i'm guessing you didn't [sedgewhisker]

[danielle]

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Tawnypaw figured today would suck. She could feel it in her bones. The she-cat poked her head out of the apprentice's den; the sun met her immediately. It took a few seconds for her eyes to adjust but when they did, she found herself focusing on her mentor's massive flank. Tawnypaw gulped. She wasn't scared. No, she was more or less, nervous? She had heard things about the tom. One apprentice told her that he used to torture his apprentices for fun. Another said she'd never see the light of day again. She figured he meant she'd be too busy training to notice the sun...right? Tawnypaw slunk awkwardly into the den. She needed to escape before it was too late.

The apprentice shot frantically around, weaving from nest to nest, desperately trying to find some sort of hole. Then she spotted it. A small crevice near the left corner of the den. It could work. The she-cat examined it closer, perhaps if she went feet first...no, that would be stupid. Tawnypaw decided to just go for it. She plunged head first into the hole and to her surprise! - she was stuck.

She blinked a few times, processed the data, and then drew a shaky breath, "Mouse-dung." she exhaled bitterly. The she-cat dug her claws into the dirt and desperately tried to pull herself free. But alas, her attempts were futile. There was nothing she could do, the hole closed perfectly around her stomach. She could neither go forward nor backward. At this rate I'm going to be the laughing stock of the entire clan. Tawnypaw pursed her brow and scrunched her eyes, there had to be someway out. Nothing, absolutely nothing came to mind. The tabby opened her eyes, from this angle she prayed nobody could see her, but the sound of approaching footprints proved otherwise.

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He thought he had escaped. He had heaved a massive sigh of relief. Though he’d formed a sort of affection for Coalpaw, he was ill-equipped to handle the stubborn young tom. He was old, and he didn’t have time to spare arguing pointless trivialities. He needed someone who wouldn’t test his patience so much. Or perhaps, even better, no apprentice at all. He had trained too many apprentices to count anymore. His warriors wandered around, a good number avoided him while some still held affection for him. He’d thought he would finally get to rest, a break from the tiresome ordeal of youth. But it was not to be. Nightstar, almost as if to personally prod at Sedgewhisker, had assigned him a little she-cat named Tawnypaw.

The little she-cat in name was now late to their meeting. Sedgewhisker squinted up at the sky. He hadn’t seen her appear as of yet. He hauled himself up off of his paws, grumbling under his breath. He padded towards the apprentice den. He had little desire to enter the structure. Instead he stood outside, calling in “Tawnypaw! I don’t have all day.” He waited a moment, but heard no reply. From within there was scuffling, the sound of paws sliding on dirt. He muttered under his breath again “What is that mousebrain doing in there…”

He poked his head into the den, squinting into the gloom. There were a few curled shapes, sleeping happily in their nests. But none were Tawnypaw. Eventually his weak eyes landed on what appeared to be the back half of a cat, tail high in the air, paws scrabbling desperately at the dirt. A heavy frown floated onto his lips and his eyes narrowed. “Of course.” He muttered, squeezing the rest of his body into the den. He approached the scrabbling paws, clearing his throat. “So desperate to escape me?”

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[danielle]

[style=text-align:justify; margin-top:50px; width: 231px; height:235px; overflow:auto; margin-left:24px; margin-right:170px;][style=margin-top:-1px; padding-left:1px;] “So desperate to escape me?”. The she-cat scrambled, her feet slipped frantically over the dusty floor, and in desperation she only managed to dig herself further into peril. The she-cat continued trying to escape for a good, sound minute before she let her body slump in defeat. She stared angrily at her paws, why does everything work out better in my head? Tawnypaw was far too embarrassed to actually address her mentor's presence; in lieu of answering his question she curled her claws into the earth instead, in, out, in, out, in, out- "I wasn't trying to escape." She meowed suddenly, "I was chasing a mouse."

"I was sleeping in my nest, right?" As the words left her lips, she began to feel her ears perk and her eyes lighten, "And this mouse just darted across my flank! And I know I should have been awake already, and I KNOW I should have found you - but, but-" The she-cat pursed her brows in concentration, "I couldn't just let him go! I mean a mouse, a MOUSE, just woke me up. So I chased it, and it went through this hole..." Tawnypaw drifted off, he isn't going to believe this. "I thought I could fit, but, well I didn't." She wriggled her rump as if to prove her point, "And now I don't know what to do." The she-cat tried to give herself one more forceful push, but it only drove the twigs deeper into her flesh, "Ow!" She wailed.

The she-cat suppressed a whimper, "I'm sorry Sedgewhisker." She didn't want to admit that she was deliberately avoiding him but she didn't want to spend the rest of her life stuck between a rock and a hard place. Tawnypaw let a deep sigh escape her chest, "Can you please help me?"

"I promise I'll be ready every morning from now on."

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Sedgewhisker snorted, raising a brow though of course Tawnypaw couldn’t see it. No mouse, no matter how scatterbrained, would wander into a den full of sleeping predators. Sedgewhisker stepped closer, narrowing his eyes as he peered at the whole into which Tawnypaw had wedged herself. The gloom made his poor eye-sight even worse. Though from what he could see, she’d simply managed to disturb the dirt and get a number of sticks poked uncomfortably into her fur. He took a step back. Getting her out, while aggravating, wouldn’t be too difficult. With his weight, and a little strategy, she would pop right out. But Sedgewhisker had no intention of making escape so easy for her.

“Chasing a mouse? Well perhaps I should leave you here until you learn how to properly hunt like any apprentice your age.” He yawned loudly for emphasis and stretched. He sat himself in an empty nest, not caring which apprentice might later return to his lingering scent. His ears twitched. He kept his voice even, almost bored. “Or perhaps instead, you could learn the value of the truth.” He eyed her body, not sexually, but analytically. There was a small patch of her scruff. If he squeezed in close enough, he should be able to fasten his teeth and pull.

Then again, if he couldn’t, he could always just grab her tail and pull. Sure, she might lose the end. But it would serve as a lesson to her. He snorted again, finally hearing her request and desperate promise. He shook his head and looked almost amused. “Nothing in life comes free, little one. And you certainly will be prepared.” He paused. Behavior like this certainly warranted a punishment. But perhaps he could work it delicately, not too much of a punishment, gentle, perhaps even a favor to himself. He cleared his throat. “You’ll be spending two hours each day of the next moon sharing a meal and conversing with our elder Owltalon.” He didn’t mention that the tom in question was not only suffering from memory loss and disorientation related to past and present, but was also Sedgewhisker’s littermate.

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[danielle]

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"What! You can't just leave me here! I'll be stuck here FOREVER." The words left her mouth as a high-pitched wail. The she-cat begin to thrash wildly once more, but grew tired after a few measly seconds. Tawnypaw sighed, "I'm so mouse-brained..." She mumbled. The apprentice stared bitterly ahead. She scrunched her eyes and gazed into the forest canopy before her. From this angle she couldn't see the camp, only a barricade of branches and twigs. The leaves were beginning to poke through the buds and a soft breeze tickled her chin. Somewhere she heard the loud wail of a bird. She let her body relax, her head melted into the earth and her front paws tucked neatly beneath her chest. Tawnypaw could hear Sedgewhisker's voice drone through the den's wall, but she chose to ignore it. Her mind had traveled else where.

In some distant future she would become a warrior. It seemed impossible, almost incredulous at that this point. Every moment leading up to her apprenticeship was littered with curse words and stern glares. She wanted to become a warrior. She wanted to become the best warrior in Thunderclan. She wanted her name to be said with a smile, instead of a sneer. But then this happens. She uses the worse possible judgement imaginable, and does something stupid like this. The she-cat closed her eyes, maybe, just maybe I should listen to Sedgewhisker...he doesn't seem so bad. Tawnypaw opened her glimmering orbs and gave her tail a swish, "Figure anythin-"

She paused, he was saying something.

Tawnypaw canted her ears back in anticipation, straining to hear what her mentor was saying, and then she heard it. "Are you kidding me?!" The she-cat mewled angrily. How dare he? She hated the elders. She hated being around them. It was too depressing, too disheartening. It made her sad. She didn't want to listen to their stories, she didn't want to be in a place where death lurked behind every corner. It frightened her, and the elders only encouraged this fear, especially Owltalon. His memory was shady. His mind worked in glimpses, sometimes he's present, other times he's gone. And it drove Tawnypaw up the wall.

"Anything else? Can I please do anything else?"

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A bemused half-smile tugged at Sedgewhisker’s face. He most certainly could leave her there. Undoubtedly she’d get out eventually. Some apprentices would tug her free, or another warrior with a little more mercy than he. There was no risk of true harm if he left her there. The worst she would do was get a few jabs in the side, nothing more than she deserved for her desperate escape attempt. Sedgewhisker yawned pointedly. “I can and I will. I would much rather spend this time napping than training you.” He stood for emphasis, stepping on a few spare twigs. Hopefully the loud snapping sounds would at least make her believe he was serious. For he was, indeed, quite serious. He wouldn’t have the least little qualms about leaving her behind. And considering her had trained Nightstar, he doubted their leader would admonish him too severely. It helped being near eighty moons, it meant he had trained a good number of the senior warriors.

He turned. He had every true intention of leaving. He had given her fair terms. If she rejected them, well she had made her own choice. But her shrill voice, the anger clear on her tongue, made him freeze. His fur fluffed on end. Her voice was downright disrespectful, scornful even. And though the young she-cat didn’t realize it, she was directly insulting Sedgwhisker’s dear littermate, his only brother whom he loved more than any other creature on the planet. A hiss echoed from his lips. His voice was loud now, furious and clearly admonishing. “No. You may not do anything else. Though with your behavior, I wouldn’t punish my dear brother Owltalon by forcing your company on him.” He stalked back and forth, his tail whipping against his back legs. It was his instinct to defend Owltalon, since his brother could no longer do it for himself.

He paused, finally. Tawnypaw could not see his narrowed eyes, the anger lurking in the shadows. He finally approached her, roughly sinking his teeth into her scruff. He gave a none-too-gentle yank, pulling her harshly from the hole she had ensnared herself in. He didn’t bother to be gentle, to ensure she wouldn’t end up with a few bumps and bruises. He released her as soon as she was free, leaving her as a heap on the floor. His eyes were still narrowed. “You disappoint me, Tawnypaw. We will not train today.” He whirled then, stalking towards the entrance of the den.

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