BV : TBN Lake and Wood RP

[ Lakedancer ]

The greenery felt cold despite the fact she’d slept in the nest all night - she took it as her call to get the day started a little early. Padding out of her nest, the small chestnut molly sauntered her way toward the exit of the warriors’ den, trying her hardest not to stumble over her own tail or those of her clanmates. Peeking her head out of the coverage, she stretched her legs and rolled her shoulders; she hoped that Woodpaw wouldn’t mind a sunrise start.

”Woodpaw?” Lakedancer whispered as to not awake any of the sleeping apprentices, and hesitantly plodded into the den, weaving between limbs and tails, nests and whatever was left of old destroyed ones - goodness, this bunch were sure a rowdy lot… Finally, her eyes settled on a familiar brown tabby. ”Heya, Woodpaw,” the small warrior nudged him with her muzzle, albeit a little sheepish in her actions despite her gentle tone. ”It’s not too early for you, is it? It’s a good time for hunting, I think - if you’d like!”

[ Woodpaw ]

Woodpaw murmured something illegible rolling tiredly in his nest groggily as he slowly shook of the lingering sleep. Cracking his golden eyes open he gave a suprised glance at his older sister, or more formally his mentor.  “Hunting?” he sat up in his nest, as his brain slowly caught up with her words. Standing to stretch out the lingering sleep he gave the She-cat a more determined gaze.

 “H-Hunting sounds good,” He softly chirped then hummed.  “Are we just gonna hunt in the flower fields again?” The Tom had no problem getting up this early to train or do any apprentice tasks, in fact he preferred it. It was always a good distraction especially with the sheer mass of unresolved conflicts recently, and at least this early he didn’t have the hot sun beaming down on him.

[ Lakedancer ]

She gave her little brother some space as he woke up, looking around herself to make sure nobody had awoken because of her. The molly nodded, happy to hear that Woodpaw was in agreement. "Great!" She started to turn, stumbling between the nests once more, her tail offering little to no assistance when it came to balance. She let out a nervous chuckle as she did, looking back at the apprentice. "I thought we'd mix it up a bit - we'll have to head out into the fields but- oh, uh.. How are you with tight spaces?" Offering a warm smile, Lakedancer stepped out into the gentle glow of the rising sun, pushing aside the vines to let Woodpaw through.

As she spoke a little louder now she was in the open, the raspiness of her voice became more apparent. "Because I thought we could try utilising the tunnels some more! It's my preferred method, but that might be because I'm..." The small molly gestured to her head with a paw, another giggle coming from her throat. "It's not for everyone, but my mentor let me try a little of everything to figure out what I liked and what worked best for me, so I thought we could do the same - Honeybloom was a great mentor, the best I could've asked for, really." But, oh, she was rambling now. So she apprehensively smiled at her apprentice, "we'll only do that if you're comfortable with it, of course." 

[ Woodpaw ]
The young apprentice quietly followed his mentor out the crowded den, mewing a small thank you to Lakedancer as she pushed aside the vines for him he gave her a confused look. Wood still trying to make sense of the words. Tight spaces?? his thoughts hummed as he looked towards the she-cat again. This time his eyes furrowed in confusion with a frown to match. Blinking the sleep out his eyes in the morning sunlight that swamped his vision he listened to his mentor continue to explain. While she did his tail flopped side to side a jittery, fidgeting motion, the unsure look not moving from his face. Woodpaw wasn’t really sure if he was all for trying new things, but after seeing Lakedancers comforting smile, and the fact this was her specialty; his fears were at least a little quelled.

Speaking back originally in whisper he cleared his throat with a cough, tilting his head and ears back to look at the still-larger-she-cat.  “that- That sounds great, I-I’m ok with that” although the words were quite sure Woodpaw wasn’t, and his tone reflected that. Don't tunnels cave? What if we get stuck FOREVER Woodpaw couldn’t help the thoughts from sinking into his anxiety riddled brain. After all the tunnels were dangerous! But he guessed no one’s actually died in them yet, plus the territory was also dangerous; that much was obvious. There was something about trying something new that his mind lingered on, that made him wanna pack up, run away, and hide in his nest for eternity. Instead conflicting his harshly avoidant thoughts he mewed a more sure,  “If we head now, maybe we can catch a whole cazagillion prey before sun-high!!” His voice forcefully more cheery although he somewhat shared the same enthusiasm.

[ Lakedancer ]

Lakedancer tried to read the younger cat’s body language, but she was never the best at remembering things - other’s gimmicks and signs - nor was she the brightest in general. But, she recalled how she would have felt, and kept up her gentle smile. She nodded, continuing through camp and out towards the outer edges of the camp. As the sun’s low rays met her eyes, she squinted a little, pushing her tail back with a hindleg, ”oopsies.” She couldn’t let that get in her way, not now that she had someone looking at her for guidance - how humiliating would tripping be when she was trying to be a good example?

The brown tabby’s words caused her to chuckle lightly, a cough following as she still happened to be adjusting to the state of her throat. “I’m sure! Don’t pressure yourself too hard, though, ok? We’re still learning! We're in this together, alright?” She thought back to her own apprentice moons; it was almost embarrassing how long it took for her to even scrounge up a mouse to show off to the clan, but she had faith in Woodpaw! No matter whether or not he managed to catch something mattered not to her; he was trying something new, and for that, she couldn’t be any more proud of her little brother. ”Leaf-fall’s warm this time around, so hopefully the rabbits and mice will still be around - I mean, I’m sure they’d be tucked away if it were cooler - but I’m trying to say I think we have some good chances!” The timing was right, and both of their spirits seemed moderately high, so she let her dainty little paws follow the now memorised route to the softer ground of the territory - where rabbits dug their new burrows since the fire. ”They build their homes out here where the ground’s easier to dig, and since the uh…” She looked down at her apprentice, hesitating. Educating the youngsters was important, but the matter of the fire was nothing short of a sore topic to the both of them, even after so many moons now.  ”We uh… I’m sure they’ll have rehomed themselves out towards the lake and wherever the ground dips and collects more rain.”

[ Woodpaw ]