my whole heart, deemed and delivered a crime [c]

Forest Speak
Feral Speak

It did not take a genius to see the falter in Adderpaw’s step, or the dullness of her pelt. Whatever cruelty Sweetheart was inflicting upon the young she-cat was working a real treat. Silverdusk’s tail lashed behind them, paws creating trenches in the dirt, in poorly suppressed anger. It was an unfortunate truth that Sweetheart was who she was, and that it seemingly happened to be incurable. How many cats had tried and failed to cure that foxheart? Firefly had tried, stars rest her soul. Silverdusk herself had tried. They’d both tried by beating some sense into her, Sageroot had tried the nice way, and now Adderpaw was paying the price. It wouldn’t do, it was time they took matters into their own paws. Her niece deserved better. “Adderpaw.” called Silverdusk, standing abruptly and making her way over to the apprentice “Come, let us go for a walk.” she forced a smile, though it was more of a grimace. It, of course, was not directed towards Adderpaw, but they could not hide their frustration with the situation.

Without waiting for the younger cat’s response, they trotted out of camp, and through the territory. When in a mood, the trees seemed to fly by. It was like no time had passed when the silver warrior found a spot far enough away from camp to pitch their concerns. The fury that rolled off her, fuelled their irrationality. They had little care if this was overstepping her position, if this did not concern them, she would deal with it how she saw fit. Better to stomp it out now than to let it burn. ”Tell me about Sweetheart. you do not need to be kind, Adderpaw, she is most loathsome.” mewed Silverdusk, finally letting Adderpaw in “I want to help you.”

Silverdusk let Adderpaw rant, let her unleash all her furies in the form of an anguished wail. They hated pity, but after her speech it was hard to not feel that for their niece. Sweetheart was a horrid cat, the fact she hadn’t been demoted back to a kit was extremely shocking. It was appalling, and Adderpaw and her kin had always received the worst of it. What was worse still was nothing that Adderpaw told the warrior shocked them, it was all very in line for her mentor. “Thank you, Adderpaw.” they mewed. She wasn’t sure where to go from here, nor what comfort to offer the young molly. From observation, they knew she hated physical touch. Adderpaw wasn’t soft either, she doubted she wanted to hear honeyed words that were really just lies. It wasn’t okay, they wanted to help. There was silence between them before Silverdusk spoke.

“I can teach you to fight.” they said plainly. “You will learn nothing from Sweetheart. Do you want to know something, Adderpaw?”

They didn’t wait for her response before launching into one of the most freeing rants of their life “We are the same age. When we were apprentices a great sickness struck the forest, I became sick and she did not. I was dying, I could not do anything. All i wanted to do was train with your mother, but I couldn’t. There was no herbs to cure this sickness. Somehow, she managed to earn her warrior name during this time…” Silverdusk scoffed, tail lashing, as she remembered the ceremony. Her actions then alone should have resulted in demotion. “… And even that did not make Sweetheart happy or kinder, if anything it made her worse. While her clanmates were dying she did not do any of her duties. I earned my name many moons after her. She had every chance to be a better warrior than me, but she is lazy and cruel. She only picks on you because she could only win a fight against a cat that cannot fight back. Sweetheart picked on me once when we were on patrol, I had held my name for just over a moon then, do you know who won that fight?” She quirked an eyebrow. It was a satisfying memory to look back on, and while they didn’t search for fights she wouldn’t mind knocking Sweetheart down a peg. “I did.” they grinned “I picked her up like the oversized kit that she is. It was extremely pleasing when she then squealed like one too.”

Silverdusk had no clue where she’d been going with her rant. It was an attempt at some fort of moral story, but the truth was she herself was still young. They’d only been a warrior for a few moons, but so much had happened in that time that she felt older than they were. Being Adderpaw’s aunt also didn’t help them, if anything that made them feel like they needed to have all the answers. She needed to round out her point. “What I wish to say is… Sweetheart will not change, I do not think she will get better as a mentor or warrior, but I would be honoured to teach you how to deal with her.” her tail flicked in amusement, as mischievous grin spread across their features “I can teach you how to beat more cats than just Sweetheart… Did your father ever tell you how he got his only scar?”

Forest Speak
Feral Speak

Silverdusk nodded “You sound so surprised, of course I will teach you. I would not offer if I intended on retracting it, now…” She rose to her paws, falling easily into a stance ready for battle. Their eyes narrowed on Adderpaw
“Take your position. I assume, Sweetheart will not have taught you anything, that is okay, it gives us a place to start from. Do you see how I am poised? You want to look like that in a fight. Ready to strike, but also keeping yourself guarded.” instructed the warrior “Watch.” Again, they showed the apprentice what to do. She stood tall, then crouched, tail tucked and ears pinned. Her muscles were tense, strength and energy coiled to spring at any moment. It was slower this time, for emphasis. She wanted desperately to see their nephew grasp it straight away. The sooner she did, the sooner she could stand up to Sweetheart. “See, I am ready to strike, but I have protected my weak points. My belly is close to the ground, and my tail and ears close to my skin, so my enemies cannot grab at them and claw them.”

They relaxed slightly, this was just a mock battle, and Adderpaw needed a win, she needed to fight on fair ground. If she needed to gain confidence, not lose it. Silverdusk had plenty of confidence to spare, throwing this battle would do nothing for them, but winning would be everything to their niece. “Now that you have mastered that, attack me. Do not worry, Adderpaw, you will not hurt me.”

Silverdusk

20/20 HP
60/60 EP

Adderpaw

20/20 HP
60/60 EP