raise you like a phoenix~ [open]

[Mallowpaw]

Mallowpaw let out a contented purr as a gentle breeze wafted over his face, ruffling his whiskers towards his cheekbones. His large ears were pricked forwards, angling every now and then to where the direction of the wind was heading towards. At the moment, he was sitting in the camp, keeping watch over the prey pile and generally who would brush past him. A few older warriors, he had even seen the medicine cat talking to the deputy once. The brown tabby shifted his white paws, tranquilly flicking his golden eyes around the camp and giving everything a vaguely curious stare.

Licking his maw, the apprentice slowly lowered himself from his sitting pose to a lying down one. After a few moments, he sprawled out against the ground and let the wind above him bat at the trees and bushes playfully. Sure, it was quite windy, but it was one of those winds that was fun to be in. Mallowpaw's jaw split open into a wide yawn, his golden eyes gaining a glint of curiosity and simple happiness. Who knows where this day will take him?

[Dewstar]

The day was windy, but it didn't bother Dewstar in the least. He glanced toward the sky and noticed that there were a few clouds, but nothing really to worry about. He twitched his whiskers in amusement to himself as he thought about Poppystar's comments on how WindClan chose to sleep out under the stars, no dens except for the infirm or kits and queens. No dens except those who needed it. How ironic, then, that the cats who so longed to be close to the stars had the history of utilizing a complex tunnel system under the territories. Dewstar had made no comment of this to his Clan, and he was content that it stay that way.

As the gray tabby tom glanced around the camp as the wind forced its way between and over and around bodies, he spied Mallowpaw, the young apprentice just watching the cats around him. He seemed to enjoy the simple act of watching. Dewstar could relate -- much of what he did was watch his Clan from the usual spot. Sometimes he still went on patrols, but those patrols were becoming rarer and rarer. With a flick of his tail, he decided that perhaps some interaction would be good for him. He didn't really know this youngster too well -- Dewstar knew the names of Mallowpaw's family, and that Sparrownose, the father, insisted on calling the kits by the wrong names. It was comical, but Dewstar knew well enough their real names, though all four kits looked quite similar, in his opinion.

Without another thought, Dewstar rose and approached the apprentice. "Enjoying the day, are we, Mallowpaw?" he meowed not unkindly. "Do you mind if I sit with you a time?" Dewstar patiently waited, not sitting without permission, for if Mallowpaw desired solitude, Dewstar was willing to give it without hesitation.

Mallowpaw is TAGGED | 306 WORDS | NOTES: -hurtles in-

[Mallowpaw]

"Enjoying the day, are we, Mallowpaw?" The young apprentice's ears shot up in surprise upon hearing the voice of the elderly leader. "Do you mind if I sit with you a time?" The brown tabby and white was confused to why the silvery leader had decided to ask to sit with him. Suspicion rose up within him, but the apprentice ruthlessly shoved down that particular emotion and regarded Dewstar with an almost... shy expression. Flicking his golden eyes around uncertainly, Mallowpaw swallowed his insecurities and gestured for the older tomcat to sit.

"Of- of course, Dewstar. Feel free to sit." the young feline mewed, trying his best not to stammer in front of one of the oldest cats in the Clan. Then he remembered the question the leader had asked him. "Yes sir, it's a lovely day." Feeling his ears heat up in response to his embarrassment, Mallowpaw regarded the nearly clear sky with a slightly curious expression. Briefly, he wondered what it would be like to fly. However, the apprentice knew that the day cats started to fly was the day that everything would float. Meaning never.

Mallowpaw shot the leader an extremely curious look, before shifting his gaze towards the other cats. The young tabby was struggling to come up with a question, his mind trying to formulate the words so he could speak correctly. "Are you enjoying yourself, sir?" he shyly inquired, golden eyes genuinely curious but quite wary. There was something inside of him that was relieved that the leader knew how to differentiate the four siblings. His father certainly didn't know how to identify them. At that thought, a hint of bitterness flashed across his golden gaze. His father would probably get them confused together until he died.

tagged: Dewstar
notes: i see how it is

[Dewstar]

Dewstar observed the apprentice, noting the heartbeat of surprise and confusion. Or something more. Suspicion? Doubt? Dewstar wasn’t certain what expression flickered across the young tom’s face, but he didn’t much mind it, even as it turned to something else – admiring, meek, humble? No, no, more like shy. The old leader was used to that reaction, especially from younger cats, being not-quite-comfortable when he approached.

As Dewstar sat down, he mewed, “Thank you, Mallowpaw.” When the apprentice began to address him as “sir,” it took all he had not to break into a mrrow of laughter – but he successfully held himself back. That wasn’t his style. He might not be reckless like a youngster, but he certainly didn’t think of himself as a “sir” type of leader.

Being quite perceptive, Dewstar noticed all of Mallowpaw’s little looks, from the one he threw at Dewstar to the ones he used to try to hide the fact that he’d tossed the first one toward Dewstar in the first place. “I am, I am enjoying myself. I’ve always enjoyed something about this weather. Maybe it’s the WindClan in me.” He hadn’t intended it as a pun, as another goofier cat might, he simply meant it as in WindClan preferred to be part of nature, with the sky and the earth and the stars, not needing dens except for inclement weather, treasuring the precious relationship with StarClan and proximity to the holy places. “You look as if you’re enjoying yourself as well. Oh, and you don’t need to call me ‘sir,’ Mallowpaw. ‘Dewstar’ is just fine with me.” Dewstar leaned in and whispered, “My mother has some other names for me, though, you know, and almost none very nice, but I don’t think anyone else uses them but her.” Dewstar winked one green eye, as though a very important secret had been exchanged between him and the apprentice.

Mallowpaw is TAGGED | 314 WORDS | NOTES:

[Mallowpaw]

Mallowpaw observed Dewster silently, his white whiskers twitching ever so slightly at the older cat's unintentional pun. However, the nine-moon old tomcat knew that it was a purely unique trait to WindClan, sleeping underneath the protection and eyes of StarClan was something that he inherently treasured. Where other cats would sleep beneath the comfort and coverage of trees and enclosed darkness, WindClan seemed so much more closer to StarClan in that they slept in the wide openness of their tree-less hills and meadows. Mallowpaw flushed at Dewstar's words, ducking his head instinctively in a shy motion.

"Of course, si- Dewstar." Mallowpaw couldn't completely cut off the 'sir' from his vocabulary. He was too used to showing respect and being polite to other cats, so he couldn't help its near slip. Ears burning again, he couldn't help the fact that his eyes widened at Dewstar's admission to him. He had to choke down the mrrow of amusement that wanted to escape at it, although it was entirely unsuccessful. A soft squeaking noise escaped Mallowpaw, causing the apprentice's eyes to widen at the odd sound that escaped him. "Ah, that almost sounds like my father." the tomcat admitted softly, although the situations were completely different from each other.

"It's a much different situation, but he knows our names. I know he does. He confuses us all on purpose." With a wry tilt of the head, Mallowpaw couldn't help the highly visible twitch of his whiskers. Golden eyes lifted upwards to gently trace the elderly features of Dewstar. "Mother says he's a moron, that he needs to let go of that blasted grudge. Not entirely sure what that grudge is about, but since she mentioned it to us a few moons ago, she hasn't talked about it since." He frowned softly, his eyes dulling in apparent thought. Does he genuinely not like us, though? I KNOW he's disappointed in me in particular. But WHY?

Mallowpaw let out a tired sigh, though he flicked his eyes upward to give the heavens a thoughtful look. Then he shrugged, as if brushing off his previous rant. "I apologize if I'm ranting, or talking too much, sir- I mean, Dewstar." he gave the silvery leader an apologetic look with large golden eyes, before lowering them submissively. "I don't get a chance to talk much, because other cats generally talk at me and not to me." his next words were low, slightly uncomfortable, but they were honest, sincere.

tagged Dewstar
notes oops. turns out mallowpaw is a semi-ranter XD 

[Dewstar]

Dewstar had heard Mallowpaw’s soft voice, mentioning Sparrownose -- that ridiculous tom -- though Dewstar made no comment. Indeed, he had no need to, for the apprentice continued: “It’s a much different situation, but he knows out names. I know he does. He confuses us all on purpose.” Dewstar’d heard some of this. His lovely nosy sister, Brooksong, made sure to tell him the goings-on and this was news he’d heard. Of course, he noticed it, and found it very peculiar, at Mallowpaw’s and his sisters’ apprentice ceremony when everyone was calling out their correct names except for one lone voice crying, somehow loud enough to be heard over the rest of the Clan, “Hawkpaw! Falconpaw!” and so on. Dewstar’d done nothing about it -- it wasn’t really a huge problem affecting the entire Clan, just a harmless interpersonal situation, as he’d seen it -- at the time or up until now, though every so often he heard Sparrownose say a different name. And of course, Dewstar could always count on Brooksong’s reporting in to him.

The silver-muzzled leader let Mallowpaw finish, murmuring of how other cats treat him. Dewstar paused for a moment, letting the moment have its time, waiting to see if Mallowpaw would go on, listening attentively. At length, he replied, “That tends to happen. Cats often treat apprentices as if they’ve no thoughts of their own and can’t understand the world. They act as if you need a full warrior name to know anything. Of course, I disagree wholeheartedly. I’m sorry you’ve had that experience, common though it may be. I assure you, it will get better.” After a heartbeat, Dewstar twitched his whiskers in amusement and added, “Sparrownose has always been quite the character. Besides ignoring your names, does he do you and your sisters any other ill?”

Dewstar, with his fancy way of talking, did care about his Clan. It was probably the one thing that really captured his heart. Not kits, not family -- though of course he loved his sister, and she was his one true friend, nevertheless WindClan as a whole came before all else -- and not a mate. WindClan and service were the things that Dewstar truly loved, albeit often from a distance.

Mallowpaw is TAGGED | 366 WORDS | NOTES:

[Mallowpaw]

Whiskers twitching lightly in acknowledgement, Mallowpaw cast the older feline an assessing gaze. Would Dewstar personally guarantee that apprentices had a voice in some things, or would he just tell the warriors to listen to apprentices more? Admittedly, a hot flash of concern shot through him at that thought. As if in response to his emotions, the brown and white tabby's tail twitched ever so slightly. He tilted his head at Dewstar's question, a little puzzled to what she meant by 'any other ill.' Then horror shot through him, making the apprentice's gut churn hotly and uncomfortably with the addition of that question. If he wanted to be honest with himself, even if another apprentice asked him that question he would feel like he wanted to throw up.

"No!" the denial escaped him in an explosively automatic response. "He might not like us very much, but I'm pretty sure he would never harm us on purpose." Privately, Mallowpaw felt uncertain. Would Sparrownose even consider hurting them? When he was barely even born, he knew the older warrior had a curious interest in his only son. Something inside him shriveled up at the thought and hid at the corner of his mind. Then once it turned out that Mallowpaw wasn't like what Sparrownose expected, the older warrior turned away from the younger and pretty much ignored him. When the apprentice actually turned six moons old and had his apprentice ceremony, Sparrownose seemed to dislike him intensely.

Never a full-out hate, but Mallowpaw knew the warrior disliked him a lot. His stomach roiled uncomfortably, churning and sending out waves of alarm through his brain. The young tom flattened his ears against his head, his tail lashing and shuddering behind him occasionally. Mallowpaw knew that Dewstar cared very much for WindClan, but what he didn't know was how far the leader would go for them. "I'm... sure?" his voice quivered slightly at his soft question, though it was geared mostly towards himself and not the leader. Mallowpaw violently shook his head, trying to get those horrifying thoughts out of his head. Then he forcefully shoved them down and slammed a wall down on them in his mind.

"I love the Clan fiercely, but can we not talk about this anymore?" he softly inquired.

tagged Dewstar
notes meh

[Dewstar]

Dewstar watched Mallowpaw’s shifting reactions, his horror at the suggestion that Sparrownose might have been worse than a simple bumbling fool, something more sinister or malicious. As it was, it seemed that even the apprentice didn’t think much ill of his father (to use the same phrase that Dewstar had used when speaking). That was, to put it simply, a good thing. Dewstar would have punished Sparrownose if he had been doing anything unseemly. Although it also appeared that the thought made Mallowpaw anxious, which was not Dewstar’s intention. So while Sparrownose was doing nothing now, that didn’t mean he wouldn’t do anything in the future. Dewstar resolved to keep an eye out for that sort of situation.

“Of course,” he meowed immediately, though gently. “We don’t have to talk about that, don’t worry.” He twitched his whiskers and purred, hoping to come across as welcoming and supportive, all those things a leader is supposed to be. The conversation now had to turn to a different topic -- which wasn’t hard, there was always something to talk about. For one, questions almost always moved along the conversation; the times they didn’t were often when one party simply wanted nothing to do with the conversation and would refuse to engage or put in only minimal effort. So, with very little pause and no hesitation, Dewstar inquired, “How is your training going, Mallowpaw? I don’t need some official report -- just how do you feel about it?”

It was Dewstar’s hope that this would not make Mallowpaw nervous or shut down, but rather open him up. In truth, the little bit that the apprentice said interested him, that he needed to insist that he loved the Clan fiercely. Fiercely. And it didn’t seem to come from a place of manipulation or flashiness, trying to assert a showy loyalty, it seemed genuine. That sort of attitude was always intriguing.

Mallowpaw is TAGGED | 316 WORDS | NOTES: it's not my best for sure but I hope it's okay (and sorry it's so late ;_;)