Listen to Me [p]

[Flintpaw]

Flintpaw barged into the warrior's den in the middle of the night. He stepped over sleeping cats and went to his mother's side. He put a paw onto her flank and pushed down obnoxiously. "Mom, wake up." He said in a normal tone and it should have definitely been a whisper. But Flintpaw never whispered. "Nightsong." He pushed her sleeping body. "I need to talk to you."

[Nightsong]

[[ let's see if i still know what to do with this bab ]]

It wasn't too long until Nightsong stirred. She'd been having a bit of trouble sleeping lately, and had only just dozed off when Flint woke her up. "Flintpaw?" she asked groggily, raising her head and blinking away any breif remaining sleep. Something was bothering him- she could tell that much, and for a moment she felt guilty for not being as present in his life as she should have been. She stood up quickly, now alert after being somewhat worried. "Is everything okay?"

[Flintpaw]

"No." Flintpaw flickered her with his bushy tail as if to indicate he was leaving. He stopped at the entrance of the warrior's den and sat down neatly. He looked down and eventually his head drooped as well. "I want to talk to you about Ripplefur." Not Dad. Not Father. Just Ripplefur. He shifted his paws and sighed. "Sparrowpaw and I have some...concerns." It was mostly him.

[Nightsong]

When Flintpaw outright answered no, Nightsong felt her stomach churn. How long had this been going on? How long had she not even noticed? Uncertainty tugged at the back of her mind, but she was quick to follow her son outside, only slowing down to avoid stepping on any of her fellow warriors.

Something about his tone when he spoke Ripplefur's name felt off to her. Perhaps it was the lack of warmth- and while he had all the reason in the world to despise both his parents, he had still called her mom. She shifted on her paws nervously for a moment. "Alright," she nodded, after a beat of silence, trying to keep her voice as understanding as she could. "What's going on?"

[Flintpaw]

"Does he hate me?" Flintpaw's voice cracked with emotion. The apprentice had so much time to let his emotions and feelings stir. He was alone all the time with his thoughts. It kept him up at night. He paused and thought if his mother even cared. "Every time he's around, Ripplefur ignores me." The tom's claws unsheathed. "When Cloverstar made him my mentor, I was ecstatic. I thought I could be trained to just be like you and him."

He was grateful that Dapplecloud had taught him how to hunt better. He scowled at the thought that Sparrowpaw was behind in her training too. "It's all his fault that Sparrowpaw and I are behind. All we do is stay in camp and help the queens and elders."

"Why doesn't he understand that we're all that's left?" Flintpaw asked in agony, referring to the death of Heavykit and the disappearance of Bearpaw.

[Nightsong]

Nightsong felt her heart break in two when she heard Flintpaw's voice crack. "I'm- oh, Flintpaw. I'm sure he doesn't hate you," she tried to tell him, but she couldn't help wondering if all of this was her fault, too, and not just Ripplefur's. Neither of them had been as much a part of their kit's lives as they should have been. Flintpaw didn't deserve that- none of them did. She averted her gaze, pelt prickling with guilt.

When he was finished, she stayed quiet for a while, searching for the right words. She wondered if there even really were any, though. What could she say that would fix any of this? What could she say that would begin to make up for everything she hadn't? She sighed, then finally opened her mouth to speak.

"I don't understand what goes through that tom's head half the time," she admitted, with a weak smile. "I couldn't tell you what he's thinking, and I can't explain why he does the things he does. He's always been sort of a mystery that way." She paused for a moment, looking at Flintpaw with warm eyes. "But I can tell you how he feels. He loves you. All of you. We both do." Her smile finally faltered and fell. "And I'm sorry neither of us have been around enough to show it. I'm sorry that I haven't been around enough. I...suppose I can't really speak for Ripplefur, but I'm sure he feels the same way. And if there's ever anything I can do to start to make it up to you- to any of you, I'm willing to do it. Whatever it takes."

[Flintpaw]

Flintpaw shifted his eyes and sought an answer. His thoughts were going faster than he could talk. The tom suddenly leaned over and put his muzzle onto his mother's shoulder. "It's not your fault." He closed his eyes and sighed. "I hope to be as brave and kind as you."

He paused for a few minutes and then pulled back. "You know what, I don't care if he hates me." The fur on his back rose. "I'll be a warrior soon and I'll show him what a real warrior looks like." He bared his teeth. "I don't care about how he truly feels because I hate him."

[Nightsong]

Nightsong managed to withhold a bitter chuckle at that. Maybe he was right- maybe it really wasn't her fault, but it definitely felt like it was. And since there was nobody else to take the blame, she might as well. It was nice to know that Flintpaw didn't believe that, though. At least somebody didn't.

"Oh, please, I'm not all that," she scoffed warmly at his compliment, before nuzzling his fur affectionately for a moment. "You're going to inflate my ego if you keep that up, you know." For a while they stayed like that, and it felt right. Nightsong almost felt like herself again.

She had to bite back an objection of He doesn't hate you, knowing that it would do no good. She doubted Flintpaw would really believe that unless he heard it from Ripplefur's mouth- and even then, it was possible that the rift between them could already be too great to close. "Ah, that's right," Nightsong purred instead, hoping to diffuse the tension towards Ripplefur indirectly. "Your ceremony is coming up soon, isn't it? I could swear that just yesterday you were a kit...I'm proud of you." She knew that Ripplefur would be, too, but she left that out.

[Flintpaw]

Her words made the tom warm up a bit. He was never naturally angry. Flintpaw laughed at her joke, but didn't make any comments. He looked down himself when she spoke of him being a kit. Even he felt like yesterday he had been playing in the nursery with his brothers and sister. "I still have a little more training to do." He looked off to the sided. "And I'm going to wait for Sparrowpaw to be done with her training too."

Flintpaw looked directly into his mother's eyes. "I want us to be together."

[Nightsong]

Nightsong could practically feel herself glowing with pride and love when Flintpaw mentioned that he was planning to wait for Sparrowpaw before getting his warrior name. "You have a good heart," she meowed, accidentally out loud, but in a way, she was still glad she had said it. "I hope you know that. I haven't the faintest idea where you got it from, but it will make you into a great warrior, and it's already made you a better brother."

[Flintpaw]

"Do you think Cloverstar will name with Flintheart?" The apprentice joked, even though he would not mind that name. Flintpaw felt his face grow warm in embarrassment from the praise his mother gave him. It felt good, but he did not want his ego to grow too large.

"Actually, speaking of becoming a warrior, would you mind assessing me?" Flintpaw shifted his paws. Could mothers assess their apprentice children? He didn't know how that worked. "I haven't been assessed since the last time I trained."

[Nightsong]

"I haven't the faintest idea what Cloverstar will end up naming you," Nightsong admitted with a shrug. "Whatever it is, though, it will be a name fit for a warrior." At least, it better be. If Flintpaw ended up with a name like Flintface, Nightsong would consider tracking Cloverstar down herself.

Nightsong couldn't hide her moment of surprise when Flintpaw asked her to assess him. She had to think on that for a moment- she was mostly sure that technically there wasn't any rule against it. Maybe it wasn't ideal for a parent to assess another so close of kin, but not forbidden. Given that their mentors were stretched somewhat thin, it'd probably be easy enough to justify it, anyway. "I believe I can do that," Nightsong nodded, slowly at first, before growing more comfortable with the idea. "Yes. I can." Nevermind she hadn't had an apprentice in a while, much less assessed one.

[Flintpaw]

Flintpaw was glad she accepted. He jumped to his paws and tried to contain his excitement. He tried to make himself more serious. "Okay." The apprentice tried to say with a straight face, but he still grinned. He lowered his body into a stance. "What battle move can I try first?" Assuming they would try hunting later, considering they were in the middle of camp and there was no prey brave enough to come into a den of cats.

[Nightsong]

Despite his efforts, it was easy enough to tell that Flintpaw was rather excited. At least he was trying- besides, if he wasn't excited, Nightsong would have been a little worried. He was an apprentice, after all. Nightsong remembered being a little more...nervous during her own assessment, but she hadn't waited nearly as long for it.

"Eager, aren't we?" she teased, getting to her paws. "I was thinking we should do it somewhere else, but this works well enough for the battle half, I suppose." Nevermind the hour- some of the warriors could sleep through anything, anyway. She spent a moment preparing, moving a little bit away from right outside the den into a more clear part of the camp, then lowered herself into a basic battle stance. She spent one more moment getting into the right mindset- the one of mentor, not mother. "For now, let's just see what you know. Try to take me down."

[Flintpaw]

Flintpaw tried not to giggle when she also dropped down into a stance. He hadn't seen her behave in such a way since he was a kit. He missed play-fighting with his mother and siblings. When she told him to take her down, he got an idea. The tom dashed to her right, then pounced, attempting to tackle her from the side.