a warm welcome (p)

[Needleclaw]

Needlepaw lay near the front of the apprentice's den. He was still thinking about the clan meeting the other day, although he's cooled down a lot since then. He regretted a few of the things he had said, but for the most part he had spoken his thought, and was proud to have done so. Mostly he was contemplating what the cats from opposing side had said. The tabby wasn't going to give up his beliefs, but he still wanted to understand why other cats thought the way they did. Especially the ones that were full-blooded TreeClan. His ears perked up when he spotted a familiar cat, grimacing. Fallenpaw, he snarled mentally, although when he got a better look at the other apprentice he realized that it was, in fact, not Fallenpaw. Wait... is she that kit from the clan meeting? he thought, remembering her speaking a bit. Curiously, he got onto his paws and approached Littlepaw . "You," he mewed as he approached, "you're... Littlekit? Right?" he tipped his head to the side, "you had some interesting things to say the other day... have time for a chat?" 

[Littlepaw]

"uh huh!" the tiny she-cat chirped. rather abruptly, she trotted towards the strangely familiar apprentice, before sitting down opposite her. "well, it's littlepaw," she corrected with a flick of her striped tail. "i'm an apprentice now, just like fallenpaw." pride coloured her tone; littlepaw, despite her optimistic words, hadn't thought that her ceremony would be so soon after her sister's. 

"what?" she blinked, surprised at his forwardness. "um. okay, i guess." her voice was reluctant; at last she remembered where she had seen him before. "you agreed with him," she recalled, disapproval in her tone. "why?"
oops, she thought with a little frown. didn't mean to sound so rude. in way of an apology, she straightened up further. offering him a tentative smile. 

[Needleclaw]

"Should've figured," the tabby mewed. The she-cat didn't seem much bigger than she had been at the ceremony, but he guessed she wouldn't have been in the apprentice's den otherwise. His ears perked with interest as he heard her disapproval. He liked to be challenged, although he would admit to the fact that being in a crowd put him under pressure; he always felt like he had to fight for attention, and sometimes the adrenaline of it all took over. Which was precisely why he was eager to confront someone one-on-one. He wanted to talk in a more peaceful atmosphere, so he let Littlepaw's tone fly over his head. Relaxing more as she offered a smile, returning one of his own. "I think he's right," the tabby stated, knowing that was probably obvious, "I don't think it's safe letting rouge cats into the clan. Now, I'm not saying that we have to exile the rouge cats that are already here, 'cause I think some cats may have gotten that impression. I just think that we shouldn't let anymore rouges in, or, if we do, it needs to be much less frequently."

[Littlepaw]

littlepaw was relieved when he smiled back, and perked ginger-tipped ears, deciding to listen to what he had to say. he obviously wasn't stupid, and he must have some sort of reason to believe what he did. and, who knew, maybe he was right. 
"hmm," she mused. "i get what you're saying, and, i gotta say, i was one of those cats. i guess i didn't really get it, at the time." she smiled sheepishly, a shuffle of her paws revealing her uncertainty. 

now that she had calmed down, she regretted some of her words. do i really know what i'm knowing about? or am i just a kit - apprentice - speaking out of turn? 
"i mean, not all rogues are trustworthy..." she murmured. "and we should be more sure about their loyalties." her amber eyes were distant with thought. 
"it's for the good of the clan," she said aloud, trying to convince herself more than anything. still, she felt like she had betrayed fallenpaw, arrowstar, the clan. 

[Needleclaw]

He nodded, giving Littlepaw an assuring glance, "it's okay, I was... aggressive, to say the least," Needlepaw was sure that if he had been pushed any further he might've actually attacked one of his clanmates. And, in the back of his mind, he didn't know that would've been too bad a thing. He wasn't too sure if the older warriors, the ones who sides with Arrowstar, actually thought of him as a real adversary. He got the impression that they passed him off as a "dumb kit". The tabby sighed. "I can get a little carried away, especially when things get heated like they did," he thought back to the meeting. At the time it felt like everyone had ganged up against him. Which is something he had probably brought upon himself, since he was the first cat to speak up in support of Yellowburr.

Needlepaw's green gleamed hopefully when Littlepaw seemed to be changing her mind. When he had heard Yellowburr's speech it had made him feel included, like he had found at least one cat in the clan he could relate too. He didn't really have any friends; he hadn't been the most social kitten and he only seemed to be making more and more enemies as he got older. And even though he had found a a niche in the clan where he could be with likeminded cats, most of them were warriors and didn't really bother with him; the tom still didn't have any friends his age. "See, you get it," his smile brightened, "it's too risky to have rouges coming through the border whenever they please," his brow furrowed, "we don't even really test them to prove that they are loyal, or at least I've never seen Arrowstar do so. One of these days a rouge's gonna waltz into TreeClan and get someone seriously hurt," he sighed. As abrasive as he was Needlepaw did care about the wellbeing of his clan and his clanmates. Or at least the clanmates that he trusted.

[Littlepaw]

at needlepaw's reassurance, littlepaw gave a small but grateful smile. she had never really been taken seriously, for a number of her reasons, primarily her size; there were kits in the nursery bigger than her. "yeah, same," she mewed. 
her mouth curved upwards into a grin, glad that she had found someone that she could relate to who wasn't genetically identical. it was a nice feeling, one that made her wonder whether yellowburr was so, well, wrong in his thinking.

"uh huh." she grinned back. it does make sense... it's not like we're kicking out anybody. she felt good, like she had done something to benefit the clan, despite the fact that they were really just two apprentices talking. "a test would be good. like, a warrior assessment, or a mission." her amber eyes grew wider and wider at the possibilities. "they could spy on the other clans, and treeclan would be stronger for it!" 

all of a sudden. littlepaw wished fallenaw was here. her twin didn't seem to like the dark tabby tom, but she was sure that once she heard what he had to say, she would get it. the same couldn't be said for some of the warriors, though. 
"i  no one gets hurt in this - in this rebellion," she murmured, not quite knowing what else to call it. surely it wasn't a rebellion, not really. it was for the good of the clan. 

[Needleclaw]

"I like your style," Needlepaw mewed, nodding as Littlepaw gave suggestions. "Ooooh, spying on other clans would be perfect!" his eyes gleamed, "a genuine test of their loyalty; do they really want to pledge their loyalty to TreeClan, or will any clan that'll give them a roof over their head do?" either way it seemed like TreeClan would benefit from it. "Hmm, but if the outsider tips off the other clans that we've been spying on them that could be problematic..." Needlepaw tipped his head in thought, trying to figure out if there was a way around that one little fault. Although it's not like TreeClan can't handle a little dispute with another clan, he thought, the tip of his tail twitching. 

Needlepaw stopped focusing on the outsider assessment's when Littlepaw's attitude seemed to suddenly change. Ears perking up, he tipped his head to the side, wondering if he had said something wrong. "I still think the spying thing is a good idea though," wondering if that was bothering her. His green eyes widened as she spoke, realizing what the she-cat must really be worried about. "Sometimes cats need to get hurt," he said solemnly. Although the mention of battle sent adrenaline rushing through his veins, he still didn't want TreeClan cats to get seriously injured. Well, maybe Dogfang, he wasn't exactly fond of the way the ex-rouge talked to him. "For some cats words aren't enough, they need to see how far others will go for their beliefs. I don't like it, but it's just the way the world is," he looked to the side. He'd never raise a claw to a clanmate unless it was absolutely necessary, at least he'd like to think he wouldn't. But he also admitted to his faults; he knew he was impulsive, that he'd do anything to feel included and accepted by those he admired. He sighed. "But, rebellion or not, we still follow the warrior code. I'm sure no one will get hurt, or at least seriously so. Let's just pray to CloudClan that all this arguing settles down," Needlepaw blamed Arrowstar for a lot of what was happening. He, secretly, thought that it would be good if Yellowburr took over. The warrior knew what he wanted, spoke out for it, and if he was in charge Needlepaw would be confident that he could be the strong leader the clan needed; Arrowstar had lost a lot of Needlepaw's respect when he had fled from the clan meeting the other day.

The dark tabby shook his head, clearing in, then smirked lightly. "Why don't we stop talking about all this depressing stuff? I'm sure we'll be hearing about it for at least another moon. It'll be the talk of the clan," he rolled his shoulders back, trying to get rid of the tension and relax, "you just had your apprentice ceremony the other day, right? You get a good mentor?" He felt like he had been pushing Littlepaw enough on the division in TreeClan. 

[Littlepaw]

littlepaw nodded vigorously, becoming excited at all the possibilities. "exactly," she mewed, a glint in her eyes. it dulled at his next words; she hadn't thought of that, and if anyone found out that treeclan had been spying on the other clans, that would be a problem. a problem that treeclan could handle, but most certainly a problem. 

"i suppose," she murmured. it was only natural; cats had been born with teeth and claws for a reason, and that was to fight. "i know... you gotta walk the talk, huh?" she said with half-hearted humour, tilting her ears back. "the warrior code overrides everything," she agreed, holding her head high; it was something she could turn to whenever she wasn't quite sure whether she was doing the right thing. 

littlepaw cracked a smile. "yeah, i'm not really in the mood to discuss all this doom and gloom politics stuff," she responded, a sparkle in her amber eyes. "for once, it won't be lovey-dovey romance that the clan's talking about," she smirked, with a roll of her eyes. seriously, warriors thought they were so much better, but they really could be daft sometimes. 

she leaned back, taking the weight off her tired forepaws. "how could you forget?" she asked with mock horror. "am i really that unimportant?" she giggled, her tail swishing rhythmically. "i dunno," she said honestly. "i haven't trained with her yet. her name's mothflight. what 'bout you?"

[Needleclaw]

Needlepaw chuckled. He could admit to being a bit of a gossip, but the romance's of others didn't really interest him; unless it was forbidden romances, those were always intriguing stories. Still, the way some cats got all giddy about two of their clanmates getting together was a bit silly. They didn't expect everyone to stay single forever now, did they?

"Oops, guess my memory's slipping in my old age," Needlepaw mused with a gentle snort of laughter, rolling his eyes. His demeanor changed slightly when he heard Mothflight's name. Ears flicking back for second, eyes narrowing. "Ooh, sorry you have to put up with that," he mewed, thinking back to his little debacle with Mothflight in the clan meeting. He hadn't been fond of the way she had dismissed him for being a "dumb apprentice". "My mentor's Swanbreeze. She's... nice," he sighed, "sweet, even. But pathetic as a mentor. Jumps at every little thing. I have no clue how she passed her warrior assessment. She taught me all the basics, but I've been taking a lot of my training into my own paws since then."