're smart, you figured out if I stayed or left."

((you are not alone with the forumotion struggles dw, i ended up writing this one in notepad instead dfghj after like three tries))

It all makes sense now, the apprentice mused with an understanding nod. Firepaw had remained silent through Redfall's explanation, taking in the new wave of information with her typical cool-headed collectedness- but behind those amber eyes, sparks were igniting in her mind, a new understanding that shed light on events almost inconceivable before. Almost. And as her mentor posed his half-question, challenging Firepaw's knowledge of the time even before her first breath, the apprentice closed her eyes, opened her mind, and cast her thoughts back, time playing in reverse as she remembered the arrival of StarClan's best to battle StarClan's worst, remembered the sounds of battle in Fourtrees and the scent of blood in the night air, remembered those who left with their leader and those who stayed with their heart--

-- well, maybe remembered wasn't the right word: how could she, after all? No, Firepaw had no personal recollection of any of these events, but even so, knowledge had more sources than simply experience, and history was simply one long, unbroken train of cause-and-effect; she knew the present, and what was the present but a mirror of the past? So with a certainty and clarity that, quite honestly, was a little alarming, Firepaw spoke:

"You're not yet a senior warrior, and this was some moons ago now- so at the time, you were an apprentice - Redpaw - under the wing of Swansong, who you mentioned earlier. She's always been driven by her heart, and she wouldn't let the murder of good cats like Sunflower- and I say 'good' loosely here, he's kind of a mess, but he'd done nothing to deserve the danger Owlstar posed. So Swansong would've drawn claws on the Righteous Few based on moral objections already.

Spottedstar then takes a third option- he doesn't want to risk his own Clan for the sake of the others, since - for the most part - SkyClan is relatively obedient when it comes to the Code. But he also won't commit his warriors to fighting the other four Clans, so instead, he calls for a full retreat. It's not his problem, so he won't get involved. Tactically, the best move to minimise loss of life. Politically, now everyone hates us, but that he was willing to make that decision suggests that really, SkyClan being disliked isn't anything new.

Enter Blossomstep, who- though not quite as cavalier as Swansong when it comes to this whole 'doing the right thing' business- is more focused on long-term consequences than Spottedstar, who sees approximately two feet in front of his own whiskers at any given time. Blossomstep would've known that if the Righteous Few won, they would've simply come for SkyClan next, because predators are rarely sated by just four good meals when five are available. She's smart like that.

And if Blossomstep stayed, then Wolfcall would too- not out of duty to the other Clans, but to his mate; my parents have always been besotted with each other, and Wolfcall would never leave Blossomstep in danger without throwing himself in head-first alongside her. Excessively sentimental, sure, but admittedly, that excessive sentimentality might well be the only reason I'm here today.

Which leaves," Firepaw continued, pausing for a moment to let her barrage of deductions land, "you, Redfall."

"You're strong and bold, and you act on impulse rather than analysis. It's served you well, and when Firflower died, you wanted vengeance. But, of course, that drive alone wouldn't be enough for you to go against Spottedstar's orders-- you're a SkyClan cat through and through, and you're not quite as tied to the concept of reckless morality as your own mentor. That's not to say you won't do the right thing, but more that you temper it with at least a little self-preservation and Clan loyalty at times. Your priority was keeping yourself and Swansong alive, not in making some grand gesture against injustice like that WindClan kid."

"And then Swansong decides to stay, and you're left with two choices: stay, or go. You would've preferred that she'd left, of course, so then you could too without guilt-- but in the end, although you value Clan loyalty, you value personal loyalty more. If you'd gone back to camp, and found out the next morning that your mentor had died because you hadn't stayed? You'd never have forgiven yourself, and you knew that.

Looking back on it, it's easy to say you did the right thing, but at the time, the decision wasn't so clear, I'm sure. So what mattered most wasn't the decision you made, but the fact that you made it. An apprentice obeys, but a warrior chooses. As for what happened? Easy. You chose to stay, and you chose to fight, and the stars learned to fear your tiny, apprentice-sized wrath."