[ti]Open[/ti]Stand By Me

[mewmehh]

The cry of a noisy magpie rang through the air as a giggling form barreled into a thin blanket of leaves, kicking up twigs and sod. Tortoiseshell toes spread and extended their claws to sink into the cool, soft ground. "Oops!" lilted a cheery giggle in succession with the crashing and crinkling of leaf-litter.

"'Oops?' You've got to be kidding me, Pollenpaw. Seriously?" hissed a cranky voice as a minky, long-haired queen snapped sideways at the white-headed apprentice. "You're not supposed to be scaring all the prey off!" Bubblefly's eyes burned like blue fire as she stared her niece down.

"Oh, I'm so sorry," Pollenpaw challenged back with a jeering, slightly mockingly sweet voice. It had a sing-songy quality and was absolutely cloying. The tortie hopped swiftly forward to evade a quick jab from the sleek warrior before Bubblesong huffed and hurried after the rest of the patrol.

Giving a snort, Pollenpaw swung her silky head and furrowed her brow. How come no one's willing to have fun? Cats my age are nearly warriors now; we've learned everything and now I just want to relax a little! With sapphire eyes twinkling with anger, the young she-cat sped up her steps to match paces with her peers joining for hunting patrol. Bumping softly into the nearest apprentice, she huffed in a low voice, "How come we can't have a little break? We've been busting our tails to get this far in training. A little slack would be nice."

[Primarily focused around the apprentices' antics for this story, though some warriors can join the hunt.]

[Fireflake]

Twigpaw, with her tired eyes and fur that was already tangled, frowned deeply at her fellow apprentice's chatter. "A little break? A little slack! How loutish. That only gives leeway to- to-" She gestured back to the disrupted leaves. "Distractions!"
Pepperpaw giggled as Twigpaw strutted on ahead in a stiff walk that was, at least, an improvement on the robotic way she had moved in her first moons of apprenticeship. "You're doing very well, Twigpaw!" she called softly, and returned her attention to her sister after an appreciative tail flick from her fluffy friend.

Pepperpaw hadn't heard exactly what her sister had said to Twigpaw, the former having the sense to keep her volume low, but from the latter's reaction she had a pretty good idea what it was. Flicking her eyes around to make sure Leopardfang wasn't hovering over her shoulder, she leaned in closer to Pollenpaw and commented sympathetically, "You must be exhausted, now that you're doing advanced training. I'm still practicing basic things and sometimes I still go back to the nursery for a good game to wind down."

[mewmehh]

Pollenpaw flattened her ears briefly as if she were worried Twigpaw were going to bite them off. She supposed the she-cat was right, but nevertheless she was still tired. And bored. Shifting a few steps sideways with a quirky grin, she watched as the stoic apprentice walk off. It wasn't until she felt her sister's pelt on hers that she release a trapped breath and sighed.

Pollenpaw looked to the ginger she-cat and softly dipped her head in appreciation. "Thanks, Sis. Sorry. I guess I had the unpopular opinion after all." Her pale brow furrowed into a soft wrinkle and looked forward. "Yeah, but I don't want to play in the Nursery. It's too cramped and familiar." She snapped her head up quickly, her silken fur flouncing, and flashed a determine look. "I want to go on an adventure!"

[Fireflake]

Pepperpaw's ears twitched at the word adventure, her eyes filling with the sparkle of mischief as she saw the familiar look in her sister. She'd been well tamed enough to withhold from trouble-making as a kit, save for the occasional tantrum and the leg incident, but this was different. The idea seemed to make her littermate light up. Clearly she was looking for something more than a patrol. "Well, I wouldn’t say that opinion is unpopular, Pollenpaw...."

Adventure brought to mind the triumphant fights and spectacular quests that Twistedbranch was always telling her stories about. The time he fought a badger, and the time he ended the tradition of chewing on ivy to earn your warrior name, and the time he scared a river into running the other way. Those stories always had happy endings, so why should this one be any different? A little wiggle of excitement worked itself into her step. "An adventure sounds like a grand plan, actually. I bet you've got ideas for some, haven't you?"

[mewmehh]

Berry-blue eyes flashed with a knowing look as Pepperpaw seemed to digest Pollenpaw's true intentions and respond in kind. It had the tortoiseshell bouncing on the pads of her feet. "Oh, you know I do!!" she smirked with a cheeky wink and flick of her tail. Leaning over to whisper softly into Pepperpaw's ear, she cooed, "Where do the most gaudy and haughty cats live? I think we should go scamper through Mothclan's territory. I mean, have you ever seen a fire? I want to see what it left behind. And who knows!? Maybe we can even snag one of the wings of those pretty green moths I hear they have. Bring it back as a trophy?" There was a smooth, lilting quality to her voice as she painted the picture of their great adventure.

Sure, their mother and father would probably roll around in their graves- if they were dead, of course- at the thought. Wingedheart and Greengale were the soft sweethearts of Ivyclan and all knew how lawful and mild they tended to be. Pollenpaw loved her parents, but didn't want to stand in their rose-tinted shadows. She wanted to make a name all her own for herself; a seasoned warrior and not some tender-toed queen. Otherwise, she'd bleat longingly over the Medicine Cat's position as her mother seemed to do more and more as the days passed. Pollenpaw would pass.

Glancing back to where Bubblefly was chatting idly with some of the other warriors ahead, Pollenpaw proceeded with her plot. "We'll head out after moonhigh and shoot for the Thunder Trails. I figured that'd be the best place to find our way to and from; it's smelly, after all. I've heard there's nothing like it. We couldn't possibly miss it!" She softly gasped with a giggle as she hastily lowered her volume. "You in?"

(Wanna rope up some Ivyclan apprentices into all the trouble going on?)

[Fireflake]

"Isn't that against the rules?" Pepperpaw whispered back, unable to keep a smirk from hanging off her lips. It was the same look she wore when warning friends that she really didn't have time to play one more game of mossball, while proceeding to do just that. Her words seemed to say no, but her face said a very loud yes. Pollenpaw was ever so convincing. With Pepperpaw's tendency toward encouragement, which on this occasion meant enabling, and her weak spot for family, how could she possibly shut down her sister's great adventure?

Of course, her intentions weren't completely pure. Curiosity and cats apparently had a long history, and what Pollenpaw suggested was tempting. Sometimes Pepperpaw got distracted by a clump of moss while hunting, or refused to bite into a mouse and insisted on snapping the rodent's neck instead. She assured her mentor that she was learning to hunt just fine despite these quirks, but bringing back a moth's wing would surely prove that. Dropping the pretense, the ginger she-cat gave a small nod with sparkling eyes. "Moonhigh, Thunder Trails, I'm in."