Sulking -Open-

[Swanfrost]

Swanfrost let her paw dip into the pond, the chilly water distracting her from her thoughts momentarily. She lay perfectly still, though she let her paw dangle limply in the fresh water source.

Swanfrost had never hated being left alone to her thoughts like she did now. She had lost all her friends. It was her fault, too. It was her fault that Thunderblaze and her had drifted. It was her fault that Willowspirit and Brightwing weren't her friends too. It was her fault that she was so awful had forming and then maintaining relationships.

She supposed it would just be easier if she didn't care, though unlike some, Swanfrost wasn't able to switch off her emotions. They stayed with her, through the good and bad times. She wished they wouldn't.

[Hickorypaw]

Hickorypaw had begun exploring more of the territory alone, though it still made her slightly nervous. Being an untrained apprentice alone in the vast territory didn't sound logical and she didnt think her father would like her doing it's she didn't typically do things she thought Oceanstar would dissaprove of. But Hickorypaw was inquisitive by nature and had quickly grown bored.

Her nest had been neatly cleaned and she'd patched a hole in the den with Sparkpaw's help. Everything had been done so Hickorypaw had left to find her own adventure. The tabby discovered the blossom pond easily enough, though hadn't expected anyone else to be there. Hickorypaw approached the warrior, waving her tail in a friendly greeting. "Good morning!"

[Swanfrost]

Swanfrost didn't flinch as someone called out to her, though her head slowly moved to the side to meet their eyes. "What do you want?" She hissed threateningly, though the rest of her body seemed completely relaxed.

She should have expected that some dumb apprentice would find her, their was a new batch of them running around like headless chickens.

[Hickorypaw]

Hickorypaw paused at the hostile tone, one paw still raised. Her head tipped inquisitively. "Why the tone?" She asked, completely curious. It didn't seem too wise to approach the warrior who was evidently in a mood, so she decided to sit where she stood, a respectful distant away. "I wanted a drink," the apprentice finally offered with a nod to the pond Swanfrost seemed to be guarding. No point offending her further by going for it though.

Hickorypaw neatly wrapped her tail around her paws, regarding the white warrior with intelligent eyes. What, she wondered, had warranted the less-than-warm welcome. "Are you alright?"

[Swanfrost]

"Why the curiosity?" She retorted with an annoyed hff. As an apprentice she had never butted into other cats businesses, so why were apprentices doing it now? They must be getting stupider. When the feline mentioned she wanted a drink Swanfrost merely rolled her eyes. "Get a drink somewhere else." She could die of dehydration for all she cared.

"What's it to you?" Her attention never left the pond, trying hard to show her disingerest. Why did she care anyway? They didn't even know each other. Perhaps she was friends with Firewasp, sent here to torrid her. Or maybe Brightwing had sent her, as a check up. She doubted that.

[Hickorypaw]

Hickorypaw winced at the familiar question. Why did all the warriors ask her that? Perhaps she was being too nosy in trying to care for everyone, but she'd never thought that would be a bad thing. She wasn't sure how to answer the question. When Swanfrost denied her water Hickorypaw decided it wasn't worth going for a drink anyway. She ignored her somewhat parched mouth and lay down instead, tucking her paws into her chest. If it made the warrior uncomfortable she wouldn't push it yet.

"You're my clanmate," she stated with obvious confusion. "Why wouldn't I care if I thought something was bothering you?" Her head tipped, blue eyes intense. The warrior still wasn't meeting her gaze which was either rude or worrying. "My name is Hickorypaw, by the way."

[Swanfrost]

"I wouldn't care if something was bothering you." She pointed out, her paw slowly starting to sway again in the water. Her gaze focused on her reflection, gentling sending ripples through the image. She never realized how ugly she was until now. Inside and out.

Hickorypaw. Where did she know that name from? Was she Oceanstars kit? She shrugged to herself. It didn't matter who's kit she was. "I don't really care." She answered honestly, though her voice was less hostile, more... tired.

[Hickorypaw]

Swanfrost's reply hurt somewhat but she blinked away the sadness in her eyes. "That's your disposition, not mine. It's ok, if that's the way you feel." Hickorypaw had been born and raised to care about the other individuals around her. It was a clan leader's job, Oceanstar had told her, so she tried to do it whenever possible. If others didn't feel the same way she could hardly fault them.

She turned her head slowly, watching the movements of the warrior's paw in the water. "That's ok too," she finally allowed with a smile. "I won't ask if you're alright anymore, if you'd prefer. Would you like to talk about something different?" Something was definitely off about Swanfrost but she didn't want to push the issue just yet, lest she just send the warrior farther away from her in the end.

[Swanfrost]

Swanfrost didn't try to hide her distaste for the know-it-all apprentice, her claws tracing the waters surface. Though, at the moment she found it nearly impossible to feel angry. Annoyed, yes. Mostly just drained of all other emotion.

Swanfrost had half a mind to send her away with a hiss, though she did need a distraction... "Fine." She decided, forcing herself to look towards Hickorypaw. "I guess you need to know my name for that." She blinked, clearing her throat and trying hard to push away any negative emotions. "Swanfrost." She flicked her tail towards herself. She wasn't exactly sure how to start a conversation, so she hoped that the apprentice had better social skills than herself.

[Hickorypaw]

Hickorypaw watched the emotions shift over Swanfrost's face, not commenting on her clear disdain. She was slightly hurt by it but decided to power on anyway. She believed her actions and words to be right; there was nothing else to do but persevere. Even so she remained silent and didn't push the warrior further, not wanting to further rattle her ire.

"Swanfrost?" The name was familiar and Hickorypaw brightened slightly. She was making progress. "I've heard of you! You're one of my father's friends, right?" In the very least she had heard Oceanstar speak of Swanfrost on occasion and related that to friendship. "We should be friends too then."

[Swanfrost]

Swanfrost slowly flicked her eyes towards Hickorypaw, her expression unreadable for a moment. Where had she gotten the idea that her and Oceanstar were friends? She only talked to him once, and even then she had made it clear she had no intentions of wanting to be around him. She had only wanted his opinion on her name.

"Oceanstar and I aren't friends." She grumbled. Swanfrost didn't have friends anymore. And she didn't want to make any new ones either. "That's not how friendships work, mousebrain. You're not a kit anymore, so stop acting like one." You couldn't exactly just magically make friends that easy, that's not how the real world worked. Even as a kit that wasn't how it worked.

[Hickorypaw]

Hickorypaw felt slightly surprised at Swanfrost's words. "Oh, my bad." She'd assumed her father was friends with everyone. He was the leader, wasn't that his job? Since she'd heard him speak of Swanfrost before she'd automatically made assumptions. Swanfrost's comment about being childishs eemed fitting after that but Hickorypaw doubted the context was exactly what she was thinking.

Her nose wrinkled somewhat in defiance. "Then how do friendships work?" She challenged, not harshly but with ample curiosity. "Tell me so I can be your friend then." If she had to do some kind of magic trick to earn Swanfrost's friendship then so be it. Nothing worth having was easy. She was only six moons old, she'd learned nothing of hardship so far and did not understand rejection.

[Swanfrost]

Swanfrost almost let out a hiss. "Why are you asking me? I'm not exactly the best at forming relationships, if you haven't noticed." She snapped, thin pelt of fur beginning to bristle. She inhaled sharply through her nose, forcing herself to calm down. She didn't want the little brat running back to her precious daddy and tattling on her.

She huffed, deciding she didn't want to leave the feline in the dark about it. If someone had taught her..."Well, for starters, you actually have to pick and choose. Not every cat is good for a friend, y'know?" She was referring to herself. "And you need to get to know them first. Like, a lot, actually. You can't just meet them once and consider them a friend, that's just stupid." Maybe she had rushed into her friendships with Brightwing and Willowspirit. "And, the most inportant one of all." She paused for dramatics. "You have to talk about yourself too." Maybe that's where Swanfrost went wrong. They knew nothing about her.

[Hickorypaw]

Hickorypaw shrugged, unbothered by Swanfrost's ire, though she was slightly confused by it. "Because you're the one trying to disillusion me, remember?" The warrior noted she wasn't too good at forming her own friendships and Hickorypaw hummed thoughtfully. Swanfrost seemed a little defensive ut she couldn't imagine that would be a reason for others not to want to be friends with her. "Why not? You seem strong-willed to me. That seems like a quality I'd want in a friend."

As if to prove Hickorpaw's point, Swanfrost began giving her drtailed instructions which she listened to intently. Most of it made perfect sense. She just wasn't patient enough to not call someone her friend straight away. "So say if we met aain tomorrow we'd be friends then? If I told you about myself I mean, and you told me about you." She purred cheerfully at the concept. That seemed close enough to meaning she'd have a friend soon. "How do I know if someone is a good friend?" Hickorypaw felt like she wanted to be friends with everyone but it could have been out of desperation since she still had no friends herself.

[Swanfrost]

Swanfrost scowled, mimicking her to herself silently. Why was she even still taking to the scrap of fur? She supposed she really didn't have anything else better to do. At the mention of her being strong willed, Swanfrost scoffed. "I'm not exactly the kind of cat you should hang around. Wouldn't want your precious little innocence to be corrupted, now would we?"

Swanfrost let her ears droop. Hickorypaw obviously didn't understand what she was trying to say. "No. You just- ugh." She didn't know how to get her to understand that Swanfrost wasn't the right cat to be friends with. "Go find someone your age to be friends with." She flicked her tail.

Jeez, she certainly asked a lot of questions. Swanfrost really wasn't sure if she should be trying to give the future warrior advice, she really didn't know much about the topic either. "Well.. I guess you have to connect with them."