ʀ ᴀ ᴠ ᴇ ɴ ʜ ᴇ ᴀ ʀ ᴛ
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(rank). deputy (clan). lakeclan (location). camp (mood). motivated (tags). Lakestar
“I can’t see! I-I can’t see!”
Shrieks filled Ravenheart’s ears and the darkness surrounded her. The permeating, ever-lasting darkness. It stretched on forever and forever. Starclan, it was endless! The light and colors of the beautiful world were gone, replaced by haunting shadows, looming out at every corner.
“It’s so dark, I’m scared!” she continued to scream. “Help me!”
Ravenheart awoke with a jolt, her foggy orange eyes opening immediately, although they were of no use. Her breathing was ragged and short, and she let her other senses flood through her. “It was only a nightmare,” she shakily reminded herself. It was her most common one, and it was always the same. The day she lost her sight was the worst day of her life. It snatched everything that she had left from her. While she had adjusted, worked harder and eventually became Lakeclan deputy, nothing had been the same. Oh, what she would give to have her sight back, to see the sun’s rays creep into the warrior’s den every morning. With a sigh, she heaved herself to her paws and shook the moss off her black pelt. “It’s been 20 moons, you should be used to this by now,” the blind molly scolded herself.
From the sounds of it, the rest of the clan was alive and well. Ravenheart took her first few cautious steps into the clearing. Her sightless eyes stared forward, but her nose and whiskers twitched, and her ears swiveled back and forth. The air was cold and brisk, making her fur stand on edge. It was the middle of leafbare, but the clan was thriving despite the difficulties. Ravenheart sniffed the air, and could sell fresh kill on the pile. Good, she thought to herself. However, there were still many duties to attend to. As deputy, it was he responsibility to organize the patrols for the day. There were already a few cats she had in mind. Her apprentice, Dewpaw, was one of them. Along with Dewpapw, she wanted the quiet brothers Pepperstep and Sweetthorn. Finally, she thought Silverpaw would complete the patrol.
Hunting, she wanted the chocolate tom, Sparrowface and his apprentice, Fogpaw. Iceflight and her large apprentice, Howlingpaw, would also join them. And with that, that gave almost every member of the clan something to do. Ravenheart left out the leader, Lakestar. She was free to do whatever she wished and join whatever patrols she wanted to. Ravenheart felt uncomfortable ordering their leader around, and would never dream of doing so.
Ravenheart kept up her cautious creep, lest she stumble on anything or anyone. That would be embarrassing, and she’d had her fair share of wipeouts. Finally, the blind she-cat smelled the familiar scent of their fearless leader. She sat on the right side of Lakestar and let out a gentle mew of greeting.
“Good morning Lakestar, I hope you slept well,” she began politely with a respectful dip of her head. Her eyes didn’t gaze at Lakestar, but they rested on the apprentices in the distance. “I’ve arranged the patrols for this morning and just wanted to run them by you for approval. Me, Dewpaw, Silverpaw Pepperstep and Sweetthorn will patrol the northern and eastern border. The rest of the warriors and apprentices, Howlingpaw, Iceflight, Sparrowface, and Fogpaw will add to the fresh kill pile,” she finished confidently. Her tail twitched as a particularly cold burst of wind showered her face. Her fur fluffed in response, but she continued with her briefing. “You, of course, can join whatever patrols you please or do whatever you wish. Do these sound alright to you?” Ravenheart asked. She held Lakestar’s opinion above anyone else’s. After all, she was their leader.
As she waited for a response, Ravenheart swiveled her black ears towards the apprentices and listened to their conversation. From the sounds of it, Dewpaw and Silverpaw were bickering as usual, with Orchidpaw trying to defuse the tension. Ravenheart let out an exasperated sigh. Her apprentice, Dewpaw, had a lot to learn about keeping her mouth shut. It would get her into trouble soon enough.
“Yes, the patrols will be leaving soon, and you’ll be on one of them, Dewpaw,” Ravenheart called to her apprentice in response. The blind deputy meant to flick her tail at her apprentice in greeting, but was much to far to the right. “Come here, Dewpaw. I was planning on taking you on the northern and eastern patrol with me, if Lakestar agrees.” She smiled at her apprentice; although she was a handful, she learned well and worked hard. If she could just fix the back-talking and Dewpaw's ego, she would be all set.
ℍ 𝕠 𝕨 𝕝 𝕚 𝕟 𝕘 𝕡 𝕒 𝕨
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(rank). apprentice [color=#80BF](clan).[/color] lakeclan (location). camp (mood). talkative (tags). Lakestar, Orchidpaw, Dewpaw, Silverpaw
Howlingpaw was never the one for mornings. His snores echoed through the apprentice den and his sides rose softly. He would be one of the last to wake up, as usual. The tom loved his beauty sleep, and had no intentions of changing his ways. He could have remained at a peaceful bliss, until a cold wind whisked itself through the den. The large mottled brown tabby tom let out a shiver and a loud sneeze.
“Ha-eh-SHOO!” he sneezed loudly, jolting his green eyes open. Oh, he wasn’t done yet. He closed his eyes again and let out one more “heh-heh-ATCHOO!”
The tom sniffled and rubbed his paw on his running nose. “Great way to start the day,” he muttered stuffily. While he would be content to keep sleeping the day away, he knew Iceflight would be looking for him soon. The tom slowly got to his feet and stretched, taking his precious time. The sun was twinkling over the fresh dew, and as he looked closer, he noticed some frost on the ground. Leafbare was coming, whether they liked it or not. With a sigh, Howlingpaw reminded himself that the lake would be freezing over soon. That was, if it hadn’t started yet. This tom loved to fish and swim, so when the lake was frozen, it eliminated a few of his favorite activities.
However, there was still a lot of entertainment to be found. Fluffing his fur in response to the cold, the tabby tom walked out of the apprentice den and up to a small gathering of other apprentices. Dewpaw, Orchidpaw, and Silverpaw were all in the middle of a conversation. From what it looked like, Dewpaw was on her insults already.
“It’s only morning, you can’t wait a little longer to be a haughty know-it-all, can you Dewpaw?” Howlingpaw taunted. She was a beautiful ginger brown tabby cat. Howlingpaw loved to get under her skin and badger her, just as she badgered the other apprentices. Some would go as far to say Howlingpaw had a crush on the vain apprentice, but he would never let it show.
“So, what’d I miss?” Howlingpaw asked. It seemed like another average day. Ravenheart was already discussing patrols with Lakestar, and when Howlingpaw heard his name, he was overjoyed. “Nice, I love hunting! I bet I can catch more prey than you, Dewpaw! Oh wait, sounds like you’re just going on a patrol.”
Howlingpaw’s green eyes snapped to Lakestar to see if she approved with this arrangement. He hoped so. He was excited to hunt with his mentor and Fogpaw, and learn even more about the life of a warrior. He needed to do something, and he kneaded his claws in the dirt in anticipation.
“How’re you guys doing though?” he asked Orchidpaw and Silverpaw. “Is today just another day of sorting herbs for you, Orchidpaw?” Howlingpaw respected medicine cats immensely, but when there were no injuries or sicknesses to attend to, he could imagine the job was very boring. “You should come out with us! Maybe you can find some cool herbs or something?” he suggested. All in all, the tom loved to talk, and he’d be happy to have another cat to talk their ears off.
