|
|
Post by BRIGHTNOSE on Aug 26, 2013 17:29:10 GMT -5
with » FOXWHISKERthe clay was soft, the future bright the climb to the feather stones was something that the ginger and white tom preferred to forget. with trembling limbs, an unsteady heartbeat, and new wounds opened on his paw pads, brightnose pulled himself up to the top, his breathes coming in shallow. oh, he was certainly never trying this again. normally, he would've done all he could to glue himself to the safety of the camp, but he seemed without choice this time. his limited activity along the cliffs seemed to have warranted the attention of one of the older warriors, and he received a bit of a stern scolding. with his ears pressed against his head, he fled camp.
hunting was a dim option. he didn't feel like launching himself to his death after a runaway bird like some other cats he knew. and so, he decided with the nest best food source: eggs. in leaf-fall, the days of birth, all the sea gulls gathered to nest among the craggy rocks that formed the feather stones. you couldn't see them from below, but if you climbed up the very thin cliff holds and managed to not kill yourself, then you'd see the speckled eggs of shades of brown and green, tucked safely into nests between the rocks. sure, it was a dangerous trip, but it was worth it. among all the things brightnose liked eating the most, it was eggs. mostly because he didn't have to kill things to get it. he never liked killing things. but were fertile eggs counted as living things? he grimaced as he thought about it.
deciding to save his midlife crisis for maybe tomorrow, the pale ginger warrior carefully picked himself towards the gathering of nests. all at once, all he could hear were cries of gulls in his ears and the scent of salt hit his nose. he'd grown used to the smell of the ocean over all the moons he'd been raised in cliffclan territory, but something about the birds that flocked here yearly reminded him just how much it stenched. he wrinkled his nose before cautiously padding forward, aiming for the closest nest. a mother sat on it, the eggs safely tucked under her plucked stomach. she cast brightnose a beady eyed glance, just daring him to get any closer. and oh, he did.
he was a fox tail from his bounty when the gull mother let out a high pitched screech, fluffing out her feathers defensively and spreading her wings to increase her size. properly intimidated, brightnose hesitated and that's when he realized he made a mistake: never show weakness to water fowl. the gull launched herself at him, claws digging into his skin and air beating down on his face as she attacked to protect her young. letting out a girlish shriek, the fluffy tom scrambled backwards and made his less than graceful escape to a farther off rock. once safely settled, he turned fearfully to see if the bird had followed him, but she seemed satisfied enough with the distance and returned to her eggs with dignity. it seems this is going to be a little harder than i thought.
LAIKA OF GS! |
|
|
|
Post by » FOXWHISKER on Aug 26, 2013 19:51:20 GMT -5
 How to put this lightly… well, Foxwhisker definitely wasn't used to traversing the cliffs and he was reluctant to admit that. It was just - it was so easy to let another cat leave camp and grab herbs while he sorted herbs or simply watched others go about their business (watching other cats go about their day was so interesting and surreal). It wasn't like he was lazy or anything; it was just that it was hard! He had been born with a stocky build, and from his childhood that had practically set him on the path of a medicine cat! Sure, he was adequate enough at living that he could get around from place to place, but not without expending an incredible amount of effort.
The Feather Stones in particular were a place he'd avoided in his collecting expeditions - sure, numerous herbs grew in the crevices here and there along the climb, but there was just something about being mauled by a swarm of angry gulls that was kind of unappealing. Back when he was a warrior, he had been a fair hunter - but those skills had quickly fallen into decay once. Maybe he could snag a gull, but beating back a swarm angry parent gulls was not something any cat desired, and even for the best hunters out there, a flock of gulls would certainly lead to injury, and injury out on the Stones was as good as being declared stranded or dead.
The ideal situation would be that he would catch a warrior on their way out of camp, and he would stop them, attempting to look as pitiful as a kit. He'd ask them to gather something at the Feather Stones, and they would happily agree - because everybody loved jumping up and down the cliffs like they were squirrels, right? Surprisingly, he had met quite a few warriors who, like him, had trouble on the cliffs. Ibis-star probably wasn't pleased with that (then again, he thought bitterly, is she ever pleased with anything?)
But today was different. Eggs were a delicacy that he was rarely able to partake in, and now that the gulls were nesting - well, it was the perfect time to grab them. And everyone knew that the warriors who grabbed the eggs got the best of them, if they could even bring any back, considering they were so fragile and breakable; a cat could probably drop them on the way back to camp. Thus, in the fifty-something moons of his life, he had only feasted on the eggs a few times. Today was going to be that day that he finally gorged himself on them.
He had offered himself to tag along with Brightnose after the tom had left camp - he didn't go out often with the warrior, but he appeared in his den often enough that he was a bit worried about the tom going alone; he didn't want to be indirectly related to the tom's demise if he tripped, hit his head, and plummeted into the sea below. After grabbing a small bundle of cobwebs (he didn't want to have his paws bleed all over the place!) he followed Brightnose's scent trail out of camp, thankful that the warrior turned to the Stones - but he was also worried. Brightnose was even worse at climbing than he was; would he be able to get through without dying or maiming himself?
Foxwhisker watched with a mixture of amusement and worry as the tom began his ascent. His pelt prickled with unease and his brow furrowed as he watched the tom become less assured and shakier, and after the tom had bounded far enough up that Foxwhisker was sure he wouldn't be spotted, he followed the tom. It seemed that they had similar minds, going up to grab eggs before the bulk of the clan began to try and swipe eggs from the birds. He hopped from this stone to that one, paws easily catching in footholds as he pulled himself up to the top behind the tom. Though Brightnose was shakier in his ascent, Foxwhisker took a considerable amount of time to get up behind him. Using his back legs to push him to his destination, he watched just as the ginger tom retreated from the protective gull.
"Nice day for a hu - StarClan! What happened to your paws, Brightnose?" What started out as a pleasant greeting became an appalled half-hiss as he stared at the tom's now-bloody paws, and they certainly weren't the result of a successful hunt - no gulls were coming after the pair and attempting to peck their eyes out. Now on auto-pilot, Foxwhisker dropped the small sack of cobwebs. He had been planning to use it on himself (his paws were surprisingly delicate), but right now it looked like Brightnose was going to ruin his paws if he didn't get to his aid. Gesturing with his tail, the tom scooted a little closer. "Here," he mumbled, nudging the tom's paw with his nose. "Let me do it. Did you want to get stranded up here or something? If you let your paws stay like this all time, soon you won't be able to climb the cliffs. Do you want to retire early?" Though his words were harsh, they were uttered with a soft, sad undertone; clearly he had seen one too many cats succumb to that fate.  |
|
|
|
Post by BRIGHTNOSE on Aug 26, 2013 21:13:42 GMT -5
with » FOXWHISKERthe clay was soft, the future bright brightnose was just beginning to recover from his attack by the monstrous beast (or that was at least what he was going to tell ibis-star when she asked why he came back empty pawed) when he received the second biggest scare of the day, which was accompanied by a surprised yowl from the jumpy tom that made the gulls turn their heads. foxwhisker, the clan's very own medicine, seemingly appeared out of nowhere with sudden concern.
"i- oh, uh?" brightnose stood tense, his fur fluffed out defensively as if he expected the healer to attack him at any moment, imaginably in the same fashion as the mama gull had done earlier. he calmed down soon enough, and stared at the ginger, flat-faced tom with a perplexed look. "uh... what are you doing here?" boy, did he sound stupid, blabbering out questions without even answering the medicine cat's own. he straightened himself self consciously and glanced down at his paws, which were smudged with blood. which was normal, right?
"oh, no... i-it's alright. my paws aren't very tough." he explained with a sheepish smile on his maw, which was quickly replaced with a complete look of embarrassment as foxwhisker grew closer and began prodding around his paws. the familiarity the medicine cat showed was probably because he visited his little cave so much, brightnose thought with shame. he tended to escape there to breath in the scent of herbs in the air and avoid the troubles of the outside. for some reason, the crisp fragrances comforted him.
at foxwhisker's accusation of retiring early, the pale ginger and white tom shook his head quickly like a child while speaking, "no, no!" he attempted to assure the medicine cat as he worked, feeling quite bashful from all the attention, "w-well... maybe a little." he barely mumbled the last part as he thought about how nice it would be to join the elders. he was only fourteen moons old, but he's been a warrior for a moon, right? he was old enough to quit, right? glancing up at foxwhisker, he tried to judge the tom's age. he was older than brightnose by many moons, he assumed. after all, the flat faced cat had been medicine cat before he had even been born, and probably moons before even that. brightnose quickly realized how silly he must've looked, and attempted to pull away, "um, thank you foxwhisker, but really, i'm o-okay."
LAIKA OF GS! |
|
|
|
Post by » FOXWHISKER on Aug 31, 2013 23:08:13 GMT -5
The petulant-turned-dismal tom stared at the tom with a mix of concerned anger and apparent disapproval, his large orange eyes not narrowed but clearly clouded with an upset fury that left him, now, in dark silence. "uh.. what are you doing here?" As if that even warranted an answer; it was true that Brightnose had become a medicine cat before he was a twinkle in his mother's eye, and he had never heard of Foxwhisker's own long and complex history with the ways of a warrior (his confusion emphasized that fact) - but it was normal for all cats to get out of camp every once in a while. Sure, he may have a stocky build, but he was certainly just as capable of every other warrior to traipse upon these cliffs. Or at least, he thought, he was doing better than the skittish young warrior was doing.
He had, in the previous few days, had a rather unpleasant exchange with Ibis-star (a feline that he was sure, previous to that date, that he would only contact when the pair were in dire need of each other) and perhaps that was why he had thrown himself at Brightnose with such a vigorous temper (though, when it came to a normal CliffClan cat, Foxwhisker's temper might be below the clan average). He didn't want Ibis-star to focus in on him as the cause of any of his warrior's injuries, and so, when the ginger-and-white tom tried to explain his way out of it with a sheepish smile, he shook his head. "No, no," he grumbled, half to the tom and half to himself as he continued to place the cobwebs on the wounds. "That won't do." Straightening himself up as he attached the last bit in place on one paw, he fixed Brightnose with another very concerned gaze before returning back to wrapping the other, less bloody paw, not uttering a word.
If the tom's reassuring words had given him a moment of relief, Brightnose was quick to strip it away, his rejection turning into hesitation, and then, a mumble that mortified the ginger longhair - "maybe a little." Foxwhisker froze in place, before fixing Brightnose once again with a look; he didn't know if the tension between Ibis-star and himself was well known, or if the tom knew him well enough at this point to tell the difference between a joke and reality, but instead of worrying about all of that he placed a paw on top of the now-bandaged paw. "Tell that to Ibis-star and your wounds will be worse than this." and mine, too. He already had the time of his life getting Guavafrost into the elder's den, and he knew that the leader wouldn't appreciate any more drains on their resources they had. At the hesitant tom's thanks, Foxwhisker nodded. "No problem. What are you planning to do now?" The way he said it, it seemed more like a quiz than a casual question.
|
|
|
|
Post by BRIGHTNOSE on Sept 3, 2013 18:25:08 GMT -5
the clay was soft, the future bright all brightnose could do was stand awkwardly while foxwhisker worked, the mewling of the gulls and the medicine cat's nonsensical mumblings the only sounds in the background. he resisted the urge to shuffle his paws nervously and anger the ginger tom by ruining the cobwebs and instead twitched his whiskers like a mouse. after what seemed to be an eternity, the healer seemed to be done. he had to admit that the tightness of the cobweb did make his paw pads feel better. the padding seemed to help defend them from the rough rocks, he discovered as he tested it against the ground. he planned on taking a few steps back and forward to see how much moving the cobwebs to take, but he was stopped by foxwhisker's paw on his own. blinking, he rose his golden eyes from his toes to his face, giving the tom a bemused expression.
"Tell that to Ibis-star and your wounds will be worse than this."
"o-oh, yes, um, i suppose you're right." he managed to get out strained laugh. he hadn't thought foxwhisker had heard his comment. brightnose would have to work on his 'quiet voice'. he was thankful when the medicine cat asked a question, although it reminded him of the things his old mentor used to test him on, if only to change the subject, "oh, well... um, get eggs?" he offered, a sheepish expression fleeting on his face, "no, i mean, chase the birds off!" well, he was certainly feeling like an apprentice again, that's for sure. it wasn't odd, though, he supposed; he'd only gotten his name a moon ago. foxwhisker probably still thought of him as the little gawky kit he used to be. what an ancient cat, he thought as he compared their ages. the tom had to be at least two hundred moons old.
ooc: srry this is really short /cries/ LAIKA OF GS! |
|
|
|
Post by » FOXWHISKER on Sept 9, 2013 18:34:26 GMT -5
Foxwhisker was increasingly becoming more aware of the other tom’s discomfort – it was obvious in gestures and sheepy glances, hesitant answers (meant to answer his own) and take-backs. It was interesting, but all of it together made Foxwhisker himself rather nervous. For the moment he was treating his patient, it had been like he had tunnel vision, but not that he had finished and was stepping back, he was seeing Brightnose with absolute clarity. It was only now that he allowed a sheepish grin to emerge on his face. The other tom leapt over his own words – was it to seem more credible or less like a child? Unsure, the stocky ginger tom took a few steps towards the gulls.
“Which is it?” He questioned, turning back to look at the tom. “If you really think chasing away the gulls is a smart thing to do, I’ll pray that you rest well in StarClan. Maybe you’ll come to visit me sometime, hm?” Okay, that wasn’t that funny – especially when they were on the edge of a cliff, overseeing a bunch of gulls that clearly weren’t going to leave them be. With a small purr to himself (Foxwhisker thought himself humorous, at least), he crouched, his fur nearly blending with the sandy cliffs.
“I was quite the hunter – back in the day, you know. ” He winked – unsure if the other knew about his warrior past – before gesturing towards the gulls with a flick of his tail. “But any warrior’d tell you that you’d lost your mind if you even tried to chase off a gull. They’d peck out your brains first.” He chuckled again. Lost his mind… peck out his brains… Foxwhisker really was losing his touch.
|
|
|
|
Post by BRIGHTNOSE on Sept 10, 2013 17:23:43 GMT -5
the clay was soft, the future bright foxwhisker obviously found amusement in brightnose's jumpy answers, which caused an angry red blush to creep up his neck from under his fluffy ginger and white fur. well, he thought in an embarrassed huff, maybe i want to go to starclan! he heard it was a very beautiful place this time of year, with the cool weather and pretty red leaves and what not. in the midst of his pouting, the skittish tom hadn't noticed that the medicine cat went on to speak more until he heard, "i was quite the hunter --- back in the day, you know."
brightnose blunk once, then twice as he mulled over the sentence. foxwhisker was a warrior? since when? all his life, the ginger tom had been a peaceful healer, not a ferocious fighter. and he certainly didn't look like one now. in fact, he looked a bit... pudgy. or maybe that was just muscle. he wasn't sure. he'd never been good with body types and certainly couldn't tell under all that thick fur. after a few moments of studying the medicine cat, he finally realized he might've been acting a bit creepy and stuttered out, "o-oh, you... you fought?" now, that sounded stupid. he mentally slapped himself and started again, "you were a warrior...?"
his ears flattened against his head in embarrassment when the tom basically declared his idea of chasing the gulls was mouse-brained. well, he hadn't hunted up here before! that... was a good excuse, right? "um, well, how do you get the eggs then?" he meowed shyly, attempting to keep his tail from slipping in between his legs bashfully like a dog. he spared a glance to the gulls, who were staring at the two cats with beady, angry eyes, if he could read bird expressions correctly. maybe foxwhisker had point. those beaks were pretty sharp. they would probably make quick work out of his eyes, he thought. brightnose grimaced at the idea of the mother gulls flying down and gouging them out of his sockets, the meat tearing from skin with a sickening sound. gross, was his immediate thought.
LAIKA OF GS! |
|
|
|
Post by » FOXWHISKER on Sept 14, 2013 9:29:32 GMT -5
Just watching the younger tom paradigm change from forward to embarrassed to confused and back made Foxwhisker feel like one of the oldest cats in the clan – he always was just on the edge of forgetting what it felt like to be a child when he stumbled upon a newly christened warrior like the one standing before him. The young warrior was surely trying to prove himself, and though Foxwhisker felt bad for it, he couldn’t help but continuously feel amused. Who was there to prove oneself to in this clan? If you were trying to capture Ibis-star’s heart, well, there was no way - she had a heart of ice and certainly wouldn’t tolerate others trying to ‘impress’ her. And the other warriors… well, they didn’t matter a bit. But he wasn’t about to preach to the young warrior, especially when Brightnose seemed so flustered at his previous statements.
“O-oh, you… You fought? You were a warrior?” Foxwhisker held back a laugh (unwilling to make the ginger and white warrior more nervous around him) and nodded. “Yep. And my mentor -” He gestured towards the gulls with a flick of his tail, their beady eyes glaring after him as if his gesture was going to send a brigade of felines towards them. Lucky for the both of them, none emerged. “My mentor’d told me that if I didn’t shut up and pay attention to her, she’d leave me stranded here with the gulls. Times have truly changed…” And I’d bet she wishes she had, too. Though he was sure the molly would still love to leave him stranded out here with his legs broken – okay, maybe not that far – his status as a medicine cat saved him from any sorts of cruel and unusual punishment Ibis-star was conjuring up in that dark skull of hers.
“Um, well, how do you get the eggs then?” Foxwhisker let out a small purr – the tom was unlucky to have never done this before under the supervision of his mentor. Leaning closer to the tom, he whispered, “Follow my lead, and be ready to move quickly.” He sunk into a hunting crouch (though he wasn’t a warrior anymore, it was still fairly accurate), approaching the gulls slowly and silently. His fur, blending with the cliffs, made it a little hard for the gulls to watch him – and when he felt like he had found a particularly weak point in the set of gulls, yowled, “Grab one and run!” before bursting into the crowd of gulls, causing them to take flight. Focusing on one of the more off-guard birds, he clamped an egg in his jaw, making sure he wasn’t biting too hard, before launching himself downwards, racing as fast as he could towards camp. Those who pursued him the entire distance would be met with his claws once he could set down the egg in a safe location – but most were bright enough to stay where they belonged.
|
|
|
|
Post by BRIGHTNOSE on Sept 21, 2013 13:21:31 GMT -5
the clay was soft, the future bright a flicker of fear flashed through his amber eyes as he glanced at the gulls while listening to foxwhisker's statement. being stranded all the way up here - with the company of dozens of angry mother gulls, no less - made him feel a bit sick. he'd never been afraid of heights, seeing as he was born and raised in cliffclan who he was sure would attempt to fly at any given chance, but he wouldn't be surprised that he had suddenly developed a case of it. maybe if he told ibis-star, he'd be able to stay at home all day. probably not, but he could dream.
"she didn't, though... did she?" he could feel his paws shaking as he looked back at foxwhisker, visibly gulping. brightnose's own mentor had never been 'kind' (at least in his book), but he didn't think littleclaw would leave him for the dead. really, he didn't think that the old tom's legs would even allow him to clamber up here anymore. now that brightnose thought about it, he hadn't seen the grizzled gray elder recently. did he bite the dust? perhaps the ginger and white warrior should pay a visit to the elder's den, just to make sure he was alive and well.
"follow my lead, and be ready to move quickly."
brightnose blunk back to reality long enough to see the medicine cat's amused expression, before he dropped into a hunting crouch. for a few moments, the golden and white tom hesitated, standing foolishly by himself, before jumping to attention and copied foxwhisker's snake-like movements. well, actually, he tried. brightnose's own gait was more jilted and stiff, but he managed to follow the older tom well enough. he concentrated on the ground before him, making sure to look none of the gulls in the eye (they still scared him) and caring not to step on any sharp rocks. it would probably not be a very good idea to ruin the bandaging, or else he'd face foxwhisker's wrath.
"grab one and run!" he lifted his gaze from the hole he was staring into the ground before him, and watched in horror as foxwhisker dashed forward, picked up an egg with skill that could only have been learned through blood and sweat, and raced away. the mother of the egg seemed almost dumbfounded by the theft of her child, and brightnose snapped out of his amazement long enough to clumsily pick up another with his teeth. he felt a bit of the shell crack, probably from the force of his teeth, but it wasn't in pieces, so he supposed it was alright. his heart racing like a rodent's, the ginger and white male hurried after his new 'mentor', praying to starclan that none of the gulls chase after him to have him for dinner instead.
finally, he slid to a stop next to the older ginger tom, and attempted to catch his breathe before remembering that he had a delicate pale brown egg clamped in his jaws. gently, he sat it down and looked over the object, wincing when he spotted the tooth shaped indentions in it. well, he supposed it could've gone worse. however, the scent escaping the cracks made his mouth water. he always liked eggs. his mother used to bring one or two home and let he and his sister try them. "um," he started, giving into the temptation, "c... can we eat them?"
LAIKA OF GS! ooc: sorry for the super duper late reply woah |
|
