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Post by Marshpaw on Jan 17, 2010 13:46:03 GMT -8
Marshpaw smiled slightly at cheers directed at him, even though he wasn't out there to accept them. Why are you such a scaredy-cat? he scolded himself silently. These were his clanmates; their blood ran through his veins. Although he knew they were in essence, his family, he had never felt truly close to any of them. Not even his denmates in the nursery. He only truly felt close to his mother and Riverstar, and she had passed on a few moons ago. His heart panged with sadness. Even with her, he felt like an outsider. He sighed and tucked his chin into his black fur sadly.
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Post by Riverstar on Jan 19, 2010 7:59:51 GMT -8
Riverstar looked over to the shadows where Marshkit was hiding. It was best to keep him occupied and socialize him a bit more, and Duskfur knew all cat in the Clan in and out. This was for the best. "I know you are the best for him Duskfur. Well, I must go find my own apprentice and get her working. That she-cat isn't going to train herself. I leave Marshpaw in your capable paws Duskfur." Riverstar nodded his head respectfully to the medicine cat before padding over to the apprentice den. "Bluepaw, let's go! I am not going to wait all day on your." |
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Post by Marshpaw on Jan 19, 2010 13:33:16 GMT -8
Marshpaw's heart clenched as Riverstar began to pad away. He was leaving him? Alone? In the camp? By himself? He began to shake fiercely with anxiety. What if the camp was attacked while he was gone? Or it began to rain and it flooded? Or if the sky fell down and big fluffy clouds crushed him into dust? The little black apprentice stifled a wail and raced over to where Riverstar was. "No, don't go, don't go!" he yowled, his eyes staring fearfully at nothing as his body continued to shiver with terror.
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Post by Riverstar on Jan 19, 2010 13:51:53 GMT -8
Riverstar was forced to pick his head back up and focus upon Marshpaw before he even had a chance to focus upon Bluepaw. The little tom was shaking as if he had just seen the other Clan's walking in through the front entrance with blood soaked muzzles. With a gentle sigh, he touched his nose to Marshpaw's ear, nudging it slightly. "Relax Marshpaw. Everything is going to be fine. Bluepaw needs her training as well and I can't simply be around all the time," Riverstar mewed calmly, licking the tom-kit with affection between his ears. It was sheerly impossible for Riverstar to do that. |
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Post by Marshpaw on Jan 19, 2010 13:57:15 GMT -8
Marshpaw looked up at him with wide eyes. "B-but what if the camp's attacked?" he asked, his voice going up an octave with each word until he ended with a high pitched screech. His heart was hammering so loud in his chest, he was surprised that the entire camp wasn't shaking from its vibrations. A fresh wave of fear washed over him as the thought came. "What if there's an earthquake? The entire camp with crumble and you won't be here to stop it!" He pressed even lower to the ground so that it looked like he was trying to soak into the dirt like water.
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Post by Riverstar on Jan 19, 2010 14:01:14 GMT -8
Marshpaw was worrying over nothing, Riverstar could see that through a tree. Sitting there patiently, he shook his head slowly. "The camp will not be attacked because we are at a time of peace. Although prey is not plentiful, right now all the clans are surviving. There is no need for war. Must I remind you as well that we are FloodClan, not QuakeClan. The shakes will not reach this far into our territory. You have nothing to fear Marshpaw." It was true. There was nothing to fear, and Riverstar could spare a few hours to go and train Bluepaw. StarClan would not stop watching over them when he wasn't there. |
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Post by Marshpaw on Jan 19, 2010 14:09:19 GMT -8
Marshpaw's shakes began to subside. Riverstar said that there would be no problems while he was gone. He had never been wrong before. Had he? The tiny black kit shook his head. That's ridiculous! He's Riverstar; he's knows everything! But still, the large tom might be lying, just to calm him down. His mother had done that many times. He looked up at Riverstar through narrowed eyes. "You promise?" he demanded quietly. He lifted up his paw. "You have to paw promise, or I won't believe you!" He was referring to the ritual he had made up with his mother whenever they would make a promise. They would touch pads and then curl their paws around each others'. He looked up at the leader expectantly, not moving a muscle until he fulfilled the motion.
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Post by Riverstar on Jan 19, 2010 14:17:13 GMT -8
Riverstar had been warned many times by Fallendove of the little things that Marshpaw would do to make sure that a cat's word was as good as anything. The leader stared at the paw briefly before lifting his larger paw and placing it on top of Marshpaw's. It was very kit-like of him to do this, but it was something that sealed the deal for Marshpaw. "I promise nothing will come and harm the camp while I'm gone. Now, you have to promise me to be a good apprentice and go about you duties now. You have to become the best medicine cat you can be." That would settle his mind and keep it on something else for the time being. |
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Post by Marshpaw on Jan 19, 2010 14:25:32 GMT -8
The gesture made Marshpaw's mind settle, and his body relaxed. He smiled up at Riverstar and nodded. "Okay, Riverstar, I promise." He looked over nervously at Duskfur. The medicine cat still made him worried, but again, Riverstar had promised nothing bad would happen. In truth, every cat made him nervous. He sighed and looked back up at the large tom cat. "If anything bad does happen, you're never, ever, ever allowed to leave the camp, okay?" He stared up at him with a very uncharacteristically stubborn expression, his chin jutting out slightly.
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Post by Riverstar on Jan 19, 2010 14:34:58 GMT -8
Riverstar flicked an ear before nodding gently. It was simply to calm Marshpaw down, but he had duties to ever cat here in the Clan. If something did happen to the camp, Marshpaw would hate him severely for having broken his promise. Gently, he leaned his nose down and began to push him along. "I do believe I cannot hold to that punishment, but nothing is going to happen so I have nothing to worry about. Now go. I'm sure Duskfur has something you can learn today." Riverstar's tail tip flipped up a little bit as he purred gently. Marshpaw would always have a special place in his heart no matter what. |
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Post by Marshpaw on Jan 19, 2010 14:41:36 GMT -8
Marshpaw nodded reluctantly and padded nervously away from the large tom. Every few paces, he would glance over his shoulder, his eyes wide with fear, as if any moment the camp would catch on fire, and Riverstar would be nowhere to be seen. Riverstar said nothing bad would happen. He promised, he reminded himself repeatedly in his mind. Before he knew it, he had crossed the camp and bumped into a hard, furry object. His heart stopped and he nervously peeked up. It was Duskfur. The tiny apprentice held his breath, swallowing the yowl of surprise that began to creep up his throat.
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Post by Duskfur on Jan 19, 2010 16:31:30 GMT -8
"Oh?" Looking up from his grooming of his forepaw, Duskfur curled his tail in surprise as something prodded his side. Turning his gaze to see who the intruder was, he let out a smooth exhale once he saw it was Marshpaw. "Why, hello again," he purred. His eyes were glistening with warmth but wavered a moment when he saw the extreme timidness of his new apprentice return.
It'll take some time to adjust to this behavior, the tom reminded himself calmly, hiding his concerned expression. Thank StarClan for putting the idea of medicine in Riverstar's head for this little guy. Shaking his head good-naturedly, Duskfur carefully patted Marshpaw's head with a light laugh. "Hey, you're still alive, aren't you? In order to stay that way, you'll want to breathe." Casting a wink towards the black apprentice, Duskfur stood and waved his tail -- a signal to follow.
"C'mon, lemme show you where you'll be sleeping from now on." He wasn't going to baby Marshpaw, that was for sure. Kindness and patience was needed, the cobalt-eyed cat knew, and he was entirely willing to give them, but he was also sure Marshpaw was most likely to grow and flourish better under this type of treatment.
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Post by Marshpaw on Jan 20, 2010 9:24:47 GMT -8
Marshpaw let out the breath with a long sigh. He looked around him, as if to look for any signs of danger before hesitantly following Duskfur into the den. The lip of the den seemed to close in around him, and the branches that surrounded it seemed to thicken and sharpen, like huge teeth. The tiny, black tom's blue eyes widened with fear and he hurried to Duskfur's side, shielding the frightening images with his fluffy tail. I have to live here? he thought fretfully, feeling as if he were walking right into the belly of a huge monster. He swallowed hard, a bile like taste stuck at the back of his mouth. "I-is it always this scary?" he murmured quietly, meaning for it to only be heard by him and froze with fear when his tiny voice echoed off of the stone walls.
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Post by Duskfur on Jan 20, 2010 16:03:04 GMT -8
The sound of hurried pawsteps alerted the Medicine Cat that Marshpaw was hot on his tail. Turning to smile at the little tom, he was faintly surprised to feel the scent of fear emitting from his pelt once more. Casting a quick glance around, he assumed it was the new atmosphere of then den. "Scary?" he murmured to himself, catching the soft mumble of Marshpaw. "Hmm." Flicking his ears, he gathered some stray moss strewn on the floor and herded it towards his nest. "It's been awhile since I thought of it that way." Looking up, Duskfur grinned. "Yes, I too thought it was a tad frightening. I've been meaning to do something about that -- perhaps later on in your training, we'll figure a way to cheer this place up a bit. It is rather downcast." Sweeping his tail behind him, Duskfur trotted towards a nearby nest in a cozy crevice; it was smaller in size and circled in fresh moss.
"Here's your nest," he meowed, gesturing towards the nest gently. "Well, I mean, if you want it in another place, you can choose anywhere in the den." His gaze swept through the small but comfortable area. "Oh, and here's our water source." Duskfur padded over towards a small basin; water trickled down like a miniature waterfall from above, as there was a tiny hole allowing the fluid to leak in. "It's incredibly useful and a wonderful luxury -- we use it to treat patients and soak moss in, but our special privilege is to be able to drink from it directly. Feel free to any time, by the way. Umm..." Humming to himself, Duskfur's eyes lit up as a thought suddenly came to him. "Ah, and here are the herbs," he finally announced, "as you can tell." The herbs and such were organized neatly in stacks, separated by little indents in the earth. Some were quite colorful and appealing, while others sat dully. There was a wide variety, as well, except for one stack.
"As soon as you're comfortable," Duskfur piped up again, "and perhaps after a rest, we'll go and look for some more catmint." He pointed a paw at the stack low in supply. "That one right there."
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Post by Duskstar on Jan 21, 2010 18:37:51 GMT -8
"Oh no!"
Bluepaw heard her name being called. She had overslept again. The blue she-cat jumped from her nest in the apprentice den and out into the camp. She hadn't even stopped to get the moss and dirt off her pelt.
"Riverstar!" she called, her voice high. By the time she reached the tom, she was out of breath. "I'm sorry Riverstar." she mewed lowering her head.
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