april showers -- open

[Squirrelbite]

((well, it's raining where i am, so i hope it's okay for me to write rain into the rp))

Squirrelpaw was drenched, and now officially in a sour mood. Water was not supposed to fall from the sky, this was even worse than snow. She knew that the rain was a sign of new-leaf, meaning that prey and plants were supposed to flourish afterwards, but honestly, Squirrelpaw wasn't too sure that it was worth it. 

Since not all of the leaves had grown back on the trees, the rain was easily able to pass through the bare branches and onto the cats below. It wasn't a particularly heavy downpour, but it was the worst thing that Squirrelpaw had ever experience. Cats weren't supposed to get wet, she felt like a drowned rat.

Currently, the reddish apprentice was taking shelter under a scraggy bush on the edge of camp, waiting to make a dash for the apprentices den.

[Ashfall]

Ashpaw loved the rain. Loved it. Likely more than a cat should. He couldn't help but feel rather excited when he discovered the scent on an oncoming shower, especially since he hardly remembered the last time he'd seen rain, much less felt it.

He had lingered out in the open, even as most of the others had scurried away to safety, relishing the feeling of rain pitter-pattering on his head. Maybe nobody else liked it, but he wasn't going to let that get in his way. Rain was a good thing, a sign of better things to come, new beginnings. It seemed the clan needed that.

Eventually, though, even Ashpaw knew he had to stop before he risked getting a cold from the weather. With a spring in his step that he'd been missing for a while, he trotting towards the shelter of a bush nearby, that an apprentice was already hiding under. It had been closer than the apprentice's den...and besides, they probably were in need of company. A lot of hatred going around lately. "Not a fan of the ran?" he asked with a friendly smile as he scooted into the bush, careful not to get the other apprentice any more wet than she already was.

[Squirrelbite]

Squirrelpaw saw the tom headed her her direction, and prayed that he wasn't going to try to sit over with her. A flurry of curses ran through her mind when he did, and she forced herself to put on a polite face, cringing slightly when she felt his damp pelt brush against hers.

He didn't even look like a smart cat, so Squirrelpaw doubted there was anything interesting she could gain from talking to him. Ugh, why couldn't the rain just stop already?

"Not really." She mumbled, just loudly enough to be heard over the pouring water. Squirrelpaw stared down at the ground, hoping that this conversation would be short.

[Ashfall]

It was starting to seem like the other apprentice wasn't really a fan of conversation. Or, at the very least, not really fond of him. Ashpaw felt a pang at the realization, but he was nothing if not persistent. He could still at least try to get a smile out of her, couldn't he?

"Seems like a lot of cats don't," he nodded with a bit of a shrug, scooting slightly away to give her more space. The gesture left him partially outside the tiny amount of shelter the bush was giving, but he could handle a little more rain on his side if it meant that the other apprentice was a little more comfortable. "I mean, I get it. Wet fur does kind of suck. But I like it anyway. It means new life is on the way. I dunno. I think we could use a bit of optimism these days."

"I'm Ashpaw," he introduced himself. "It's nice to meet you!"

[Squirrelbite]

She looked over at Ashpaw, examining the tom carefully, wondering if he was clan-born or not. He was too old for Squirrelpaw to be able to scent any difference, so she would have to ask if she really wanted to know. Maybe later. 

"I don't like water." Squirrelpaw stated simply, licking her shoulder as if she could clean away the damp-ness. "It's cold, and makes everything slippery and heavy." It wasn't as if Squirrelpaw was a hateful cat who pessimistically disliked most things, but water falling from the sky was a bit hard to tolerate.

Oh great, now she had to introduce herself. "Squirrelpaw." The apprentice shrugged.

[Ashfall]

"Well, alright, fair point," Ashpaw laughed, the sound warm and sincere. "I guess it does that, too. Can't really argue with that." Ashpaw decided against mentioning the fact that it also usually made cats sick- and the fact that he was fairly certain he would be one of those cats sometime soon. That was his own fault, though, and not something he needed her to worry about.

"Oh yeah! I've heard of you," Ashpaw said, then scrambled to correct himself. It probably sounded like he was referring to the meeting, the one he was trying not to think about, but that wasn't what he'd meant at all. "I mean- your ceremony was a little while ago, right? How's your training going?"

[Squirrelbite]

Squirrelpaw blinked, unsure how to go about this. Ashpaw was being much too nice to her, and she wondered if he was trying to manipulate her. The idea unsettled her greatly, and if she weren't so wet, the fur on her neck would be prickling. 

Immediately, Squirrelpaw assumed that Ashpaw was going to start accusing her of being a hateful and heartless cat for what she said in the meeting, and she almost interrupted him, only to find that, once again, he was being agreeable and friendly. "It's been alright." The young apprentice shrugged. "I mean, Beechroot's okay. Who's your mentor?" She tilted her head to the side.

[Ashfall]

Progress! Maybe Squirrelpaw still wasn't being exactly the most friendly, but her opinions on various matters had gone rather negative to indifferent. Ashpaw decided that he was going to take that as progress. "That's good! I'm glad things are going alright for you," he purred. Hopefully she wasn't getting treated too horribly for what she had said the other day. Ashpaw didn't think that anyone deserved that, especially not somebody who was still only an apprentice.

"Ehh..." he chuckled somewhat nervously when Squirrelpaw turned the question on him, averting his gaze for a moment out of embarrassment. "I sort of...don't have one. Or- I have had a few...but they've always got better things to do, so..." He smiled somewhat sheepishly. "Yeah. So there's that."

[Squirrelbite]

Squirrelpaw was tempted to roll her eyes at his enthusiasm, but she decided better. She wasn't an optimistic cat, but she wasn't mean, either, and to keep shooting Ashpaw down would be cruel. 

"Oh, that sucks." Squirrelpaw actually did feel bad for him, which was unusual for her, because for the most part Squirrelpaw was unable to emphasize with others. "Arrowstar should be able to give you a reliable mentor." Squirrelpaw mewed, a bit of contempt in her voice. She didn't hate him because he wasn't clan-born, instead, it was things like this that frustrated her.

[Ashfall]

"Yeah. I guess it kinda does," Ashpaw agreed, with a small shrug. "But hey- it also means I get to practice a lot more than everyone else, so I'll be better at everything." He puffed his chest out playfully, clearly trying to make a joke.

He almost visibly winced at the tone in her voice when she spoke of Arrowstar. "Eh. I wouldn't really blame him for that," he shrugged again, trying to play it off as casual. He just didn't want to start a fight- especially not here. In the rain. When cats were going to get sick on top of hurt. "If memory serves, he was still a deputy at the time, so he shouldn't have had to be the one to give me my ceremony in the first place. Wait." It was at that moment that a thought occurred to Ashpaw- a horrifying, terrifying thought. "Oh, CloudClan. Does that make me really old if I can remember when Arrowstar was a deputy? I'm too young to be old!"

[Squirrelbite]

Squirrelpaw bit back a snide comment about training and experience. The rain wasn't letting up, and she would rather not be stuck in a bush with a cat who wanted to claw her ears off. She reminded herself that it wasn't Ashpaw's fault for his poor mentors, but rather a terrible system of leaders. "Yeah, I'm sure you'll be a good warrior, whenever it happens." 

"Then he should've changed your mentor when he did become leader." She insisted bitterly. Squirrelpaw had been born just as Arrowstar became leader, and she had only ever heard of the previous leader, Spiderstar, in stories. "Huh, I guess you are kinda old. Arrowstar's only just become leader, though, so it isn't that bad.."

[Ashfall]

"Aw, you're too kind," Ashpaw chuckled, flattening his ears out of embarrassment at what seemed to actually be praise from Squirrelpaw. "I guess we'll find out. Y'know, eventually."

"Well- I mean, I hardly expect him to remember everything," Ashpaw protested, still keeping his tone friendly. He did think she was being a little harsh on Arrowstar. "One apprentice, especially and old one like me, really isn't too important in the grand scheme of things. Plus- there are a lot of others, and other things he's gotta take care of." The conversation was starting to reach territory that Ashpaw really didn't want to venture into. Best to redirect sooner rather than later.

"I'll bring it up again sometime soon, how about that?" he decided, hoping to end all talk of Arrowstar and the leading figures of TreeClan. He knew that Squirrelpaw had strong opinions- he didn't want to get into an arguement about them. "Otherwise I'll be the first cat to become an elder before a warrior. That'd be wild. Ashpaw the elder. Barkin' at cats about stinky bedding and creaky joints. Can you imagine?" He wrinkled his nose a bit at the thought.

[Squirrelbite]

This cat was much too positive for her, and Squirrelpaw was still waiting for the other shoe to drop. He seemed flattered by an extremely basic compliment that Squirrelpaw had only half-meant. Her dark, gold eyes were narrowed, and her tail flicked from side to side patiently. "Yeah, no problem."

"I think apprentices are important." She said with a shrug, allowing Ashpaw to avoid getting into an argument by speaking dispassionately about her views. "We are the future, after all." One day, when Arrowstar was gray and old, cats like Squirrelpaw and Ashpaw would be the ones running things.

Squirrelpaw shuddered at the imagery, her lip curling. "That would be dreadful." She could see it happening, at the rate which TreeClan was being run.

[Ashfall]

"Fair point, there," Ashpaw admitted, at her comment about the apprentices being the future. "I guess we are the future. I hadn't thought of it that way." He could agree with that much- things definitely could be better. He just didn't think that this was the right way to fix it- with all the arguing and fighting. And if the problem was how the clan was being run, why was everyone making a big deal about who was running it?

It didn't make sense to Ashpaw. None of it did. He could at least admit he agreed with Squirrelpaw on that note, though. It was all important to her. Other than that, he decided to keep quiet about what he thought. It wasn't like she needed to hear it anyway.

Ashpaw shivered, a chill going up his spine. Maybe spending so much time in the rain was finally getting to him "Brr. Alright, I know I said I like the rain, but even I'm starting to get a little tired of it."

[Squirrelbite]

Squirrelpaw nodded. She knew that not every cat had the same perspective that she did, and it was incredibly frustrating to reason with cats because of that. Like Fallenpaw, or Crystalbird. Maybe if the loyalists didn't have so many mouse-brains in their ranks, then Squirrelpaw wouldn't be siding with the rebels. 

Luckily, she was born into a generation of change. Yellowburr would make sure that, no matter who came out on top, TreeClan would be different, whether it was for the better or not. Squirrelpaw didn't voice her opinions either, though, absent-mindedly licking her shoulder.

"Yeah," Squirrelpaw agreed, allowing herself to feel the cold. "Hiding under a bush probably isn't the best long-term plan.. Got any other ideas?"