Bruncharoo

[noctemq]

Cherryhawk emerged from the warrior’s den with a yawn. With a new apprentice on her mind, The she-cat had some trouble sleeping and decided to stock up the fresh-kill pile. Newleaf brought more life, and with that came more prey and fuller bellies. She let out a content sigh before stretching her hind legs behind her. Cherryhawk continued towards the center of camp, letting the early light warm her fluffy pelt. The rocks, barely touched by the sun underneath her, chilled her pads and helped her wake up even further. She glanced at the fresh-kill pile with a small grin; the couple of plump birds she caught were sitting on the top, still fresh from last night’s hunt. Cherryhawk bent down and took a mouse from the botton of the pile and started to bring it over to a sunny corner. Before she could reach her destination, she spotted her mentor, Batstrike, and happily began to trot towards him. She paused for a moment, backtracked towards the fresh-kill pile, and picked up one of the birds she had caught. 

“Goophmofhing!” She greeted with a mouthful of prey for the both of them. Cherryhawk felt the need to show off her hunt, as if she was still his apprentice, 

[Storm]

Batstrike
MothClan | Warrior | Tom | 28 Moons | Heterosexual

The lean MothClan warrior had been up for some time now.  He had led the dawn border patrol, which was less stressful since prey was more plentiful and Eveningblaze was no longer pushing for the borders to be expanded.  It was a good thing too as the tom was busy with his new apprentice as well, whom he was still trying to figure out.  Upon his return Batstrike found himself a place in the clearing to watch the camp wake up.  He was considering what he'd do next with his day; He wanted to go check up on Shadowstorm, maybe chat with Otterspark if he saw her around, he definitely wanted to stroll the territory tonight to relax- he guessed he could hunt on the way back in.  For now though, the tom peacefully enjoyed the morning warmth as he spotted Cherryhawk prancing about.  A soft smile tugged at his face as she bounced back and forth before greeting him.  "Good morning Cherryhawk," he coed warmly with a nod to her.  His golden eyes narrowed with a playful skepticism towards the fresh-kill she brought to him, "Is this for me or are you extra hungry this morning?"  

[noctemq]

She has originally grabbed extra prey in case Batstrike had not had breakfast yet, but the idea that she was beyond famished this morning seemed amusing. Cherryhawk welcomed herself to sit next to him and gingerly placed down the prey, the older mouse in front of her and the fresher bird in front of him. The elderly and nursing already had a chance to eat, so she didn't feel shy grabbing this much prey from the fresh-kill pile.

"Yup, they're both for me," she stated with a faux matter-of-fact tone, knowing he'd be able to see her true intentions. Cherryhawk's fuzzy tail slowly swept from side to side behind her in a content fashion; today was a pleasant and sunny day, she was being kept busy, and the clan seemed somewhat at ease at the exact moment. She couldn't ask for anything more. The she-cat motioned to her slightly pinkish belly, beginning to round once more thanks to the season, by pointing her nose downwards.

"Eveningblaze starved both Rosewish and I for the last few moons and that hunger's finally caught up with me," she moaned, trying to make her expression as hollow as possible, "You can only eat tree bark for so long before your tail curls up and you become a squirrel." This was partly the truth, since Cherryhawk did tried to eat bark once, but besides that, her previous apprentice and herself actually fared surprisingly well on their own. The punishment definitely did teach her the intended lesson, though. Her grimaced expression held for a moment longer before quickly reverting back to her default state of cheery.

[Storm]

Batstrike
MothClan | Warrior | Tom | 28 Moons | Heterosexual

White tail tip twitching in welcome as she found her place next to him, a chuckle escaped the toms maw as she placed the meal at his paws and claimed it hers.  Batstrikes positioned his paws to pin down the feathered creature as he dipped his head to take a bite.  The toms head crooked to the side to watch Cherryhawk speak as he chewed.  The feline gently shook his head at her as he swallowed.  He leaned his head back dramatically to check her fluffy tail, he sucked in a surprised breath with his yellow eyes wide in shock.  "Well, I hate to be the one to break it to you," his voice soft but growing playful,"but I fear the change has already started- I mean just look at your tail!  You let me know when you stop meowing and start chirping and I'll chase you around the trees a couple times."  The tom elbowed her with a wink and a flashy grin.  It was good to see his former apprentice so happy, his soul felt warm and pleased here in their clan.  

"How is Rosewish doing? I haven't spoken to her much."  Batstrike was curious, but a bit of jealousy lined his question.  He wondered if Cherryhawk felt just as attached to her former apprentice as he did to her.  It wasn't that he minded the feline, but she had unintentionally caused the brief period of dissent and awkwardness between the two.  Rosewish was also much older than her mentor and an experienced outsider, he was sure she shared and taught Cherryhawk things he never could have while she was being trained in the ways of the clan.  These were all doubts he had beat himself up with for and would continue to do so for some time even after the forgiveness and their bond rebuilt, all for blocking the camp entrance and behaving so harshly.  He shrugged his worries away in the moment though, not to damper the fulfillment he felt now or Cherryhawks cheerful mood.  

"-And how's your current apprentice?  I know I've told you before but I couldn't be prouder of you.  To be given another apprentice already, obviously I've trained you well," he snickered and jokingly puffed out his white chest to fake-boast, "but really, it speaks volumes that you're a fine and trustworthy MothClan warrior."

[noctemq]

Cherryhawk just rolled her eyes at the tom before crouching down to take a bite out of her mouse. She loved being able to grab something from the fresh-kill pile without worrying that other cats haven’t eaten yet, and on top of that, everyone was able to eat around twice to three times a day. Maybe she’d get to try some new interesting fresh-kill this Newleaf... like a snake. They didn’t sound particularly tasty, but she wouldn’t know that for sure unless she tried one. Squirrels, on the other hand, was something she had too frequently, and maybe Batstrike was onto something.

”Rosewish? She’s adjusted well! I think she’s out on a patrol. She kind of prefers to do her own thing with her own crowd, and that’s okay,” Cherryhawk shrugged weakly. She wished that she was closer to her first apprentice, but there was a lot of factors that just prevented a friendship from blossoming. It was certainly an interesting first apprenticeship, and one that would be remembered; not every cat got to say that they were able to mentor a cat much older than them.

Cherryhawk’s ears flicked to the side at the mention of her current apprentice. She was having doubts about being a good mentor, especially since Thump-paw was behaving the same way. He preferred to do his own thing and followed basic orders, but Cherryhawk didn’t feel so certain that she was doing her best. Batstrike’s words were reassuring and kept that nagging feeling in her chest from bursting out. She offered a smile to his kind comments becoming updating him on the situation. ”How did you even manage to motivate me when I was an apprentice?” She started lightheartedly, though it was easy to see her true emotions. ”Thump-paw is well behaved, but that’s about it. He keeps to himself a lot more than I’m used to and I still need to figure out how to get through to him,” Cherryhawk spoke a bit more quietly that she usually did, uncertainty lacing her words. The young warrior still was confident that she’d end up succeeding, it was just the idea of messing up another cat’s apprenticeship that bothered her. Cats at that age were so impressionable and she didn’t want to get anything wrong. She trusted that Batstrike’s experience would offer her helpful advice, especially since they were both very different cats. A new perspective would be refreshing.

((I was unable to get in touch with Rosewish during her training and Thump-paw as well as of right now... Might as well use it for plot, I suppose))

[Storm]

Batstrike
MothClan | Warrior | Tom | 28 Moons | Heterosexual

Batstrike listened and nodded along carefully as she spoke, a soft smile on his maw to comfort her dejected shrug.  At least she understood it was also alright for a warrior to be entirely their own cat after their apprenticeship as well.  Not all mentor-apprentice relationships were equal, some growing more attached than others; He had experienced that with his last apprentice and so far his current one as well.  Or maybe the two just didn't compare to the first fiery ball of passion he trained.  His head tilted as she questioned him, a charming smile pulling at his lips, "I had a lot of help," he puffed cheerfully tossing his head in the direction of the elders den.  "I relied on Shadowstorm a lot... I was a new warrior when I trained you.  They don't really teach you to teach,  I'm sure ya' know."  The tom sucked in a breath as he thought, "It's easy to motivate high-spirits, its keeping it contained that's hard.  I was always so nervous you'd run off on me or cause trouble I'd have to clean up, I was never worried about you backing down from a training challenge though.  It was wonderful, it even motivated me." 

His dark whiskers twitched considering Thump-paw, he knew little of the apprentice other than seeing him about or with Cherryhawk.  He was a quiet one no?  The feline shifted his weight beneath the warm sun soaking into his dark pelt, ear twitching as he thought.  "Hmm, this isn't to say that being you is wrong, but maybe you're a bit too loud and bubbly for a cat like him, have you tried spending some quite time with him?  Do you two feel comfortable around each other?  He may be more willing to open up then," 

[noctemq]

"Oh yeah, I definitely know what you're talking about," Cherryhawk breathed out with a smile, shaking her head lightly. Maybe it was good that she had an older cat as her first apprentice because it made the job much easier on herself. For the most part, it was a good trial run that pointed out where her strengths and weaknesses as a mentor were. When she first became a warrior, Cherryhawk was just excited about the idea of being able to run around and do whatever she wanted (with boundaries, of course). She honestly wasn't ready for an apprentice right out of the gates, and Batstrike probably felt the same way with her. "I'm kinda surprised you didn't have to clean up more than you did..." Cherryhawk hesitated for a moment, but then realized he'd probably find what she had to say more amusing than exasperating."...Not to puff out my chest or anything, but I did get really good at picking burrs out of my pelt and pushing around rocks around before you'd find out that anything happened." The she-cat grinned. She had a feeling that he probably knew already and was just saving her from some embarrassment; Cherryhawk wasn't the best at keeping secrets and it was always painfully obvious when she was trying to hide some sort of mess from him. Her banter was off topic and she hushed up to listened to his advice.

Her ears pointed towards Batstrike, white tufts following a second later. Batstrike did make a valid point that she should've considered earlier; her rowdy nature brought Thump-paw on exciting outings like hunting and patrolling, but maybe it was only exciting for her and a little too much stimulation for him. Her dark brown eyes looked off to the side, past her previous mentor, in thought. "Maybe I have been too loud. I did accidentally wake up the whole apprentice's den during our first day of training." She nodded in understanding, realizing that being a bit more controlled would probably save her relationship with Thump-paw. Recalling that moment and now realizing how unabashed she was brought an awkward smile onto her face. Oops.

[Storm]

Batstrike
MothClan | Warrior | Tom | 28 Moons | Heterosexual

Batstrike threw his head back with a chuckle at her admission.  The tom pawed at her feet teasingly, "Oh yeah, really?  I'm sure there are a few adventures my apprentice had behind my back."  Many of her schemes had caught his ears though, but the tom found it better not to penalize the she-cat if she could handle cleaning up after herself on her own.  He didn't think punishment was much of a motivator for little Cherrypaw, but he also didn't have the heart to punish her much either.  Maybe she'd gotten lucky she'd pried her way into his heart in those situations.  The tom just offered a knowing shake of his head with a grin. 

A puff of air escaped him with a short chuckle.  "The whole den huh? That's awesome, it's good to mess with the apprentices every once in a while.  Gotta keep em' in check."  His head bobbed side-to-side, "That might've been a good way to embarrass Thump-paw though too."  He only offered a shrug, "You still have some time to make a difference and even if not, no worries.  You've always got me," he winked playfully before dipping to take another chunk from his meal.