snakes and ladders [p]

[Deleted]

"You're kidding. I'm not going back there," he replied stubbornly between licks. Besides, it would be hard enough to walk all the way to the river and back again - the injury was really starting to sting. Adderpaw didn't enjoy the thought of training in the morning with his paw like this.

Eventually, the blood was mostly groomed away, and he could see the cut properly. It was small but also deep; more of an annoyance than something that might cause lasting damage. The pale tabby huffed at it. "My mentor's gonna be all nosy if he sees this…"

[Sunfish]

"Well maybe your mentor will cut you some slack during training and perhaps if you are lucky enough the meds will show up for you though, that seems unlikely but if you wanted some enthusiasm there is your dose for the day." He laughed. "I'm sure your mentor will.. hopefully not ask what happened because I'm sure he'll get just as much of a kick out of it as I did." He grinned.

"Still can't believe a turtle bit you. You don't hear that happen often."

[Deleted]

If he'd had enough energy, Adderpaw probably would've gotten a second wind to continue his rage, but he just glared at Sunfish instead. "I don't want that old dude thinking I'm weak. And the medicine cats… I'll bet they're off eating catmint somewhere. They're not getting anywhere near me. For all I know, they're gonna put poison on my leg or something."

He clearly did not trust IceClan's healers very much.

[Sunfish]

"Who exactly is your mentor?" He inquired. He laughed once more. "Oh man.. That probably would happen." He joked. "The meds are secretly evil and they just try and kill as many cats as they can. That's why they are always gone." He lied, teasing the apprentice.

"Nah they just never show up."

[Deleted]

His eyes narrowed suspiciously. For all Adder knew, this may as well be the covert goal of some corrupt medicine cat. Living as a rogue had taught him that even under the pretense of being united in a group, life was really just every cat fending for themself. He hated relying on others for protection or care.

"Thornfrost. He talks too much."

[Sunfish]

"I think I've heard of the name before, although I've never met him. You don't sound too enthusiastic about him. Why do you think he talks to much? Does he annoy you?" This cat didn't seem to thrilled. Most cats, at least, ones he'd talked to, talked highly of their mentors.

"Troublesome for you? Or are you just causing trouble for him?" He teased.

[Deleted]

Now that his rage had mostly subsided, Adder was back to being more withdrawn. He half-shrugged as a reply. "Yes," was the youngster's monosyllabic response directed towards all of Sunfish's questions, regardless of the fact that some couldn't be properly answered by that one word. He licked at the still-bleeding cut with a slight wince. It sorta did hurt, now that he stopped to consider it.

[Sunfish]

"Pfff.. Then I feel bad for him. You probably are giving him a hard time, him just trying to mentor you and all" He muttered, rolling his eyes. He hadn't met Thornfrost but he could imagine having a difficult apprentice. It probably was hard to train someone if they were trying to cause trouble for you. He felt slight sympathy for the warrior.

"Nice."

[Deleted]

He eyed Sun in a rather displeased manner, but most of his attention remained on the turtle bite. Adder didn't intentionally make life difficult for Thornfrost. They just had differences in personality which made the arrangement difficult. After he was apparently satisfied that the wound was nearly done bleeding, the former rogue finally spared a reply for this cat who insisted upon tormenting him.

"I hope you know that I never asked for all of this."

[Sunfish]

"Asked for what? The turtle bite?" He cocked his head. He was incredibly unaware of what this tom was referring to. Was he still angry about the turtle bite? Well it's not like Sunfish could heal him. He didn't know herbs and if he did then of course he'd try and be helpful, but he couldn't.

"It'll heal."

[Deleted]

Adderpaw gave a small shake of his head, then waved his tail as if to encompass the whole camp. "No. All this. I don't want to live here; your Clan ways are strange to me. It wasn't my choice. Learning everything from one cat who could be doing it all wrong, trusting some special herb cats to heal injuries and cure sickness, blindly following a single leader as if their word is law… madness, all of it. But I don't expect you to see that."

[Sunfish]

He flicked an ear, nodding. "Hmm.. Guess I see what you mean." Sort of. He could see how to those outside of the Clan could see their ways as absurd. "So you aren't originally from here then. I see.." He sat down, curling his tail around his paws. "Well.. For what it's worth at least your trying. I could maybe understand that it'd be difficult. Especially fitting in too." He shrugged.

"You'll get used to it, maybe, one day."

[Deleted]

"What, you thought I was?" He let out a brief and rather humorless laugh. "Definitely not. And most cats around here can tell. All the other apprentices are excited about training, being a good warrior, all that. I don't understand the point." Adder cast a longing gaze past the camp walls, to the horizon. Drought was out there somewhere.

"I won't get used to it. I want to go home."

[Sunfish]

"Well I didn't exactly jump to any speculations." He shrugged. "It's not something I really wonder about." He admitted. He nodded, shrugging once more. "I see. Well.." I want to go home. "If you don't want to be here, then why are you? Why not head back?"

[Deleted]

How he wished it was that simple. Don't like one group? Find another! So it should be - and wasn't. Even with rogue gangs, allegiances were difficult things to break, and there were laws in the Clans that kept him trapped here.

"I can't. Hardly allowed to go out of camp alone; forget about leaving the mountains. Besides… mom had a reason for bringing us here."