[ti]Open[/ti]these creepies be crawlin' [o]

[foggy]

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Smokeshade had just come back from a lone hunting patrol, padding briskly back into camp with two mice in his jaw. He'd made the mistake of wandering too far from camp when hunting alone and realised too late that he'd have to carry two mice in his mouth the whole way back. It had started to ache barely three fox lengths back to the camp, so Smokeshade had picked up the pace, nearly running on his way back. He breathed a sigh of relief when he finally dropped them onto the pile, taking a moment to just stand there and get the feeling back into his aching jaw, moving it around. Unfortunately, Smokeshade was too preoccupied with his sore mouth that he hadn't realised that he'd picked up more than burrs on his way back. Maybe it was a good thing that he hadn't, there'd be no telling what he'd have done if he was still in the forest when he saw this.

Somewhere along the way, with his long pelt brushing against numerous bushes or low-hanging branches, a big-ass large spider had managed to crawl onto his pelt. It had hung on diligently the whole way back to camp, and now leisurely crawled around on Smokeshade's back, heading on to his shoulders. It was clear that this spider was in no rush, rather enjoying the fact that it'd had hitched a ride to pastures new. It was a good thing that the spider was having a god time, because the clan was about to find out that the calm, composed warrior had a big fear of spiders. Especially large ones, especially alive ones, and especially those that were large and alive. All it would take is for someone to point this out to him and then the fun would begin.

[Wind Flight]

(OOC: This is gonna be awesome XD)

Turtlepaw, one of the newest apprentices of MistClan, was happily padding across camp. She herself had been hunting that day, so she thought it right to take some fresh-kill. She took her time getting there, and reached it as Smokeshade was standing there. She eyed the pile and picked a bird, then put it down in front of her. She looked at the warrior. "Whatcha doing?" she asked curiously, looking over the cat's pelt to see if anything was weird or wrong. But she saw something else. "Gah!" she meowed as she spotted the spider. The little black and orange apprentice jumped high and backwards in surprise, and landed on the bird, which ended up crushed but still edible. "Mouse dung!" she hissed, picking it up and shaking it a bit as if to unsquish it.

[foggy]

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He remembered the young she-cat's pelt from being one of the new apprentices appointed at the latest ceremony. She's been apprenticed to Lilysting, she was a good warrior, that was clear by how Turtlepaw was progressing in hunting, but Smokeshade couldn't understand how she could visit the nursery so much. He turned his head slightly, allowing his olive eyes to wander the younger cat's form, before opening his mouth to reply to her heart greeting. however, he wasn't able to utter a single word before the tortoiseshell jumped backwards a remarkable length. He'd be rather impressed if he wasn't so confused. At first he just assumed it was Turtlepaw being weird, the apprentices these days were getting stranger ever generation so it wasn't exactly an inconsiderable conclusion but it made sense to check. "What?" He took a step forward towards her, not even taking into account that something may be on him. "Are you okay? What wrong?" The warrior tilted his head, wondering if calling Silverfang might be a good idea. By now, the spider had reached his shoulders and was deciding where to go next.

_{// oh, he's going to go crazy when he realises}

[Wind Flight]

Turtlepaw dropped the bird when she heard Smokeshade ask what was wrong. She looked up. "Uh..." she mumbled, scanning his pelt to see if it was still there. And it was. "Uh... I think... Is that a spider?" The apprentice's gaze flicked around to see if there were more. She didn't see any, but she took a step back. She wasn't *that* terrified of spiders, but she'd do anything to keep them out of her fur.

(In real life I found a spider on my seat in the car today... I never got to kill it, so it's probably still there. My brother freaked out. XD)

[foggy]

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That was the second time that she had examined his pelt so intently, he shifted beginning to feel the stirrings of self-consciousness make themselves known. He knew his pelt was often dirty, much to his frustration, but it was never so dirty that other cats took notice, and never had it provoked such a reaction like Turtlepaw's. The younger she-cat's mumbling and obvious reluctance to divulge the information made him seriously concerned. He was beginning to feel like this was more than just dirt, but nothing could prepare him for the no-no word that slipped out of Turtlepaw's mouth. "... A spider?" His voice came out as a strained, hoarse whisper. Surely not. "You're joking." A prank. That's all it was, the new apprentices still held the playful values of kit-hood and it certainly wasn't unheard of for an apprentice to prank a warrior.

Still, he couldn't just assume that it was a prank. Out of all the apprentices, he'd probably had the least interaction with Turtlepaw and her brother as they'd only just been apprenticed. It was a bit strange for the younger cat to suddenly target him like this, he didn't think she'd hurt him like that. Not without provocation, at the very least. Bracing himself, he dared to glance behind him, hoping to all of Starclan's residents that it was just Turtlepaw being uncharacteristically malicious. Unfortunately, due to how the spider had positioned itself right on his shoulders, Smokeshade could only see a few of the many legs. His head snapped back to face Turtlepaw, eyes suddenly glazing over. "Get it off." His voice still strained, still hoarse. Smokeshade was doing everything he could to keep himself from releasing a guttural growl and taking off towards the river and drowning the spider. A bit extreme but at least it was gone forever that way. You couldn't take chances with such devious critters like spiders, they existed to terrorise, in Smokeshade's opinion, anyway. "For the love of Starclan remove this thing from me." How long had it even been there?! Smokeshade was willing to anything to not have the knowledge that he had ever been touched by this arachnid. They said ignorance was bliss.

^{// that's the worst! had you been there long before you noticed? i'm okay with spiders, as long as they're not really big or there's more than one.}

[Cosima]

DAISYPAW - -

The young tom was lounging in the clearing when he heard a bit of commotion from a few tail-lengths over. "Mouse-dung!" Turtlepaw shouted, surprised by something. "Please don't use those harsh words," He mewed, eyebrows furrowed with sympathy. He turned his attention to the two cats, Turtlepaw and Smokeshade. To Daisypaw's surprise, there was something caught on his pelt. He had to squint to distinguish what it really was, and when he figured it out--

"Uh... I think... Is that a spider?" Turtlepaw pointed out.

"It sure is," Daisypaw raised his paw to remove the eight-legged friend from Smokeshade without hurting it. At the same time, he was somewhat afraid of it. Was it angry? Could it be poisonous? Or was the term venomous? Either way, his attempt to bat the spider off of the tom's shoulder wasn't the most valiant. He avoided letting the spider near his paw-pads and brushed it with the top flat of his paw instead, hoping for the best.

((OOC: hope ya'll don't mind if I hop in! ^^ oh gosh Daisyboii will cry if this poor baby spider dies))

[foggy]

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The soft words were a warm, soothing wash compared to the icy swirls of panic he'd felt just a few moments ago. Yet, he couldn't bring himself to move just yet so it wasn't until the snowy-pelted apprentice padded closer to them that he realized who it was. Daisypaw was an older apprentice, near enough a warrior, but if the tom spoke honestly, he felt that 'warrior' wasn't exactly a fitting term for him. He was a poor fighter, though he certainly made up for it by he's hunting prowess. He was also Cherryheart's apprentice, and even if Smokeshade had his mixed feelings about the fire-pelted she-cat, she was a decent mentor. All in all, Daisypaw was a bit odd for his peculiar adoration for flowers but a good cat.

That was the reason why Smokeshade tried not to flinch when the younger tom approached him, stopping rather close, knowing that he only wanted to help and, knowing what he knew of Daisypaw, would do it with the least amount of casualties. However, the warrior was petrified of the other cats somehow disturbing the spider, thus causing it to run all over him in its attempts to run from the perceived danger. He held strong, though, closing his eyes but that only made it worse because now he had no idea what was happening, so he opened them again. Smokeshade was a mess. "Be careful," He didn't know why he was whispering, it just felt right. His mind was not going to give him a proper answer, as he tilted his head slightly to watch a pure white paw, a brilliant contrast to his darker fur, gently try to brush the spider off.

It was a good thing that Daisypaw hadn't spoken his concerns out loud: that would set Smokeshade off in a torrent of fear. Spiders were bad enough, but poisonous ones? Greedy, they just had to terrify and kill you. Pick one and stick to it. Luckily, this spider wasn't a threatening species, just an ordinary fly-eating spider, which was a good thing. Although, Daisypaw's soft as a feather touch wasn't enough to completely sweep it off the older tom's fur, it did send it scurrying back down his back and, thankfully, away from his face. There's a silver lining to every cloud, he supposed, or he would've, if he'd had his wits at the moment. "Ergh, it's moving!" He took a deep breath to recollect himself. Why do bad things happen to good cats? Why do spidery things always happen to him? "Okay, if I swing my... backside around, do you think it will lose it's grip and fall off?" All this over a spider, he could easily just roll around on the ground but that would result in crushed spider all over him, and he wasn't licking that off himself.

_{// more the merrier! aw, poor daisy, i just read his app and he's too precious for this world.}

[gingersnapsdacat]

Lilycloud had been curled up just outside the warriors den, resting after a hunt. Beneath her chin, her small, cream-colored paws were crossed, creating a tiny, yet comfortable, cushion.  Although she had begun to drift into the hazy twilight of a nap, the distressed mewls of her former mentor caused her to raise her head up, highly alert. 
She pulled herself to her paws, and padded over to the fluffy tom, where she saw what had made him so upset. Although the apprentices had made a valiant attempt to remove the offending creature, the spider was still sitting at the base of the puffed tail.
"Well, if you move around, it might just try to cling on. Perhaps we should just chase it away."
She gently nudged the top of Smokeshade's flank, right above where the spider sat, hoping that the eight-legged beast would realize that it had better things to do than terrify the warrior. To her luck, it seemed to have gotten the point, and scuttled closer to the tip of his tail, where Lilycloud was able to flick it off the rest of the way. Now it sat on the ground, undoubtably scared out of its wits. The brown she-cat expected that the apprentices may want to look at it, so she did no more for the time being. 
Turning her attention back to the tom, Lilycloud gave him a comforting lick on the ear. "There," she purred, "its gone."


OOC Lilycloud to the rescue!!!! I hope its okay that she decided to come help her scared boi mentor. 

[foggy]

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Lilycloud's voice was one that he'd recognize anywhere, he heard it every day. It was nice that so many were willing to help him, but seeing them act like a spider was no big deal was making him realise how irrational his fear was. Smokeshade had hated them ever since he'd say one in the nursery as a kitten, it was nearly as big as he was, and it had just stuck as he'd got older. It was something that he needed help with, but he wasn't about the visit Silverfang over a phobia. She was a medicine cat not a therapist, and she was probably busy considering the rising threat of rouges and kits.

Cling on? Did spiders have claws? He'd never been close enough to one to look, in fact, he was willing to do a lot to make sure that never happened. "I do not want it to cling on," he agreed, barely nodding. He was still worried that any body movement may disturb the spider, but his terror was slowly starting to recede now that someone he knew and trusted was nearby. Not that he didn't know or trust the two apprentices that were present, but with Lilycloud, it was... different somehow. He felt the gentle nudges, hoping that whatever plan Lilycloud had in mind would pan out. The tom tensed slightly when he felt the arachnid move again, but very soon after the touch of a firm flick had launched the spider off him and it fell the ground without a sound.

Just like that, it was over. As soon as the spider was no longer touching him, he took a couple of steps back, trying to create distance between him and the dastardly creature. Then a brown pelt was suddenly close to him, causing some strange fluttery feelings in his heart. He ignored them, he'd just gone through a scary time so no wonder he was feeling a bit out of sorts. Still, he accepted the comfort she offered, the large warrior even turned his face to gently lean on her, as she was smaller. "I don't want to see it," The spider itself was still laying on the ground, probably a little dazed itself.