Getting To Know You [Silverwing]

The newest member of Skyclan had certainly caught the deputy's attention, and she'd been a quiet observer for the past few days. Silverwing had to adjust to new clanmates, new territory new leadership, and new rules. She seemed to be making progress, though not everyone in Skyclan was happy about it. Wolfblossom was often busy with her duties, but today she'd pulled the newcomer onto a patrol. She wanted to get to know her new clanmate, and now that she had a moment, it was time to start.

"How are you finding things, Silverwing?" Wolfblossom glanced towards the spotted silver she-cat, "Nobody's been causing trouble for you, have they?"

"Can't say they have... I've been getting some weird looks, but that's nothing I wasn't expecting." Not a single cat had caused her any problems, instead preferring to stay as far away from her as possible. Few accepted her company, something Silverwing knew wouldn't last long. She was naturally very charming and beautiful, their mild hate for her would subside in a few moons as long as she continued to put her best paw forward. Turning her grey gaze to Wolfblossom, Silverwing began inspecting her deputy. Gorgeous, a fluffy white pelt with two blue eyes that seemed to mirror the sky. "You've got pretty eyes." Silverwing said. As usual, there wasn't much thought put behind the words, and she was off talking about something else in the next moment. "As my deputy, I'm sure you wouldn't mind teaching me a thing or two when it comes to climbing, right? I know I haven't been here for long, but it's something I think I should learn. I doubt anyone else would care enough to teach me." Aside from Birdstar, but Silverwing didn't want to embarrass herself in the leader's presence.

"They'll come around, in time." She hoped, but she didn't need to express her doubts to Silverwing. A comment about her eyes being pretty, and Wolfblossom almost laughed. Did she think flattery was going to help her cause? It might, for some cats... But Silverwing's follow-up was more interesting. Yes, she would need to learn how to climb if she was going to be an effective warrior in Skyclan. "I can help teach you, sure." She nodded.

"You lack muscle strength, but that's something you'll only gain with practice. Climbing won't be easy at first, and you need to watch your paws as well as pay attention to your surroundings." Wolfblossom padded up to a sturdy pine, leaping upward and hooking her claws into the bark. Her hind legs propelled her forward, and she called down to her, "Eventually you'll be able to leap directly to lower branches, but we'll start with the basics first. Putting one paw in front of the other, and using your hind legs to push forward. And... I hope you aren't afraid of heights. Maybe don't look down when you first start." She added with a grin.

No matter how many times she saw it, Silverwing was still fascinated every time she saw one of her clanmates climbing. They always made it look so easy, something that her own practice had showed was not the case. "I lack muscle strength? I guess you've never seen me in a fight, I have oodles of muscle strength!" Silverwing used to run the moors! You didn't get to be one of the fastest cats alive from having weak legs after all, she would show Wolfblossom! The silver she-cat approached the tree, placing a single paw on it before tilting her head. She didn't know if heights would be a problem, but she really didn't want to think about it either. "One paw in front of the other? I don't think that works here. It should be one paw above the other, right?"

That didn't sound hard honestly. She could do that. Claws dug into the tree, and after a few seconds to prepare herself Silverwing's hind legs followed. This was usually as far as she had gotten on her own. "One paw, two paw..." Silverwing tried doing as Wolfblossom had, using her hind legs to get a push while her front paws would keep her in place. It seemed to be working, even if she was going at a snail's pace. "Like this, right?" Stars, she felt like an apprentice again. If she wasn't worrying about falling off Silverwing might have been embarrassed by this.

"Running is a bit different than climbing trees." Wolfblossom mewed, whiskers twitching in amusement. "You use those muscles differently when climbing." Most Windclanners she had seen were scrawny. They might work for wide open moorland, but Wolfblossom was confident none of them would ever be able to climb with the ease and grace of a Skyclanner. Silverwing could get there with practice, she was sure of it.

"Ah, but then you'll be climbing down trees, too. Wouldn't you say forward is relative?" Wolfblossom glanced towards Silverwing as she hauled herself upwards and nodded. "Like that, yes. You'll get faster as you practice." She mewed, climbing upwards and hoisting herself onto a sturdy branch. The deputy sat, gazing down at her new clanmate. "You'll be able to get further into the trees than I can, once you're used to it. We won't go too far into the trees today, but you'll get the hang of knowing which branches are sturdy enough to hold your weight in time. Rain and snow are not good for keeping branches sturdy, but our patrols regularly clear out ones that can be dangerous."

"You can use your tail to help balance too. Not dissimilar to stalking prey." She added.

Forward? Relative? Stars, Wolfblossom was talking nonsense now! Maybe it had something to do with being so high up all the time? Would Silverwing ever start speaking like that? "I hope not!" She blurted out, too focused on keeping her grip on the tree to keep her thoughts inside. Silverwing stared up at Wolfblossom, watching enviously as she sat on a branch. "You comfy up there?" Silverwing needed something to keep her mind off the exhaustion creeping in her limbs, she needed something to focus on. Wolfblossom would be the perfect (and only) point of focus. "I'm coming for you, Wolfblossom! And when I get you I'm gonna grab your tail!" All these Skyclanners were so darn fluffy yet they refused to let her touch them, it was a travesty! That would be her prize for learning how to climb, a couple minutes to herself with Wolfblossom's fur, that sounded fair.

Using your tail to stalk prey? Silverwing almost laughed at that! You didn't need to use your tail to hunt, you just needed raw speed and the element of surprise. Silverwing's eyes grew wide as the branch neared her reach. Just a bit further! Please! Silverwing thought about reaching out or just jumping for it, but before she could put either plan into action her grip loosened. She managed to twist in the air and land on her paws, though the entire ordeal had worn the molly out. Silverwing glanced at Wolfblossom one more time before falling to the ground. "Cats weren't meant for climbing, Wolfblossom! We're supposed to be living life on the ground, where we belong!" Honestly, Silverwing was just upset that she hadn't been able to reach the branch. It wasn't even that high up, stupid thing. Stupid tree.

"I am! And the view is nice!" Wolfblossom called out smugly. "If you can make it up here." She challenged, smirking. Wolfblossom was far from the introvert that many of her clanmates were, and clearly Silverwing needed some motivation. Her form wasn't bad, of course, but her exhaustion was evident to Wolfblossom. She saw the moment her grip loosened, and tensed, ready to spring forward to prevent a fall, but the she-cat landed on her paws.

"You know how to land properly, that's good." She mewed, leaping from the branch to land in front of Silverwing. "And you'll get better at it. The first few attempts are always tiring. The soreness lets you know you're doing well, though."

"You can't possibly tell me that we were meant for the ground." Wolfblossom shook her head, "I swear some of our clanmates live in the trees. And it opens up more opportunity to catch prey. We'd never let something escape us just because it's in the branches, like a silly Riverclanner." She paused, "...I suppose Windclan doesn't exactly have branches for prey to nest in, does it?"

Just because some of their clanmates preferred the trees didn't mean they weren't meant to live on the ground, they had dens to return to every night that she was sure weren't located on tree branches. Besides, every other clan seemed to do just fine on the ground, aside from Riverclanners but it wasn't like they could breathe in the water and live there... Right? "Yes, chasing a squirrel up a tree is truly inspiring to watch. You're all so fluffy down here it looks like I'm watching a freakishly large squirrel chase another for its food."

"No, not really. We did have trees, but not many. They were usually located near our border, and Fourtrees if you count that. We just had a different kind of branch in Windclan. There were tons of rabbits out there that had burrows, any time they tried to escape they would dive into a hole. This one time, I saw a rabbit go into his hole, and my clanmate hopped in right after it!" Exhaustion was forgotten momentarily as she recollected the story of her hunt with Owlshade. The rabbit had immediately leapt past him for Silverwing to catch, but seeing the older warrior stuck in that tunnel had been incredibly funny at the time. "He was stuck in there for a bit, I had to dig him out... Say, I didn't make it to the top, but I still deserve a prize for making it as far as I did, right?" The silver molly propped herself up on two paws, quickly switching to a seated position as the exhaustion ran back into her limbs. "What's it gonna take for me to touch that tail? It was so big and poufy that Wolfblossom probably wouldn't even feel her touching it.

Wolfblossom laughed, "We are. I envy the shorter-furred in greenleaf. It's nice in leafbare, though." Squirrels were... apt, she supposed. Though Dawnfeather would have called them birds instead, Wolfblossom was sure. More elegant.

"I've seen rabbits dart into their burrows, I've never been fast enough to catch one, of course. Cats can fit down there?" Windclanners were smaller than the average Skyclanner it seemed, but the thought was a strange one. "Oh no, that poor cat... I can't imagine getting stuck, that must've been terrifying! Having to be dug out..." How very different to Skyclan. All clans had their unique feature, of course.

Wolfblossom smirked at Silverwing's request, fluffy tail in question flicking with amusement. "Ah, but what would I use as incentive to get you into the branches again?"

"He kind of crammed himself in there, but yeah he fit. Well, his front half fit, I was stuck staring at his backside for a bit." Terrifying? Maybe to a cat that didn't have tunnels connected to their camp. Owlshade had been extremely calm while stuck in that hole.

"More tail touches? Get me hooked first, I might put a little more effort into my next climb." If not for the fatigue Silverwing would have rushed the deputy. Being faster than Wolfblossom would have given her an edge in grabbing that fluffy tail, though the consequences of such an attack might be devastating. "You sure I can't get even the tiniest, quickest tap? Promise I'll become the best climber in all of Skyclan, pretty please!" Silverwing smiled brightly at Wolfblossom, knowing that if the deputy did give in her "quick" tap would be anything but quick.

Wolfblossom couldn't help but giggle at the imagery Silverwing's words conjured up. "That must've been a sight." She snickered.

"But if I let you now, where would your incentive be to improve?" The deputy grinned, fluffy tail swishing as she stood. "Gotta work for what we want, right? Though I suppose you've done enough for today - it's getting a bit late."

"We can practice more tomorrow, bright and early if you want. If you want to practice with some of our best climbers, though... Dawnfeather is better in the trees than I'll ever be. Her and Ravenclaw, they're so graceful when they climb. Dawnfeather is probably the more approachable of the two, though. My aunt is old. And grumpy." She'd get her ears clawed off for saying so, of course, but Wolfblossom held affection for her mentor anyways.