troublemaker [closed]

After the meeting had dispersed, Lichenblaze made a beeline for his apprentice before the younger could escape to his den. He was working through what he wanted to say, his blood still boiling from the news revealed earlier.

"Newtpaw, come with me," he meowed, doing his best to keep his emotions out of his voice. "I want to talk to you."

The exhaustion from the trek to Fourtrees and back had hit the young cat hard, his head hanging as he watched the rest of the gathered cats slowly file away to their respective dens for the night. He wanted to join them, go curl up and fall asleep for as many days as he could, but Wolfstar's announcement had got his blood pumping. There was going to be a war, and he was going to be fighting in it. He didn't give a rat's tail about Dawnhawk in particular, but he couldn't stand the thought of letting a murderer run around the Clans as he pleased. He had cats to protect, and WindClan was harboring someone that could put them in danger.

Pulled out of his thoughts by a familar voice, Newtpaw looked up, tail flicking at the sight of Lichenblaze. If he had anymore energy, he would've complained, but he just heaved himself to stand and nodded. "Uh.. right, okay. What's up?" He tipped his head to the side, searching his mentor's face for any betrayal of the words to come.

Lichenblaze pulled Newtpaw off to the side of camp, keeping his voice in a hoarse whisper. This was only for the two of them to hear.

"Listen, 'paw," he began, tail lashing against the ground where he sat. These kinds of talks were not his forte. "I know war is all exciting and whatnot, but I need ya to understand something. I haven't experienced a war, but I heard about the one against the Asylum. This scat's not to be taken lightly, okay? Cats can and will die, and I...don't want you to get your little rump sent to StarClan before I do. So..." He trailed off, his hard gaze turning a little embarrassed as he struggled to find the right words. A scrape of his paw against the ground, and he continued. "Just...be careful, okay?" He raised the paw to bap Newtpaw on the head in an attempt to be affectionate, in a big brother sort of way. "Now get to bed. Tomorrow's gonna be rough as bark."

Newtpaw didn't sit, choosing instead to hover in front of Lichenblaze where he stopped. He was expecting a lecture of some sort, and even though that was what he got, it didn't quite feel like one. His whiskers twitched as he listened, eyes narrowing as he looked towards the ground. Something was starting to turn in his head.

The 'speech' wasn't long, and he was about to speak when he felt Lichenblaze's paw against his head. With a look back up, he grinned, though the expression was short-lived. Almost immediately he turned sullen, lowering his head. "Well, Dawnhawk's killed cats," Newtpaw started slowly, like he was trying to think as he spoke. "That's why we gotta fight, right? I mean–" A look over his shoulder, towards his sisters as they disappeared into the den, "we don't want anyone else gettin' hurt." His frown grew deeper as he stared at where they had just been. He didn't want to fight– well, he did, he liked wrestling, but he didn't want to get hurt –but if this was supposed to be his Clan, he had a duty to protect them at all costs. Even if SkyClan didn't want them crawling around, he had to protect his family, at least.

Shaking himself out, he turned back to Lichenblaze and gave the brightest smile he could. "You're not goin' anywhere either, 'kay? I don't want Beechface draggin' me all the way to the Moonstone just so I can see your starry tail." He laughed, but the humor didn't quite reach his eyes. With a sigh, he turned away, hesitating just a moment to give Lichenblaze a look. "G'night, then?"

"Oh, don't worry, my dumb-ash rump won't be going anywhere anytime soon. Not if I can help it."

Lichenblaze had turned to go when Newtpaw did, but the little tom's voice made him stop. Looking back over his shoulder, he smiled faintly, a small but surprisingly genuine smile. "G'night, 'kit. See ya tomorrow."