lesson four, manners. { red/lion }

[Redpaw ◂]

His retort to her comment had been as icy as her own, perhaps more, and the apprentice bit back any sort of response she could've allowed herself to come up with. She wanted to have a reason to argue with Lionwhisker. She wanted to be able to prove to him that she knew what was better for her. But she couldn't do that if each one of her mentor's replies sent mixed messages. So was that an actual threat he was making? Was he going to try his best to have her be held back from becoming a warrior? Or was he trying to motivate her to listen to him? He's not going to succeed on either one. "Alright then. I won't punish you at all." All of a sudden the she-cat's red eyes widened in surprise, her tail quitting its lashing motions to lift straight into the air instead. Surely that wasn't a joke? Lionwhisker wasn't one for joking. Don't hold your breath though, she reminded herself. Even if he was being honest, he wouldn't be doing it for her. Knowing him, the orange tom had a different plan for her in mind. Surely he wouldn't let her get away with this out of the goodness of his heart. She wouldn't want him to, either. That would be too easy. The apprentice was still eager to prove to him that she didn't need him. "In fact, I won't even train you. But when Greypaw is receiving her warrior name and you aren't, I want you to think back on this conversation and remember it." Under different circumstances, Redpaw would have frowned, or perhaps even drawn her lips back in a furious snarl. How dare he try to imply that her sister was better than her? But the apprentice did neither of those things. A smirk pulled at her lips, as Greypaw's last words echoed in her ears. 'I swear, one day we will leave this place.' Redpaw continued to stare challengingly at her mentor, content with the realisation that she knew something he didn't have the slightest clue about. Greypaw won't be here for her warrior ceremony. And neither will I. But her moment of triumph only lasted so long, for the next moment the tom rose to his paws and pointedly turned his back on her. "Oh yeah. You can continue your little exercise if you want, but don't expect me to help when you break your neck. I would have offered to help, but you clearly don't need any." The she-cat studied him closely, confused by his sudden change of heart. Was that it? Is he giving up? Surely not. This was only another trick. But she was still content to have the last word, be that an illusion or not. Caught up in her most likely imagined victory, the apprentice almost failed to notice Lionwhisker's subtle twitch of his whiskers, which could only indicate one thing. Taking advantage of the fact that the tom couldn't see her anymore, she parted her jaws eagerly, delighted to taste the strong tang of mouse in the air. There's an opportunity. The normal thing for an apprentice to do would probably be to rush ahead and track down the mouse, demonstrating one of their best stalking techniques before going for the prize. After all, the only thing the other apprentices seemed to care about was impressing their mentors. And while Redpaw was equally keen on proving to Lionwhisker how skilled she could be without his help, pride froze her in place. Why should she do anything that would please this arrogant tom? He should be the one trying to prove to her that he could be more than an angrily chattering squirrel. "That's right I don't," she spat, sitting back down on the soft earth. "We might as well get back to camp then, where you can keep an eye on me. I would catch that mouse first, but surely you want to do the honours?" *tries to impress you without making you think i'm trying to impress you* tags // → lionwhisker

[→ lionwhisker]

lionwhisker

So she was trying to impress him, eh? Lionwhisker shrugged at her words, silencing her with a flick of his tail. "Shut up." He hissed, sensing the mouse pausing in his feast. He continued to stalk forward slowly, until he hunched up his shoulders, and pounced, delivering the killing blow within seconds. Picking it up in his jaws, he spun around and stared at his apprentice."If you had any sense,"  He said around his prey. "You'd realize that Flamingstar will have your pelt if she finds out you left camp without my permission. She'll have double of your pelt when she realizes you brought back nothing, while your mentor did." He blinked and padded past her, not caring anymore. His stubborn apprentice could do as she pleased, as long as she didn't expect anything from him in return. If she thought he was going to let her become a warrior in any way, she was highly mistaken.


The tom trotted right past his apprentice, pausing only to give her a short stare. "Oh, and if you think I care what you do when we get back to camp either. you're highly mistaken. I'll let the other warriors put up with your ass there." He continued padding on for a moment, before  stopping, not bothering to turn around this time. "As far as I'm concerned," He said, his voice low and grave. "Until you decide it's time to grow up and accept responsibility and listen, I'm not longer your mentor." He was done with her, it was as simple as that.


ooc: sucky post. i'm sorry. i have no muse.

[Redpaw ◂]

It was the second time she was being silenced that day, and the proud apprentice flattened her ears against her mentor's contempuous tone. Biting back another rude retort, she watched him stalk his way through the grass, and pouncing just in time as the mouse scurried towards him. Lucky catch. She sniffed as he spun around again, the piece of prey held firmly between his jaws. Don't look so proud. You might break something. Her eyes burning with red fire, she held her ground as Lionwhisker padded past her, his chin held high after the ominous air left behind by his words. Turning her head away from any other speeches he felt like reciting before finally getting a move on, she scanned their surroundings, relying on her sight to reveal to her any other prey that might be hiding about. Fat chance. He might as well have scared off any other prey between here and the border. She returned her attention to the orange tom as he paused in his tracks. "As far as I'm concerned, until you decide it's time to grow up and accept responsibility and listen, I'm not longer your mentor." "Suit yourself," she snapped, beginning to pad after the older warrior as he continued on the path that would eventually lead back to camp. If Lionwhisker picked to confront their problem with stubbornness, he could do that. Why should I care? He doesn't. As they padded on in silence, the apprentice strayed off the path, allowing herself to fall behind as her mentor picked up the pace. Parting her jaws, she searched desperately for the scent of anything that could qualify as prey. As much she wanted to deny it, there was truth in the tom's words. It didn't mean she would be going back on her word. She was still going to best him. But she might as well avoid Flamingstar's fury while doing it. Padding on, her footsteps light as feathers on the forest floor, she followed what she prayed was the scent trail of a squirrel. With some luck, it was still on the ground somewhere nearby. There's no time to go tree climbing again. Her spirits finally lifted as she spotted the small brown body by the roots of another tree, holding an acorn in its tiny paws. Got you. There was no doubt that her catch had been as lucky as Lionwhisker's, perhaps luckier, because surely the creature would have noticed her if it hadn't already been preoccupied. But Lionwhisker doesn't have to know that. Rushing back to the main trail, she followed the tom's scent trail until she saw his tail swaying in the distance. The squirrel dragging on the forest floor, she clumsily caught up to him, remembering just in time to hold her chin higher before she fell in beside him as they neared the camp. "Do you think the elders will like this?" she said pointedly around her prey, not looking at her mentor, though her expression was still smug. "Or perhaps I could go straight to Flamingstar and offer it to him.." [AGGRESSIVELY TRIES TO IMPRESS YOU] tags // → lionwhisker

[→ lionwhisker]

lionwhisker

The ginger tom could hear his apprentice scurry off behind him, but he didn't falter in his pawsteps. He knew he ought to stop and wait for her pain in the ass self to finish hunting, adversely doing exactly what he had told her, albeit what she thought. But he was still too apathetic to care much about what she did now. The arguments with her during the session had worn him out. He had already awoken tired, but now he was just exhausted. He slowed his pace a bit, pricking his ears as she clumsily crashed through the undergrowth in pursuit, until the sounds stopped, and pawsteps echoed once more. The tom kept padding forward, waiting for the she-cat to hurry up. 


Suddenly, the she-cat was behind him, making no point in being modes about her catch. Her body language was screaming notice this but the warrior still didn't care. He heard the squirrel being dragged on the ground, and he snorted. "Do you think the elders will like this?" Lionwhisker shook his head. "I'm sure they will. Especially since you muddied up it's fur while you clumsily dragged it on the ground. As for Flamingstar? Well she might be a bit insulted. But it's your call." He said simply, flicking his tail. He was done with her. At least, until she wanted to apologize and start listening. 

[Redpaw ◂]

"I'm sure they will. Especially since you muddied up it's fur while you clumsily dragged it on the ground. As for Flamingstar? Well she might be a bit insulted. But it's your call." The apprentice suddenly stopped dead in her tracks, the squirrel dropping from her mouth to land on the ground with a soft thud. When Lionwhisker didn't immediately stop beside her, her eyes narrowed in an almost threatening manner, and she strode forward to block his way. "You think you're so smart," she hissed, tail lashing, her scorching gaze boring into him, "but you're being really really childish." As was she, and Redpaw knew her mentor would be itching to point that out. Without breaking her stare, she twitched one ear dismissively. "So honestly, you're no better than I am." Momentarily she allowed her eyes to widen as realisation sank in; there was no taking back these words, and if the chances of Lionwhisker forgiving her were slim a few seconds ago, they were non-existent now. He hates me. Shaking out her pelt, she pointedly walked past him. Which is as convenient as it gets. I hate him too. Snatching her squirrel in her jaws, she spun around once again to stomp the few final steps left to march into the camp, her ears angled stubbornly forward, deaf to any and all scathing remarks the tom might have had to say. She was well aware of what lay ahead; all hopes of her becoming a warrior would be crushed, Lionwhisker would tell Flamingstar about her after all, and she would spend the rest of her days babysitting the elders. And yet still she kept her head high as she strutted away, though her tail drooped behind her. So be it. Not turning around, she marched straight into the camp, effectively ending the conversation, the squirrel dragging in between her front paws. SO red and lion are gonna have bonding time later, but it would be OOC for her to apologise to him right now. poor lion omfg so this can be thread end unless you wanna do thread end?? whatever u want <3 tags // → lionwhisker/thread end