He let out a frustrated sigh, his dark tail twitching as he once again pressed his nose to the oozing ground to maybe find a scent, something to catch, anything really. He didn't want to be hunting, didn't even like to be in the marshes, where he couldn't find a thing. Who knows what old enemy would be waiting for him? He had a lot of them.
But then again, out here was better than back at camp. Something was going on in Shadowclan, something Oakstrike wasn't sure he wanted to be a part of. His clan held a small call for him, as something he rarely relied on or needed, but appreciated sort of. It was the few cats within it, like Dawnheart or Willowstorm, who held his loyalty. And the deputy, Whitesmoke, who was decent and confident and sometimes kind, though they were barely acquaintances. She was better to be around than the disrespectful Littlestar. Oakstrike held much faith in Starclan, where Tinykit surely was, and he would not stand to see her slighted so. Not appearing at the Gathering. Disrespect.
He had to raise his great head so he could sneeze, the water he'd inhaled when he'd sucked in an indignant breath rocketing out of his nose. It stung his nose and made his eyes water. Fantastic. He kept creeping, hoping that something would just show up, because there was no way Oakstrike could actually track something when the marsh was wet with snow.
The young black and white apprentice, as it was no surprise, was out and about without no mentor, or companion whatsoever. He had been taking this little adventures for almost a week now, slipping out of camp during his break and wandering around the territory, with the excuse that he had to learn the territory or that he had been chasing prey; which in this time of the year would be almost life-saving. He didn't like to lie but he figured it would be better that staying at camp, the tension between his own clanmates rose by the minute and he couldn't stay there a second longer. He expected the she-cats to jump at each other's throats and toms blow up into each other face. Alright maybe not to that point -yet. But differences were beggining to come afloat and more than one cat had shared a mean glare with another. It was suffocating, to say the least.
That's why he had been going out. He had already been to the burnt sycamore, around some ugly churned trees and now he headed towards the marshes. He had thought about going to the thunderpath, but he quickly shook the thought out of his mind, he was smarter than that.. no monster will get me! he snickered.He was a brave apprentice, he hadn't asked for directions and when it came to training he never asked his brother -or anyone really- for help. He was convinced he could do anything and everything by himself.
He didn't take failure as an option, and when he made a mistake, he would beat himself up and not rest until getting an answer of why it was wrong or how to do it right. Still no opinion, as gentle as it was would make him change his method of doing things. It was his way, or no way.
---
One, two...three!
The small apprentice pushed himself off the ground and leaped through the air landing in a small heap of snow. He had been pretending it was an enemy and was now clawing bits off it away. He snarled and rolled into the fresh snow, getting chills on his back. Despite being a thinker, and sometimes over analitycal and quick to jugde Loonpaw also had a kittish side to him. He didn't realize then that he was close to one of his own clanmates, until he spotted a broad tabby tom standing not many fox-lenght away. He recognized the scent.. Oakstrike "Hello.." he mewed wondering if he had been seen
Oakstrike had spotted the young tom before he'd scented him, because scenting in this weather and this marsh was so nearly impossible, he often wondered how Shadowclan made it through the winter. But then again, it was probably just his fault. He never really focused on hunting. But look at him, he was a boulder. He wasn't built to chase down or creep, he was built for battle and he was good at it.
He recognized the black and white of Loonpaw, a recent apprentice. He didn't know much about the cat, since Dawnheart had already been made a warrior before he was old enough. He'd heard of the brothers though, Lionpaw and Loonpaw, and their intriguing relationship with a third apprentice, some cat with a name close to Leafpaw, Lizardpaw, Larchpaw. He wasn't really sure and he didn't really care. He'd heard she was a trouble maker, so he took the time to avoid her.
Either way, Loonpaw jumped into a snow drift, making Oakstrike flick his whiskers in amusement, because he could remember when he'd done that. It was fun. But he also knew exactly why he'd stopped, and that hurt to remember.
The other cat had spotted him now and was trotting over, issuing a confident, "Hi."
Oakstrike, ever the cat of few words and demands, simply meowed. "We're going back to camp."
Partly because he wasn't sure the little apprentice should be out by himself this early into his apprenticship and partly because he wasn't sure if he could actually find his way back as long as the fog continued to thicken. The snow was melting on the ground, but freezing in the air, and did he mention how much he hated Leafbare.
Loonpaw stayed where he was, his ears pricked towards the upcoming tom. There was an air of severity in his eyes as he looked at him. He didn't quite undertsand why the older warrior might be in a bad mood but he definitely looked annoyed.. If it was at him, he didn't know. It wasn't strange for a shadowclan warrior to be grumpy, especially with all the drama and name calling back at camp. Alliances were forming and friendships being ended. It was crazy.
We're going back to camp."
Loonpaw gave out an audible groan of displeasure. Camp was the last place he wanted to be right now. Sunflower, his mentor had been acting strange and not Lionpaw; his brother, nor Laurelpaw his..crush? were ever around to distract him. That was why he felt he had to take things into his own hands and find himself a source of recreation. And now this tom, he had never really had the chance of speaking with during his eight and a half moons of life, was now bossing him around. Great.
He flicked his tail to the side, sweeping the tip along the snow floor, "Why? What's wrong with being out here?" he mewed his eyes fixed on the tom. He truly saw no harm on taking a walk on their own territory, it wasn't as if he was bothering anyone, or getting in trouble..-maybe back at camp when Sunflower noticed his absence-. Nah, he won't, too busy sleeping anyways.. he thought with a frown, the fact that his mentor was an albino made his training schedule a lot more limited.
Anyways Loonpaw did not want to go. "You don't like apprentice's very much do you.." he dared to mew as he sat down. A small but significant act of defiance that showed he was determined to hold his ground -as long as he could- he knew he was no match to Oakstrike, besides the simple fact that he was a warrior, made him superior..
words:370 tag:oakstrike ; They have very different ways of seeing things, this is going to be an interesting interaction <3
He wasn't at all surprised that Loonpaw tried to argue. All apprentices tried at least once a day. He wasn't sure if it was because they thought they knew better or because they wanted to work on their logical thinking. With Dawnheart, she'd done it to tease him, and so had Willowstorm, but for different reasons. Oakstrike didn't particularly mind if any cat could outsmart him. There were always smarter cats, stronger cats, better cats.
What he did mind though, was the fog and the setting sun. He ruffled his shoulders, shaking the fur out, trying to get a firm grip on how warm it was. That would tell him how close it was to the dark. It was getting colder he supposed, but who really knew when they couldn't see the sky?
Loonpaw added something, about apprentices, but Oakstrike didn't really bother to answer. Let the little tom draw his own conclusions. Oakstrike neither liked, nor hated anyone in the clan. He loved a few and that made him content. If more were to come that he could love, he could live with that, but liking was such a pale emotion for what he felt for the cats he chose to spend his time with.
He did, however, recognize a cat who was about to dig his heels in and just be stubborn. And Loonpaw certainly had that tone. He wonderedhow much of a fight would the apprentice actually put up. Not much, Oakstrike, hoped, because he didn't have the energy for it.
"Just come on." He meowed, his tone even and a little friendly.
He turned, lumbering through the snow, his heavy footsteps crunching. He tried to avoid the drifts because well, with an apprentice in tow, it would be harder for Loonpaw to break through them. The younger tom did not have Oakstrike's gurth. Few cats did.
He never checked to see if Loonpaw was actually following him, because either he was or he wasn't, but Oakstrike did feel the need to ask, "How are you liking your apprenticeship?", hoping to get Loonpaw to chatter all the way back to camp. He loved to listen to other cats speak.
Loonpaw thought about the scolding he'd probably recieve later when Sunflower found out. Would Oakstrike tell his menton about the little escapee act he had tried to pull off and then the tantrum he was throwing when asked to go back? Yes, no doubts. Oakstrike and Loonpaw were nothing more than acquantainces, he had no reason to keep Loonpaw's little slip between them. In fact the black and white apprentice was almost certain that Oakstrike would enjoy seeing him get in trouble.
He held Oakstrike's cold glare, trying his hardest not to flinh under his piercing blue eyes, he was working on building a bold reputation for himself, he was a bad-boy wannabe with Oakstrike and Stripetalon as his role models. He was not about to show weakness in fron of him. That would be like asking him to confess his love for Laurelpaw. Never in a million years would he say a word about it! Not even to his brother, Lionpaw who practically was his shadow. He'd deny it until the second his heart stopped beating.
"Just come on."
Ugh. Fine. There was no arguing with the brown tabby warrior, he wasn't like Lionpaw who would give in to his brother's demands after a few minutes of the 'cold treatment' and let him get away with it with no repercussions. Oakstrike meant buisness. He sighed and pushed himself onto his paws and followed sheepishly, his white paws sinking in the snow. He disliked Leafbare, his thin, short coat wasn't made for the cold, that's why it was in this time of the year when the apprentice felt the need to be constantly on the move, often gettiong in trouble for it..
"How are you liking your apprenticeship?"
The question took Loonpaw by surprise. He raised his head and looked at Oakstrike, he was ahead of him, not even bothering to look over his shoulder to hear his answer. He wondered if he had heard right..maybe the tom hadn't said anything..the cold was really getting to him.. Still he saw no harm in answering, if there was something Loonpaw loved was talking about himself, and his many abilities. This was the chance to show Oakstripe just how capable and cool he was. "Oh it's the best, I can't wait until I get my warrior name, then I'll be able to patrol the borders on my own." he mewed coolly flicking the tip of his tail. "I kinda feel like I'm being held back though.." he confessed, his tail drooping a bit, "You know since Sunflower can't train when it's sunny..Anyways I've become a better hunter than Lionpaw" he boasted, his yellow eyes glowing with pride once more.
A sharp scent of surprise drifted from the apprentice behind him and Oakstrike was simultaneously pleased that Loonpaw was following him and that he'd managed to shock him. Oakstrike was never adverse to spending time with his clanmates, just not very interested in speaking to them. He wasn't very good at Gatherings either.
Loonpaw immediately began to chatter, just as Oakstrike had hoped. "Oh it's the best, I can't wait until I get my warrior name, then I'll be able to patrol the borders on my own."
Oakstrike wasn't sure how he was supposed to tell Loonpaw that patrols were at least completed by two warriors. Official patrols at least, otherwise, it was sort of dangerous, to stand so close to a territory and maybe be attacked. Of course, the interior of a territory wasn't always safe either. Anything could be roaming the woods, foxes, badgers, dogs, or twolegs, or even an enemy attack, although which clan would ever be cruel enough to attack a clan with a sick leader probably weren't too welcomed by Starclan but, who knows, Thunderclan was strong enough and self righteous enough to jump on that opportunity. Maybe he suggest that Whitesmoke send more warriors in that direction for awhile.
Loonpaw continued, more softly, like he wasn't sure if he should be saying it. If the apprentice was worried, that meant it was important. Oakstrike slowed his pace, perking his ears, ready to listen. "I kinda feel like I'm being held back though.. You know since Sunflower can't train when it's sunny."
Oakstrike didn't really understand how the always tired cat was always tired, but maybe, Whitesmoke or another warrior could shoulder some of the burden of training, so that Loonpaw would have a better education.
"Anyways I've become a better hunter than Lionpaw." And just like that, Loonpaw was back to bragging. Oakstrike really appreciated the rebound time of a disheartened youngster.
Although, what was he supposed to say to that. Good job? Uh, maybe he should help Lionpaw? What about his battle techniques?
He settled, like he always settles, on just grunting, "Good. Work on sparring then."