Attitude Check [C]

Blackpaw stretched with a flick of her once-shorthaired tail, now overgrown with thick grey fur. In fact, her entire body was covered in the stuff- all save for her face, which remained its usual black. The fur proved to be incredibly annoying in the heat, both to groom and to cool down. All this led to the she-cat being constantly irate, moreso than before, a scowl on her face and her tail lashing at every inconvenience. Her stomach rumbled with morning hunger and she hissed, as if she could scare it into submission. Of course, she remained hungry, so she begrudgingly loped towards the fresh-kill pile and carelessly grabbed a fat bird. It hanging from her jaws, she quickly trudged to a nice shady spot at the edge of camp and lay down with her meal. Perhaps after she ate, Birdchaser would take her out hunting. If not she'd just go out herself, anything to escape the crippling boredom she already felt this early into the day.

About halfway through her bird, Blackpaw noticed a large fluffy she-cat slowly approaching her. Immediately the black smoke gave a low growl, almost involuntary. She didn't really know anyone in her Clan apart from the cats she had to know, so this visitor was surely unwelcome. She could find her own spot. "Wha'dyou want? I'm eating." She said with an air of arrogance.

Wolfblossom grumbled as she pulled herself from the warrior's den, the heat and humidity making her attempts to smooth her fur downright impossible. She would take Thornpaw out for training in the evening, she'd decided, having been mostly sticking to mornings in a futile effort to avoid the heat. Bit late for that today, however.

The fluffy warrior ambled toward the fresh-kill pile, picking out a bird for herself and turning. No way was she sitting out in the sun, but the areas near the edge of camp were nice and shaded. Wolfblossom had taken note of the apprentice who had also opted for a meal, and had padded forward with every intention of a friendly greeting before settling down nearby. The haughty arrogance in the other she-cat's tone had stopped her in her tracks however, and Wolfblossom blinked at her, ears flattening for a moment. What was with the apprentices recently? Thornpaw seemed to have the temper of a badger most days, and now this one?

"The heat might be making us all cranky, but there's no reason to be rude to your clanmates." She chided gently, stubbornly dropped her prey to the ground and flopping down alongside it a respectful (to Wolfblossom, anyways) distance from the black and silver apprentice.

Blackpaw felt a sort of smug satisfaction at the she-cat's reaction. Yeah, she better stop! Better yet, she definitely scared her off for good. Her growling always worked with the kits anyway, so she was sure that any moment the warrior would turn around and leave her alone. She considered the interaction over and turned back to her bird, about to take another bite when she noticed that the cat wasn't leaving.

No, to Blackpaw's horror, she was laying down next to her. The younger she-cat stared, too bewildered at this cat's apparent lack of fear of her to speak. She opened her mouth to protest but closed it again, not entirely sure what to say. She'd never had to go any further than the initial aggressive display... And now she was at something of a loss. She hissed again, hoping to deter the warrior- but she lay there still, now giving her some sort of lecture. "I-it's not the heat. I just wanna eat in peace. Whad'you know anyway?" An awkward silence passed while Blackpaw tried to think of something scathing to say. "Maybe you're the rude one, walking up to me." She considered that sufficient, turning to her meal for a moment.

She looked back up, finding that the cat was still there. She weighed her options for a moment. Leaving would be accepting defeat, which was not an option. Ignoring her would suffice... But some sliver of social awareness made her pelt burn with the awkwardness of the situation. She cleared her throat, steeling herself. "I'm Blackpaw. What's your name? ...And yeah, it's warm. Wet air makes my fur all fuzzy, too. Gross." She gave her fur a demonstrative lick and it sprang back up, somehow even wilder than it was before. "You're a warrior, right? Fighting at the border is harder with the heat, yeah?" A tiny spark of interest appeared in her eyes. She was interested in warrior life, hatred of conversation aside.

"Am I not supposed to say hello to a clanmate?" Wolfblossom's whiskers twitched as she regarded the fluffy apprentice. Stars, but the younger cats were certainly irritable, and this one wasn't even family. "Yeah... The heat is gross. Even the water in the creek is too warm to be refreshing. I certainly wouldn't want to fight in it." She hadn't failed to note the spark of mild interest the apprentice, Blackpaw, had shown at realizing she was a warrior. She'd take that over the rudeness. "My name's Wolfblossom. Birdchaser's your mentor, right?" She asked, digging into her own prey.