planet earth turns slowly (c)

On his mission to befriend Nectarflower's kits--which he had no ulterior motives for, definitely, it was simply out of a desire to know some of the younger generation in WindClan's ranks was all--Larchbreeze found himself paying slightly more attention to the apprentices that darted around camp in the middle of their duties all day. When he had a free moment between patrols, he would often see them carrying bundles of moss or pieces of prey they'd caught. It felt strange to observe them when he'd been an apprentice himself not too long ago. However, he was far older than them and taller than them so he'd never be mistaken for their equals in rank. He was a warrior now, with a well-deserved difference in respect. Not that it mattered in this case. Hopefully the cats he tried to talk to would respect him, but not so much that they viewed him as an annoying authority figure. Except maybe in the way that brothers were supposed to be annoying. He wouldn't know; he'd never had any siblings himself. The closest had been Snowvixen and he'd never call her a sister in any sense of the word.

Anyway. He was getting in his head too much. Just earlier today he'd caught sight of a she-cat that looked almost like Nectarflower in miniature. She had to be his mentor's daughter. So when their free time happened to overlap and he was taking a break to eat a rabbit anyway, he settled down casually next to where she sat. "Hey," Larchbreeze said easily. "I'm Larchbreeze. What's your name? Do you mind if I sit next to you?"

The day's hunting had been successful, and Cloudpaw was proud to be able to drop her catch on the fresh kill pile and then be released from her duties. The break was nice, not to mention well-deserved in her opinion. So she'd found a place near the edge of camp with a small rabbit and settled down, green eyes observing the camp around her as she ate.

The red and white tom who approached her was one of the new warriors, she was pretty sure. Oh, what was his name... He introduced himself as Larchbreeze, and Cloudpaw simply waved her tail in acknowledgement of his question. She needed to get to know more of her clanmates anyways, she'd mostly kept to her siblings and her mentor, but with her training progressing, she'd be a warrior sooner rather than later. How could she be a warrior if she didn't know the names of her own clanmates? "Nice to meet you, I'm Cloudpaw." She mewed, thankful that she didn't have to suffer the embarrassment of asking for his name.

"You became a warrior pretty recently, right? What's it like?" Oh, how she wished that it would be her ceremony next.

Well, so far, so good. "Cloudpaw," Larchbreeze repeated, nodding to himself. He'd remember that. "Nice to meet you, too." He took a bite of the rabbit and flicked his tail behind him, taking in the young apprentice. She seemed ambitious--if he had ever been right about anything, he guessed that her ceremony would come sooner rather than later with the gleam in her eyes. Since he was a warrior, did that mean she thought he was cool? It wouldn't do to preen too much about it, but he could barely suppress the impulse to puff out his chest. "Pretty recently, yeah. It's a lot more responsibility than being an apprentice, but there's a lot more freedom, too. And as a true-blooded WindClan cat, I love freedom." His golden eyes shone, and he smiled. "I can technically leave camp whenever I want now. Of course, I'm assigned to far more patrols, and I'm expected to put my life on the line to save the Clan. But that's just the trade-off that comes with the prestige of a full name. Still... I can't deny that my favorite part is just getting to run around the territory as fast as the breeze itself. I tell you, once you're old enough that you can be on your own safely, sprinting with nothing but yourself and the wind is a fantastic experience."

Responsibility. A lot of cats said that, and it only made sense. Even so, it was the promise of freedom, of moving up in the ranks, of earning a name that Cloudpaw could be proud of that was the true allure.

"Spiderdance is a great mentor but... I'd love to be able to run across the territory without a patrol or hunting or training to worry about, y'know? It sounds so nice. I'm a little envious, I have to admit." She mewed.

Larchbreeze nodded sagely. He'd be lying if he said he wasn't enjoying the chance to be seen as a figure of authority, and he liked being on this side of warriorhood rather than playing the part of the longing apprentice. He wouldn't relish in it too much because that would be bad form, but he couldn't deny the way that it kept his shoulders straight. "I'm sure you'll be there in no time," he reassured Cloudpaw, "from what I've heard about how quickly you're moving through your training. I bet you'll get your name way faster than I did. Of course, being a warrior you'll have to go on even more patrols, but I won't lie, it is nice to be able to do anything you'd like with your free time."

"I'm doing my best." Oh, he'd heard of how quickly she was advancing in her training? The idea of that was... pleasing. It meant that other cats were sure to notice, too... Perhaps even Tigerstar himself. "More patrols, just what everyone wants." Her whiskers twitched, "Though I think even when I become a warrior I'll have plenty to learn still. And keeping skills sharp is important, too." With how eventful some of the patrols she'd been on seemed, that shouldn't be a problem at all.