Close to Camp (Open)

[Stormy]

Open to one character!

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Leafwhisker crouched beside the pool of the waterfall, droplets of water hopping into her pelt, cooling her down. Being so young, she didn't have much of a feel for the average temperatures, but her old mentor told her that this newleaf's intense heat concerned her. She should have known better than to tell poor Leafwhisker this: Now the young warrior wouldn't rest until leaf-fall, when she knew everything would cool down again. She found herself looking up often to check that the trees weren't on fire.

A fish flashed by, catching Leafwhisker's gaze. Without a thought, she flicked a paw underneath the water and flung the fish on to the grass beside her. Easy kill.

A shadow darkened the grass. Leafwhisker turned to see who came to join her.

[Deleted]

Petalflight
Leafwhisker (@stormy)

"Nice catch!" Came a feminine chirp from behind the fronds before wide, pale green eyes were revealed with glittering amusement. Petalflight slid from her cover to approach the tortoiseshell she-cat and join her at the edge of the water where a welcoming mist melted into her tabby fur. 

Petalflight squinted for a moment as some of the mist got in her eyes but she quickly recovered and turned her nose to the water lapping at the fur between her toes. Being wet was something Petalflight had to get used to when she moved into Ravenclan territory. However, it was something she learned to really enjoy! Although her thick fur doesn't dry easily, in the Greenleaf heat it certainly doesn't take long and the refreshing swim is usually welcomed. 

"I've got to know how you do that so fast!" Her pale green eyes darted to the reflective fish desperately wasting the last of its energy to slap its tail before resorting to a subtle twitch. A warm grin spread across Petalflight's maw. "Believe me, I can fish, but you just pulled it out of the water and barely had to look!"

Eagerly, Petalflight edged up closer to the shaking rim of the water and peered into it with a determined expression. Seems Leafwhisker wasn't the only one here to grab some grub!

[Stormy]

Leafwhisker's muscles tensed, anxiety welling up like a bubble in her chest, until the shadow showed itself to be a friendly Clanmate: One she knew of, but not one she really knew. Petalflight was known for being one of the chattier RavenClanners, and part of Leafwhisker welcomed the noise, while another part of her wasn't a huge fan. Loudness scared her. Shadows scared her. Cats popping up out of nowhere scared her.

Really, everything scared her.

Leafwhisker blinked at the molly, waiting for Petalflight to finish speaking so she could have a turn. "I spend all of my free time fishing," she said, flustered by the compliment. Her tail-tip twitched rapidly. Another fish swam past. Leafwhisker sent her paw back into the water, but this time she missed, too nervous to fish in front of her audience.

When Petalflight put her face up to the water, Leafwhisker cocked her head to the side. She waved her tail in front of her Clanmate's chest, indicating that she should take a few steps back. "They'll see you," she said, nodding towards a fish that came close, only to dart away a moment later.

[Deleted]

Petalflight
Leafwhisker Stormy

Petalflight was almost too focused to even notice Leafwhisker miss her catch, though wouldn't have judged if she had. Everyone makes mistakes! White whiskers twitched as the soft touch of a tail tingled on Petalflights' chest. Looking over at the other molly with a curious gaze, she quickly understood the mistake she was making and wiggled a paw step back or two until her shadow no longer hovered above the water.

"Good point," Petalflight murmured with a flicker of amusement dancing in the pale green depths of her eyes. There was a warmth that bubbled within her out here fishing with a clanmate she hardly knew well, though the prospect of befriending someone new to her was always something that made her happy. Of course, she knew of Leafwhisker, though the molly seemed timid and hidden in some sort of shell just as a snail folds its body into calcium. 

With that, the she-cat refocused on the water until she saw the reflective skin of a fish only a paw stretch away. Splish! Her paw darted just below the surface of the water and sent up a gentle splash along with a plump, flopping body. Glancing at Leafwhisker, a purr lifted in her throat.

"Thanks for the reminder," the tabby she-cat mewed. "I know it hasn't been that long since my training but sometimes it's good to have a refresher."

[Stormy]

Leafwhisker purred at Petalflight's plump catch, proud that her advice helped someone. Maybe she should start going out of her way to help her Clanmates, just as her mentor--and closest friend-always did for her.

But what if they hurt her?

The warrior's neck fur rose for a few moments, dark thoughts swirling in her mind before she forced it all away. Not today, she thought.

She glanced over at Petalflight. Had she been born in RavenClan? It must have been nice, being born within a Clan, safe and supported. Joining RavenClan, while not particularly difficult, seemed to be vastly different from being born into it.

"What was it like before you trained?" Leafwhisker asked, her gaze fixed on the water below. She flung another tiny fish out of the water. Did her question come across clearly enough? Questions were difficult: Most could not be asked through movement and facial expression.

[Deleted]

Petalflight
Leafwhisker Stormy

Unaware of the worrisome thoughts swirling through her clanmates mind, Petalflight had continued to focus on the task at hand. The light sound of a paw slapping against water caught her attention in time to see Leafwhisker pull up her second catch. The purr of the ginger smeared molly created a grin on Petalflight's maw she couldn't wipe away. Sometimes other cats feelings and emotions were infectious to her and her own purring faintly grew louder.

Just as she was able to draw the 2nd catch of her own out of the water, Leafwhisker spoke up a question that seemed to catch Petalflight off guard. After thinking about it a moment, she recalled Leafwhisker must have just barely been an apprentice before Petalflight had mingled into the clan and probably didn't know of her Willowclan background.

Have I really been here that long? Petalflight thought to herself with wonderment at the prospect she'd been a member of the clan for so many moons that the generation of cats beneath her may not know her differently from any other clan cat! Something about that made her heart warm. Just because Leafwhisker didn't know of her past, Petalflight saw no reason to lie.

"Well, I couldn't make it halfway through my warrior training inside Willowclan before I ran away," she mewed, the way of saying her actions making her mouth somewhat dry. "I miss my family," Petalflight admitted to the tortoiseshell she-cat beside her.  "But something always told me I wouldn't find my true path so close to camp." 

With a flick of one ear, Petalflight sat up a little straighter to take a look at the Newleaf sky above in all its glory. "I finished my training here in Ravenclan." Pale green eyes shifted back to Leafwhisker, shining with laughter that masked a hidden unease. "When I first arrived, the medicine cat tried to make me his apprentice," after a short pause, she added, "I refused."

Before Leafwhisker had the chance to ask her why, she replied, "I had fled Willowclan because they were raising kits to mindlessly follow the orders of cats who demand the only way to lead is by blood. I felt trapped into a fate I never asked for! Seemed to me that being a medicine cat was just another way to be anchored."

[Stormy]

WillowClan? Leafwhisker flicked an ear. She could've sworn Petalflight had been born here! Oh well, she thought. Maybe she'd mixed the tabby up with someone else. The moons that followed Leafwhisker's introduction to RavenClan were a blur, and the idea of remembering everything about every cat she was forced to meet all at once made her head spin.

Petalflight missed her family? Leafwhisker gazed at the water tumbling down from above. What was family life like in the other Clans? Was it really so good that the older molly longed for her kin?

The warrior continued her story, and Leafwhisker gave her respect and attention, her ears pressed forward and her body relaxed. She blinked, shocked, when Petalflight told her that she refused to become the medicine cat's apprentice: From what she'd learned, such a request from a medicine cat was rare, and one that many young apprentices would fight to receive. However, as her Clanmate finished, Leafwhisker understood: Responsibility required one to give up freedom. She would've made the same choice.

"By blood?" Leafwhisker repeated. "You mean... by fighting?"