let me stay home / drives you crazy [closed]

Weight gently pitching back onto the curved arch of the heel, Vulturecry remained idly shifting and swaying against the chilly early morning dawn, pale shape decorated with the wreathing steam of her own heat, simmering breath rhythmically escaping her puffy little shape. The cold early morning air, heavy with the sharp spice of decaying foliage, was disrupted only by the faint patter of a departing patrol, a faint undercurrent of seemingly familiar reluctance hanging heavily at the prospect of braving the cold so early, at making room for their usual Asylum counterparts. It was difficult to perpetually licking flames of excitement and unease, apprehension bubbling up within her at the prospect of handling the training of an Apprentice, the lingering dread at the thought of turning out to be an utterly useless Mentor constantly hanging against the base of her skull.

Vulturecry was certain that her mother would chew her ears if it ever came out that she was a Mentor similar in caliber to Addershade!

Absently nodding and gently rounded features knitting together in a purposeful attempt to look a bit more certain than she truthfully felt, a restless pulse of energy surged alongside her speeding pulse as she continued to wait for Shadepaw to emerge from the Apprentice's Den. Truthfully she didn't mind waiting a few extra heartbeats for her younger counterpart to emerge, but it wasn't helping to do much to quell the whirling storm of emotion bubbling up low in her belly. Attention briefly waning to the diluted flashes of rosy light that bled through the patchy canopy high above, Vulturecry's features flinched occasionally as she caught sight of a blinding glimmer of freshly-dawned golden light. Tufted ears twitching violently at the newfound input of faint pawsteps suddenly encroaching, the pale-furred Warrior was quick to spin around with wide eyes.

A clouded puff of air left the apprentice's maw as she stepped out into the snow, shaking her fur. Part of her longed to curl back up in her warm nest beside her sister, but she was an apprentice now, and work had to be done. Shadepaw's ears flicked back against her skull at the uncomfortable cold wetness between her toes, and she took a moment to inhale chilly morning air to rouse herself a bit before she joined Vulturecry.

Speaking of, her yellow-green eyes opened once more to find her aunt waiting by the entrance to camp and her heart nearly jumped into her throat. Today, she would start her training. The smokey young molly was unable to hide the excited grin on her face and she trotted over towards Vulturecry, paws delicately crunching over the snow that covered the ground. It seems her presence had scared her mentor, however, because the warrior whirled around with wide eyes. Shadepaw blinked, startled as well, her tail bushing out slightly before she settled her rapidly beating heart. Was it beating due to nervousness or excitement? Maybe there was no difference.

"Sorry Vulturecry, did I scare you? Oh, an' good morning! It's a bit chilly today...hopefully it'll warm up later. What are we doing first?" Shadepaw couldn't help but look starry-eyed at her aunt, shifting her weight from front paw to front paw. A thought occurred to her, however, and she stopped, taking a cursory glance around for any prying eyes or listening ears. With the Asylum around, anyone could be spying. She crept closer, mewing in hushed tones, "Do we have to have an Asylum cat with us?"

Blatant surprise dusted Vulturecry's softly rounded features, shock and mirth delicately interwoven at the wide-eyed gaze promptly fixed in her direction upon Shadepaw's behalf; the faint, muted undercurrent of embarrassment twisting low in her gut at the unusual first greeting with her younger kin. Most of her interactions with Shadepaw had been incredibly brief thus far, breaking into the sacred confines of the Nursery on the infrequent occasion to admire her nieces shortly after Ravenclaw's sudden kitting, so this probably wasn't the most.. formal greeting her newly-named Apprentice had likely been anticipating. "Not exactly," She chittered out, pale gaze shaded with amusement at her own reaction, "just wasn't expecting you to be so close already, is all."

The carefully conditioned muscles atop the shoulders, so delicately interwoven in an intricate map of overlapping bands of carefully tried and tested strength, gently released any lingering tension that had accompanied the scare, shape softening up in the chilly morning air. The gentle curve of Vulturecry's muzzle scrunched up in a poorly disguised display of sympathy at the younger she-cat's commentary on the weather, already intimately aware of how poorly the forest tended to warm. "Yes, we do," Vulturecry carefully began, gesturing for the smaller cat to begin following in her steps, "but it shouldn't be too terrible- most Asylum cats will leave you be, especially when it comes to matters of training. And I suppose some freedom is better than none."