The Value of Mutual Hatred [p]

[Deleted]

Fawnpaw

Rosepaw was practicing her tree climbing on her own. She had been doing on her own, trying to figure out what the best method was for her. She had finally settled on a style that alternated between using her hindlegs and forepaws for stability and balance on the tree. That had been a while ago and right now she was trying to get comfortable moving about in the treetops, scaling up and down the trees. 

She was reasonably sure she was making decent progress. Ha! Just because no one was training her right now didn't mean she had to sit idle! Honestly, she enjoyed this practice despite the honest frustration. Especially when she started to get the hang of it. It was extremely gratifying to conquer a new skill. She took a deep breath from where she was perched high in the trees. Then she glanced down below to see a familiar golden pelt.

Fawnpaw.

She flattened her ears at the thought of the unkind apprentice. Then she got an idea. She didn't see any acorns, so instead she pulled a decent sized branch. Easy enough to hold in her jaws, but still would be unfortunate if you got hit in the head with it.

Then she threw it at the back of Fawnpaw's head.

((Rosie no this is not how you make friends.... You know I'm pretty sure these two made the absolute worst first impressions on each other lol

[Fawnpaw]

(Oh no)

Fawn was in a good mood today. Despite hating her mentor, she had to admit his training methods were certainly a lot more interesting and effective than most. Besides, he was going to tech her to fish like Iceclan and climb like Rockclan. She'd be the most skilled apprentice in the clan training under Dogfang, already she's scaled halfway up a Rocky Mountain unlike anything in Treeclan's territory, a claim no other apprentice could ever make in her clan. And so, she found herself in a good mood, and even pondering apologies. Or at least faked apologies. She was starting to consider pretending to be nice to some cats, or maybe even trying to do so sincerely with those who promised not to judge her by her size and all it led to. Starting with Jaykit. He was the nicest to her so far, even when she was so cruel. And she planned to get to know her siblings a little better too. Maybe she'd even make her way toward a mutual acquaintanceship with Rosepaw.

Whilst pondering these thoughts, she found herself wandering the territory, doubts and thoughts both good and bad flickering through her mind unbidden. Though a smile did not play across her features - such a thing was rare in even the best of circumstances - she did not glare at every moving thing, and her frequent scowl had relaxed into a mere frown of thoughtfulness. Perhaps being an apprentice was not so bad after all, and all she'd been beforehand was an emotional little kit. Perhaps having the skills she'd Aquire so far was helping her with that, countering her insecurities. She'd learnt to climb trees well, practicing almost all the time, each time in a tree more difficult in the last. Thanks to her disadvantage in size, her good balance and swift paws, as well as her climbing and reflexes, were all very important to her. She wasn't great at everything, but Treeclimbing was something she was a natural at beyond simply her birth to this clan.

Yet all her good mood vanished in a blast of pain as something large and solid slams onto her head. Being as small as she is, it has more of an impact than one might expect. The pain wavers slightly, and she sways a little on her paws before steadying herself and shaking her head, frowning at the branch in confusion. Naturally she looks up to where it came from, only to see a familiar pelt. Rosepaw. Rage sparks unbidden within her, and she instantly forgets her dizziness and injured head as she whips around like lightning and darts up the tree. It's an easy tree to climb, at least compared to what she's been practicing in, and thanks to her adrenaline of anger her dizziness does not affect her climbing just yet. With quick paws and a surprisingly good grip she bounds up to the branch Rosepaw is perched upon and digs her claws in, lashing her tail and glaring at her. A memory from her training sparks in her mind.

Shed just about reached the the cave when Dogfang speaks, an almost malicious smile on his face, like he's both sincere and teasing her at the same time. "I'll teach you far beyond the restraints of the borders. If you're interested in hard work, I'll teach you how to fish like Iceclan and climb like Rockclan. If you can get over your bitterness, I'll teach you how your size can turn larger enemies against themselves, and then leave them in a pool of their own blood." He'd said to her. Her eyes flash slightly with fiery ambition, and at the mention of leaving cats in a pool of blood some sort of darkness within her stirs restlessly. She shoves it back down and forces herself to only allow a nod. That same darkness swirls within her now, empowered by her rage at this cat and the pain of her head where the branch collided with it. With a hiss she moves forward to shove the other apprentice from the tree, yet something makes her stop just a hair's breath away, lips curled back in a furious snarl and eyes gleaming in a fiery glare, a hint of something like excitement swirling amongst the anger in their amber depths.

Still furious, but knowing a fall from this hieghts could very well kill the other apprentice, Fawn moves back a step. Yet her hatred is clear on her face, in her eyes, her ears, everything about her. Yet she smooths her expression spot something cold and hateful, yet not pure battle rage. "And to think I was considering apologies today. Good moods are rare for me, your lucky I didn't push you." Her voice is low, threatening, yet surprisingly calm. It basically sounds flat and emotionless, like something remains unspoken, and she's awaiting a reason to snap. It's tempting, but her calm fury is scarier then her full out rage, and she knows this. She revels in this. An image of her peering down at Rosepaw lying broken upon the ground appears in the forefront of her mind, yet she pushes it away. She says nothing more to the she-cat, awaiting her response instead.

(I'm not even sure if that was planned sprightly there...I've decided she may of may not grow up to be basically a female mini-me for Tigerstar. I don't know, maybe she'll have flickers like this, and times where she's actually friendly. Sort of like a yearning to do something bad that she tries to ignore. Yes, that's a fun thing to play with! Rose is the test subject, good luck!)

[Deleted]

Rosepaw supposed if she had been able to learn to climb given time, it wasn't too far fetched that Fawnpaw had as well. What was somewhat unexpected was the furious hatred and anger... And, was that excitement? Rosepaw swore she saw just a glint of murder in Fawnpaw's amber depths. Rosepaw flattened her ears. Her expression was less expressive, largely appearing unfriendly. Though, irritation was flickering in her green eyes. Fawnpaw stomps towards her on the branch, probably wanting to push her off. Rosepaw stands tall and doesn't move, simply narrowing her eyes as Fawnpaw approaches. Then Fawnpaw takes a step back. Then her expression smooths.

She huffed at Fawnpaw. "I'm lucky? Hmph. More like seems you finally grew a conscience..." She growled at Fawnpaw. Her tail lashed behind her. "But I have to ask, what the hell is your problem?! I'll admit it. I made a crappy first impression but jumping to pushing cats out of trees is a pretty big jump!" She pointed out, anger flaring in her eyes. "I didn't have any problem with you really, until you started being mean to me in the nursery!" Her tail lashed again, angrily.

She forced her fur to lie flat. "Alright. Just listen to me here. I'm Treeclan, you're Treeclan. We're supposed to be clanmates, right? Can we at least try to approach not fantasizing about breaking the other's entire skeletal structure?!"

((It's kind of funny, but Rosie's actually p smart. She just errr has a bit of a temper that gets in the way. A lot.

((You know I'm half-tempted to encourage Fawnpaw to push Rosepaw out of the tree lol. It'd be really mean.... Plus the medicine cats are inactive so XD

[Fawnpaw]

Fawn narrows her eyes at the other's unflinching stance, yet doesn't let it fade her. The other doesn't believe her threat, she doesn't know of the swirling darkness she's trying almost desperately to hold back. It's difficult, though. So very difficult. She's almost tempted, with this cat at least, to just let that darkness have a little more leash, just to see...no. She snaps a filter over her expression and emotions, keeping herself from quivering and now finally realising how much her head is throbbing from that branch landing upon it. Okay, so it wasn't big, but it was thick, and Fawn is tiny. That and the combination of the height means that it certainly hurt quite a lot. She focuses on that pain now, letting it seep into her. She winces slightly before smoothing her form once more, allowing herself to appear almost calm despite the fact her eyes sing a song of murder to the other feline.

At the others comment her ears twitch slightly and her head tilts to one side just slightly, as though curious, yet her eyes still flare like a flame. She doesn't offer the other a response, instead straightening up. Despite her throbbing skull, her daily practice on much spindlier branches means her balance is as good as it would be upon the ground. Her tail sways slightly in warning, and she listens on to the other's opinion. At her next comment the child scoffs slightly, before her eyes narrow into slits, yet she still remains almost icy calm other than the anger rolling off her in waves. 'My problem? You know, I was actually doing just fine untill you rocked along and dropped a branch on my head. Sure, I was mean as a kit, but I was half your size and age, and words aren't exactly as harmful as dropping a branch onto someone's skull from this high up!" Her ears flicker slightly and she prowls a step closer, leaning forward to glare into her eyes and almost back her off the branch, should she lean away in discomfort, Rosepaw would likely fall. "So the real question is...what's your problem?"

As the other calms herself, Fawn moves away and sits down upon the branch as though it's the most stable surface in the world, tail twitching slightly as her only sign of irritation from any distance other than this. She listens to what the other says, before rolling her eyes. "Well, I didn't push you out of a tree. However, I'm certainly glad you didn't drop a bigger branch, or from higher up, or maybe you'd be having a talk about breaking things with the medicine cats and Spiderstar right now." She points out bluntly, yet she says it as though she could be talking about mere chores or prey rather than fatal injuries. "Before now I was even considering trying to get along with some of my clan mates, heck, you were even a possibiltity. Yet perhaps if you wanted to have this conversation, you should have tried a more...civil approach, or perhaps." Her voice is still cold, yet her words are almost polite.

[Deleted]

Rosepaw angrily huffs. "At least I can admit I have a problem!" She shouted. "I know I have a temper! I know I snap at people a lot and I get mad probably more easily than I should! I say things that are insensitive and I make a lot of bad decisions!" She forced herself to take a deep breath. She still stands her ground against Fawnpaw's approach. "I know I have problems. Maybe I'm not doing enough to fix them." Her ears folded back as anger glared in her green eyes. "But it's cats like you that make it especially hard." Her tail lashed behind her. She huffed again. Then she grumbled. "I only threw the branch because I couldn't find any acorns.... And I forgot you were smaller than average." She admitted. "Alright? I'm admitting I made mistakes. I made bad decisions."

Rosepaw sees Fawnpaw sitting down like she's in her nest or something. It's annoying and Rosepaw can't help but find everything irritating about Fawnpaw. Her face, her voice, her actions... It all got on Rosepaw's nerves. She forced herself to take another deep breath. Why did Fawnpaw always have to make a conscious effort to be mean?! Couldn't she just be anti-friendship but civil? Apparently not. Then Rosepaw realized that maybe.... She should try redirecting this train of thought. It was kind of hard to derail the 'Fawnpaw is a big fat jerk' brain train.

Rosepaw's tail lashed angrily again. "And what was that angry stomping again?!" She growled. "I'm not stupid! I knew it wouldn't kill you... I just, underestimated how much it would hurt...." Now that she thought about it, those stupid acorns hurt more the further down she was the tree. Gah. Another mistake.

Rosepaw grimaced as she finally hung her head. "Alright, alright! I get the point. I'm a hot headed idiot who really should do more thinking first. Not just thinking about training."


((But will Fawnpaw listen

[Fawnpaw]

At Rosepaw's proclamation, Fawn rolls her eyes slightly to quiet her snappish responses. No doubt if she gives in to her anger she will push this apprentice out of the tree. So instead she merely foces her thoughts in line and simply shrugs slightly at the other feline. "I never said I didn't have one. Yet at least I don't go around hurting others." She states matter-of-factory,clearing implying Rosepaw, yet her voice holds no accusatory lilt this time. That doesn't mean her amber gaze isn't burning with a hate fuelled fire, though.

Fawn is only half listening as Rosepaw goes on with her little rant, clearly complaining about Fawn. Instead she finds herself leaning forward upon the branch, digging her claws in and teetering slightly over the edge as she allows her gaze to travel all the way down to the ground. The dizzying height sends a thrill through her veins, and she leans a bit further as though to tempt fate, almost in danger of falling should she be pushed in any way, even by a strong gust of wind. Her head turns to peer back at Rosepaw's and she straightens, scowling slightly. "Well,maybe you should consider using your brain before you toss something at someone's head that's quite clearly heavier than an acorn. And in case you hadn't noticed, an acorn would still hurt." She points out sharply, ears twitching slightly. Her eyes catch sight of something nearby, and her eyes narrow at it, leaning back to peer closer at them. Acorns. "See, there are acorns, mousebrain."

Stomping?! Fawn bristles slightly and spthinks back to her ascent. She'd climbed up the tree quick as a little squirrel, maybe a little awkwardly due to her age and self-training, that and her anger and speed. Then she'd gotten onto the branch and stalked along it angrily. Perhaps a little rigid, but there was no stomping. Her eyes narrow slightly at the other rpfeline, and her tail flickers in irritation, but she does not offer a reply, not willing to respond to the jab. She straightens up slightly and forces her fur smooth, shoulders back slightly and chin held high, glaring at the other. She notices the flicker of irritation at her ease amongst the branches, and feels a flash of pride boost her ego a little despite not showing this reaction through any more than a subtle smirk.

As the other grimaces and concedes, Fawn feels a shock of sympathy that serves to soften her spicy expression slightly. Maybe this cat was merely fighting back. 'She tried to hurt you, she's no better!' Her mind reminds her, chasing her doubts away. She lifts her chins slightly. "I couldn't agree more" She responds calmly, unsure whom exactly she's even speaking to. After a moment, she lowers her head slightly and huffs. She knows full well that despite the fact she couldn't possibly see the two of them getting along, there is no point making enemies within her own clan. "Fine. Perhaps we can agree on a truce, of some sorts."

[Deleted]

((It's totally a not-acorn-tree.))


Rosepaw can tell that Fawnpaw doesn't like her talking. Still, she hadn't stopped. Fawnpaw said that she never said she didn't have a problem, but that she didn't go around hurting others. Her tail lashed behind her. "I hope you realize there's more way to hurt others than with your claws." The truth was... Fawnpaw actually did kind of hurt her feelings in the nursery. She'd never admit it outside her head. But she wouldn't be surprised if Fawnpaw did it to others. Hmph.

Then Rosepaw's attention was caught by Fawnpaw pointing to something. She squinted at it. "Those aren't acorns, Fawnpaw." She pointed out. "This is not a tree that grows acorns. I'm pretty sure those are just really crumpled up dead leaves on the verge of falling off." She wondered if there was something wrong with Fawnpaw's eyes. This was the second time Fawnpaw stated a false fact, probably just to show her up. She wondered if Fawnpaw would backpedal again. That would be annoying... Irritating.

Rosepaw can see that her accusation had Fawnpaw a bit riled up, her fur bristling and her tail flickering angrily. Though, she tries to correct her behavior soon after. Then she smirks for some reason. That was also annoying. Did this cat have a talent for it, or was it on purpose?!

Rosepaw took a deep breath and flattened her ears. "Yeah, that sounds fine. Truce sounds good. I still don't like you, but a truce is good. Probably the best we're going to get out of each other." To be fair, Rosepaw did hold some small amount of respect for Fawnpaw, even if it was largely overshadowed by her irritation for the much smaller apprentice. She was a cat who apparently didn't take any crap and held her ground. Rosepaw respected that sort of thing. She didn't like spineless wimps much either, so Fawnpaw did win maybe a quarter of a brownie point.

[Fawnpaw]

Fawn watches as the other lashes her tail, clearly annoyed at her comment the young golden apprentice ducks her head slightly and runs a paw tentatively along it, wincing slightly and peering up at the other with narrowed eyes. "Mmm, you certainly found a good way to do that, didn't you?" She points out bluntly, wincing once more as she brushes a particularly tender sport before lowering her paw and tucking her tail around it. Now that she'd calmed, the pain in her head was a throbbing slightly, clearly having caught up with her. She decides she might check in with the medicine cats later on if it doesn't settle down enough for her to sleep tonight. For now she merely opted to ignore it.

At Rosepaw's smart comment, Fawn simply glares a glares at her icily before getting gracefully to her paws. "Sure they are" She responds, trusting her eyesight fully. She'd always had good eyesight, and she knew well enough that some trees didn't produce nuts or fruits for a while. This was probably just the tree's first batch. No doubt there'd be some elsewhere too. Reaching her spot, she leans forward somewhat precariously, snatches a small bit of branch holding two ripe acorns and a half ripe one, before turning around and stalking smoothly back to the other apprentice, putting them down between them and sitting down. They're definitely acrorns, she could recognise them easily. "I'm not stupid, Rosepaw. Perhaps you ought to give someone the benefit of the doubt before jumping to conclusions about how smart or functional they are, hmm?" Her voice is cold, a slight darkness swirling in her for her hatred of this cat, yet she gives her no reaction that would satisfy the other.

Fawn eyes the other warily as she flattens her ears, almost expecting some sharp retort or a flat out refusal, instead what she gets is...agreement? Okay, so it didn't sound very agreeable. A little condescending, and clearly reluctant, shatter with some insults here and there even if many went unspoken, yet she did conscede. That was...something, right? Hmph, maybe this rat wasn't so stuck up her own rump after all. At least she was better than Dogfang, though so far he hadn't ambushed her for no reason other than a mutual hatred fuelled by a kithood argument. Regathering her thoughts and quieting her stirring distaste for this feline, Fawn gives a slight jerk of her head, and clear nod of agreement even if it appears slightly dismissing."So be it" She acquiesced, glad the other had noted the clear fact of still hating her. At least that meant the othe wouldn't try and be her friend, because that's be pathetic.

After a moment of silence, Fawn twitches her ears slightly. She's not sure she likes silence, or at least, not in the company of others. She'd rather it be silent, and her be on her own. Again, the image of pushing the other apprentice from the tree arises in her mind, but she pushes it away instantly, ignoring the darkness stirring slightly inside her. There wasn't always something - or maybe someone - trying to convince her to do something wrong. She quiets her thoughts again before asking, "Alright, so what will this truce entail? How long will it last?" They were perfectly good questions, and one would be surprised why the other didn't ask them herself before agreeing to this. Wouldn't one want to know upon what terms they were agreeing? Oh well, perhaps she didn't think that far ahead.

[Deleted]

Rosepaw huffs. "Yeah... Probably... I wasn't trying to." She grumbled. God, Fawnpaw was really taking advantage of the fact that Rosepaw was feeling particularly brazen about admitting her mistakes right now. Did the smaller apprentice really have to step on her AGAIN at every ample opportunity?! Again, she wondered what her problem was. Though, she had a feeling if she asked again she'd only get a smart-ass response. Given that she still somewhat wanted to punch Fawnpaw, she wouldn't go there. It was always hard to tolerate the golden furred apprentice, since for some reason she was so mean to everyone. Rosepaw tended to be rather short with cats, but she wasn't trying to be mean!

Rosepaw flattened her ears. "Fawnpaw. Your mentor threw a billion acorns at me. I know what an acorn looks like. Those aren't acorns." She growled. "And since when did I insult your functionality or intelligence?! I just told you that those aren't acorns!" They definitely weren't acorns. They lacked that weird brown textured top thing that attached it to the tree, but sometimes fell off. She knew it well, considering how many times it poked her in the eye, courtesy of Dogfang. Honestly, Fawnpaw's tone disturbs her. Rosepaw's voice is filled with searing hot flames, but it lacks any venom. She doesn't have much of an issue with Fawnpaw, aside from whatever her immediate offense is. Considering that Fawnpaw makes an offense every second of every day... That's pretty much all the time.

It seemed thought, Fawnpaw was surprised by her agreement. "What? I told you. I'm not stupid... All the time." She admitted with a growl. It was faint, but there the faintest hurt tone in her voice. She for the most part hid it well. She never told anyone, but the remarks and looks she given really did hurt. It was part of why she worked so hard. She didn't need cats to like her if she was a better warrior then they all were. Though, Fawnpaw seems to agree to the truce.

"Yeah." It'd be really weird if either of them suddenly started being nice to the other. The most Rosepaw would do would only be in a dire situation. Like, if they got attacked by a dog, she would certainly risk her neck to save Fawnpaw. Not because she liked Fawnpaw or thought she was too small to fight but.... It was more to do with the whole right thing to do stuff. Rosepaw wasn't fully aware, but she did have a rather strong sense of justice.

Then Fawnpaw asked what this truce entailed. "I figured we should try to hold it as long as possible. Y'know, try to be civil clanmates and all. Harming the other would probably break it and we'd cut it off right there. So don't do that." She narrowed her eyes. "That includes hurting others with words. Okay? I don't know what your problem is, and I highly doubt you'll tell me. So maybe we should just not talk to each other for the rest of forever unless necessary."

[Fawnpaw]

Clearly this cat was adamant about trying to prove her as stupid as she possibly could. Just because Fawn removed the acorns without that weird hat thingy, they're suddenly not across at all. Because that makes sense, of course she could go back and fetch the branch she'd broken them off of, but she really didn't care for putting that much effort into proving this up-herself apprentice wrong. So she forces herself calm, not reacting, and sweeps the acorns off the branch with a single swipe of her paw. At the mention of Dogfang throwing acorns at the brat, she suddenly found herself liking her mentor a tad more. Maybe she oughtn't to listen to him after all, if he at least had the same sense of who really was a waste of time. After all, he was throwing acorns at Rosepaw and putting effort into training her, even with minimal insults. Her eyes flash with amusement, dashing some of the darkness away, but she doesn't react anymore outwardly than that.

Apparently the other was upset by Fawn's apparent surprise at her agreement. She felt a flash of sympathy that inwardly startled her. She shoves it off fiercely, keeping herself as neutral as she can besides her clear distaste for the feline and the slight flash in her eyes. Instead, she tilts her head subtly and offers an unreadable smile that could be taken as both maliciously amused and sincere. "Hmm, I suppose you did, didn't you..." she hums, tail swaying idly where it hangs over the branch. She's almost tempted to jump from this tree, even peers down and leans a little bit toward the edge. Yet she soon straighten she and returns her attention to the nasty little brat with an affinity for hurting others. Yeah, Fawn may be mean, but she'd never actually injure someone outside of battle unless it was an accident.

At the others demands, she finds herself torn. She agrees profusely with the arrangement to basically avoid each other at all costs and the thought of the other being civil, yet she hates being told what to do. Hmm. Oh well, she'd just have to put her personal distastes aside for now to suit this felines needs. Still, Fawn's eyes remain cold and narrowed as she speaks, yet she belies her clear irritation with that same insincerely convincing smile. "As you wish" she offers calmly, somehow refraining from adding 'princess' at the end, or bowing mockingly. Instead she gets to her paws, dips her head almost politely, and turns to basically glide along the branch and leap gracefully down toward the ground from branch to branch. She pauses halfway down to the ground, ears flickering lest the other speak to her, though she won't wait long before touching down to ground and disappearing into the forest surrounding them.

[Deleted]

((Somehow I feel like Fawnpaw would like Dogfang less again if she found out Dogfang had sort of taught Rosie how to climb trees XD

At least the acorn debate was over. Rosepaw was pretty sure Fawnpaw still thought she was stupid and that those were clearly acorns. But Rosepaw doubted Fawnpaw wanted to spend much energy on this. She seemed to have this idea that Rosepaw was a waste of time. The thought made her fur bristle. She was not a waste of time. Hmph! Who was she to judge?! If anyone was a waste of space, it was probably Fawnpaw who seemed to make it her life mission to hate everyone around her. Rosepaw didn't really want friendship, but she also wasn't a huge jerk! .... Still, she had to keep these thoughts inside to maintain the truce. The idea of not speaking to Fawnpaw ever was appealing to her. At least, she wouldn't have to deal with the golden furred apprentice's attempts at cruelty.

Then she noticed something strange. Something had startled Fawnpaw. It was subtle. She wondered why. It seemed to stem from... Well... Rosepaw's indignant remark at Fawnpaw's surprise. She wondered why it had startled her, though. Rosepaw sort of... Had this image that Fawnpaw was this unmovable force of... Something. Jerkiness maybe. Rosepaw snorts at Fawnpaw's humming comment. "Yeah." She replied shortly. She doubted either had really improved the image of the other. She had seen the intent in Fawnpaw's eyes when she'd come storming up. She looked like she wanted to retaliate in kind. A dark sort of vengeance. Yeah.... Not a cat Rosepaw wants to hang around. The fact that they're in the apprentice's den together is bad enough. 

Then comes a creepy smile. She seems to agree and then she stands up, dips her head, and then gracefully leaves for the ground. Then she seems to be waiting. Rosepaw is reasonably sure the 'politeness' is just mocking. There's no way Fawnpaw actually holds even a speck of respect for her. She probably is only amenable to Rosepaw's terms because they're reasonable. Also probably because it involves not interacting with Rosepaw as long as feasible. She looks away and she has no last words for Fawnpaw. Hmph.