THE NEWBIE. [ OPEN ]

[Robinflight]

| NEW | KID | ON | THE | BLOCK: | ER, | CAT |

I padded into the warrior's den for the first time in my life. A wad of moss and feathers stuffed firmly in my mouth and tucked under my chin. First order of business -- make a nest. After that, well, things got a little fuzzy. I had set rules as an apprentice. Training then friends. Training then food. Training then chores. Without training I was down a few items on my daily list, and a lot of free time just opened up. I knew it was customary for new warriors to take a mate, but that didn't float my boat.

With a sigh I picked a spot at the very back. First up: meet a warrior who could put up with my madness. I dropped the moss onto the floor, the sense of being lazy came over me. I started to grin softly. Slowly I spread out the clean moss, fluffing it up and putting the feathers onto the bottom.

When it was all said and done I flopped down onto it, purring. "I'm a warrior! Now to find someone to be my best friend. Or at least my friend." I laughed at myself grinning wider. Yes, a friend to weather the sorrows of growing up, the inevitable break-ups, even the happy times. Shared hunts, patrols, even going to Gatherings. Yeah, having at least one awesome friend would be amazing.

{ Please be semi-literate when you reply with at the very least four sentences. }

[Birdshadow]

"What are you doing, putting your nest in the back? It's freezing cold back there. You won't get a wink of sleep till greenleaf." Birdshadow poked his head up from his nest, whiskers bent from being pinned in between his cheek and the nest. "I'd put it more to the side if I were you." He heard the new warrior speaking about wanting a friend- ah, yes, as did everyone. He'd already had multiple friends when he was a new warrior.

Yes, Birdshadow had been quite the social butterfly, and he wasn't afraid to admit it. Funny how it was becoming more mainstream for cats to be depressed and antisocial. How he hated that. He also disliked cats that whined about having no friends without making any efforts to acquire some. This new warrior seemed to be making plenty of effort, which he liked to see. Being proactive was a nice trait in a cat.

"Ah! I'm so sorry, I'm being terribly rude. I haven't even introduced myself yet. I'm Birdshadow. And you are...?" he inquired, tilting his head.

[Robinflight]

| BIRDS | UNITE |

Cheeky, but I wasn't going to move. "It's warmer that my nest in the apprentices den." I chuckled, slowly rolling onto my side, "Birdshadow, huh? Well I'm Robinsflight. Our names are awesome." I nodded firmly smiling deviously. Birdshadow seemed genuine. "And the last thing you'll ever need to do is apologize to me."

I curled my tail up over my paws as I shuffled into a sitting position, "So what brought you into the warriors den this afternoon?"

[Deleted]

[Sorry, if my posts are lame. I'll try.]

I lifted my head from my nest, my vision blurred with sleep. Shaking my head to make it clear, I blinked at the new cat who had walked in. Why am I not suprised, it's yet another she-cat. My fur brislted as I stretched lazily, sighing at the relief I felt as my muscles loosened. I laid there, my body stretched out across my nest, my paws intruding into other cats' nests. Looking up at the new cat, I smiled wearly. I must have looked horrible. Sure, I had scars all over my pelt, including the fresh one on my lip [Ezio, anyone?] which didn't stick out like my fox scar did. But, the worst part was my brown fur. It was sticking up all over the place, in clumps. But I didn't care.

"So, another new warrior, eh? What's your name lass? I'm Skyfire, by the way."

[Robinflight]

| I'M | SO | POPULAR | RIGHT | NOW. |

I twitched my ears, turning my head to look over at the ragged brown warrior, fur sticking up in strange places and the like. I had to bite my lip to keep from laughing, he looked just like me as an apprentice. I nearly choked on my own name, "Robinsflight, sorry, you just look like me as an apprentice. Fur everywhere!"
I giggled, the girlish sound completely unlike me, but the situation kinda demanded it. Guess it doesn't help that I'm crazier than a sack of cats.

{ Sorry this reply took so long, I went to bed early. }

[Deleted]

I nearly died of embrrassment when she started to laugh. Oh well. I stood up and smoothed my fur down after a nice stretch, my ears flattened. I looked back up at...Robinsflight, amusement in my blue eyes.

"I suppose I never grew out of my apprentice ways," I tried to joke, tried to put some humour into it, but my laugh was slightly dry. I swallowed to wetten my throat, knowing that I was stirring up old memories that I had stored back in my vault of terror. Sitting up, I yawned and galnced at robinsflight with a curious look.

"How do you like being a warrior? Will it suffice you, or you want to be a senior warrior already?" I asked, half serious, half amused. Most cats wanted to jump straight to the elder's den.

[Robinflight]

| GLORY | DAYS | AHEAD |

I hummed low in my throat, half tilting my head upwards to the sky and slanting my eyes closed. To be a senior warrior, to be an elder, those days seemed far off yet, but I knew that was a myth. My apprenticeship was over in what felt like a few days, and what was left? A title and a new name? Slightly elevated status? A hiatus from chores for a few days? Being an apprentice meant studying under someone and constantly training to perfect your skills, all of that was over in a few short moons.
I humphed, "I honestly wish I was still an apprentice, it went by far too fast." I kept my tone smooth and level, but on the inside I think I died a little, to admit to someone other than myself that simple truth felt appalling. I was truly appalled by myself. What an interesting feeling.

[Birdshadow]

(fffffine I'll reply e-e)

"Hm. You'll like being a warrior," mewed Birdshadow. "It gets better as you get older. More respect from the younger ones, you know. I suppose I enjoyed being an apprentice, but it was far too long a duration for me. I didn't receive my name till I was almost halfway to being a senior warrior," added the tom, flicking his tail.

"Skyfire," muttered Birdshadow curtly, dipping his head out of courtesy. "Fancy meeting you here." He'd never liked the tom, really, but this wasn't the time for an argument or anything of the sort.

[Robinflight]

| CAUGHT | AS | A | GO | BETWEEN |

I chuckled, "I don't think I'd want to be an apprentice that long." I sighed half-heartedly, "It would be nice to make it to being an elder, but I'm content to stay a warrior for as long as possible." Helping my clan was my top -- and only real -- priority. It should be everyone's priority rather than all this foolish mate business. Maybe when I was a more experienced warrior would I give the notion of taking a mate a brief thought, but for now I would fret over the queens and the elders and the new kits that needed to be trained.
I focused in on Birdshadow for a moment, he seemed to have put on a rather stiff courtesy in front of Skyfire, I didn't want to ask out right what their history was so I decided to change the topic altogether, "Do you have any tips for a new warrior? Any cats I should avoid? I'd rather not get mixed up in all the 'love drama' that goes on in this clan." I shrugged my shoulders as I shifted to a sitting position, my half closed eyes glance between the two toms lazily.

[Deleted]

My nose twitched as Birdshadow said my name. I gave a short glare and glanced back at Robinsflight. I knew that Birdshadow didn't like me. Once, he didn't let me into the warrior's den. Well, I'll show them. I'll show them all that I deserve my status!

My throat grew taught as I tried to swallow the small bile of anger that pushed up my throat. I stared at the new warrior, intent on what she had to say.

"Well, you should avoid cats that hold grudges. Do something bad once, and the cat never lets it go," I glanced sharply at Birdshadow, knowing more than a SIBLING should know.

"Also, try not to hang the popular cats. They tend to collect drama. And emotional cats. You can still befriend them, but you have to step lightly and try not to tred on there tails," I shook my head, pursing my lips slightly together in some slight annoyance. But, I bet Birdshadow here thinks he will be smarter than me and would probably try to shove my advice aside.

[Robinflight]

| THIS | POST | IS | SHORT | BECAUSE | I | AM | TIRED | AND | HAVE | TO | GO | TO | BED |

I twitched my ears, eyes sparkling, "And how would you count yourself? Popular or no?" I nearly laughed again, but I kept my voice in the lightly-teasing-you range. It didn't matter to me, they both seemed like decent enough guys. I curled my tail around my paws and blinked, tilting my head to one side with my eyes slanted casually. I wondered how he would reply.

[Deleted]

"I suppose I'm popular. But in a bad way. Nobody likes me, that's why I'm so known. Birdshadow himself is rather the stud," I mewed, flicking my tail. I didn't look at Birdshadow this time, but Iwa certain that he knew exactly what I was talking about. I Shuffling my paws, I sniffed, shivering slightly.

[So sorry for the short post.]

[Robinflight]

| I'VE | GOT | SPURRS | THAT | JINGLE | JANGLE | JINGLE |

I swept up to him in a flurry of fur, "No need to be so hard on yourself Skyfire. I like you. I like both of you. My first friends in the warrior's den~." I half sang the last part before laughing at my foolishness and head butting Sky's shoulder. So easy are friends made, and so easy they can be lost. I would try to keep these two around for as long as they allowed me to. Forever if I was permitted. Especially Skyfire. He seemed like a ball of fun.

[Birdshadow]

"Stud? Oh, hardly," he growled playfully. "I gave up on that long after becoming a warrior," added the tom pointedly. "Certainly, before that, I'd been quite the ladies' man." He wiggled his eyebrows jokingly.

"Anyway," he continued, becoming more serious in a matter of seconds, "It's not like I'm necessarily popular in a good way, either. I can still sometimes see people thinking, 'Oh, there goes that half-Clan dirt!' Sure, I've got a few close friends, but that's about it. So you're not the only one, Skyfire," he mewed, turning to the tom.

[Deleted]

[Take that Bird. I'm a ball of fun.]

I twitched my ears.

"My brother isn't fond of half-clan cats. I guess he's the more judgmental one. And I suppose that's a kinda good thing, about me not being the only one. And thank you, Robinsflight, for the kinda words," I dipped my head, gracious. Tucking my paws under my tail, I gave my fur a nice lick to smooth it down. I lifted my head up again, feeling a bit more comfortable than I had felt before.