The future's in your paws. Shape it well.Roleplay in a cat Clan of warriors. Based off the Warriors series by Erin Hunter. Takes place in an AU before the cats in the books existed.
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Subject: walk with me [c] Mon Apr 04, 2022 6:14 pm
It was dusk when Thalia sought out the apprentice she had been entrusted with. Looking up to see the same starless sky as the night before, she sighed, though took a moment to be thankful for the moonlight. Part of her wondered how the distant remnants of Asylum were faring, and if the stars had vanished for them as well. But there was no point dwelling too long on questions with no answers, and she had a task to attend to.
Though the apprentice's coat was brown, Thalia thought that Icepaw was a fitting name - the icy white that covered her paws gave the impression of slow-creeping frost, as if the last hint of leaf-bare was somehow stuck to her. "Icepaw? If you have some time, would you want to come for a walk?"
Characters : [P]oppyshine; [Pi]neblossom; [W]hisperear; [C]rookedlight; [L]arkspring; [Wi]llowwisp; [R]ashoumon Clan/Rank : RC T5 Deputy; SC T5; WC T5; SkC T5; RC T4; RC T4; Rogue T1 Number of posts : 2988 Gender : Any Pronouns Age : 25
Subject: Re: walk with me [c] Mon Apr 04, 2022 7:22 pm
Icepaw
The days were long and blended together. Days gave to night and those days mixed together until time passed. Icepaw wasn’t sure what to make of it all, so she simply kept living and kept going through the days. As exhausting as it was, there was no part of her that wanted to give up entirely. She had to survive, and this was how she would do it.
Thalia’s voice pulled her out of her thoughts. She gazed up at her new mentor. A small voice wondered what Cicadashriek was up to, but her gaze remained steady on Thalia. She gave a small nod and pushed up to her paws. She hadn’t been outside of the ShadowClan camp in a while, and figured that it would do some good. It would also allow her to get to know her new mentor; maybe better than her original mentor.
“Where are we going?” she asked, her voice soft and flat as she trailed behind the warrior.
Subject: Re: walk with me [c] Mon Apr 04, 2022 9:40 pm
"Just around the territory," Thalia explained as she led the way out of camp. She was glad that Icepaw seemed open to spending some time with her, at least - that had to be a good sign. "I'm sure you're familiar enough with it already - but a refresher is never a bad thing, right? Besides, I'd like to get to know you a little better, and I thought this might be a good way to go about it."
Her paws carried her toward the deeper parts of the marsh out of habit more than anything, and she stopped when she noticed - she knew the rocky path that hid underneath, but thought it unlikely that Icepaw did as well, and didn't want to risk it. "Is there anywhere particular you'd like to go?"
Characters : [P]oppyshine; [Pi]neblossom; [W]hisperear; [C]rookedlight; [L]arkspring; [Wi]llowwisp; [R]ashoumon Clan/Rank : RC T5 Deputy; SC T5; WC T5; SkC T5; RC T4; RC T4; Rogue T1 Number of posts : 2988 Gender : Any Pronouns Age : 25
Subject: Re: walk with me [c] Mon Apr 04, 2022 11:16 pm
Icepaw
Icepaw didn’t even notice that Thalia almost took them in a different path. She kept her eyes to the ground, stepping carefully around potholes of water and trying to keep herself dry as she followed her new mentor. Her stomach twisted as they walked and she almost didn’t catch some of Thalia’s words. She blinked a couple of times, focusing again. She mewed, “Not in particular. I have been to Fourtrees, but besides that, I haven’t been anywhere else outside of ShadowClan territory.” She finally lifted her gaze, looking around a little bit as they walked. “You can show me anywhere in the forest you would like.”
Subject: Re: walk with me [c] Thu Apr 07, 2022 5:06 pm
Thalia didn't seem to realize Icepaw was struggling to follow her words, occupied as she was by her own thoughts of how to proceed. Anywhere in the forest she liked... Well, of course she was limited by borders, but Thalia's favorite parts of the forest were all on ShadowClan land anyway. This was the only clan's territory that she could recall feeling safe in, the one that had truly become a home.
"Let's start here," she decided, looking down the path she'd almost taken. "Even if you already know all this... The deep marshes are that way," she gestured with her tail. "It's a good place for hunting, and not bad for finding other things, but it's dangerous if you don't know which places are safe to walk on - if you find yourself there for any reason, make sure you watch your step." After a pause, she added, "The same is true of the Thunderpath, except that there is no safe space to walk on. Really, I'd rather no one went anywhere near it, but I guess the borders still need to be maintained. It's best to watch, wait, and listen if you ever need to step on it for anything at all."
She chose not to elaborate on the reasons for her dislike and avoidance of the Thunderpath - she wasn't trying to scare the younger cat, just trying to encourage her to be safe. "Besides," she continued, "the whole place stinks, and the smell sticks with you."
Last edited by Holly on Sun Apr 10, 2022 2:53 pm; edited 1 time in total
xaandiir Former Staff
Characters : [P]oppyshine; [Pi]neblossom; [W]hisperear; [C]rookedlight; [L]arkspring; [Wi]llowwisp; [R]ashoumon Clan/Rank : RC T5 Deputy; SC T5; WC T5; SkC T5; RC T4; RC T4; Rogue T1 Number of posts : 2988 Gender : Any Pronouns Age : 25
Subject: Re: walk with me [c] Sat Apr 09, 2022 12:53 am
Icepaw
The more Thalia spoke, Icepaw tried to focus on her words. She followed Thalia’s gaze to the path before them. The deep marshes. Icepaw hadn’t gone there much at all. She knew vaguely of them and how there were potholes of deep water and that they could result in a bad soaking—or even death—if cats weren’t careful about where they stepped. Icepaw nodded and followed Thalia’s lead. She tried to make sure that she kept an eye on where Thalia’s paws stepped so she wouldn’t fall into those dark, hidden traps.
“I’ve been to the Thunderpath before,” Iceaw noted softly. “I’ve never crossed, or even gotten close to the hard ground of it. The monsters are too loud and it smells awful.” It was a bit of an useless area anyhow, as the noise and scent of the monsters scared away much prey. She supposed Thalia made a good point though, in that the borders were still important. “What can be found in the deep marshes?”
Subject: Re: walk with me [c] Sun Apr 10, 2022 3:04 pm
"Take care that you don't," Thalia advised. "I speak from experience when I say it only gets more unpleasant."
In response to the apprentice's question of what could be found in the marshes, she spoke again, "Herbs, for one thing, and it's always good to have more of those around. You can find other flowers, too, in the warmer seasons - that's usually what I'm looking for, even if most of them tend to grow better elsewhere. The prettiest ones, in my opinion, are easiest to find here. Also, you can find drowned prey on occasion - I'd guess the best time for that is just after heavy rain, but that's the most dangerous time to be out here."
Satisfied with her explanation of the deep marshes, Thalia carefully led Icepaw in a new direction - toward the pine grove. As she walked, she continued, "What do you know about the borders, Icepaw? Anything about them - where they are, which Clans we share them with, or what territory belongs to ShadowClan."
Characters : [P]oppyshine; [Pi]neblossom; [W]hisperear; [C]rookedlight; [L]arkspring; [Wi]llowwisp; [R]ashoumon Clan/Rank : RC T5 Deputy; SC T5; WC T5; SkC T5; RC T4; RC T4; Rogue T1 Number of posts : 2988 Gender : Any Pronouns Age : 25
Subject: Re: walk with me [c] Mon Apr 11, 2022 12:47 pm
Icepaw
Nodding along, Icepaw did her best to focus on Thalia’s teachings. It seemed that the deep marshes were most useful for things outside of prey hunting. Hunting would be better served in other areas. She supposed it was good to know that herbs and flowers could be found here, should the medicine cat ever need her assistance in finding some. When Thalia led her towards the pine grove, Icepaw felt a little more confident. She’d been there a couple of times, at least.
In response to Thalia’s question, she meowed, “While we have a bit of isolation thanks to the Thunderpaths, our nearest neighbors are ThunderClan and WindClan. We commonly have territory disputes with WindClan.” She paused and added, “If there is anything more…I’m not sure.”
Subject: Re: walk with me [c] Tue Apr 12, 2022 10:06 pm
Thalia nodded as she led the way to the grove. As she'd expected, Icepaw at least had a solid grasp on the basics. "You've got a good foundation. We also share a border with SkyClan," she explained. "Similar to WindClan, territory disputes are pretty common. And, of course, the only Clan we don't share a border with is RiverClan. Part of me wonders how they'd navigate the marshes, since they're known for swimming- Sorry, I'm getting distracted... That said, we're here."
The clearing was a familiar hunting ground for her, as much as she wasn't a particularly talented hunter. "This is the pine grove," she continued. "It's a wonderful place to hunt - even if you lack an aptitude for it like I do - but be careful: Twolegs are a sign of danger, and if the scent of them - or anything else that's even a little unusual, really - is stronger than usual, then you shouldn't stick around. Truthfully, every part of our land has its own unique dangers, but also its own unique advantages. To that end, we won't be going all the way to the carrionplace today either, but do you know what we use it for?"
Characters : [P]oppyshine; [Pi]neblossom; [W]hisperear; [C]rookedlight; [L]arkspring; [Wi]llowwisp; [R]ashoumon Clan/Rank : RC T5 Deputy; SC T5; WC T5; SkC T5; RC T4; RC T4; Rogue T1 Number of posts : 2988 Gender : Any Pronouns Age : 25
Subject: Re: walk with me [c] Wed Apr 13, 2022 12:17 am
Icepaw
Thalia’s explanations were all succinct and useful. Icepaw nodded along to Thalia’s words. She spoke about a lot more things than the Dark Forest cats did when they took her out to do some hunting or walk a patrol with her. Icepaw found herself more at ease with Thalia. It was a strange feeling. Icepaw didn’t think she was at ease around anyone.
She considered Thalia’s follow-up question. “I’m…not sure,” she admitted. “Hunting birds or rats, perhaps? But it’s also full of crowfood a lot of the time…” She had never gone to the carrionplace and wasn’t sure if she wanted to. She hadn’t heard much about it, aside from how it often had crowfood about for the birds that feasted—where it got its name—and that it smelled awful due to all of the rot. Icepaw was grateful for a moment that they weren’t going to be headed there today.
Subject: Re: walk with me [c] Wed Apr 13, 2022 7:39 pm
"Sort of," Thalia acknowledged. "It is full of crow-food, that's true. When hunting is especially poor, it's a place to gather prey - even that same crow-food. We avoid it where we can, for our own safety as much as anything else, but when things are desperate... Even in hard times, we still need to eat, regardless of the risks. In all my time as a warrior of ShadowClan, I don't recall a time where we've needed to use it, but there's no reliable way to know when our circumstances will suddenly change."
She gestured vaguely with her tail, attempting to silently indicate the lingering Dark Forest presence. Few things encapsulated the ever-changing world of the Clans so succinctly as essentially becoming prisoners in their own home overnight. "If there's anything I've learned during my time in ShadowClan, it's that things change quickly. Almost nothing is ever certain, so it's all the more important to learn everything you can - that way, you can best adapt as the world around you changes."
Her dedication to learning all she could about the Clans, and ShadowClan in particular, was paying off, meaning she could explain herself well - or at least better than she had thought she would be able to. She was starting to really enjoy the experience in a way she hadn't expected, sharing the things she had learned with someone else.
Characters : [P]oppyshine; [Pi]neblossom; [W]hisperear; [C]rookedlight; [L]arkspring; [Wi]llowwisp; [R]ashoumon Clan/Rank : RC T5 Deputy; SC T5; WC T5; SkC T5; RC T4; RC T4; Rogue T1 Number of posts : 2988 Gender : Any Pronouns Age : 25
Subject: Re: walk with me [c] Fri Apr 15, 2022 4:11 pm
Icepaw
That all made sense to Icepaw. She still had no desire to go to the carrionplace any time soon, but she could understand its importance, given Thalia’s explanation. At mention of how quickly things change, Icepaw lowered her head and almost seemed to pull in on herself. She knew that all too well. The Gathering a few moons ago had proven to be a massive change in all ways of things; how the clan operated, who lived in the clan, and those that were stolen away. Icepaw’s heart ached at the thought of Ratrunner and she shook her head. “Yes, that…that is important,” she mewed, though she didn’t sound very passionate about it. Icepaw forced herself to lift her head. “You’ve taught me a lot, Thalia. Thank you.” She felt tired already, though they had only been out for an hour or so.
Subject: Re: walk with me [c] Sat Apr 16, 2022 2:37 pm
As Icepaw's demeanor shifted a bit, Thalia wondered if she'd pushed the young cat too far - or, after a moment's thought, if she'd dredged up painful memories. That was probably the more likely explanation, now that she thought about it. She wasn't sure how to apologize, exactly, so after a moment's consideration she moved on. "We've covered a lot of ground today, Icepaw," she started. She meant it - they hadn't been out all that long, but they'd covered what she felt were the most important things. "I don't want to push you too far, so unless you want to keep going we can head back to camp."
Characters : [P]oppyshine; [Pi]neblossom; [W]hisperear; [C]rookedlight; [L]arkspring; [Wi]llowwisp; [R]ashoumon Clan/Rank : RC T5 Deputy; SC T5; WC T5; SkC T5; RC T4; RC T4; Rogue T1 Number of posts : 2988 Gender : Any Pronouns Age : 25
Subject: Re: walk with me [c] Sun Apr 17, 2022 4:07 am
Icepaw
Thalia’s offer for them to go back to camp was a relief for Icepaw. She nodded and turned a bit back towards camp. “I…think going back would be best. I’ll be wanted for help in camp.” Likely, Stagshade would be looking for her. She didn’t want to risk keeping him waiting if he was. “Thank you again, Thalia. I look forward to our outings.” She waited a moment longer for Thalia to take the lead and then she followed her back towards camp.
