The Whisper of a Song

Batsong sat at the exit of the clan camp looking out at the vast territory of rolling hills and open moor land. It would be nice to stretch her legs and get out of camp for a bit. It would help clear her head of these dark forest cats too which were not that fun to be around. A distance away she spotted Whisperpaw and called out to them while walking over to them. They's fur was a little sticking up on they's shoulder back behind where it was hard to groom at. Batsong chuckled lightly and groomed it down best she could as she purred softly. "I w-w...was t-thinking of g-going for a walk if you w-w...would like to join?" she asked inviting them along if they wanted to.

The wind blew pretty strong this day and a gust came blowing through camp, the open land meant not much blocked the wind from constatnly coming through. Batsong didnt always appreciate this as her fur blew all over the place and was quickly ungroomed she blew the fur out of her eyes and rolled her eyes she tried to hold back a giggle as she glanced downward at Whisperpaw. She tilted her head and looked closer at Whisperpaw she wondered if they still heard voices on the wind like they had described to her when they was a kitten. Hmm perhaps they had grown out of it Batsong wondered or perhaps they big ears heard more than Batsong ever could, or lastly... perhaps they had some connection to starclan spirits in the wind??? Batsong shook her head clearing it of all these different ideas.

"It w-...would be g-g..good exercise if n-nothing else and we can check the b--borders while we are at it." she added on getting back to her original point after some time.

Batsong walked along with Whisperpaw happily.  She consciously walked and let Whisperpaw set the pace not really wanting to go too fast for them as they still seemed tired often and Batsong wanted them to be comfortable. Batsong had always been a bit protective of them and with the recent disappearance of her apprentice this only grew further and she was almost a little too protective but she didn't see it that way, rather she couldn't stand losing anyone else.

The weather was still cold but the sun finally shown through and the first signs of an end to this harsh season was in sight.  The breeze for once was not so cruel and it seemed that any day spring would be here.  She could not wait for that.  she had never really seen a full on summer and she looked forward to that as well.  The elders spoke of warm long days with plenty of prey... that would be the most welcome she thought to herself.

Once they were out of earshot of camp she nodded thinking about the apprentice's question.
"I h-have bb-been taking care the best I can at least" she answered thinking about it.  Some things worried her such as needing to approach Goldenstar about her whole skyclan relationship with Slightfrost and the presence of the undead always hanging around.

The dark forest undead cats that were always lingering around and she was sure they were planning something she just didnt know what. She didnt trust them one bit and really did not enjoy their presence at all. "I d-dont c-care for these mange-pelt dark forest cats" she meowed with her stutter as they walked along.  She glanced over to whisperpaw "D-d..do your best not to interact with them... I d-don't t-trust them and even if they seem nice at the t-time they can only b-bring you trouble" she said in a lecturing tone.


The other topic on her mind was talking to Goldenstar...she was not entirely looking forward to that but she was confident that she could truthfully say that she was loyal to windclan and would always serve and protect them.  However that was not the easiest to talk about... hmm but Swiftspirit and Fawnsong already knew and she trusted and considered whisperpaw a great friend.... hmm perhaps even more than a friend she felt responsible for them. Should she tell them too?  hmm they would likely find out soon enough seeing as how she was running out of time to tell Goldenstar anyways.

Telling them directly was a little hard... it would be easier to preface this... In case things turned out worse case scenario and Goldenstar took this the wrong way and banished her she wanted whisperpaw to know how she felt for them and windclan... she didnt expect to get banned at all, Goldenstar was a just leader and had let Swiftspirit stay under similar circumstances.... however she had come to begin to plan for the worst even if she still hoped for the best.

"W-w..whisperpaw?" she started off with
"I w-want you to know that things m-might change at some point very s-soon but k-know that I will always care for you and windclan ok?" she meowed softly

she flinched... that came out a bit... blunt  more so than she meant it too

"n-not to worry I think things will be fine" she quickly added on.

Batsong winced ever so slightly, she had not meant for this to frighten Whisperpaw but it appeared to have... thinking about it more it probably had not been phrased the best by her... words were never her strongest suit.

Whisperpaw had pushed into her flank and she instinctively wrapped her long tail around them. "h-hey hey it will be okay dont y-you worry" she purred reassuringly nuzzling them back a bit.

She sighed and walked along with them for a little bit in silence. "I-... I just h-have a bit of something I have to talk to Goldenstar about soon... and im sure it will be fine" she reassured them.

She grinned softly and rested her tail on their shoulder "I d-dont want you to worry about it. I w-wont ever leave you" she promised.

She looked around at the nice day the bright sun baked them nicely and it was so pleasant in comparison to the middle of harsh season... sure it was still a bit cool but it was so much nicer in comparison and she couldnt wait for every day to be like this or even nicer. She didnt want to linger on topics that would only upset or make whisper fearful. She also wanted to hear more about they were doing in general

"ho...how about you? How is your t-training going? she asked tilting her head. "Has Coyotegrin gotten to show you some good stuff?" she asked as they walked along.

She made sure to keep an eye on how Whisper was doing but so far it all seemed good energy wise. They were a ways out and the border was nearby she sniffed the air making sure no riverclan cats were trying anything sus. Smelling nothing she was pleased, the last thing they needed was Riverclan or Shadowclan (the two clans they shared borders with) causing issuies.

Batsong slowed her pace even more noting that Whisperpaw had paused to get some more air and she stood nearby them. She listened quietly as they talked about their training thus far and how things were going.

Then an unexpected question came up that caught Batsong a bit off guard. She turned her head back towards Whisperpaw and waited a bit to ensure she would not cut off anything they further said.

She sat with them for a bit in silence, Batsong was never one to be a quick talker at all. After thinking about this and rehearsing it in her head a couple times so her tongue wouldn't trip her up too much she started with...

"Y-yes I do think you will become a g-good warrior" she meowed slowly so she wouldn't trip over too many words

"Too often is the emphasis p-put on what a cat can or cant do in battle. All too often is it overlooked on how good a head they have on their shoulders ...yes?

she flicked Whisperpaws forehead with her tail gently and playfully.

"and you have a g-good head on ya... dont lose it on me now" she said with a bit of a giggle.

"and n-no matter what ill always be proud of you and what you accomplish... because I know y-you will try your best to whatever end."

She sat next to them for awhile longer watching the sunny day continue... she couldn't wait for spring to come and maybe the rain that would come with it would wash the dark forest filth away as well... one could hope at least.

She in turn rubbed her cheeck on Whisperpaw's shoulder just as they had done.