Sparkpaw

It was the morning after Sparkpaw's talk with Pearlfrost, and he wouldn't admit it, but he was tired. Even after screaming and nearly crying, the apprentice was wired all night long, and it was almost dawn when he finally fell asleep. He groaned when other apprentices' activity woke him up only a few hours later, wanting to just fall asleep again... But, well, his paw was hurting where the muskrat bit him the day before, and he'd told Pearlfrost that he'd get it checked out, and he was inclined to do what the warrior had said, after all he'd done the night before. Grumbling, Sparkpaw rose to his paws and stumbled out of the apprentice den.

The sun was high enough that it was solidly morning - a lot of his Clanmates were or would be going out on patrol. Not him, though. Sighing, Sparkpaw walked over to the medicine den. He did his best to look as normal as possible even though he felt like crap. But when he entered the den, his ears flattened backwards. He didn't go to the medicine den often because his sibling spent a lot of time there. Were they here now? And was Echostorm awake?

Sparkpaw shrank a bit as he moved forward, looking for a medicine cat and praying to StarClan that he could get out of there quickly.

---

Echostorm

Echostorm didn't mind being in the med den, while it wasn't his first choice of spots to hang out he did like the peace and quiet that came with being there... well at least when Shadowpool was asleep. He didn't think she'd ever stop talking, of course, he didn't exactly do anything to stop her, he just let her go on and on about her adventures. Kind of reminded him of Mothburst, the high energy and peppy demeanour. Now it was quiet, the only sounds were of Applepaw occasionally moving around or checking in on them. Cute kid, though he had trouble understanding them, his experience with non-verbal cats was few to none but he was a quick study and was slowly catching on to the small gestures and what they meant.

Laying there with nothing to do was almost agony for the large tom, he didn't like being idle, it left time for his mind to wander, but then there was a noise, faint but it had his gaze looking towards the entrance. Spotting his apprentice slowly creeping in. Was Sparkpaw trying to hide? Probably, given the fact that they have been avoiding each other, didn't help the pang that Echostorm felt in his chest. They all leave you eventually. his ears fell and he focused down at his paws as the thoughts crept into his head. It's always your fault... in the end, maybe he could pretend to be asleep? Sparkpaw could come in for whatever he came in for and then leave and they wouldn't have to talk to each other.

Suddenly realization hit. Why was Sparkpaw there? Surely not to speak to him, did that mean the apprentice was hurt? Echostorm's head shot up and he looked over the smaller tom's form, there was nothing obvious except favouring one of his paws. "Are you hurt?"

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Sparkpaw

Already tense and uncertain, the sudden words made Sparkpaw jump with a startled hiss and his fur fluffed out in alarm. Stars above, why did warriors keep surprising him?? He hadn't even been loud this time! And why did he never notice them until it was too late?

The torbie glanced over at his mentor. He'd planned on ignoring Echostorm and just getting his paw wrapped up or whatever, but the lack of sleep and the anger and the fear--no, the uneasiness of the past 12 hours boiled up through his body until it burst out of his mouth.

"That's all you care about, isn't it?" Sparkpaw snapped, facing him. "Making sure people aren't hurt. Doesn't matter who they are, if they're Clan or non-Clan! Doesn't matter if it goes against Russetstar or the warrior code, doesn't matter if it's a trespasser!" His eyes flashed and he growled, "Don't talk to me if all you want is to try to fix me."

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Echostorm

To say Echostorm was taken back at the younger's outburst, at least on the inside, outwardly his ears swivelled back and his gaze shifted to where Shadowpool was sleeping, luckily not waking -- he didn't exactly want an audience. Fixing his gaze back on his apprentice he narrowed his eyes. "Were ya that ready to have the blood of another cat on your paws?" his voice was colder than he intended but in this moment he didn't care.

"What good would it have done for me to attack her when you an' Russetstar were already on it? The intimidation worked, she was goin' to leave. But ya wanted blood apparently." he could feel his fur bristling, everything that built up to this point paired with the exhaustion of still recovering from the snake bite had his emotions flaring out. He shifted to his paws, swaying slightly but towering over Sparkpaw. "Do not speak as if I ain't loyal to my clan, I may not be as severe as Russetstar is but I have never gone against my leader or the code. I may show restraint when a situation is already handled but it ain't the same as being disloyal."

His voice was raising and he stopped to take a deep breath, glancing again around them he didn't want to disturb the others, the medicine den was not the place to have this conversation. Echostorm's eyes softened when he looked back, he regretted his outburst but it was too late to take it back. "I never thought you needed fixin' " his voice was just a whisper at the end as pain laced through his shoulder, losing the strength he had mustered he fell into the nest with a grunt, with his back facing Sparkpaw. "I'll speak to Russetstar when I'm cleared to leave an' get you a new mentor who can teach ya what you want to learn... if it's what ya want."

---

Sparkpaw

At the cold tone, Sparkpaw's ears pinned back - it started as fear, but quickly became a learned insolence he'd grown used to adopting whenever he got in trouble. He bristled his fur on purpose this time, and raised his hackles and levelled his head with his shoulders because he had to look up at Echostorm anyway so he had to look threatening another way.

"I don't care about drawing blood," he growled. "I care that we're supposed to chase off outsiders. Russetstar went after the kittypet and I did too. That doesn't mean I want them to hurt. I'm just protecting the Clan as Russetstar would."

Sparkpaw hesitated when Echostorm stood up, reminded about just how big he was and how badly he could hurt the apprentice just by stepping on him. Squash him like a bug. He swallowed, then hissed, "The leader's word is the law. Russetstar clearly didn't like how you tried to handle it. Doesn't that mean anything to you?" He moved closer with purpose, not able to stomp the way he was crouching. "Russetstar didn't approve. And you don't care." Eyes dark, he asked, with a strange mixture of conviction and genuine, bewildered exasperation, "Doesn't that go against his word? Against the code?"

For the life of him, he could not understand that logic.

The sudden shift in emotion made Sparkpaw's eyes widen. He stumbled backwards a step. What?? What??? "NO!" he blurted, then winced at how loud it had been. The words kept falling from his mouth, but quieter now. "No, I-- Don't-- I don't want--" Panicking, he stared frantically around the den, afraid someone had heard them. His heart pounded in his ears. Too much. Too much. He turned and ran from the medicine den, hurt paw forgotten.

'I don't want to be a disappointment.'