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Post by ~*Speckles*~ on Sept 2, 2007 12:19:02 GMT -5
Featherfoot smiled slightly and then started forward again. He kept his ears pricked, listening for other cats. He slipped easily under some brush and then he splashed through a small stagnant stream. He didn't mind the slimy algae that his paws squished into, he had hunted many times on he marshes and so had gotten used to squishy stuff. He glanced up as he scented another two cats nearby. He halted and sniffed carefully. Brackentail and... Before he could finish his thought something hit him from the side. 'Gotcha!' sqeaked a pleased white tom tom who had black paws and tail and black streaks on his legs and face. 'Coalpaw! What are you doing?' Featherfoot growled as he picked himself up and shook his pelt, eyeing the young apprentice with distaste. Another cat's head popped out from the tall grass nearby, tan with darker swirls. Gold eyes darted towards Patchpaw and than at Featherfoot. 'We're on a hunting patrol and we caught you.' said Brackentail with a smile as he trotted out from the underbrush. 'Whom have we here?' he asked, looking at Patchpaw with a happy and at ease grin. Coalpaw's black eye darted towards Patchpaw and his nose wriggled as he tried to scent him but he gave up after a moment, glancing at the other two cats to make sure they hadn't seen him fail at tasting the wind.
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Post by *Nimbles* on Sept 2, 2007 13:29:07 GMT -5
Patchpaw wrinkled his nose in distaste as the two other cats appeared. Their smell was so over-powering! He almost gagged with the scent of fresh earth and dampness. He sighed and slowly un-hooked his claws from the algae and reeds and began to wash his paws once again, watching the other cats' curiously out of his hooded eyes. "I'm Patchpaw," he said boldly. He looked at the other cat, he was younger than the rest, around his age. "I was a kittypet," he said and put a big emphasis on the word 'was'.
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Post by ~*Speckles*~ on Sept 2, 2007 14:40:52 GMT -5
Coalpaw flipped when he heard this. 'Really? Totally cool! I'm Coalpaw, apprentice of ShadowClan. Are you joining our clan? Like Fireheart joined ThunderClan so long ago?' he grinned at the thought as he sat down near Patchpaw, as if they had always been best friends.
Brackentail noted Patchpaw's wrinkling nose and laughed outright. 'We do smell bad to outsiders don't we?' he chuckled. 'I'm Brackentail. I say, how on earth did you get a clanner name if you were a kittypet?' he looked curiously at Patchpaw and then at Featherfoot.
Featherfoot, who didn't show any like or dislike of Patchpaw, or his wrinkling of his nose towards them, said nothing and shrugged. He sat down and licked a paw, not paying Patchpaw much attention at all now that there were others here to help keep an eye on him. He eyed him, not exactly coldly, but definitely not in a friendly way. He never did look at cats in a friendly way, and Brackentail and Coalpaw knew this and so were not taken aback by his seeming indifference to the young tom.
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Post by *Nimbles* on Sept 3, 2007 4:36:37 GMT -5
Patchpaw was taken back by Coalpaw's mannerisms. He pulled his tail close to his paws and looked at the young tom. "I've no idea who Fireheart is," he said softly. He looked at the next tom, Brackentail, and smiled at him. He seemed to like this friendly tom. "My mother lives in the forest, she gave me to my humans and called me Patchkit. My neighbour told me so. He told me all about apprentices and everything but he couldn't tell me about my mother. So i'm trying to find her," he replied cooly. He glanced back at the first tom, the one who found him. Featherfoot. He was startled to see that he was showing no emotion towards him. What had he done wrong? He twitched his tail and looked at the other two cats, they didn't seem to mind. Maybe that was how he acted all of the time. He shrugged and raised his head slowly, looked at the three. "ShadowClan you say...What other clans are there?" he asked Coalpaw. Patchpaw was greedy for knowledge about the clan's. Greedy to find out about his family. He smiled, his grey fur wrinkling around his muzzle. His actions were quite strange, as if they were for someone older than him.
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Post by ~*Speckles*~ on Sept 3, 2007 11:58:38 GMT -5
Coalpaw grinned. 'ThunderClan, WindClan, and RiverClan. ShadowClan's the best though. And Fireheart was a kittypet who joined ThunderClan and ended up beind a great leader!' He noticed Patchpaw glance at Featherfoot and shook his head. 'Don't worry about him, he's always like that.' he said in a low voice so that none could hear him but Patchpaw. 'He's had a hard life.' He shook his head again and glanced up at Featherfoot, who hadn't noticed him whispering.
Brackentail sat down and nudged Featherfoot. 'What's up with you? You look about as happy as me when I fell in the water that one winter.' he laughed. Featherfoot shot him and glare and then turned away. 'Does one have to have a reason not to bounce around like a two-leg that just stubbed his toe on a brick? Let me alone.' he growled and turned away coldly. Brackentail shrugged and turned his attention back to Patchpaw after giving Featherfoot a quizzical look. 'So, once a kittypet and now striking out on your own eh? Hope you join ShadowClan, Coalpaw's right, ain't no better place to be. And the smell you get used to real quick.' he winked at Patchpaw playfully.
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Post by *Nimbles* on Sept 4, 2007 9:52:22 GMT -5
"Oh.." Patchpaw said when Coalpaw recieted the four clans. He twitched his ears with amusement as he said that ShadowClan was the best. "Not at all bias are you?" he said with a grin bu it soon faded as he heard about Featherfoot. "Oh..." he whispered back, his grey head turning slightly to look at the grey tom.
He turned his attenton on Brackentail who was talking with Featherfoot. He twitched his ears in mild surprise when he bagan talking to him. "I er... Don't know... I mean, I want to find my mother first..." he said diplomatically. Was he actually wanted in a Clan?
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Post by ~*Speckles*~ on Sept 4, 2007 9:58:16 GMT -5
Brackentail nodded. 'Yeah, mums are nice to have.' he sighed and then shook himself. 'What's she look like?' he put his head to the side in curiosity. He liked to hear about other's past and anything else. He was the type that liked to know lots about the cats around him, it helped him get to know them better, which he liked.
Coalpaw frowned a little as Brackentail mentioned that mothers were nice to have around. Well, they might be. I wouldn't know. He flicked his tail and glanced around to find a diversion. As Brackentail asked Patchpaw what his mother looked like he turned to look at Patchpaw, curious to find who his mother might be. A real mystery! he thought with a grin.
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Post by *Nimbles* on Sept 4, 2007 10:01:41 GMT -5
"Well, she is a tortoise shell cat. No white on her at all, just black, brown and tan. She has emeraldy-yellowy eyes like mine.... And she has one white whisker which stands out," he said. His fur prickled slightly when they all looked at him. Like his story was a juicy piece of meat, or a plate of milk. He flicked his tail, watching their expressions.
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Post by ~*Speckles*~ on Sept 4, 2007 10:06:26 GMT -5
Brackentail visibly jumped as he heard the description. He glanced over at Featherfoot, who was vigorously cleaning himself, something that Brackentail had found he did whenever he was thinking hard or confused. He returned his gaze to Patchpaw and smiled. 'You might find your mum after all.' He smiled. Featherfoot growled lowly, shooting Brackentail a glare that told him clearly to SHUT UP!
Coalpaw showed no reaction, he had never been to a gathering and so had no idea what Featherfoot and Brackentail were making such a big deal about. He put his head to the side and looked at Brackentail, asking him with his eyes what on earth was going on.
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Post by *Nimbles* on Sept 4, 2007 12:58:23 GMT -5
Patchpaw had had enough of the secrets! He growled at the two older cats and leapt at Featherfoot. Not trying to hurt him, but scare him. His claws were sheathed and sadness covered his face. "Why won't you tell me?" he whispered as his stocky grey body collided with Featherfoot. He shook his head as he landed on him, not realizing what he had done for a moment before he stepped away, slightly ashamed of making a scene. "Please," he said, turning to Brackentail. "I need to know. I don't care if she betrayed someone, or even killed them.... I just want to know her name... Surely everyone deserves to know who their families are, kittypet or not," he said boldly as he made his plea.
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Post by ~*Speckles*~ on Sept 4, 2007 13:10:12 GMT -5
Featherfoot growled fiercely as Patchpaw leaped at him. He almost fell over from the impact, not being ready for that at all. He gave Patchpaw a hard bat with his paw before growling a warning at him again. His fur stood on end and one could tell that he was furious. He knew that his temper was about to get the best of him, for he almost pounced at Patchpaw, but before he did something he knew that he would regret he turned and walked away. 'I'm leaving the kittypet in your charge you two.' he howled angryly over his shoulder.
Brackentail jumped as Patchpaw made his surprising move, and then when he turned and addressed him he glanced up at Featherfoot, who did not look at him at all and just walked off, calling the half insulting words over his shoulder. Brackentail turned back to Patchpaw and decided that he might as well tell him. 'Listen, the reason no one is telling you who your mum is is not because she is not thought of well. She... well... her name, I believe from your discription, is...' he hesitated, hoping that he was doing the right thing. 'Her name is Autumnstar.' he waited for a reaction, wondering if he knew what the 'star' at the end of her name meant.
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Post by *Nimbles* on Sept 4, 2007 13:19:03 GMT -5
Patchpaw instantly regretted pouncing on Featherfoot. He liked the grouchy tom. He dipped his head and flattened his ears in a silent apology, his head still ringing from Featherfoot batting him. He sighed and shook his head, looking at Brackentail. "Autumnstar?" he whispered. The word tasted strange in his mouth as he tested it. "That seems right," he said and blinked, wondering what the fuss was about.
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Post by ~*Speckles*~ on Sept 4, 2007 13:25:03 GMT -5
Brackentail sighed as he realized that he would have to tell Patchpaw, seeing as he wasn't getting it. He never liked to leave cats in the dark, so he went on. 'Autumnstar. She's... well she's a leader. That's why 'star' is on the end of her name.' He threw in the last part just for Patchpaw's information. 'She's highly respected.' he smiled as he thought of Patchpaw's thinking that they were concealing her name because she betrayed or killed someone. The just seemed kind of funny to him.
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Post by *Nimbles* on Sept 4, 2007 13:38:46 GMT -5
Patchpaw blinked slowly. "Then why did she give me up?" he whispered. He shook his head and a worried frown crossed his face. "It was me, wasn't it? If she didn't give me up, she'd never be leader," he whispered. He blinked sadly. "I don't think I should have come..." he said softly, to himself.
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Post by ~*Speckles*~ on Sept 4, 2007 13:47:33 GMT -5
Brackentail didn't like to see his face drop. 'Now look here, no cat should be a kittypet. You did the right thing to come. Anyway, you don't know she gave you up because of you, it was most likely something completely different.' He lick Patchpaw's forehead, trying to comfort him.
Coalpaw also saw that Patchpaw was feeling bad. He came over and sat down near him. 'I'm sure she'll be tickled pink to have you back.' he smiled. Nonetheless he wasn't too happy to give up his new friend to another clan. What if they had to fight sometime? He shuddered at the thought.
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