youngblood, doesn't it feel like our time is running out? || hh, p

[img width=510 height=174]http://i.imgur.com/rMlLz5P.jpg[/img]
[fancypost bgcolor= transparent; border: 0px transparent; width: 498px; text-align: justify; font-family: arial; color: white; font-size: 9px;][glow=#1B2436,2,300]It was sunhigh. It was still winter. It was still freezing cold. Misery Business was still sleeping. Er, well, trying to. Actually, the tabby was curled up in the warrior's den with her nose ducked under her tail, crunched into a ball in an effort to keep her warmth inside while the season's brisk morning air was sucking it right out of her. The cat's pelt wasn't as thick as the wolf's hide, it didn't insulate her body as well, and for a second Miz wondered why she hadn't shifted into the lupine creature before putting herself to bed on the den's cold stone floors the night before. But then she recalled the thought that had been weighing heavy on her mind as of late: she was losing herself. Inside the wolf, she was faster, better, stronger, stoical... but she also lost a part of her that the feline mind would always juggle, her emotions. Stuffing them down her own throat was what the wolf half of her could handle, and so that's just what she'd done since she returned to the Hitchhikers, even before then, since she lost them.
Perhaps that part of her had been lost a long, long time ago, and she was just coming to terms with it now, now that she was with her clan again, now that she was home. Was this her home? Was this even the clan she had grown to know and love, ever since her birth? These ideas were still plaguing her head, and she feared they always would. The feline remembered more than the canine. The feline had history with this group of travelers, whereas the wolf did not. It was harder for her to stay in the cat's skin now, she had long since grown accustomed to the wolf's strengths, weaknesses, abilities and for that reason she had decided to keep the black-furred canine away from her, let it lie dormant in her chest while she caught up with all of her misplaced and aggressively ignored thoughts, feelings, emotions, revelations. It went without saying that she had a rough night, didn't sleep well with a heart full of broken requiems and a head caged by nightmares, memories of the past, fears of the future, panics about the present. She was a mess.

Misery Business rose her head and shook the thoughts from it, clearing her groggy, sleep-deprived mind. Her paws ached with arthritis and cold, but the grey-brown she-cat rose to her sore pads anyways. She had duties that couldn't go without tending anymore. Now that she was a part of a clan again, she needed to start pulling her weight. That started with mentoring a fine young tom, Expecto, whom she had all but been neglecting since his apprenticing ceremony. A pang of guilt stabbed at her chest at this realization, and a newfound fire lighted her eyes. They'd go hunting this afternoon, yes. She'd stayed in the den late, but no matter. The ebony-and-cream-pelted tom was more than likely still in the camp, probably tending to RadicalClan elders. Soon the Hitchhikers would be leaving the feminist clan, and they group of vagabonds were doing all that they could in thanks for their generosity. The apprentice-mentor duo that Miz hadn't been playing her part in until today could fill up the fresh-kill pile, at the very least.

The tabby stretched, letting her spine untangle itself, ignoring her aching joints, her sore paws, her throbbing shoulder. She really should have been speaking to Io or Moirai about all of her physical ailments, but the feline felt it unnecessary: there were other cats to tend to, other jobs that needed doing. The she-cat knew that her physical pains were just a side-effect of growing older, and she had settled for it, at least in her feline body. The wolf was still young and exuberant.
After exiting the den, Misery Business let her hazel gaze scan the campgrounds of the RadicalClan camp before padding in the direction of the apprentice's quarters. Perhaps her apprentice was resting someplace away from the cold, and this was probably her best bet in starting her search for the black-and-white tom. She poked her head inside the den, flicking her ears of various Chinese lichens crisp from the cold. "Expecto?" Miz called, tail tip wavering as her eyes once again adjusted to the dim light of a den.[/fancypost]
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[img width=510 height=174]http://i.imgur.com/rMlLz5P.jpg[/img]
[fancypost bgcolor= transparent; border: 0px transparent; width: 498px; text-align: justify; font-family: arial; color: white; font-size: 9px;][glow=#1B2436,2,300]"Good morning, Miz. You rang?"

The grey-brown she-cat startled, a jolt of surprise shocking her limps as soon as she felt the touch of another's paw on her flank and heard the familiar male voice of her apprentice. Good StarClan, she was so touchy, nowadays. Watch it, Miz. He's your responsibility. The senior warrior turned her leveled hazel eyes towards her newfound companion and was pleased to see the charcoal-and-ivory tom looking bright-eyed and bushy tailed. He appeared to be wide awake. Perfect. "Ah. Good morning," she purred, backing out of the apprentice's den to reacquaint herself with a cold north wind that brushed by their pelts. She straightened up, her mind suddenly clear in the light of having a job to do. "I was wondering if perhaps you'd like to go hunting with me? We haven't been out much and I thought it'd be good practice." Surely the young Hitchhiker wouldn't turn down the offer, but it wasn't as though he had much choice in the matter. They were going hunting, whether he wanted to or not.
With a content flick of her tail and a quick nod, the tabby rose to her paws and padded in the direction of the camp exit. She felt oddly at ease, very suddenly. Was it because she was in control of the day's events, something she hadn't had the privilege of being in control of for a long while, or was it that Expecto, even despite his fiery side, seemed to cool her down? Regardless of it's reasons, the she-cat was in an undoubtedly good mood that morning, and she wasn't about to squander it. Let no ill-willed memory or harbored doubt tinge her thoughts, for melancholy and grief had fled her mind. It was a good day.
In the assumption that her apprentice was following her, Misery Business was making small talk, a rundown of their sessions, of sorts. "I haven't been in RadicalClan as long as you have, so if you know something about the territory that I don't, don't hesitate to tell me. You're a smart young warrior, Expecto, I hope you know that." She cast an admiring glance in his direction, hoping that she was starting this thing called training off on the right foot. "I am going to tell you how to do things, too. That's sort of my job. I hope it doesn't upset you too much. I know what it's like to want to walk your own path, but do realize that I've been walking a path all my own much longer than you have... not to play the I'm-older-and-therefore-wiser card."

It was then that the tabby paused in her tracks. She was rambling. Dammit.
She sighed, turning to face her apprentice. "I guess what I'm trying to say before we head out there is, I'd rather work as a team. Yes? I don't want to boss you around too much, but my commands can't be a problem." Perhaps she was only establishing this agreement first and foremost because she'd seen so many mentor and apprentice duos that could have been so much better off if the pair had established respect for each other from the start. She wanted Expecto to respect her, and she'd do the same. They'd become a powerful team that way, and from there could learn each other's strengths, weaknesses, et cetera, and maybe even make up for what the other lacked.

|| aND SO IT BEGINS >3
|| ahhhh i'm sorry i've taken foreVER TO REPLY TO THIS D8[/fancypost]
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