Territory finally i can be true to a cause // stoatpaw

[SABLESTAR]

The Burnt Sycamore was an easy place to start for the night. It was a clear expanse of territory, absent of the canopy that covered the majority of the pocosin. It allowed the moon to shine directly through without interruption, no speckling from jagged branches, as he found Stoatpaw's coat to melt perfectly into the light.

Sablestar was of the opposite, he formed into the shadows like a layer of ice over the river. He stood directly beneath the scorched tree with Stoatpaw a rough fox-length away from him. "You keep scuffling your paws, the noise will chase off anything you're following." It had not been the first time they encountered this issue, but he was unsure what the disconnect was in his direction to help her.

"Look at your paws when you do that. See the dust and dirt you're kicking up? Not even a deaf and blind frog would miss that."

this heart beats cold like the devil his own

• @Stoatpaw
  "mew"
• 

  SABLESTAR— he/him ･fifty-four moons ･leader; shadowclan ･penned by gonkpilled

  a black and white tuxedo with dark amber eyes

 

[Stoatstream Stoatstream]

——————————————— Together, we'll make our way home ✦

Stoatpaw was still adjusting to Sablestar's frankly peculiar sleep schedule or lack thereof. She always wondered why it was hard to find him in the day, she used to catch him awake early in the mornings when she grew restless and wandered about camp, but he never stuck around long as he headed to sleep soon after other cats seemed to awaken. Simply put, she realised finally he was more or less nocturnal, and with him having mentored her for the last moon, she too had begun to awaken and come to the moonlight. Staying awake in the day became difficult, heaving her paws from her nest in the morning was a drag at this point. So being stirred awake with the moon high, and taken out for training, it became more natural to her. By the time they made it to the burnt sycamore, she'd shaken the sleep from her form and was prepared for whatever her mentor had decided was on their agenda.

Though a great difficulty she found with every passing outing was the noise she was making, she could control her vocal volume - she thinks at least - but her paws? It was far harder to control those and the... Stufflink? She squinted a little at Sablestar, trying to decipher what he meant. How was she making noise, she could walk fine without making too much noise, she'd frightened clanmates a couple of times walking too light - a leftover habit really. But she found a growing frustration, usually, she could find a go around herself for hurdles like this, she'd done it so many times but this time she was stumped.

The apprentice watched Sablestar as he spoke, trying to see if he would give any tips, something she could work with. She did agree there was dust being kicked up when she moved and- "Not even a deaf and blind frog would miss that.". It took Stoatpaw a painful moment to realise what her mentor had said before her fur stood on end in indignation, her face burning with shame. Sablestar didn't know, he couldn't have, but his words struck a painful chord with his apprentice.

She spoke before thinking, any semblance of her stoicism out of the picture as she looked to Sablestar with pain in her eyes. "You don't have to rub it in my face!" She hissed, claws dug into the earth. "I-I'm trying my best here okay? It's not my fault I can't- I can't...." Her voice hung in the air, trailing off as shame melted into guilt, she looked down at her paws, and just as quickly as the frustration boiled in her chest did it simmer away. Especially as she realised what she'd basically admitted to her mentor, the leader of Shadowlcan nonetheless, her heart dropped.

"I-I'm sorry I... I promise I'll try harder with my training-" An awful lump gathered in her throat as she could feel Sablestar's eyes on her, staring down. At that moment, she felt so small. There was a small mercy it was just him there, but fear coursed through her mind and body, she'd kept her lack of hearing under wraps for a reason. She couldn't bear to look at her mentor, dread in her heart for his reaction, would he keep her as his apprentice? Would he even let her stay an apprentice? Her ears pinned back, claws still in the dirt as she shuffled her paw slightly, dust being kicked up, just as he said. "I'm sorry...".

——— While you were sleeping,

Everything changed at once. ———

• 
  Stoatpaw
  ✦—Shadowclan apprentice | 7 Moons
  ✦—She/Her
  ✦—"SPEECH", 'THOUGHTS', ATTACK
  ✦—A slender white cat with faint lilac markings and blue eyes.
  #96d5f1
  ⤷ Written by Phoenix